In times past, and, more notably, since my tenure as Chief of the Defence Staff in 828, I have been frequently asked about the importance of military action to secure the Kingdom's interests and I have, every time, affirmed that Bretonia cannot hope to maintain its current territorial holdings without firm and decisive action taken to curb the expansion of nearby states and terroristic elements alike in nature. It is thus only correct that I further explain my position on the matter in detail.
Of greatest importance to the subject at hand is the past foreign policy of the Kingdom, consisting largely of appeasement and negotiations that have succeeded in maintaining Bretonia as a linchpin in the western regions of Sirius focused on maintaining security over the neighboring Taus and Omegas. Since the formation of the Armed Forces, and beginning with the launch of the first gunboat in the sector, the HMS Glorious, Bretonia has continued a tradition of neutrality in conflicts abroad, insisting on diplomacy. Such was the course for hundreds of years, but recent developments have proven to politicians and career military officers that diplomacy is not sufficient to maintain the holdings of the Crown in times of conflict, as the size and readiness of the military and auxiliary units are but a far-cry to a solid defence of the realm. To better understand what led to these events, one must first understand the position of Bretonia in the years following the arrival in Sirius, the recent past, and the present situation.
The sleeper ship Bretonia arrived in 19 AS, many years after others such as the Liberty and the Rheinland. The late arrival was a disaster of incomparable proportions, as it forced the peoples that came with it to begin expeditions in search for resources immediately. The late arrival also meant that technological advances that Great Houses such as Liberty made became untenable, not only due to the fact that the initial discoveries of FTL travel were made in Liberty, but also due to a lack of heavy industry to facilitate the rapid development of spacecraft. However, at the same time, as the Bretonia arrived in a region beyond the Barrier, separating it from foreign influence for certainly long to allow for economic growth and stability, the Kingdom continued to expand without many troubles.
Until the formation of the Armed Forces in 334, only small rebellions threatened the realm's territorial integrity, thus convincing the bureaucratic machine of Bretonia that military action was of little importance in the affairs of state. The following centuries only deepened this belief, as the other Great Houses of Sirius sought trade and cooperation instead of war -- a solution that was, at the time, unthinkable for many regardless of their position in society. In addition to this point, Bretonia had, until that time, never necessitated large-scale militarization, owning in large part due to the complete lack of enemies both at home and abroad, with the notable exception of Corsairs in the fringe systems.
This changed drastically in 752, whereupon BMM workers acting with mere banditry ideas in mind set out a rebellion that murdered Sir Edmund Graves and caused great strife by attacking the military and police personnel in Dublin. The subsequent reaction was that of disbelief, with many thinking that the news were nothing more than propaganda. Unfortunately for the many that perished, the news brought with them an unfathomable reality that Bretonia deals with to this day -- the danger of political revolution led by the workers.
Once the dust had 'settled', military forces were ushered in to contain the Mollys in a move that saw only relative success due to the dangers of travel across the system's vast asteroid fields. Therefore, the Armed Forces embarked on a campaign of blockades, intending to dry out and force the Mollys into accepting negotiations or total surrender. Of course, the results of this approach can be viewed in the modern day, as it failed to accomplish any of its goals and only led to the capture and deaths of many servicemen. Nevertheless, where it failed to provide with a sizeable victory, the blockade kept Dublin mining operations well underway for many more years and well into the present.
Conclusions over conclusions, what can be clearly taken away from this summary is that the military of Bretonia was gravely unprepared for a conflict of even small size, which in return hurt the peoples of the nation. With a war of attrition fought in Dublin and with the basic points that outline why Bretonia must continue efforts to remilitarize in earnest, we thus move onto the recent wars that the Kingdom was subject to -- against Kusari and against Gallia.
Returning to the anterior statements about the arrival of the Bretonia in Sirius, I have mentioned how the Kingdom was highly interested in both maintaining security over the neighboring resource-rich areas, but also exploiting them for great financial and material gain. In following down this path, Bretonia inevitably set forth on a one-way endeavor that would culminate in either a direct war against another House or in forcing the Crown to reach agreements that would limit its reach in the bordering regions. Indeed, the latter was decided, as neither Colony desired armed conflict due to internal rebellions that threatened their stability, but also due to external pressure.
