User:DragonsPhyre/GATO History

The oldest of CyberNations’ alliances, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, finds her roots very early in history. A short six days after the creation of Planet Bob as we know it, the Cross Atlantic and Treaty Organization was founded by one Depraved, laying the first foundation for what would become the Global Alliance as we know her today. The modern name was adopted about a week after the alliance’s creation.

The history of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization is painted with significant highs and lows, and the alliance has played a role in many worldly affairs. As the oldest alliance, she has witnessed firsthand the near entirety of CyberNations’ existence. While her members have come and gone, and while few remain from the early days, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization still holds strong as a bastion for the democratic process. The original charter for the alliance called for short elected terms, and as one will see, this has evolved over time into her present system. Further, the history of the alliance is also marred with the brutality of war and even of near destruction. While she still carries the scars of the past and her members are always aware of their past, they continue onward in hope of a better, more peaceful future.

In the beginning, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization under Depraved was quick to come into conflict with the other major alliance at the time, the Imperial Nations Coalition (INC). The war, the first of its kind, ended in a ceasefire agreed upon by both sides. While the event itself may seem insignificant in relation to the modern and more violent wars, it did mark a precedent in inter-alliance warfare. As well, after the war, INC drifted off into nonexistence, some of her members even finding residence in the Global Alliance’s walls. More so, this left the Global Alliance as the sole power. It was, however, a short-lived experience.

With a vast expansion in the population of Planet Bob, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization drifted behind a newer power, the New Pacific Order. The two alliances, though, were not only friends, but also allied partners. A non-aggression pact (the Dove Doctrine) and a mutual defense pact (the Unity Covenant) were signed to further cement this relationship. This relationship would prove key during the Second Polar War, where it was revealed that a spy had been placed within the Global Alliance. In response, she came to support her ally, the New Pacific Order, in the conflict against the National Alliance for Arctic Countries. The relationship, however, would start to take an ugly turn.

Following the end of the Second Polar War, the New Polar Order was established in the blue sphere by then Emperor of the New Pacific Order, Ivan Moldavi, in order to create stability where none seemed to exist. The move had unforeseen consequences, however. Assembly Chairman Vercingetorix publicly spoke out against the new alliance, starting the decline of friendship between the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and the New Pacific Order. As the friendship grew more and more tense, the alliance sought to further relations with other allies. A shattering blow to the friendship, however, was about to occur.

In June of 2006, Minister of Domestic Affairs Grenval announced the prank alliance “Global Alliance Red Organization,” a stab at the New Pacific Order and her relations with the New Polar Order. The prank was not taken lightly. The Unity Covenant was cancelled due to Grenval’s actions and an irreparable rift was formed between the two alliances. As a further repercussion, Grenval was forced to resign his post, but the damage had already been done. Relations would continue to devolve until the final breaking point of the first Great War.

Prior to the eruption of Great War I, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization had confided in the New Pacific Order her intentions to suspend relations with LUE following the LUEicide by Yaridovich. The alliance condemned the actions of the LUE member, and the positive response it received from other members of the community. The LUEnacy Covenant, the then binding document between LUE and the Global Alliance, was to be suspended. However, it called for a four-day period before cancellation. With the nuking of duffman04 of LUE by Tygaland of the New Polar Order, the alliance was presented with a difficult situation. In the end, and with the pushing of certain alliance members, it was determined that the LUEnacy Covenant was still binding, as it had yet to be cancelled. Thus, as a final blow to the relationship between the two alliances, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization declared war on the New Pacific Order.

Great War I had mixed results for the alliance. Her strongest nations were being overpowered, but the lower ranks were finding more success. The war ultimately had a devastating effect on every nation, whether through direct physical contact, or due to the sheer number of nuclear weapons fired during the war. Notable members such as Das Girl and Yuuzhann Tar were nuked several times. To throw yet another wrench into the mess, Assembly Chairwoman Yoda was revealed to be a member of a secret organization, the Coven, with leading members of other alliances. Yoda was ultimately forced out of the alliance and Chris_Kaos took control of the alliance for the remainder of the war. With the short involvement by Legion, the push for peace grew strong.

There was no clear victor in Great War I. Members of the CoaLUEtion (the allied forces against the New Pacific Order and her allies) liked to believe they had won the conflict, but it was clear in the aftermath of the war that everyone had suffered greatly. More so, the conclusion of Great War I did not bring any sort of closure to the conflict between the Global Alliance and the New Pacific Order. Following the war, the two alliances were heavy in yet another contest: the fight for the top spot. The alliance would, however, run into more problems.

