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The United Kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Finland are confused by the Spainish suggestions and furthermore is curious as to why any nation would voluntarily yield sovereignty to such a comission. Additionally, we find it odd that what is perhaps the most bellicose nation in the world is the one proposing such a "treaty of peace," or is it merely a tool for the Spanish nation to maintain its current position at the expense of others.

OOC: Game Theory was first derived by Nash in the 1940s...

OOC: Nash derived the Equilibrium, but game theory is really, really old.

The Kingdom of Spain is surprised that nations who were in favor of infringing French sovereignty by imposing limits on French naval buildup are so quick to dismiss and criticize the concerted creation of reasonable limits with the agreement of every signatory.


OOC: Yay, I revived the thread :)
 
France was a dangerous and warmongering nation, who needed to be held back for the safety of herself and others. The British Empire has not started a single unjustified war in the last 5 years and furthermore, we shall not have our sovereignty dictated to us by any nation, let alone a nation of the calibre of Spain.​
 
France was a dangerous and warmongering nation, who needed to be held back for the safety of herself and others. The British Empire has not started a single unjustified war in the last 5 years and furthermore, we shall not have our sovereignty dictated to us by any nation, let alone a nation of the calibre of Spain.​

We, in the Kingdom of Spain, do not seek to dictate policy to other countries. We seek to build consensus. While we agree with the need to contain France, we would like to extend one of the measures into an international treaty, which would do much to further the cause of world peace, and make it a proper, voluntary process, to ensure stability and commitment.

Our proposal would ensure that nations do not curtail eachother's sovereignty by controlling the naval traffic. It is dangerous to world trade to have an unmatched naval power, as it is dangerous to have an unmatched land power. I had hoped that, after Napoleon I, Europe would be more amenable to work to preserve the balance of power. We have seen examples, like the naval blockade of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, by Brazil. Our proposal intends to ensure that this becomes a risky proposition, and therefore work towards further freedom of trade, which will bring prosperity and advancement to the world.
 
The Spanish Government, as usual, speaks nothing but lies, hypocrisy and nonsense.​
 
OOC: Indeed, it existed but it was either restricted to actual games, or in its most applicable model in Cournot's work on duopolies, which was a restricted version of the game theory anyway. So to say it existed in a form applicable to this is nonsense. I am a political economist, and I have published papers that deal with this ;)
 
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The United Republics of Colombia-Ecuador


Not only is this treaty nonsense, it will not work. It will only work if every nation agrees to it, which it seems is extremely unlikely.
 
I believe the record of our peaceful development and trade over these last 2 years shows France is no more danger to itself or others than any other random civilization nation. We again confirm our views that while limiting the growth of military power across the world can be beneficial to the cause of human life, there is no practical way to go about any such naval agreement. What nation wants to limit what it can do solely on the hopes that others reciprocate and that such a decision is not a potentially mortal wound to the ability to defend its people. No vast international treaty is going to be successful in this world on military limits.
 
The Belgian Government will never sign such a treaty which infringes on our national sovereignty.

Leopold I,King of the Belgians
 
While the treaty is interesting in of itself and serves to protect free trade, doing something like this now is out of the question. Most nations won't give up something that helps protect their sovereignty and larger nations won't give up on something that keeps them in a higher position of power over other nations.
 
The War of the Quadruple Alliance - Pacific Theatre

As the month of July began in the Pacific theatre of what was the largest, costliest and bloodiest war in South American history, the Chilean forces renewed their offensive on all fronts. High Command had no wish to become bogged down in a long war against Bolivia, and hoped for a speedy victory before the fall and winter weather made crossing the mountains into Bolivia proper a near impossibility. The Bolivians were determined to protect their heartland, and not give in to the Chilean aggressor, no matter the cost in blood.

The first move of the Chilean army was to finish securing the Bolivian coastline, in an effort to both force the surrender of the Bolivian Navy, secure their claimed land and isolate Bolivia from the sea, and any potential trade or supply from that route. On the 4th of July, the 88th year of American Independence, General Cortana ordered his men to break camp and head towards Arica, the only major town on the coast left under Bolivian control, and base of the remains of their navy.

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1. Some of Arica's defenders. Militiamen photographed with a primitive camera.

Arriving on the 7th, his men arrived outside the town and began to dig siege lines around it, preparing for a lengthy and costly siege of the city. The garrison of 500 men declared that they would never surrender, and began to fortify the town as best they could. Meanwhile, the Bolivian Navy, still in port, turned its guns to support the ground forces, and the Marines began to turn their ships into small wooden fortresses, floating along side the docks. The Bolivian defenders felt confident in their defences, and indeed, every plausible route for an invasion had been covered, makeshift weaponry had been prepared and every man of fighting age had been given some form of a weapon, ranging from spare muskets to carving knives and pitchforks.

