A Tale of Two Regions: A Brief History of TSP-Europeia Relations
Written by Westinor
On the first of July, President UPC presented a new treaty with the South Pacific to the Europeian Senate for consideration. After a debate surrounding the legislation’s title, the Treaty of the Shining Seas was passed 5-0, and presented to UPC on July 4. This treaty is the second one signed between Europeia and the South Pacific, who have shared a long history – one that stretches nearly as long as Europeia’s founding – filled with conflict and cooperation.
The era around 2010 saw Nationstates experience a lull often referred to as a general decline in the game’s activity. This had clear cut impacts on the game-created regions’ prosperity, the South Pacific included. During this time, Europeia and the South Pacific’s first true meaningful contact would be established at the hands of HEM, who would migrate over to the feeder and eventually ascend to the roles of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Things were quickly thrown into chaos at the hands of the Devonitians coup in 2012, with HEM quickly taking advantage of his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs to call in Europeian military assistance. The eventual resolution of the conflict with Europeian assistance would kickstart friendly relations that would lead to an eventual Treaty of Friendship between the two regions later that year, in the face of defender and independent factional conflicts within the South Pacific at the time. A second coup by Milograd in 2013 saw Europeia once again come to the South Pacific’s aid, with HEM adjudicating the eventual trial against Milograd. Continued partnership in the face of this adversity saw relations rise to an all time high.
However, this internal conflict within the South Pacific would sow the seeds of the alliance’s eventual downfall. As independence gradually grew into a more unified, mainstream ideology, defined by certain principles beyond non-alignment, tensions grew between the two regions, with Europeia maintaining its solidly independent stance. HEM’s involvement in the South Pacific waned, as defender-aligned Ministers of Foreign Affairs continuously clashed with Europeian independence. Tensions rose to a boiling point at the Independence Convention in 2014, when the People's Republic of Lazarus's Regional Sovereignty Conference and the Independence Convention were held at the same time. The South Pacific, being close to both the Lazarian defender regime and the more imperialist-friendly Europeia, was invited to both. However, President Kraketopia dissented with the South Pacific's attendance of both conventions, sparking a furious debate in the South Pacific over commitment to ideology that resulted in the South Pacific’s non-attendance and removal of the “Independent” tag from their gameside regional page. Relations between the South Pacific and Europeia, as well as the rest of the Independent sphere, would take nearly a decade to recover.
Europeia and the South Pacific would increasingly find themselves on the opposite sides of R/D battles as the South Pacific leaned more consistently defender. Crises like the Hilevile coup in 2016 in which Sopo participated continued to fray relations and continued arguments over coup involvement eventually dragged the alliance into the dirt. This led to the eventual collapse of the treaty in 2017, in which President Writinglegend called out the “diverging values” of the two regions.
However, changing tides would gradually bring the two regions back together. The South Pacific would commit to defender military principles in 2019, taking the stage as a leading defender region in the current era of defending. In late 2021 and early 2022, Europeia would see its operational focus shift to combating raider aggression against its allies, working alongside the South Pacific in liberations like A Liberal Haven and participating in the 2022 Defender Olympics. In August of 2022, the South Pacific and Europeia would sign the Pact of Orehana, the first step in building official relations since the 2017 treaty repeal. Ever since, the two regions have only grown closer, be it on the battlefield in liberations from New Westphalia to Far East Oriental Federation, or in cultural events like Europride, and Europeia’s official defender alignment has set the two regions solidly back on the same groundwork of ideals and principles. This treaty is the next natural step between two leading defender regions of this era, and with luck, it will mark a prosperous relationship for years to come.
