Editing 1991 Bjeorg Conflict (section)

==Instigating Events==
At the time of the onset of conflict, the [[Bjeorg Province|Province of Bjeorg]] had a population of around 3 million. The province comprised all of Bjeorg isle, a large island tens of kilometers off the west coast of mainland Libertas Omnium Maximus and separated by the Strait of Saint Peter. The island was connected to the mainland by three main junctions, the ''Ilien Tunnel'', an automobile tunnel running beneath the strait, and two cable-stayed suspension bridges, both designed for mixed cargo and passenger rail use. At the time, the Bjeorg economy was small, chiefly agrarian, developing slowly, and was culturally distinct from the rest of the nation. These and many additional factors had long since generated animosity between Bjeorg and the broader Maximusian Republic, but tensions came to a head in the late 1980s.  

=== Seeds of Secession ===
In 1990, a nonbinding [[1990 Bjeorg independence referendum|referendum]] was added to the Bjeorg gubernatorial election ballot polling Bjeorgite voters on whether or not they would support Bjeorg seceding from the Maximusian Republic. A majority of voters did voice support for the cause, but most assumed the ballot measure was a political stunt which Bjeorgite representatives to the [[Maximusian Senate]] would use to push for legislation more favorable to rural interests. In months following the referendum, a test case was tried before the Maximusian High Court. The court declared that secession was not a right provinces maintained and, as such, the referendum measure was deemed illegitimate and invalid. 

On June 10th, 1990, a regional politician named James Wilson was arrested at the Bjeorg Provincial Assembly Building following an impassioned speech encouraging violent resistance to federal authority shortly after the High Court ruling was delivered. His speech and subsequent imprisonment was captured as one of the rallying cries for what would eventually become the Bjeorg rebel movement.

{{Quote|author=James Wilson|text="Bjeorg’s recent appeal to the Maximusian government has been denied. Our yearning for freedom and independence has been crushed under the tyrannical boot of a rigged judicial system. [...] Our federal government has been systematically stripping us of our rights, all the while force feeding us lies that these actions are for the greater good. What of us? Do we not matter? [...] If we cannot have our independence playing their games, we must stop playing. A display of force is our only option. I love Bjeorg. We love Bjeorg; we will set her free!”}}

===Assassinations===
Throughout late June of 1991, [[Aurora Novo Militum]] (ANM), a paramilitary organization devoted to Bjeorg independence, began carrying out clandestine terrorist attacks against Maximusian institutions and specific individuals they viewed as opponents to Bjeorgite secession. On July 8, 1991, Melissa Thornton, a federal prosecutor dispatched to investigate ANM, was killed when agents, likely affiliated with ANM (though the attack was never claimed), detonated an improvised explosive device under the runway of the Château sur les Rochers Airport, destroying a taxiing aircraft Mrs. Thornton was travelling in.

===Involvement of Xiomeran Mercenaries===
As a number of independent, uncoordinated Bjeorgite militia and revolutionary groups began organizing in the early summer of 1991, they found themselves wildly outgunned, even just compared to the small number of [[Maximusian Army|Maximusian troops]] stationed on military bases throughout the isle. Several of these groups vigorously sought help from nations friendly to the black market trade of weapons and ammunition in rectifying the dearth of firepower. One of the key proponents for supplying the rebel forces before the beginning of the conflict were mercenaries operating out of [[Xiomera]]. According to documents recovered by the the Zamastanian [[Zamastanian Intelligence Service|intelligence service]], several cargo ships owned by Xiomeran companies knowingly smuggled heavy arms and artillery into Bjeorg in weeks leading up to open conflict, often under the cover of night. Even after the establishment of a Zamastanian [[Zamastanian Naval Forces|naval blockade]] in July of 1991, many Xiomeran commercial freighters were able to run the blockade and continue outfitting Bjeorgite partisans.

Hardware smuggled by the Xiomerans into Bjeorg may have exceeded twenty tanks, dozens of armored personnel carriers, hundreds of artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns, a hundred surface-to-air missile launchers, 16 helicopters, and around $50 million in ammunition. During the conflict, around 50 Xiomeran mercenary officers and 1500 ground soldiers were directly deployed to Bjeorg. Mercenary officers also provided substantive combat training for Bjeorg militias and locals who joined the fight, many of whom had never held a rifle before in their life.