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The Expansion War was a war waged by the Bolaemia Bureaucracy against neighboring nations and their allies, including the Jiptohr Empire, Kaladian Empire, and Norb Network. Representing a continuation of the Bureaucracy's foreign policy when dealing with the numerous Czypnid states, it attempted to invade nations along its western border. Taking advantage of Kaladia's severely weakened state in the aftermath of the Fifth Verandi-Kaladian War, in the process attempting to utilize the northernmost system of the Jiptohr as a staging ground for their operations.
Expansion[]
At the outset of the Fifth Verandi-Kaladian War, Bolaemian officials began to discuss expansion, ultimately determining that they would strike while Kalada was weak. In November of 3319, during the fourth year of the war between Verandi and Kaladia, Bolaemian forces ventured west and attacked the Empire. Due to focusing on their western and core sectors in their fight against Verandi, several Kaladian colonies and worlds were taken quickly. Within months, the seven easternmost systems in Kaladia had fallen to the Bureaucracy. Simultaneously, the Bureau moved south towards the developing Jiptohr Empire, taking over its northernmost systems. With the newly-seized resources at its disposal, the Bureau began to push towards the Jiptohr home systems, and tighten its control on its Kaladian holdings, in preparation for an invasion of central Kaladia.
In a surprising move, however, the Fifth Verandi-Kaladian War came to an early end due to the Second Luna Treaty. Rather than continuing to fight the Verandi, the Kaladian Empire made large concessions - far sooner and with far fewer losses than was anticipated by Bolaemia. Without having to deal with a revitalized Verandi Empire on their western front, Kaladia could concentrate on retaking their territory. The Bureaucracy were forced to bolster their western forces, preventing them from expanding to the holdout Jiptohr systems.
Five years after their initial invasion, Bolaemia had suffered heavy losses, and was forced to agree to terms before further damage was done to their territory.
Aftermath[]
After their defeat, Bolaemia was forced to relinquish its claims to territories along its southern and western borders, limiting the possibility to expand in those directions in the future. Additionally, they were forced to agree to sizable reparations, which left their economy stagnant for several decades.
The end of the Expansion War marked the beginning of nearly a century of minor conflicts and flareups between Bolaemia and their neighbors. These conflicts eventually died down as Bolaemia retreated, only to come back in strength during the Resurgence War in 3450, due to the assimilation of the Gzydeotmid. By the time of the Bureau-Jiptohr War in the 36th century, Bolaemia's isolation and handling of foreign relations had completely degraded the strength of leadership, allowing new ideologies to flourish.