October would prove to be a dramatic month for the alliance. The first of two major events involved Grenval once again. After slowly regaining the confidence of General Assemblymen, Grenval was able to successfully become Minister of Foreign Affairs. Upon taking office, the world community became extremely skeptical of Grenval; thoughts of the GARO incident were still fresh in the minds of people. Grenval resurfaced a doctrine established by Assembly Chairman Vercingetorix, one that refused to acknowledge the New Polar Order as a legitimate alliance. A confusing series of events followed. Assembly Chairman Letum (who was elected in the closest election the alliance had witnessed, squeaking out by a single vote) renounced Grenval’s claim, but was later renounced by the General Assembly for making that announcement without their clear approval. Overall, it led to the resignations of both Grenval and Letum, though Letum would later regain the position of Assembly Chairman after the resignation of Assembly Chairman Beryl (note: under the charter at the time, the alliance worked under a line of succession rule; this would later be eliminated in favor of an emergency election system). The confusion was not over.

As the month of October neared an end, another event shook the very foundation of the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. Depraved, the alliance’s founder, returned to the alliance with the intent to spearhead reform. The reforms proposed were gaining support of the General Assembly and it appeared that Depraved and his supporters would be able to gain control of policy-making for the next term. However, it took a more shocking turn. Upon regaining control of the forums, Depraved removed the government and administration, staging a coup. The coup was announced to the world, getting mixed responses. It became clear shortly after, however, that the General Assembly avidly opposed Depraved’s actions, giving Assembly Chairman Letum much more legitimacy. A new forum was opened up on October 21, 2006, and a large majority of information was transferred, with the help of some allies, to the new forums before Depraved finally closed the original. The alliance survived the coup, but was deeply shaken by the event.

Following the events of COUPtober, the General Assembly focused its eyes inward and toward reform. The members involved with the coup attempt either left or faced trial, the most notable of which was GATO vs. Chris_Kaos, one of the longest trials in Global Alliance judicial history. The trial was postponed until the beginning of November due to vacancies in the Court (only Octavian remained as a Justice). Before the month ended, a charter reform was passed through the General Assembly—a reform that would hold until the historic reforms of February the next year. With the new charter in place and a new High Court elected, the trial proceeded and Chris_Kaos was found not guilty on the charges of treason against him (an unanimous decision by the three Justices: Das Girl, Kevlar, and Letum).

Under Assembly Chairman Octavian in November and Assembly Chairman Chris_Kaos in December, the year ended out with a huge focus on internal growth. The alliance had continued to suffer since Great War I, and finally an era of relative calm was obtained. Much of the world was engrossed in the various conflicts that came and went. The quiet would, however, come to an end as events started to build toward Great War II.

Since the end of Great War I, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization had held close to its war allies, most notably LUE. In an unprecedented move, the alliance had even signed a mutual aggression and defense pact with LUE, the first and only of its kind to be passed by the Global Alliance. And after long, long debate, a mutual defense bloc was formed: the League (members including ACID, CDS, GATO, GOLD, ICP, LOSS, LUE, and NAAC). The formation of the League was viewed as a response to the formation of the Initiative, another power bloc, although talks had been occurring for some time prior to the Initiative’s formation. The presence of the two blocs hinted at disaster, but conflict would not arise until the new year.

As the events prior to Great War II started to unfold, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, along with the League, went into the fray in defense of LUE. Perhaps the biggest shocker, however, was that the Global Alliance (along with NAAC) opted to declare war on the entirety of the Initiative, despite some of its members having very little to do with the Fark conflict. The result was full-scale war. Great War II did not last long for the alliance and her allies, however. She suffered heavily in the war, and after a short time the League surrendered and left LUE and Farkistan to combat the Initiative. Minister of Foreign Affairs BenPG surrendered on behalf of the alliance prematurely, but the surrender was quickly revoked. Despite the confusion, the League did drop out of the war and severed its ties to LUE. The rest of the month was left in uncertainty and with internal strife on the rise. February, however, would bring the alliance back into focus.

With the election of Assembly Chairman Vincent Xander, it appeared the Global Alliance was on the fast track to getting itself back together. The world community accepted Xander with some skepticism, but it did appear to be a positive step. During February, a new and extensive charter reform was spearheaded by Billy Shears and Kevlar, and later with the help of Randle and Vincent Xander. The reform received the General Assembly’s approval on February 19, 2007, and introduced the creation of a legislative body, Congress, as well as the lengthening of executive terms to two months. It has also been the alliance’s most successful reform to date, and is still in use.

Xander was re-elected in March, but the alliance’s successful march forward came to a halt. Sir Galahad, Foreign Minister of Legion, leaked a private conversation between Xander and him. The conversation revealed an aggressive policy proposed by Xander to undermine the New Pacific Order diplomatically. He called upon Legion to back the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization in this cause. The New Pacific Order interpreted Xander’s actions to be more than they appeared and believed that he was advocating direct threats to the alliance and to the Initiative. As a result, the Global Alliance was attacked, and Great War III had begun.

