War in the Czech Republic

Day 827, 14:05 • Published in Austria Austria • by Rangeley


In the midst of the war in Austria, another war against a small nation opened abruptly and without warning, as Poland launched a full out invasion of the Czech Republic. The Czech government had not been alerted to any reasoning prior - and the citizens of the nation similarly had no warning. "We certainly didn't expect this from our ally," said Carmen Polo, their Minister of Finance. "[We were] frantically asking around to find out what was going on. Then [we were angry when] we heard from our president that this was not part of any secret land swaps that involved the Czech government." Instead, it was later explained as a way to "merge" the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Poland conquering the Czech regions first, and then Slovakia moving to take them after.

Though discussion had taken place last month between the two countries to merge, it had stalled with the election of John Locked on February 5th, as he - and other Czechs - wanted to slow the process down for more consideration. "When we started discussing the merger I was enthusiastic. It is in principle a good idea," Polo continued. "But we needed to work it out, and we needed to prepare the ground - all neighboring countries would need to respect the union if it was to work. We saw what happened to the United Netherlands when EDEN didn't respect that union."

This fear - that the Czech Republic could become the next Belgium - looms large as they currently have no regions heading into the congressional elections. If no new congress is able to be elected, all citizenship requests in a recreated Czech Republic would be automatically accepted, making it completely vulnerable to competing TO forces. President Locked recognizes this fear, stating "at this time we are fighting in the war of resistance, with the help of [allied forces]."

Another reason for the attack is strongly suspected to have been to allow Croatia - a fellow EDEN nation - a route out of Austria. However, due to blocks, a resistance war which temporarily put the Czech Republic back on the map, and the eventual expulsion of Croatia from Austrian territory, this did not come to pass.

As for the Czech Republic itself, while some have come to accept the current merger, Polo has a simple desire. "I'd like to see us recover our territories and population," she said. "Then I'd like to see our country flourish. If people want to continue to discuss union, I'll support it - but we must have the recognition and support of our neighbors first and an agreement that is hammered out between Czech Republic and Slovakia as equals."