West African War
The West African War is a conflict fought in the former French colonial sphere in West Africa between the Pan-African Liberation Front and the Free French Liberation Forces as well as the latter's allies and/or client states. It serves as a proxy war between the Empire of Japan, who backs the PALF, and the United States of America, who supports the French.
Background
"At the root of our civilization, there is the freedom of each person of thought, of belief, of opinion, of work, of leisure." -Charles de Gaulle
Following the Armistice of the 22nd of June 1940 which effectively constituted the surrender of France to the Nazis, brigadier-general Charles de Gaulle rallied the colonial forces of French Africa to form a resistance. Adopting the "Croix de Lorraine", a symbol traditionally associated with strong anti-German sentiment, General de Gaulle declared the Free French Republic. Free France would carry out anti-German operations in the Métropole as well as seeing direct combat in Africa.
Following the surrender of the United Kingdom in 1943 and the atomic bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1945, Free France was the last standing member of the Allied powers. German terror-bombings as well as the slow collapse of authority as the dream of returning to France seeming less and less likely by the day caused the French to begin to lose their grasp over West Africa. The emergence of the Pan-Africanist Cameroon African State only confounded their troubles as Free France now had to contend with an equally-powerful regional enemy-- and one (seemingly) more in tune with the desires of the people.
Over time, without French authority in the region, new African republics and kingdoms would emerge, and though devastated by German terror bombings from Reichskommissariat Südwestafrika, these new states would be the determining factor in the coming conflict between all different causes that claimed to represent the people of Africa.
Explanation
The West African War has three possible scenarios, with the PALF always forming in all 3 scenarios. Scenario 1 and 3 are two-way wars that involves the PALF and either WAA or FMA respectively. On the other hand, scenario 2 is a three-way war between FMA, WAA and the PALF. Below are the three different outlines for how to tell what scenario you have.
Scenario 1: WAA vs. PALF
In order to figure out what scenario you will be facing for the West African War, first look at the nation of Benin on the border between Yorubaland and Ghana. Should Benin be a Free French puppet state, then you may be facing either Scenario 1 or Scenario 2.
Scenario 1 is easily the rarest of the three scenarios. It plays out similarly to Scenario 3, with the Free French peacefully annexing Mossiland. However, the Free French will join the West African Alliance instead of creating their own faction.
The United States of America will be allowed to send military aid to the Free French, Wolofian and their allies while the Japanese Empire will be allowed to send military aid to the Pan-Africanists and their faction.
Scenario 2: FMA vs. WAA vs. PALF
This three-way rendition of the conflict is potentially the most agonizing event in the entirety of The New Order: Last Days of Europe. If you have an allergy to bordergore, then bring an epipen to this conflict, because you will never see something as disgusting as this in your life.
In order to figure out what scenario you will be facing for the West African War, first look at the nation of Benin on the border between Yorubaland and Ghana. Should Benin be a French puppet state, then you may be facing either Scenario 1 or Scenario 2.
After the terror-bombings of West Africa cease as a consequence of the South African War, Free France will launch an invasion of Mossiland and annex it into their territory. Fearing the rebirth of French imperialism and amid tension and fear that any one of them might be the next subject of the French, Wolofia and several other West African republics will form the West African Alliance - in theory, a counterbalance to the French Military Alliance and the Pan-African Liberation Front. Following this, tensions will begin to rise and at a critical flashpoint, all three pacts will go to war with each other.
The United States of America will be allowed to send military aid to the French and their allies while the Japanese Empire will be allowed to send military aid to the Pan-Africanists and their faction. The West African Alliance, however, will likely spoil the odds of the Free French winning and lead to Free France being capitulated, shortly followed by a Cameroonian victory.
Scenario 3: FMA vs. PALF
In order to figure out what scenario you will be facing for the West African War, first look at the nation of Benin on the border between Yorubaland and Ghana. Should Benin be a pan-Africanist state, you will be facing a war between two factions - the French Military Alliance and the Pan African Liberation Front.
After the terror-bombings of West Africa cease as a consequence of the South African War, Free France will peacefully annex Mossiland into their territory. Sometime later, the Free French will sign the French Military Alliance with several other West African states. The Cameroonian African State will also invade Yorubaland and annex them. Briefly thereafter, civil war will begin in Ghana between the Pan-Africanist Convention People's Party and the proper government of the state. The French Military Alliance pledges aid to Ghana while the Pan-African Liberation Front supports the Convention People's Party, causing the conflict to escalate into war, at which point the proxy conflict begins.
The United States of America will be allowed to send military aid to the French and their allies while the Japanese Empire will be allowed to send military aid to the Pan-Africanists and their faction.
Outcomes
If the Pan-African Liberation Front wins the West African War, then Pan-Africanist governments will take over most of West Africa (including the Eburnian Republic, which is formed after Ivory Coast is liberated from French rule) and join Cameroon's new economic sphere. Following this, the Pan-Africanists will move in on the remaining neutral states in West Africa, like Liberia, and put them under pan-Africanist governments as well. The French will be banished to Kerguelen and like Napoleon at St. Helena, with no chance of ever returning home, will lay there, slowly waiting for death to take them, with their only hope being Antoine Pinay or the French Resistance winning at the Métropole and inviting them back home.
If the French are triumphant in the war, they will turn most of West Africa into neocolonies, except for Cameroon itself, which will collapse into a messy civil war that is unlikely to resolve itself. From this position, the Free French will petition the government of the Iberian Union to allow them passage through its territory, culminating in an invasion of the French State. Regardless of whether they are successful or not in this task, in 1971, Charles de Gaulle will die and any momentum in the Free French movement will swiftly thereafter evaporate.
Trivia
- As all conflicts in TNO are based in some capacity on conflicts that happened in real life, the West African War is often compared to the real-life Vietnam War and in fact, in the super event for the FMA vs. PALF vs. WAA version of the conflict, audio of protests against the Vietnam War as well as news reports on those aforementioned protests are used.