Cold War

Cold War
The SOLG, developed during the Cold War
Preceding	Osean War
Concurrent	Rectan Conflict Tyumen Dispute Kholm coup d'état
Following	Belkan War
Details
Date	1980s–2000
Combatants
Osea
Yuktobania

The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension between the Osean Federation and the Union of Yuktobanian Republics in the 1980s and 1990s. "Cold" refers to the lack of direct large-scale fighting between the two countries, as they merely expanded their nuclear arsenals and developed new weaponry to counter each other.

The Cold War abruptly ended in 1995 when the Belkan Federation declared war on its neighboring countries, including Osea. They settled their differences with Yuktobania and allied with them in the ensuing Belkan War. Both countries also worked together to face the threat posed by the Ulysses 1994XF04 asteroid. However, the Cold War's legacy continued for years, culminating in the Circum-Pacific War in 2010.

History

Rising tensions

The Cold War is cited as having started in the 1980s, but no single date or event is attributed to the rising tensions. At the time, Osea and Yuktobania experienced large economic and military growth, and expanded their nuclear weapon capabilities. As a result, the two countries became the most influential superpowers on the planet, naturally pitting them against each other as rivals. They subsequently entered a state of mutually assured destruction.

Weapons development

With their nuclear arsenals acting as a backdrop, both Osea and Yuktobania began improving upon intercontinental ballistic missile technology. Among other things, this included improvements to ICBM range and deployment, early warning and recon satellites, and ICBM interception tactics such as lasers and surface-to-air missile defenses. In Osea, these developments were part of a program named the Strategic Defense Initiative.

The Scinfaxi in Okchabursk

Concurrent with these developments, Yuktobanian Navy Admiral Leonov proposed a new project known as the "Arsenal Ship", a naval vessel capable of carrying hundreds of missiles. The Arsenal Ship concept would be re-purposed to develop stealth submarines acting as underwater missile and aircraft carriers. In 1991, Yuktobanian Prime Minister Samanov formally announced the new Scinfaxi-class of submarines and the Scinfaxi as the class's pilot ship. The submarine class would continue to see further development, particularly in reducing the number of crew required to man the ship. The Hrimfaxi was later developed with these improvements in mind.

The Strategic Orbital Linear Gun

Osea responded by further developing anti-missile technology to counter these submarines and explored the possibilities of planting such technology in space. As part of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Osea had begun building the Strategic Orbital Linear Gun (SOLG), which would use kinetic energy to annihilate missile silos. This would be useless against submarines, and the satellite would not be able to engage missiles already launched. Thus, Osea's Department of Defense conceptualized a "maneuverable orbiting spacecraft", one that could change its orbit at any time and use lasers to destroy missiles regardless of their launch phase. However, the Cold War ended before this concept could be made into reality.

Cessation

The flags of the countries in the Belkan War flying over Lumen; Osea's in foreground, Yuktobania's in background

Main article: Belkan War

While the Cold War continued, Osea was also involved in Belka's economic crisis. Osea's involvement in Ustio's independence, as well as in the Five Great Lakes Resource Exploration Company, resulted in anti-Osean sentiment within Belka, who declared war in March 1995. They invaded all of their former lands, including a portion of eastern Osea.

Yuktobania, defying their tensions with Osea, joined the Allied Forces to fight against Belka. Despite being on a separate continent, Yuktobania provided logistical support to the Allied Forces, particularly by sending pilots from the Yuktobanian Air Force to fight in the war. Yuktobania was also a signatory of the peace treaty that ended the war, though their role was limited in the peace negotiations. By this point, the tensions between the two countries had dispelled, and they began a road to peace.

Legacy

The Cold War impacted Osean-Yuktobanian relations for over a decade after the Belkan War, and also had a major impact on world events during and after the conflict.

Excalibur

Excalibur, a Belkan development during the Cold War

Due to the advances in ICBM technology, Belka saw fit to develop its own Ballistic Missile Defense program. They utilized laser technology similarly to Osea, and created the Excalibur laser tower under the program.

Nuclear weapons

Development of nuclear weapons presumably went on unabated, especially during the Cold War, until June 1995 when Belka detonated seven nuclear devices in its own territory. Following this, the world's nations backpedaled and began promoting global arms reduction policies. Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament were key fixtures of these policies. Such efforts included members of Usea's Council of Foreign Ministers making special mention of it during negotiations for a planetary defense against Ulysses, as well as the international signing and adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by 2008.

SOLG

After the Belkan War started, Osea continued developing the SOLG to use it against Belka if the situation called for it. The SOLG was still incomplete when the peace treaty was signed, and Osea abandoned it in the atmosphere afterward.

Usean Allied Forces

Countries on the Usean continent viewed Osea and Yuktobania's rapid military development as a threat. By the mid-1990s, many Usean countries banded together to create the Usean Allied Forces.

This alliance was tested when a group of southern Usean countries attempted to join the Osean Federation in 1997 through a military pact. Conservative extremists launched a coup d'etat across the continent, and the Usean Allied Forces were embroiled in the Usean coup d'état for the next year and a half.

Arkbird

The Arkbird, developed in the 2000s from the Cold War "maneuverable orbiting spacecraft" concept

After the Ulysses asteroid impacted Earth in 1999, many of its fragments remained stuck in the atmosphere. These fragments posed a threat to the planet as well as all satellites in orbit. Both Osea and Yuktobania expressed desire in cleaning up the atmosphere, and they decided to partner together in developing a solution. They determined that Osea's "maneuverable orbiting spacecraft" concept from the Cold War would be the ideal solution.

Using Osea's design as a basis and Yuktobania's modifications, within a few years, the Arkbird was created. By 2008, the Arkbird had cleared up over 80% of the atmosphere's debris, and it had become a worldwide symbol of peace. To that end, the Arkbird became the host of the G7 Summit in 2008.

Circum-Pacific War

The Grey Men, a secret organization of super-nationalist Belkans, orchestrated the Circum-Pacific War between Osea and Yuktobania as revenge for Belka's loss in the Belkan War. Their efforts were successful in part due to the members of both countries' militaries still holding animosity for each other.

Many weapons developed in the Cold War were used during the Circum-Pacific War, most notably the Scinfaxi, Hrimfaxi, Arkbird, and SOLG, the latter two being hijacked by the Grey Men. All of these weapons were destroyed by the Wardog and Razgriz Squadrons.

Trivia

• The destruction of all remaining weapons developed in the Cold War by 2019 can be considered a permanent end to its legacy.
• Strangereal's Cold War alludes to the real-life Cold War between the United States of America and the former Soviet Union.
  • However, Strangereal's Cold War was not as intense as its real-life counterpart. There is no evidence of proxy wars between Osea and Yuktobania, and Strangereal's Cold War only lasted a maximum of 15 years, whereas the real-life Cold War lasted around 44 years.