Bow Tie War

The Bow Tie War (formerly known as the Bow Tie Conflict) was a conflict that had the whole international community involved, that started with the Antarctic War on Terrorism. It had since expanded into much more though, including proof of Snowiny and Acadia using the War on Terror as an excuse to claim new territories, or Robert Smith's overall ignorance.

The war went on for 5 months and eventually Snowiny gave up and started sending its troops home. It was humiliated in the war and penguins at home were angry. A revolution would overthrow King Smith in July 2015.

Bow Tieland Crisis
On January 26, 2015, in the midst of the Antarctic War on Terrorism, King Robert Smith of Snowiny launched a full-scale occupation on the neutral, unsuspecting nation of Bow Tieland. There was no political or military justification, other than Smith's word of "we need to set up a naval base here". There was no proper political justification, such as Snowiny attempting to strike a deal with the Bow Ties. The President of the island, Bow Tie Tom, demanded peace talks, which were essentially demanding all Snowinian forces to leave his island at once. The Snowinians refused, so Bow Tie Tom rallied as many citizens as he could for a revolt (a few hundred, of Bow Tieland's 600 or so citizens), and officially waged war on Snowiny.

Unfortunately, the much larger Snowinian military showed no mercy on the small, usually peaceful island. They crushed the resistance, killing or deleting almost 100 of the militants, and capturing most of the others as prisoners of war. They also bombed the island's "Executive Square", which acts as the capital of the island. President Tom managed to rally more resistance, mainly from The Slums, and flee to the nearby island of Maverick, their allies.

International Backlash
By the night of January 27, Snowiny had declared martial law on the island, and set up their naval base and a secret agency office. They had also declared all Bow Tie militants as terrorists, including Bow Tieland's Army, which became known as the "Bow Tieland Liberation Movement" (a move that was fully backed by Acadia). The news of the occupation had spread like wildfire across Antarctica, sparking debates everywhere. The pro-war penguins stated that Snowiny was doing what it must in a time of war, whereas most penguins stated that even with the war, their total military occupation of Bow Tieland, a small peaceful, and massacre of almost 100 citizens, was illegal and unjust. President Bow Tie Tom (labelled as a terrorist by Snowiny) and his friend, Presidente Tortugadesetas of Maverick, waged a joint war against Snowiny for their treachery and dishonesty towards the UAN about the War on Terror ("using it as an excuse to occupy helpless nations").

Robert Smith pleaded to the UAN that their occupation of Bow Tieland was necessary for the war, but the UAN disagreed with that and stated it was "illegal and unjust", and "outside the realm of the War on Terrorism". Though Snowiny included Bow Tieland in their side of the war, and the BTLM as terrorists, the UAN chose not to.

Dan (older brother of Bow Tie Tom) mobilized the Pengonian navy (also his personal navy) to help combat the Snowinians, and any extra money needed to fund the conflict covertly came from Antarctic Inc., the Beronews' family fortune.

TurtleShroom (brother of Tortuga) and Holyberden also gained continent-wide attention, when they criticized the Snowinians for illegally seizing Puff Flags: Great Adventure, stopping all business there and using it as their naval port, and claimed they would soon see the biggest lawsuit ever culminated in Antarctica's court systems.

Thus, with all of this negative backlash and minor conflict, the Bow Tie Conflict had begun. For a few months it sat in a stalemate, with skirmishes between Bow Tieland and the Snowinians, with more attention being paid to protecting Bow tieland from the "terrorists" than to actively pursue them and war Maverick. That is, until May, when the Bow tie Conflict became the Bow Tie War.

Invasion of Macradonia
In May 2015, another completely illegal invasion took place, in the Dorkugese protectorate of Macradonia. A small terrorist cell had appeared in Macradonia. However, Snowiny decided to invade Macradonia without even asking the Macradonian government, nor giving the Dorkugese Empire a chance to deal with the (small) threat.

So, Snowiny, over-exaggerating the situation (claiming there was a coup d'état), allowed the free republic of Acadia (who had recently joined the Western Union) to help them in "liberating" the country after they begged to help. On May 2nd, the Acadians and Snowinians initiated airstrikes on the Macradonian capital city of Testlonica, and shortly after landed troops on the southeast coast, near Spaghette. By May 3rd, most of southeast Macradonia was under control of the coalition, with active fighting happening along the border. The "coalition" had labelled all militants here as terrorists as well, despite the Macradonian soldier's pleas to the contrary. Several more airstrikes were carried out on multiple cities under "terrorist" control on May 3rd, 4th and 5th. By May 9th, almost the entire island was under the control of the coalition, with the remaining Macradonian military having retreated to Testlonica. Testlonica fell on May 11th. Before it fell, the Macradonians sent out an SOS message to the motherland, Dorkugal, requesting help from the Empire for, what they claimed, the wrongful invasion and terrorizing of their land.

