Bridgestadt Pact

The Bridgestadt Pact, formally known as the League of International Cooperation and Collective Security and unofficially referred to as the Anti-Comintern Pact, is a military and political organization primarily comprised of Ed Island, Magyaria, and Osterreach (whose government is currently in exile in Magyaria), first founded in 1945 as the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation. Primarily intended to prevent the spread of Communism, heavily described by member states as being a poisonous ideology, the Bridgestadt Pact later grew to encompass many similarly nationalist nations.

Today the Bridgestadt Pact remains a minor organization in Antarctica, overshadowed by the much larger Axle Powers (of which Ed Island is a member) and Western Union.

Nomenclature

 * English: League of International Cooperation and Collective Security
 * German: Liga für internationale Zusammenarbeit und kollektive Sicherheit
 * Hungarian: Nemzetközi Együttműködési és Kollektív Biztonsági Liga
 * Serbo-Croatian: Liga međunarodne saradnje i kolektivne bezbednosti
 * Polish: Liga współpracy międzynarodowej i bezpieczeństwa zbiorowego
 * Spanish: Liga de Cooperación Internacional y Seguridad Colectiva
 * Viking: Liga for internasjonalt samarbeid og kollektiv sikkerhet

Strategy
The Bridgestadt Pact's primary military strategy during the False War was to defeat the enemy through technologically superior means, as the Snowviet Union and Zhou possessed far more manpower. In the present day, this tactic remains, but has been modified to reflect the strategies used by Snowzerland or the United Provinces.

Military
Ed Island's military heavily influenced those of the other Bridgestadt Pact members, having provided large amounts of weapon and technological aid to its allies. Most notable is the wide adoption of the Stahlhelm helmet, first designed and used by Ed Island during the Khanzem War and becoming a prominent symbol of the pact. Similar to SATO's cartridge standardization across its members, Bridgestadt Pact members were heavily encouraged by Ed Island to adopt the 7.92x57mm and 7.92x33mm cartridges, of which all members other than Snowiny and Castilla had done.

Due to the technology transfer policies of the pact, military equipment is given and sold between the pact members at a much lower price than to foreign nations, allowing larger amounts of hardware and materiel to be transferred. Initially while this served to further improve Ed Island's allies, it also allowed the nation to maintain control over its allies. This is especially apparent when it comes to naval strength; Ed Island possesses the only major blue water navy in the pact.

The Bridgestadt Pact possesses no unified military structure, the closest to such being Ed Island's Waffen-SF foreign divisions. It is not uncommon, however, to see integrated military units during training exercises. Magyarian and Osterrean Exile forces have also been recently included in Axle Powers training scenarios as foreign allied nations, although not part of the organization itself.

RED FLAG
Exercise: RED FLAG is an aerial combat training exercise organized by Ed Island several times a year. First held in 2001, it is intended to offer realistic air combat training for military pilots within the Bridgestadt Pact, Axle Powers, SATO, and other allied countries. Typically at least four RED FLAG exercises are held in a year; two in Snowjave and two in the Comona Islands. These exercise take place over a two-week period and provide real world training in not only combat but aerial refueling, electronic warfare, airborne early warning radar, and other auxiliary roles.

Only countries deemed friendly towards Ed Island take part in RED FLAG exercises. To date, the countries to have participated include:


 * Austiceiaflag.png Austiceia
 * Pengvaria Flag.png Batavia
 * Flag of Calada.png Calada
 * Culldromeislesflag.png Culldrome Isles
 * Ed Island Flag.png Ed Island
 * Glaw Independent Flag.png Glaw
 * Magyaria Flag.png Magyaria
 * Munijoch.jpg Munijoch
 * Osterreach Nationalist Flag.png Osterreach
 * Pengonia Flag.png Pengonia
 * UK Flag 2.png Puffle'and
 * Flag of the Seal Islands.svg Seal Islands
 * ShopsIslandFlag2013.png Shops Island
 * SouthJoseonFlag.png South Joseon
 * Tropicalis Flag.png Tropicalis
 * Newestpenguio.png United Penguin Islands
 * USA flag.PNG United States of Antarctica
 * UnitedTerra flag.PNG UnitedTerra

Criticism
The Bridgestadt Pact has been accused of being a "new Naughtzee alliance" due to the nationalist ideologies surrounding the alliance and the three founding members all having allied with Khanzem during the Khanzem War. Beyond the countries' firm anti-Communist stance, this accusation holds little water but continues to be used by the United Provinces and Western Union.

History
In the wake of the Wulfen War, Ed Island sought to solidify its relationship with Osterreach and Magyaria, both of which having provided aid against the Neumenian Reich. The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation was signed in 1945 in the city of Bridgestadt, assuring each signatory would provide military aid to each other and allowed for technology transfers to further boost the collective militaries. Notable was the spread of jet aircraft and automatic weaponry from Ed Island, rapidly expanding the Magyarian and Osterrean arsenals.

