The Belkan War is an eponymous conflict in the Ace Combat series. It was started by the Belkan Federation after years of financial crisis which saw the nation cede many of its lands to neighbouring countries for one reason or another. Belka invaded those territories to regain control over them, but the attacked nations bonded together and repelled the agressor. While the war was relatively short, its fallout was felt in the Strangereal world for decades to come.
History[]
Belkan Crisis[]
During the Cold War, Belka developed a large number of superweapons, such as the Excalibur laser system, the XB-0 Hresvelgr heavy command cruiser and nuclear weapons. These projects, however, due to the sheer amount of money poured into them, caused a financial crisis in the country. In an attempt to ease the blow, the government allowed some territories to break off, forming the nations of Gebet, Recta and Ustio. It also sold some of its regions to FATO and Osea. It was revealed, however, that Osea fabricated financial forecast reports regarding the Five Great Lakes region in order to convince Belka to sell it under the pretext of joint development projects, which ended up a failure.
Using the growing outrage of Belkan citizens and the internal instability, Democratic Liberal Party rose to power. It continued the superweapons program, and declared the cesession of Belkan lands unconstitutional, preparing for a war to retake them. Belka was particularly interested in Area B7R, belonging to Ustio, which was rich in resources.
War[]
The conflict started on March 25, 1995, with Belka declaring war on its neighbours and invading their territories. Ustio was almost completely overrun by the Belkan forces. The invaded countries formed the Allied Forces, which included not only Osean nations, but Yuktobania as well. Ustio sought assistance from mercenary fighter pilots, Galm Team in particular, who managed to save the country from being fully taken over. After a few successful defensive operations, the Allied Forces pushed back against the Belkans. Directus, capital of Ustio, was liberated on May 13. The Allies continued to push into the Belkan territory. While the success of their operation was threatened by the Excalibur, which was able to destroy aircraft from a large distance, the superweapon was eventually defeated by the Ustio-employed mercenary Cipher. During an Allied Forces attack, the Belkan city of Hoffhung was almost completely destroyed by indiscriminate bombing. Finally, in a last-ditch attempt to stop the enemy advance, Belka detonated seven nuclear bombs on its own soil, killing over 12,000 people but succeeding in its goal.
Outcome and Aftermath[]
Belkan Federation was forced to accept defeat and sign a peace treaty. South Belka was annexed by Osean Federation and renamed "North Osea", Belkan Federation itself was reformed into a principality and what little remained of the country's war potential was greatly reduced. Meanwhile, the rival states of Osea and Yuktobania became allies. However, the outcome of the conflict led to many more wars in the future: A World With No Boundaries, an extremist organization, started an insurgency with the goal of preventing another war like that from happening, but were defeated. The Gray Men, a group of conspirators, sought revenge against Osea and Yuktobania and eventually tricked the countries into fighting each other in 2010. Gründer Industries, a formerly Belkan munitions company, became a front for the Gray Men and continued anti-Osean activities even after their benefactors' defeat.
Trivia[]
- The Belkan War can be seen as an allegory for World War II from the real world in many ways:
- Belkan Federation obviously plays the role of Nazi Germany, as both nations invaded their neighbours over territorial disputes. Unlike Nazi Germany, however, Belkan government is never known to have been involved in ethnic cleansing or genocide on the occupied territories. Also, while Germany had a number of allies, notably the Axis Powers, Belka seems to have waged its war all alone.
- Allied Forces are an obvious stand-in for the Allies, countries who fought against the Axis Powers.
- Osean Federation, while usually seen as the counterpart of the United States of America, actually mirrors Soviet Union's role in the war much closer, as Belka invaded their territory as well.
- Yuktobania, while usually seen as the counterpart of the Soviet Union or Russia, mirrors America's role in the war much closer, as it was located on a continent separate from Belka. Curiously, very little is known of Yuktobania's involvement in the Belkan War.
- The division of Belka into North and South Belka can be seen as an allegory for the division of Germany into the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany and the communist German Democratic Republic after its capitulation. While South Belka is still occupied by Osea, in the present, West and East Germany have been reunified.