Estalia–Rhode Island War

Estalia-Rhode Island War
The aftermath of Rhode Island obbybombing Estalia's market at 0,0.
Date 24 July 2022 - Ongoing Location Estalia, Rhode Island, KOEL, Titan, Icenia, most of the (-,-) Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Estalia Kingdom of ErrorL (rump state) Supported by: Titan Industries	Rhode Island
Commanders and leaders
Risunsky Gregy165 S4NTA Ez2Clutch† ZachAttack	Capri† Thomas pds0303 Vanax Adderral
Casualties and losses
4 Pearled 3 Pearled	11 Pearled
2 non-combatants pearled

The Estalia-Rhode Island War, sometimes known as the Generic War, is an ongoing war between the nations of Estalia and Rhode Island on CivMC. The war has been the subject of a large amount of international attention, with such organizations as the the Daily Nut, the Lambat Post and the Pavian Tribune frequently reporting on it.

Prelude

The war was largely the result of existing animosity between players of the two nations predating server launch. Despite attempts to remedy the issue, notably through the signing of a Non Aggression Treaty between both sides, tensions would continue to rise and eventually escalate into war.

The Bob_the_BuiIder Incident

On 23 July 2022 Rhode Island citizen Bob_the_BuiIder, despite warnings, trespassed at an Estalian XP compound, the following day, 24 July, he would once again trespass at the same XP compound.

This action would prompt Estalian players, Walkers and ThePayman to follow Bob_the_BuiIder's movements into the city center of neutral Nara. Bob_the_BuiIder would respond to the perceived threat by quickly boating back towards Rhode Island territory, the Estalians would follow, with their force being boosted in the ocean by Ez2Clutch and several other players, while some attempts were made to break Bob_the_BuiIder's boat.

Following Bob_the_BuiIder's arrival at Rhode Island's iceroad and territory, all Estalians would abandon pursuit, with the exception of Ez2Clutch who would continue to move onto Rhode Island territory, pinging farm snitches. Rhode Island fighter Capri interpreted this action as an attack, and launched a strike against Ez2Clutch, who was then joined in defense by several other Estalians. During the following group fight, Capri would be pearled, this event would mark the beginning of hostilities in the war.

In the statement presented at the start of the conflict, Estalia would claim that the Estalian forces had no serious intention of pearling Bob_the_BuiIder. While Rhode Island would claim that Bob_the_BuiIder's chasing by Estalia was a purposeful breaking of the Non-Agression Pact, and that Ez2Clutch had sought to provoke and bait Rhode Island into starting the fight.

War Breaks Out

Initial Confrontations

On 25 July Rhode Island would perform an attack on a Estalian Slime farm and bunker, justifying it as a response to the events of the day prior. Attempts to stop the conflict through diplomatic means failed, and the war would continue through a series of back and forth attacks and raids by both sides on each others farms and infrastructure, with Rhode Island losing a significant amount of pearls while Estalia suffered no losses.

The war, and its origin as a conflict born out of old pre-launch grudges, was seen with great cynicism by a large part of the community, who would see it as a predictable repeat of similar conflicts on previous servers, mockingly giving it the title of the "Generic War".

On 26 July, the nation of Kallos would publicly declare its neutrality on the conflict, a few days later Kallos would become one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement, a movement of nations who sought to distance themselves from the conflict, and which notably included as founding members several other nations that had previously been part of Rhode Island.

Escalation

On 1 August, Rhode Island would perform an attack on the Estalian trading hub of 0,0, obbybombing and breaking several bunkers, traps, shops and, notably, griefing the Gregy165 statue and three of the signs placed by players at 0,0. The attack and its perceived nature as grief of non-military infrastructure would spark international outrage, including an official condemnation of the attack by Pavia. In a statement released the following day, Rhode Island would justify its actions by framing most of the infrastructure targeted as being of a military nature and apologizing for the grief of the Gregy165 statue and signs.

On 4 August, Shadno, a neutral Icenian trader selling stone to Estalia, would be pearled by Rhode Island. This pearling would spark a diplomatic incident between the two nations with Icenia releasing a public statement on the matter, condemning the attack and framing it as a continuation of a series of provocations by Rhode Island players against Icenia. Icenia would receive broad support in its condemnation, with many seeing the incident as an attempt by Rhode Island to drag the neutral nation into the war.

ThePayman would be pearled by Adderral on 5 August, during an attack on a nether portal bunker co-owned by Rhode Island, this would be the first pearl lost by Estalia during the war, with Rhode Island having lost 9 pearls of their own by that point. As of 7 August, after several days of fighting, Estalia had successfully disabled the bunker.

A scuffle broke out on August 8th between players from Rhode Island and Titan Industries when players from Titan managed to lure out Adderal, Vanax35, and T0mmyShelby0 and proceeded to ambush them. Adderall and Vanax would be able to break away, but T0mmyShelby0 would end up pearled by Raedars.

On August 9th, u/6ft5_king stated on a reddit post that the Estalians Ez2Clutch, SwiftFizz, and Carson had been pearled, a fact later confirmed by the Daily Nut, marking a large victory for Rhode Island.

Rhode Island change in leadership

On the 11th, u/gthomas4 announced on reddit in an open letter that, after a month of absence, they have re-assumed leadership of Rhode Island. Citing concern over obby bombing, which was described as "fundamentally against [Rhode Island's] ethos", and the "undiplomatic nature" of the "zoomers", mentioning players Adderall and Vanax, they had re-taken control of Rhode Island thanks to their primary ownership of reinforcement group. Concerned with the future of Rhode Island and wanting their players to continue playing, gthomas4 stated that they will not surrender to Estalia, and proposed conditions to all parties involved in the war.

Firstly, they offered to pay reparations to any party that was "wronged to shittery that was done by zoomers", additionally reaching out to Icenia to see if the pearling of Shadno, an Icenian not involved as a fighter in the war, could be rectified, and indeed they were freed the next day. Gthomas4 stated that Adderall and Vanax would be pearled and held by a third party after hostilities would finish with Estalia, later saying they were needed to defend against Estalian attacks. Finally, they offered a white peace with Estalia, with every pearl being returned to their respective nation and potential reparations being paid for the actions of Adderall and Vanax, but stated that "under no circumstances will I be "giving up groups" or paying exorbitant reps", accepting that the war may continue.

While many were hopeful for "peace in our time" and commended the return of Rhode Island's previous leader, hostilities continued at an Estalian cactus farm, which was the recipient of obby damage, and no deaths occurring. Leader of Estalia, Gregy165, afterwards said: "the unfounded obsidian bombing attack on our cactus farm and allies will not go unpunished", suggesting an Estalian counter-attack, and the continuation of the war, is unavoidable.