The extreme military buildup of the 1940s and 50s and False War of the remaining 20th century saw many nationalist nations grow closer as allies in order to combat the imperialist and communist threats also growing across Antarctica. By 1952, the Bridgestadt Pact had reached six members with the inclusion of South Alemania, the Republic of Snowiny, and fascist Castilla. The Bridgestadt Pact placed a heavy emphasis on self-reliance and independence from other nations, contrasting other more tight-knit communities.

In 1996, civil war broke out in the Republic of Snowiny. The war would be devastating and after 10 years resulted in a defeat of the nationalist government, establishment of the democratic Second Republic of Snowiny, and the withdrawal of Snowiny from the Bridgestadt Pact.

In 2010, Osterreach was targeted alongside several other Ninja Archipelagoan nations by Snowzerland in its imperialist conquests. Despite efforts by Ed Island and Magyaria to defend their ally, Osterreach ultimately fell to the Snoss invaders. Much of the Osterrean government and citizens fled to Magyaria to form a government-in-exile which continues to exist to this day.

As of 2017, the Bridgestadt Pact as an entity has only participated in four major conflicts; the False War, the STINC War in 1990, the Snoss annexation of Osterreach and Lichenstein in 2010, and the Ed-Snowinn War in 2012. Nevertheless, the members remain politically close and military prepared for future conflicts, while pledging to the liberation of Osterreach in the near future.

The inclusion of Pengonia and the United Penguin Islands in the pact's 2018 RED FLAG exercises initially led some to believe the two nations were invited to join. These theories were proven true in late October when delegates from the UPI and Ed Island met and formally announced the nation would end its traditional neutral stance within Antarctican politics and begin taking steps to join the Bridgestadt Pact in 2019.

Future
During the Shops Civil War and following continental instability, Bridgestadt forces successfully launched a campaign to liberate Osterreach and Lichenstein from Snoss control. After the short conflict, Snowzerland begrudgingly accepted the two nations' independence in exchange for renouncing all further claims of Snoss territory or puppets. Japaland was also admitted as a member of the pact in 2027 after the formation of the Japaland Self-Defense Force. Because of its terms with the United States of Antarctica, Japaland was exempt from the mutual defense obligations.

After the collapse of Shops and the subsequent disbanding of the Axle Powers, a large amount of resources were shifted to the Bridgestadt Pact, including the city of Megafloat and the occupied Puffalia-Puffarus, later incorporated into Ed Island as a territory and protectorate state respectively.

The Bridgestadt Pact maintained a close relationship with the Shops Union. While Chancellors Pill and Ed pledged their neutrality and declined membership in the Pact, they both signed numerous treaties and agreements for trade and defense.

Member States
In order of membership:
 * Ed Island Flag.png Ed Island
 * Osterreach Nationalist Flag.png Osterreach (Government-in-exile)
 * Magyaria Flag.png Magyaria
 * Glaw Independent Flag.png Glaw
 * Newestpenguio.png United Penguin Islands

Former Members

 * Alemania Flag.png South Alemania (1946-1999)
 * NationalistSnowinyFlag.png Snowiny (1947-2003)
 * Stoland.png Stoland (1947-2003)
 * Flag of Facist Castilla.png Castilla (1952-1975)

Potential Members

 * Pengonia Flag.png Pengonia - Pengonia's military and economic relationship with Ed Island have led Bridgestadt officials to consider extending membership to the nation despite its inclusion in SATO.

Snowiny
Dimitrije Lorens-Kanova, the first President of the Republic of Snowiny (from 1947 to 1958), was a staunch supporter of the Bridgestadt Pact and secured Snowinn membership inside it. His successor, Julija Lorens-Kanova, was an even more enthusiastic supporter of the Bridgestadt Pact and would take the leading role in the pact along with Ed Island. However, her successor Marko Horacije, a much more moderate person, had challenged many Bridgestadt policies.

Tensions between Ed Island and Snowiny escalated in 1977. A crisis occurred within the pact and Snowiny threatened to leave and enforce an embargo on other Bridgestadt nations, with Horacije citing "dangerous extremism" and "fanatically fascist culture" inside Ed Island. Make no mistake, however, Horacije himself was an avowed nationalist and wouldn't be in his position if he weren't - he condemned Ed Island for not taking a big enough stand against communism, which Horacije labeled as "spreading like a disease thanks to the ineffectiveness and stupidity of Bridgestadt Pact members".

Tensions deescalated in 1979 when the Bridgestadt Pact held a summit in Winsburg under subtle threat of military intervention, resulting in a détente between Snowiny and the other Bridgestadt countries and a reestablishment of normal relations. The countries announced a brand new joint anti-communist policy and during a press conference with the head of state of Magyaria with state-approved questions Horacije said that "the Bridgestadt Pact members have better relations than ever before in history and everything saying otherwise is propaganda meant to destabilize our homeland".

Population
Including occupied Osterreach, the Bridgestadt Pact has a population of approximately 55,000,000.