Operation Enduring Stability

[ReuKinChe]

Following the fall of the Occitanian Empire, violence rapidly spread, as militias took advantage of the power vacuum to carve out their own territories. Much like in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, decades of simmering ethnic and political tensions began to boil. The situation in geographic Occitania was relatively stable, as there were no nationalist uprisings. In Madrid, a democratic uprising began, before signing a ceasefire with Occitania. A fascist uprising began in Barcelona, with leaders pledging to "restore Catalonia's national glory". Due to guerrilla warfare, the Spanish provisional government was unable to properly fight the Catalonians, and was pushed out of the Catalonian region.

Meanwhile, a coup began in Portugal, seizing large portions of the Occitanian navy. As the new Portuguese state lacked land forces, they began to aerially bombard Occitanian positions from sea, and to target shipping. As a result, international trade in the Mediterranean was jeopardised. In a decisive naval engagement, the Occitanians were unable to defeat the Portuguese navy, and were pushed into the Mediterranean.

While the Occitanian navy was preoccupied with the Portuguese, the Catalonians, who were in an alliance with Portugal, seized the Balearic Islands.

In an attempt to preserve international shipping in the Mediterranean, the Occitanian government ceded Gibraltar to Lumia. In the Gulf of Cadiz, the Lumian navy forced a surrender of the Portuguese fleet, neutralising the Portuguese threat to trade. Troops landed in and around Gibraltar, and reopened the Strait of Gibraltar to international shipping.

After the Catalonians committed war crimes, Lumian landing craft were deployed to the Balearic Islands, where they avoided makeshift fortifications and forced the surrender of hostiles. In a few days, the islands had been lightly militarised, and became a forward operating base. A week later, Lumian forces made landfall around Barcelona, and successfully captured the city, with minimum collateral damage, due to the low presence of Catalonian forces. After the capture of the capital, Catalonia began to work with the other states in organising a ceasefire.