The final battle was held between the Snowinians and Macradonia's Buddy Troop, their elite and fearless fighters, known for beseeching whole cities. It lasted 5 hours, despite Snowiny's vast technological advances. They didn't give up, and at the end all 350 soldiers had been killed or captured because they physically couldn't fight any more. Though the UAN included this as part of the war, only because there was proof of some terrorist activity, they heavily scrutinized the Snowinian and Acadian governments for the probability of knowing that the penguins they were fighting weren't terrorists. With this treacherous act, Macradonia, The Geek Empire and the entire Dorkugese Empire joined the Bow Tie Alliance against Snowiny and Acadia, expanding the conflict into a full-on war. Macradonia was temporarily claimed as a joint Acadian/Snowinian territory.

Coalition surrender
In mid-May 2015, the Bow Tie Alliance made one last offer of peace, after various skirmishes for the past four months. The Dorkugese Empire had mobilized 30,000 troops from around the Dorkugese Empire, armed with Deletion rifles, and had them approaching Macradonia for liberation. Four thousand soldiers (from Bow Tieland, Maverick, and other Turtlenators), and the Pengonian navy surrounded Bow Tieland, preparing to invade and reclaim it in the name of the people. The UAN even threatened military intervention against Snowiny and Acadia from their peace corps, which didn't scare the Acadians until they saw numerous Antarctican Infantry and Tank divisions on the border.

However, the final nail in the coffin came from above. Benny had long ago approved the end of the war, in the Alliance's favor.

Though no major battle occurred, under international pressure, the Acadians officially surrendered to the Alliance on May 18, 2015, a few hours prior to the Dorkugese troops arriving in Testlonica. Snowiny was short to follow, and they surrendered later that day. The Bow Tie Alliance had won.

Results
Acadia, in addition to an apology, were forced into paying reparations to the Macradonians, and paying for everything they had destroyed. In addition, certain government officials were forced to take part in trials for war crimes, though they were never convicted. They gave a, as some claimed, half-hearted apology, stating that they were "proud to stand with [their] Western Union ally, and doing what had to be done to prevent terrorism".

As for the Kingdom of Snowiny, and the Antarctic War on Terrorism, after terrorist attacks in Vonkouver, Shops Island got involved, and helped Snowiny bring a close to the first part of the war, dissolving the NNM and Little Penland in the process. For years after the war's end, however, Snowiny gained international recognition as war-mongers, and some even went to the lengths of calling them terrorists. Of course, they were also forced to give an official apology, and personal apologies to every family of an innocent soldier they killed for personal gain (though they maintained that it was all a misunderstanding). They weren't forced to give reparations, as the UAN knew what TurtleShroom had planned for them. Robert Smith nor his associates faced war crime charges in any courts, as Snowiny is considered too big in the international scheme of things. However, a few measly generals (who had nothing to do with the actually invasions) were fired as compensation. Smith's ignorance as King, thinking he could trample unwilling participants to Snowiny's agenda under foot was a major factor into the reforming of Snowiny as the United Provinces, and getting rid of Smith in favor of a president. The AWOT itself was almost brought to a halt, and would have been had the War progressed any further, probably forgotten in favor of what would have undoubtedly been a UAN Liberation of Bow Tieland conflict against the two nations. Somehow Acadia and Snowiny were still permitted to be the heads of the war effort, despite their Bow Tie blunder. Though Acadia wanted to keep the Bow tie Liberation Movement and Dorkugal on the UAN's list of terrorists, they turned them down.

Overall, they both received bad notches in their reputations, that they wouldn't be able to shake off for some years to come, though Snowiny was affected more heavily. They both became acknowledged as part of the "war crowd", such as the crowd Shops Island was once in, which was bad for Snowiny considering the large Anti-War protests held just a year earlier. The two nations also suffered major hits to their pride, being defeated by a "small" nation like Bow Tieland, and "a Dorkugese protectorate with an outdated military". Some of the negative feelings against Snowiny disappeared when the country was reformed as the United Provinces, though some still remained.

