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Diplomatic Actions
Diplomatic actions are defined as those actions a nation makes which involve interaction with other nations, asides from direct military action. A nation may make up to one diplomatic action with each other nation each turn (the exception is peace settlements subsequent to an unconditional capitulation). These are:
Declarations of War
Peace settlements
Alliances
Non-Aggression Pacts
Threats
Assurances
Arrangements
Trade
Declarations of War
A declaration of war is a diplomatic action which places the declaring nation and the subject of the declaration in a state of war against each other. Each nation’s relationship to the other will go down two steps, if this is possible. Once nations have entered a state of war, the war’s scope must be defined. Each nation selects one scope, and that nation will consider itself the victor when it has won the war within that specified scope (or alternatively, will consider the other nation the victor when it has won the war within that scope). Scopes are simply a tool to localise wars, so that not every war is a total war of attrition. Scopes are not intended to restrict players so much as they intended to represent the fact that wars were not always to the last man and the last shell. Scopes are mainly used by the AI to decide when the AI will settle for peace.
Historic examples:
Crimean War
Local War
American Civil War
United States: Total War
Confederate States: War of Survival
Franco-Prussian War
Prussia: Short War
France:War for Survival
World War I
Total War
World War II
Total War
Peace Settlements
A peace settlement is signed between two parties which are at war, and it ends hostilities, if only for a while. AI-controlled nations will offer a peace settlement once they are either victorious or defeated within the scope they have defined for a war. Player controlled nations offer peace when the player decides, and are unrestricted by scopes (although the interface may suggest to the player to what the player may be entitled in a peace settlement on the basis of the war’s scope). A nation must assess any offers of peace, and may choose whether to accept or decline them.
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| MECHANICS |
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Types of War:
A total war is one on all fronts, until the total destruction of one or more parties. A local war is one focussed in one theatre. Note that warring parties will still fight outside of the primary theatre, but such battles are just sideshows to the main conflicts. A war for survival is a primarily defensive war, in which the objective is to neutralise the enemy rather than their total destruction. A short war is one on all fronts, but which may not last more than 4 turns – the objective here is to swiftly humble an enemy. At the end of the 4 turn period, the parties either settle for peace or move into a total war.
The party which declared war selects a scope first, and the other party then selects their scope. Scopes of a war are public.
Peace Settlements
Armistice – this peace settlement ends military hostility, but doesn’t officially end the war. When an armistice is offered, it is offered for a certain number of months. For the period of the armistice, nations which have control of enemy territory may keep control of it. An armistice is intended to give players time to work out a final peace settlement, or to give a nation time to rebuild its military to renew its military campaign.
Secession of Territory – this peace settlement is used when a nation wishes only to obtain territory. In the peace settlement, the nation which makes the offer may select to secede or demand territory to or from its opponent, and may demand that the territory be surrendered to any other nations (or even that new nations be created from lost territory). An historical example of a secession of territory – Prussia demands the surrender of Alsace and Lorraine at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.
Reparations – this peace settlement is used when the vanquished nation is to pay a certain amount to the victors each turn for a certain number of turns. In the peace settlement, the nation which makes the offer may select to offer or demand a certain number of production or resource points each turn for a specified number of turns. If a nation is unable to pay or chooses to stop paying reparations, then the nations to which it was paying reparations may select to declare war on the nation once again.
Regime Change – this peace settlement is used when the vanquished nation’s government must be replaced with a new government with the tag specified by the victorious nation. The usual effects of changing to the new tag will be incurred.
Dominion Status – this peace settlement is used when the vanquished nation is to become a dominion of the victor.
Unconditional Capitulation – this peace settlement is used when the vanquished nation is to be subjected to any terms the victor decides. Only total wars may be ended in an unconditional capitulation. Once a nation agrees to an unconditional capitulation, the victorious side may offer as many other secession of territory and reparation peace settlements as it desires (so long as it does so within the next 2 turns), and the defeated nation cannot reject these subsequent offers. The classic example of an unconditional capitulation is the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I.
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