Great War III proved to be the largest war the world had seen yet, and the alliance was feeling that weight. Vastly outnumbered and unprepared for the assault, the alliance did what it could to defend itself. Allies started to pour in on both sides and the war continued to escalate. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the alliance was able to survive through the end of the month and still hold its elections. On April 1, 2007, Kevlar became Assembly Chairman, having beaten Brotherlouie27 by only five votes in what was a heavily contested election. The prospects for the new Assembly Chairman seemed bleak; the Initiative was holding a clear advantage and the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization was crumbling. Countless members resigned from the alliance, including the former Assembly Chairman Vincent Xander (in a farewell address where he stated that the New Pacific Order had won the game). One-by-one, allies began to obtain terms and were able to escape the brutality of the war. After talks with Ivan Moldavi, Assembly Chairman Kevlar was able to obtain peace. A separate peace settlement was reached with Genmay. Peace had been reached, but at what cost?

Shortly after the war’s end, many prominent members of the alliance left, including Assembly Chairman Kevlar. Randle was elected to fulfill the remainder of the term and to lead the alliance in rebuilding and paying reparations to the New Pacific Order and her allies. Great War III had left the alliance as a shell of its former self. Its membership had dropped by roughly 800 and it had been blasted out of sanctioned status. Yet, between Assembly Chairman Randle and Assembly Chairman jsims8 (who succeeded Randle), the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization was able to pay off her debts and set itself back on track for rebuilding. Much of the alliance’s focus remained internal, shying away from the world stage, until the September breakout of the Unjust War.

On September 14, 2007, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization declared war on FOK, citing calls for aid by treaty partners AiD and NTO. The alliance’s involvement in the war was short-lived, as talks with The Order of the Paradox eventually brought them out of the war in order to avoid escalating the war even more. Despite this, the few days of conflict were hailed as a great military victory by the alliance, a showing that the alliance had indeed returned to the world stage. The war also marked a dramatic effort on the alliance’s behalf to start pursuing better relations with her former enemies.

As 2007 came to a close, the alliance appeared to be back in action. She had paid back her war debts, regained sanctioned status, established new friendships (notable documents including the Ferocitas Compact and the reincarnation of the UPS Accords), founds her spot in the world stage, and avoided becoming a target once again. The Global Alliance pursued heavy diplomacy with her former enemies, clearing the air on the New Polar Order recognition that had marred relations so long ago, which led to the reopening of diplomatic channels between the two alliances. Even more impressively, the two agreed to a Treaty of Friendship early in the new year, a remarkable turn of events given the long and tense history between them. The alliance also saw a very stable government from the end of Great War III through the new year, with Arciel becoming the first Assembly Chairman to serve for six consecutive months. Other notable terms during this time include: Alienzooman (Minister of Finance for six months and still going), jsims8 (Assembly Chairman for four months), kerscbhs (Minister of Defense for seven months), Kevlar (Minister of Foreign Affairs for five months), and magicninja (Minister of Domestic Affairs for four months).

Good times did not continue to last, however. In early February, the Ferocitas Compact dissolved. The alliance remained mutual defense partners with the signatories (Atlantis, Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations, and the Imperial Assault Alliance) separately. In March, Atlantis, a long time ally and friend, disbanded. As well, the UPS Accords, a binding brown team agreement, had also fallen apart. April marked the election of Assembly Chairman BarbulaM1, who had served as a Deputy in countless other administrations. The alliance appeared to be getting back on track when it found itself in the crosshairs of the New Pacific Order once again.

On April 24, 2008, the Global Alliance went into DEFCON 1 as it prepared for a possible attack by the New Pacific Order and her allies. On the 26th, war started. The primary reason cited for the attack was an apparent peace term violation, namely a clause stating that Chris_Kaos would never be an elected official (among other things). It was stated that a member named Alexander Gladius was in fact a reincarnate of Chris_Kaos, and that Gladius had obtained an appointed position under Minister of Foreign Affairs BarbulaM1 shortly following the conclusion of Great War III, and an elected position in Congress in July (also of 2007). The New Pacific Order claimed that BarbulaM1 had been aware of Gladius’ identity, had allowed him to get into the positions, and failed to report it. A response from BarbulaM1 revealed that he had only come to know Gladius’ identity after these events, that Gladius had quit shortly after telling, that he was a member of the General Assembly at the time, and that he did not inform the government of what had happened. The Global Alliance’s government had become aware in late March of 2008, nearly a year away from the events that had transpired. Despite the attempts at diplomacy, war came and the New Pacific Order did not appear to want to engage in diplomacy anymore.

Completely and vastly outnumbered, the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization stood little chance. Despite the odds against them, allies did come to the alliance’s aid. The Imperial Assault Alliance and the Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations, both long time friends and allies, joined the fray. The following day, the United Sovereign Nations joined. After facing insurmountable odds, however, CSN surrendered and IAA’s members opted for disbandment. The two left the conflict with praise from the Global Alliance. USN, as well, received peace, leaving the Global Alliance and Treaty Organization to combat the combined forces of One Vision and its allies. The alliance still holds strong, even though it has dropped to a fraction of its former strength, and still holds its regularly scheduled elections (the most recent of which ended on June 1, 2008).