On the subject of external pressure, all Colonies bar from House Gallia had signed the Boorman Treaty: an agreement that limited the influence of Houses in regions directly bordering them and emphasizing talks over military action. Its was a successful agreement and led to the signing of many other treaties that facilitated interhouse partnership, however it met its end as swiftly as it began due to the start of the Nomad War.
The effects of Nomad-led coups elsewhere in Sirius were not as felt in Bretonia, owning to the fact that the Kingdom was positioned on the opposite side of the sector to the Omicrons. Still so, while the Nomads eventually were defeated, the consequences of the war on the diplomatic sector of Houses in Sirius were undeniably a catastrophe. The most concerning of circumstances was the total breach and disregard for the existence of the Boorman Treaty, which resulted in a return of House military action in the border worlds.
Bretonia followed in the footsteps of Rheinland and Kusari in years after, and subsequently 'invaded' neighboring systems to attempt to incorporate them into the realm at a point in the future. Indeed, this meant that appeasement and negotiations on a diplomatic level were largely ignored not only by Bretonian officials, but also by foreign ones. This set the framework for the modern day environment of Sirius, wherein border lands are directly protected by militaries rather than mere agreements signed over them, with several exceptions.
The boiling point for this state of affairs was the increasingly hawkish nature of Kusari officials, portraying military action against foreign powers as "necessary" for the preservation of the state. Certainly, this led to the outbreak, first of border clashes and then full-scale war, between Bretonia and Kusari over the resource-rich Tau region and domination over the northern areas of the realm.
As by that time military expenditure was firmly growing, the effects of the invasion were minimal in the initial months, with only token victories secured against the Armed Forces of Bretonia. But, to understand why the tide of the war turned against the Kingdom, one must first understand the tactics put in motion by the military -- those of fielding many large warships but with few support ships of cruiser and gunboat class. The Nessie class of warships was the first to be launched by Southampton's dockyards, acting as the pinnacle of technological advancements made during the many years since the outbreak of the Buccaneer War.
The Buccanner War, whilst of little relevance to today's Bretonia, shaped the way in which fleets were organized and fought -- with accent put on the Crecy class vessels in the early days of the conflict and culminating with the launch of Nessie battleships. As I primarily focus on the military aspects of the Bretonian House in centuries past and in the present in this essay, the political implications of the Buccaneer War will obviously remain left out, as they are a topic too large to fit within the confines of such a work. Nonetheless, its lessons were applied until the very day war with Kusari started, influencing the thoughts and plans of officers in the military during the invasion.
Therefore, as time dragged on, the many more support ships that Kusari had fielded proved their worth -- leading to the collapse of defence lines and the direct invasion of sovereign territory of the Kingdom. What was once unthinkable, now materialized: hostile fleets pillaged and destroyed civilians ships and took over installations belonging to the Crown.
But, the war with Kusari reached a stalemate, and with the discovery of Gallia and her significant fleets awaiting just beyond the Taus, all eyes focused away from Leeds. The lessons of the months of war with Kusari were already applicated to the Armed Forces, with production shifting away from large warships and towards destroyers. Though this happened at a rapid pace, it was not sufficient to prevent a complete destruction of both Bretonian and Kusari fleets in the Taus and beyond, as the Gallic military scored handy victories in quick order, reaching as far as New London in the coming decade and burning away centuries of life on Leeds.
Going beyond the events that transpired and the loss of life on a scale never before seen in human history, it is important that we understand what went wrong on the diplomatic level and why the military's preparedness for war, or lack thereof, led to the brutal years of subsequent invasions and failures against other elements such as the Zoners of Gran Canaria.
Firstly, the extremist parties in both Gallia and Kusari strongly advocated for action to be taken to remove Bretonia from her position in the southern Taus and prevent any other groups from exploiting the resources near, effectively setting the steps for annexations, much alike in nature to those done after the Nomad War, yet still with an even more aggressive tone and approach. This effectively meant that negotiations were largely unfruitful or outright dismissed, as Gallia remained hidden and waiting for the opportune moment to strike and Kusari refused to cooperate with other Houses on such a grand scale after the events of 801.
