Understanding War Naming Conventions
Entry posted by Stagger Lee ·
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The discussion for what to name the current conflict was posted nearly immediately following the war's inception. While most realized that it was far too early to determine an accurate name of a hardly finished war, I believe that it would be good to begin a dialogue on war naming conventions, and give general talking points or thoughts on the process. After all, this is near the beginning of a game that most of us hope has a long future ahead of it, and this will almost certainly not be the last war that does not have an unambiguously accurate term.
When considering naming a conflict, there are a number of factors that contribute to the final term the community uses. The most straightforward approach is: What was the Casus Belli, or who were the direct belligerents? The second instead looks at the reasons the war has come to be in the first place. What prompted the declarations of war from the so-called 'Axis Powers' upon VE? Finally, a more organic term may be used, if there is a single person, event, statement, feeling, or alliance that totally encapsulates the aesthetic of the war. It is because of this natural final name potential that naming a war before its conclusion is premature.
One would be quick to point to VE's rising power and influence and the desire to halt their growth as the central reason. As such, many have referred to this conflict as "the Great VE War", a name that seems to be popular. It's not unreasonable speculation to assert that the 'Axis Powers' declared war on VE first in order to gain as much of a military advantage as possible, given the fact that they had knowledge that VE received the leaked war planning screenshots and had a Casus Belli. Giving all of the attention to VE, however, ignores the fact that VE was merely the catalyst for a larger conflict.
As we saw from the screenshots, VE was to be used as a pretext to weaken Rose for a subsequent conflict. This tension began at the conclusion of the Marionette War. Ignoring the implications from the end of and period following the Marionette War ignores much of the reason behind why the current conflict was orchestrated. It can then be attractive to then call this war the 'Second Marionette War' as many have done, as the cause was intertwined with the conclusion of the first. Despite this, the 'Second Marionette War' ignores VE's presence, potentially downplaying the larger perceived threat the 'Axis Powers' saw in VE, and the way in which they were planning on weakening Rose.
Another name may surface that better describes this conflict than the two listed. We shouldn't be quick to name the war before we see it fully play out. What I hope I've done is provided some thought behind how to name wars in the future. Although fun and propaganda can be had from trying to find clever or silly names for conflicts, the names that are likely to be easily remembered and descriptive are those that follow one of these criteria, not names that are shoe-horned into fitting.
Thanks for giving this post a read. My hope is to delve into P&W a bit more than the typical superficial nature of forum posts. I believe doing these sorts of thought experiments is entertaining and enlightening, even if they don't lead to any conclusion at the end of the day.
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