In 30
25, after a duration of 159 years, the
Third Succession War came to an end.
In 2863, after the severe Destructions and loss of Technology during the first two Succession Wars, there were attempts to broker a stable peace. But a seven week long summit on Terra in 2864 ended without result. The following two years saw an unstable truce, that could result in new combat operations anytime. One party interested in this to happen was ComStar, operator of the HPG network and keeper of the old Star League Technology, which was now mostly lost (hence it was called LosTech) in the rest of the Inner Sphere. Fearing that a long peace would lead to technological progress and the loss of its own technological advantage, ComStar successfully manipulated the Draconis Combine and in 2866 the war started again along the Combine / Commonwealth border.
The war was fought longer, but less intense than the first two. All major Houses had less resources to spend and all of them feared a further technological decline. Hence some rules of engagement were established concerning for example the protection of civilians and industrial facilities. Additionally it was agreed, that Jump Ships were excempt from any attacks, since no House had the possibility to replace them in significant numbers.
After almost 150 years of constant warfare, Archon Katrina Steiner made peace proposals toward all other Houses in 3020. She had a lot of reasons, since the Lyran Commonwealth was one of the two losers of the war, since it had to cede many worlds to the Combine and a few more to the Free Worlds League during the war. Neither House reacted, except the Federated Suns, which was the major winner of the war, having gained a large amount of worlds from the Combine and the Capellan Federation. In 3022 the FedCom Accords were signed, turning these Houses into Allies.
The other three Houses, faced with the possibility of a FedCom superpower, quickly signed the Concord of Kapteyn in late 3022 (which came into effect as of 3024) in order to end hostilities between them and encourage mutual defense and technological exchange. This proved to be difficult, since the Free Worlds League had seized some Capellan Worlds during the war and the two Houses would continue to raid each other in the future.
The Capellan Confederation, having steadily lost worlds to the Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League in the last three wars, was now the smallest of the five major realms in the Inner Sphere. Along its rimward (southern) border it had to give up several worlds and in this vacuum the Aurigan Coalition was formed, which would see a coup by House Espinosa to dethrone House Arano at the end of the Third Succession War.
