Antara

Antara
Capital	Entarro
Official languages	English
Demonym	Antaran
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Establishment
• Empire of Antara	circa 1400
Drives on the	left

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History

Overview

Founded sometime before 1400 by an unknown group of Europeans, Antara emerged as a powerful nation stretching across North America. The English speaking caucasian citizens suggest the original founders were of British origin. Antara became connected to the rest of the world around the mid 1400s, prompting the rest of European nations to explore the ‘New World’, but by the time they had arrived Antara was somewhat already thriving and not entirely adamant on allowing other nations to claim their land. The wars that followed put Antara at odds with the European nations for hundreds of years, but regardless Antara had become a powerful empire that the world would recognise.

Although the wars that followed after Antara’s discovery and connection with the greater world were long and hard, there were otherwise very few international wars between 1500 - 1900, instead it was fraught with civil wars. Antara was ruled by the Junkos, a single line of emperors and empresses, who were able to build a powerful nation without any European intervention for hundreds of years, but in that time their rule has always been disputed. Though over the years the empire itself stabilised as each state became more cooperative and interconnected, an attempt at breaking away from the empire always caused bloody wars, even as late as the 1930s.

Pre-War era (1918-1939)

With the help of Antara’s at the time warmongering empress, Erica Junko, they had solidified their presence as a world power by significantly helping to end the Great War on the side of the Allies. During the peace talks following the end of the war, Antara had withdrawn its status as an empire, their empress stepped down and her son, William Junko II, became king, and governed alongside a prime minister. The decisions of Antara’s new king played a great role in future events, specifically the upcoming Second World War.

King Junko was far more pacifistic than his predecessors, and pushed for far lenient terms in the Treaty of Versailles, much to the disappointment of the world leaders around him. Germany was let off easier than many would have hoped. Germany was less burdened by the loss of the war and restrictions on it’s military were low thanks almost completely to the Antaran leadership. The issue of whether letting Germany off lightly divided the country, most of whom were patriotic and disapproved of the king’s decisions.

In 1921 in further attempts at ensuing peace years after the war, Junko called an international conference in Entarro, the nation’s capital. The Ministry of the Navy had agreed some form of limitation was needed to halt the race, as by then the ministry itself had laid down 140 thousand tons worth of battleships in response to both Japan and Britain, however the limitations themselves they had no say in. The Entarro Naval Treaty (ENT) as it was known, ended up hindering the Antarans far more than they had liked.

King Junko had agreed to a 5/4 ratio with Great Britain, putting them at the same capital tonnage limits as Japan who also received the 5/4 ratio, very much to the anger of his Naval Ministry. According to Junko himself, there was no need for a massive navy his Ministry was already planning, as he intended to keep the peace following the war. In addition, Germany was given a 1.75 ratio along with Italy and France and were not hindered from building capital ships. Capital ship (battleship) construction was restricted until 1930, but ships under construction were allowed to be finished.

In accordance with the 35k ton capital limit, Japan extensively modified it’s Tosa class battleships allowing her and Kaga to be finished almost as intended. Battlecruisers Amagi and Akagi were also modified and completed as intended. Since Akagi and Kaga were never converted to carriers, two more Shokaku class fleet carriers were constructed under the names Kyuuyou and Mizuho. Battleships Kii and Owari were built from 1933-1934. Battlecruiser Amagi was converted to an aircraft carrier and used as a test bed for future fleet carriers.

Come 1936, the rise tensions in Germany made leaders around the world nervous. The disregard for the ENT by nations such as Japan, Italy and Germany caused panic in the Antaran Naval Ministry, whilst the reoccupation of the Rhineland caused fears of a potential war in the future. Various wings of the military paid close attention to the events playing out, each requesting additional funding. However Junko, still in power refused any efforts by his ministers to expand the military in light of the growing tensions. The Naval Ministry had infighting on the continued obedience to the ENT. Japan’s Kii class had already delivered what was considered an inadequate response by the Antarans. At any time Japan could construct a stronger and larger navy if it were not for resource constraints, whilst the Antarans were stuck with constructing what they considered inferior ships and in smaller numbers. The rapid expansion of the German military contributed to the anxiety. In 1937, Japan’s war with China and Junko’s refusal to acknowledge that precautions needed to be taken with regards to his military severely diminished the trust between his ministers. Junko’s popularity was waning and he had by then already been branded an incompetent leader who was easily pushed around.

Navy

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