As for Macradonia, life returned to the way it was, though Lichenblossomese troops were stationed on the island for many months, until the Macradonians could repair their military, which had taken such major losses during the invasion. May 18th became a nationwide holiday, Victory Over Oppressors Day, a holiday that Bow Tieland also accepted as a sign of nationalism and pride over their "oppressors". The Battle of Testlonica would go down in Macradonian and Antarctic history as one of the worst battles of all times, while also remaining a symbol of freedom and pride. The Buddy Troop was re-established and re-built from the bottom up, though it would also be recognized in Macradonian and Antarctic history as one of the bravest groups of soldiers to ever live. Numerous memorials and commemorations were established for the soldiers lost that day, and those lost throughout the whole invasion who fought valiantly to protect their land from "oppressors".

As for Bow Tieland, the place that started it all, they were (obviously) no longer labelled as terrorists, and their home was returned to them. Bow Tie Tom returned to running his (secretly) sleazy, corrupt government. Though, he did have to start acting better, as he and Bow Tieland as a whole became more involved in the public eye as a small, peaceful island nation. Over the next few years, the population soared from penguins looking to live right next to Puff Flags: Great Adventure, and by 2018 they had almost doubled the population of nearby Maverick. A memorial was also established here for all of the loyal soldiers "massacred by the Snowinian menace". The Bow Ties never forgave Snowiny for their "war crimes".

TurtleShroom and Holyberden loved this, as it meant more revenue for them. As promised, the group sued the (metaphorical) pants off Snowiny,and was awarded almost 30 million coins for unlawful occupation of property, disruption of business procedures, and damages to the park, as determined by USA courts, which put another dent in Snowiny's economy.

For Maverick and the other small nations, it put them into the Antarctic spotlight for a while as "protectors of peace and justice", which boosted their pride and nationalism to a new level. It also increased fame for all of Latin Antarctica, and made many penguins notice their low property prices, causing much immigration to the area.

The war ruined Acadia-Dorkugal relations, which had been good before the war since both countries were members of the Free Republic Union, and ruined Acadia's relations with the United States of Antarctica and the Free Republic Union as a whole, as Acadia felt they had been treated unfairly by both entities in favor of Dorkugal. In the months after the war, Acadia placed economic sanctions on Bow Tieland, Dorkugal, the Geek Empire, Maverick, and Pengonia, expelled the ambassadors of those countries, and nationalized all assets belonging to those countries in Acadia. These actions caused further deterioration in the relations between Acadia and the United States of Antarctica, which almost led to war between the two countries. Unlike the United Provinces, which has admitted its war crimes and apologized for them, Acadia staunchly denies any wrongdoing in Macradonia, maintaining that they acted accordingly in the fight against terrorism around the world, a position they maintain to this day.

On 7 May 2018, President Simon McClark of the United Provinces was invited for an official visit to Macradonia. He was welcomed in Testlonica with an anti-Snowinn protest, but that did not stop him from going publicly on TV to apologize for the crimes committed under Smith's regime. However, in his live statement, he also surprised the international community by accusing Robert Smith of having supported war crimes committed during the Bow Tie War, and stated that he would pay his price. Indeed, for weeks there have been talks about Robert Smith getting charged for criminal negligence. Robert Smith denied charges were being pushed against him, and denied any complicity in the war crimes - additionally, in contrast to past apologies he has given, during a UP national TV interview on 21 May he seemed to have been defending his actions during the Bow Tie War, leading to backlash from the population and a 6,000-penguin rally in Winsburg demanding Robert Smith be arrested.

Robert Smith is awaiting trial, set for July 2, coincidentally the day the 2018 Pontilex Western Union Summit starts. Processions will likely last several weeks. On 29 June, President McClark announced that a dozen more penguins were subpoenaed in connection with accusations against Robert Smith. This sparked outrage within the Acadian government, as Robert Smith was the brother of the former President Dominic Smith, and the former was popular in the Acadian government for the policies during his rule that favored Acadia, more so than the policies of the current president of the United Provinces. In his desperation, Dominic Smith attempted to hire mercenaries to free his brother, but was caught doing so, an action that sparked a major scandal within Acadian politics.

Seemingly contrary to its official position on the Bow Tie War, the Acadian government issued arrest warrants for six high ranking commanders in the Acadian military in late April 2019 for war crimes committed in Macradonia. These arrests came months after the Acadian government, under pressure from its allies, launched an official inquiry on the war crimes committed in Macradonia. Acadian military police carried out the arrests without any incidents over the course of a few hours, and the commanders were all taken to a jailhouse in Delphi to await their trial. President McClark welcomed the Acadian government's move and stated that "the UP and Acadia are democratic nations that fully respect international law and our shared values as penguinkind".

Trivia

 * Unbeknownst to them, there was no way Snowiny and Acadia could have won, as Director Benny had long ago stated "NO COUPS, BOW TIE FAMILY FOREVA"!