General Cortana may have been extremely aggressive, in many cases foolishly so, but this was not to be one of them. After the costly victory in the field, he was under pressure from his Presidente to keep losses to a minimum and conserve manpower. And so, he waited. The siege dragged on for several weeks, with nothing but the odd probing attack or artillery exchange to break the uneasy calm that settled over the area, as Cortana searched for a way through. The Mornings became lazy, many sentries slept at their posts, and many soldiers settled into their trenches, adding touches such as shelves and roofs to their temporary homes.

The Morning of the 1st of September started routinely. Colonel Jose Alterado, commander of the Garrison forces woke at 8am. He took his breakfast half an hour later, and was sitting at his desk eating when an unpleasant scent greeted him. Looking up from his meal, he turned to his servant and was heard to remark 'Good Lord Rodrigo, what is that scent? Have we now been invaded by rats as well?'. His query was answered moments later, as the door burst open to reveal a Chilean soldier, covered from head to toe in faeces and holding a musket. 'You could say that.' Were the only words he uttered before promptly shooting Colonel Alterado through the chest.

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2. Chilean soldiers, ready for inspection and to receive medals from General Cortana, who would arrive shortly.

By nightfall, the town and both Bolivian ships were in the hands of the Chileans. Having discovered an old sewer culvert the day before, General Ortana had sent over 2,000 soldiers to infiltrate Arica through the sewer network using the cover of night. By morning, his men had infiltrated the city, and surprised the Bolivians, many of whom were in the process of eating breakfast. Within half an hour, the entire city had been seized by this lightning attack, and the Chileans had sustained only light losses. General Cortana, hungry as ever for glory, was keen to capitalise on his men's success, and sent several couriers back to Chile to spread the news of his victory. [-2 Small Ships from Bolivia, +2 Small Ships to Chile, -500 Regulars from Bolivia, Bolivian Coastline now fully under Chilean control]

Cortana was not content with just this victory though, and sought to add new feathers to his somewhat bare and downtrodden hat. Detaching 5000 men to establish a defensive position in the South and protect Chile from any Bolivian outflanking and another 1,000 for garrison duty in the newly conquered land, Cortana took 24,000 men straight towards the Bolivian capital of La Paz. He found his way blocked by the Bolivian army for the second time in this campaign. High in the Andes mountains, the Bolivian army of 5,500 men stood in his way.

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3. A Chilean soldier on 'occupation' duty in the captured lands. Conditions were brutal for the local population.

When confronted with the spectacle, Cortana broke down into a fit of laughter. He outnumbered the Bolivians more than 4 to 1, and had an even greater advantage in cannon. In Cortana's opinion, this was clearly, an occasion which called for a simple brute force strategy. Calling his commanders together, he sketched out his plan to them, and ordered them quickly back to their men. With any luck, they could be through this meagre host within 2 hours and back on the route to La Paz.

Without even bothering for the usual preliminary bombardment, the Chilean infantry began their advance up the hillside towards the Bolivian army. Under fire all the way from the Bolivian guns, they were under orders to conserve ammunition where possible, due to the difficulty of supplying such a large force through the Andes. Soon, the Bolivian fire began to take its toll on their ranks, not just through shot and shell, but with unconventional weapons as well. Boulders were rolled downhill through the Chilean ranks, gauging great troughs from the formations and crushing screaming men with their bulk. Piles of logs, brought from the Bolivian rainforest especially for the purpose were covered in tar and set alight, then rolled down the hill, bouncing off rocks and crashing into the Chilean ranks. Their formation already disorganised from the firepower and terrifying weaponry being hurled down at them, the Chileans were still able to maintain some semblance of order and continue to push towards the Bolivian lines. This changed however, when the Bolivians
deployed one of the most terrifying weapons available to an army. Loading specially made quicklime shells into their Howitzers, the Bolivians unleashed a storm of quicklime onto the advancing Chileans. Many of the conscript soldiers had never seen this substance used in warfare before, and were terrified by the white clouds descending around them. Their terror grew all the stronger when they realised the caustic effect of the clouds. Screaming in terror and agony as their flesh and eyes felt the effect of the quicklime, they turned and stumbled back down the hill. The officers could not have rallied them if they tried, as it was, many of the officers were fleeing as well, hurrying to escape the cloud of death pursuing them down the hill. Amongst the chaos, the few Chilean soldiers that had reached the Bolivian lines were quickly set upon and butchered with bayonets. None were spared by the Bolivians. It had already become clear that in this war, no quarter would be given.

