Great War III

Alternative Names
The war is also known as: The Epic War, The Big Brown Cleansing (By the UIO), March Madness, Global War III, Great War II Part 2

Casus Belli
NPO claimed that GATO was spying on them as well as harboring intentions of hostility,  as revealed by several leaked chat conversations between GATO and Legion leaders. NPO also discovered and banned a spy from GATO on their forums.

Declarations of War from various alliances which eventually joined GATO's side accused the Initiative of bullying tactics against any who disagreed with them, framing their fight against the Initiative as a war for freedom.

Events of the War
First, the NPO attacked GATO, who had, from the NPO's point of view, engaged in recent, questionable diplomatic policies, including at least some evidence of espionage against their enemy. Much speculation went on as to what would happen. It was well-known that Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and The Legion had a Mutual Defense Pact signed, and it was noted that The Legion's members were at DEFCON 1, so the questions that would determine the path the war took became "When are The Legion going to war?" and "Who will The Legion go to war against?" A topic was made on the forums, and some people said The Legion were going to declare against the New Pacific Order. However, on March 20, shortly before update, Ivan Moldavi posted a controversial statement praising The Legion on behalf of the New Pacific Order. The statement could have meant many different things, but The Legion interpreted it as goading them, and would eventually activate their Mutual Defense Pact with Global Alliance and Treaty Organization.

At 8:54 PM on March 21st, 2007, the National Alliance for Arctic Countries became the first power to enter on the side of Global Alliance and Treaty Organization, by activating their Mutual Defense Pact. At 8:58 PM the Imperial Assault Alliance became second to declare war.

Legion's position was made certain at 9:07 PM. VL Empire, Prime Minister of the The Legion, declared war on The Initiative, activating The Legion's Mutual Defense Pact with Global Alliance and Treaty Organization. "Ave Legio," the traditional battle cry of legionnaires, now became the battle cry widely-used by Global Alliance and Treaty Organization supporters, and the Declaration of War thread is filled with it. A reference to the movie 300 was later made (where?), and after this reference, people in the LUEnited Nations IRC channel became calling Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and allies "Sparta." There was less than an hour until update, and declarations began to fly.

Less than an hour after update, b|/b/, an alliance that had long been neutral in similar conflicts, declared war on the Viridian Entente and other select alliances of The Initiative. The Viridian Entente was outraged at b|/b/'s declaration and declared that they would never declare peace with b|/b/. This declaration caused Archon's DramaNations meter to go from Red (at which it had been for two days) to Black.

On the 22/3/07, alliances of the Sphere power block issued declarations of war. The first to do so was the BTA, citing a non existent defense clause in a unannounced PIAT as their justification for war. The BTA focused their attacked on the Confederacy of Independent states. 5 more alliances declared war on the CIS on the same day, citing activation of their MADP with BTA]. On the 29/3.07, the [[EoTS, GoG, RnR, MCB and MRA surrendered to the CIS . Heavy losses were inflicted on both sides, CIS initially, and the Sphere later after outside intervention.

LUEnited Nations, at 8:58 PM, officially renounced the terms of surrender to The Initiative, activating their Mutual Defense Pact with Global Alliance and Treaty Organization and declaring war on Genmay.

At 10:31, Orange Defense Network and Coalition of Defensive States jointly declared war on the Goon Order Of Neutral Shoving. Orange Defense Network have been known for being neutral. Goon Order Of Neutral Shoving returned the declaration a few minutes later, and about an hour later Farkistan entered on Global Alliance and Treaty Organization's side.

Many have drawn comparisons between this war and GW2 (FARK War). The lack of sanctioned nuclear attacks and the involvement of almost equally matched power blocs are the more notable similarities.

On 3/30, "Dark Friday", a few prominent members of b|/b/ unleashed a wave of child pornography, goatse, and other such deplorable acts. Shortly before, Furseiseki unofficially announced that b|/b/ is disbanded.

Shortly following this incident, NAAC announced that in their disgust, they were ordering all their nations to stand down. LoSS is currently attempting to follow suit.

Independent and Neutral Nations
This third great war of CyberNations has been perhaps the largest in all of CN history, involving more alliances and certainly more nations than ever before. This has caused some previously/unaligned neutral alliances to join the fight. The polar nature of this conflict has sparked discussion of entering the war in every alliance across CN. Some notable members of neutral/independent alliances have even taken a temporary leave of absence to fight alongside friends, whether they know them in person or through CN, or even just to fight for whichever cause they believe to be just.

The two largest alliances that are still declaring neutrality regarding GWIII are the Green Protection Agency (GPA) (see the Declaration of Neutrality) and Independent Republic of Orange Nations (IRON). The importance in mentioning these two alliances is that their entry could certainly turn the tide of the war in either direction. Both IRON and GPA have long term relations with alliances on both sides.

The GPA has issued statements that they are holding to their neutrality. Any deviation from this neutrality will fundamentally alter the basis of the alliance.

IRON, being Independent, is free to choose war, however have opted to remain out of it for now. Rumours persist of a build up of forces to take advantage of the CN forum closure to launch a surprise attack against The Initiative on April 1st.

Other Events

 * Various former /b/ members including the ex-Emperor attack CN Forums by posting Child Pornography and Animal Cruelty. (causes the CN forum to shut down from 1pm 3/30/07 to 4/2/07.)

Surrenders and Withdrawals
3/30 - Furseiseki disbands b|/b/. 3/30 - NAAC expresses disgust with b|/b/ and withdraws.

The DramaNations Meter
With the declaration by b|/b/, for the second time since its inception Archon's Dramanations Meter went to Black, after having been at Red for three days prior. This was elicited mainly by the surprise of b|/b/'s entry, however, some had speculated before that if the New Pacific Order were victorious the meter would go Black anyway. The meter first reached Black during the Second Great War following the declaration from Global Alliance and Treaty Organization on The Initiative. Archon later considered adding a level to the Dramanations Meter (Plaid), to more accurately measure the sheerly massive scope of this conflict.