Arica_battle.jpg

4. Painting of the last stand of those who reached the Bolivian lines. Note the quicklime and smoke in the background.

Watching over his lunch, General Cortana quickly became furious when he realised that his men were beginning to retreat under this new threat. Banging his fist repeatedly on the table, he ordered that a new attack be prepared to take the Bolivian positions or die trying. The Chilean officers were reluctant to comply, as were the men. Many even went so far as to refuse orders, simply unwilling to advance into the hell that awaited them. Cortana, seething with rage and threatening death to those who defied him ordered that his artillery pound the Bolivian position into dust. They promptly replied, opening up with a storm of explosive and solid rounds.

The Bolivian army had other ideas however, and refused to be drawn into a shooting match. The positions of their artillery thus disguised, and their men dispersed on the reverse slope or behind cover, the Bolivians weathered the storm for several hours with few losses, until withdrawing under the cover of night. They retreated to La Paz, where they began to prepare defensive positions in an attempt to halt any further Chilean advance towards the capital. They waited, first for days, then weeks and then months, but the advance never came. With Fall and Winter closing in, even Cortana was unwilling to stretch his supply lines so badly, and withdrew out of the mountains, leaving a 2,000 man garrison in a recently constructed fort near the site of the battle. [-1,000 Regulars from Chile, -5,000 Conscripts from Chile, - 500 Regulars from Bolivia, Chile has a small wooden fort in the Andes]

Meanwhile, the Chilean Government was nowhere near done with their efforts on the Bolivian homefront. Again, they attempted to destroy their foe from the inside, and again, they meet very little success. Attempting to paint a horrifying picture of a South America dominated by the Brazilian Empire and enslaved to the Emperor, the Chilean Government end up making themselves the laughing stock of Bolivia. Many jokes are made about the Chilean Government and its alarmist views. A few slaves, escaped from Brazil and terrified of the prospect of a Brazilian South America do escape to Chile and join their forces, but the Chilean Government meets with no other success. Furthermore, the Chilean public begins to grow angry with the Government for wasting so much money on propaganda, when crippled soldiers, many blinded by the effects of quicklime return home and are left for the most part to wander the streets of the capital, looking for their families or somewhere to stay. [-75 Gold from Chile, +500 Conscripts to Chile, Chilean public want better care for ex-soldiers]

OOC: I got bored waiting for orders, so I wrote about Chile.
 
The Kingdom of Belgium condemns the Bolivian use of Quicklime on the Chilean Army.

Leopold I, King of the Belgians
 
We condemn the Bolivian use of quicklime against our brave soldiers, I propose that we ban the use of Quicklime on the International scale as we could clearly see, the effects of it are brutal and inhumane.
 
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Kingdom of Manchuria


Manchuria would like to agree that quicklime, as demonstrated on the fields in Bolivia, is a terribly inhumane weapon, and will condemn the Bolivian government for its use on the field of battle.

We would also like to protest the Kingdom of Spain's plans for a Naval Treaty as a noble but simply impossible cause to limit the navies of the world and their nation's sovereignty. There will almost certainly be several major powers that are unwilling to sign the document, and they will be destined to rule over those that have limited themselves (albeit with the intentions of peace) into such a weakened position on the seas of the Earth.
 
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Staatpresident Marthinus Pretorius van die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek​

I find the proposal to ban quicklime silly and pointless. Simply agreeing that no one should use quicklime will not stop anyone from using quicklime, nor any other toxin or gas or what have you. Furthermore, war, by its very nature, is brutal and inhumane. Quicklime is simply another weapon, like guns or pistols or cannons.
 
The Sultan of Morocco Feels that Quicklime in itself is a horrific weapon maiming the people it inflicts. However What it represents may not be. Should Chemical weapons Technology advance sufficiently Weapons of this nature could kill quicker and less painfully than the Rifles many armies use today. However for such a weapon to be ethical it must be lethal enough in high doses to kill quickly and painlessly and harmless in low concentrations so it doesn't cause casualties in civilian populations located nearby. However he feels that the ability to do this is decades off and the use of Chemical substances in warfare will likely always be controversial subject.
 
The Oriental Republic of Uruguay firmly condemns the Bolivian atrocities in war, only compared to the inhuman and ignoble slaughter of sleeping and defenseless Paraguayan troops by the Brazilian cavalry. Battles are to be fought with honor and bravery in the battlefield, and surrendered and defenseless men and women are to be taken prisoners, not simply slaughtered.

We firmly believe a fundamental difference between the civilized nations and the barbarians is that we still have our sense of humanity and honor. We would like to request an international condemnation of this practices before they degrade to cannibalism, scalping, disrespecting the holy days such as Christmas, or otherwise following heathen customs.
 
The Kingdom of Spain condemns the use of quicklime as a savage weapon hardly befitting a civilized conflict, and, once again, calls for the Bolivian and Chilean governments to enter negotiations towards a settlement of the conflict, to prevent further destruction and mayhem which is bound to happen, due to the lower level of civility in the conflict brought upon by the use of quicklime upon enemy forces.