Appeasement was also out of the question, as applying it to the situation would inevitably meant surrendering vast swathes of territory to emboldened states, only further encouraging them to pursue such paths of conquest. It remains only proven that military action was the final solution to the problems that arose, however even with the introduction of new Dunkirk warships, the pace of modernization and rearmament was sluggish and failed to cover all aspects of the military.
Secondly, the total disregard for the importance of the military after the end of the Buccaneer War meant that soldiers and pilots were trained only so far as it was necessary to conduct small-scale operations against Mollys and Gaians, leading to a severe degradation in the defence apparatus of the state. This remains the most important point in understanding why and how Bretonia failed to defend against foreign invasion, and thus should serve as a reminder to future career military officers of the importance of maintaining the navy in its best shape regardless of the political situation.
Thirdly, the very system and approach of appeasement and direct negotiations over complex issues without considering the military implications of cooperation in the border worlds between Houses further eroded the ability of the Kingdom of defend itself, resulting in the establishment of this prevailing mindset that appeasement has no true cost and leads only to victories in diplomacy.
I mention these elements only as they represent the core of the thoughts surrounding the political leadership of the state prior to the conflict with Kusari, and as they offer a clear view into the Bretonian justifications for avoiding large-scale funding of the military-industrial complex. It is thus my desire to move on to the present situation, as utilizing these very points helps understand why remilitarization should be the number one priority of the nation as the economy is rebuilt and new regions chartered for resource exploitation.
The most important of reasonings as to why Bretonia must remilitarize is the lack of heavy vessels after the many years of war, presenting the Kingdom's military as merely a shell of its former self. And indeed, this is proven by the stance taken by even allies such as Liberty, forcing the government to assist in their internal affairs lest Bretonia be subject to economic sanctions or worse. But the lack of vessels goes far beyond just that of heavy warships, as even in the fighter and bomber developments, the military has fallen behind other states.
To alleviate these issues, the Crown must take drastic economic measures, that may indeed cause short-term instability, but lead to the stabilization of the realm in the long term of approximately 5 to 10 years, in which the economy and armed forces may be restructured and rebuilt to best fit the needs of the people and the nation firstly and foremost. Of such measures, I have already begun working on shape the way the military is meant to operate, by putting older variants into reserves or storage in docking berths of various shipyards around the realm. Evidently, much more work needs to be done to guarantee that these vessels will be in working order in case of another invasion or great unrest, but for the present, utilizing only the most modern of warships for military actions allows for greater emphasis to be put towards developing new classes of ships.
Even as these events are well underway, it is imperative that the government continues talks with foreign states for permission to receive and maintain Bretonian ships in foreign shipyards, as the loss of Leeds has presented Bretonia with a total lack of heavy industry beyond that which is present on shipyards. Thus, efforts made must all align, and the appeasement policy finally put in motion for the betterment of the state, working to fill the gap present in the industrial sector of the realm.
Furthermore, I have talked about the need to restructure the economy of the state such that it can no longer be struck in one fell swoop, all whilst putting much more relevance upon the armaments sector. Obviously, this much cannot be accomplished in just a matter of years and should instead be the focus of decades of economic rebuilding and growth, yet nonetheless, it must remain Bretonia's priority to apply the lessons of the Nomad War and the Kusari, respectively Gallic invasions, in order to resist foreign intervention and secure the territories already held by the Crown.
The Kingdom must not respond negatively to attempts at dialogue from other states, but in doing so, it must also present itself as ready to prevent any Colony from directly attacking its sovereignty. Bretonia must also further continue its policy of negotiations, but not whilst viewing itself as inferior, but as a peer or even above others in affairs that diplomats understand the Kingdom cannot hope to lose in.
I maintain the highest of confidence in the ability of the Bretonian peoples to continue the work to rebuild the nation, but all this can only be done as a concerted effort by Crown corporations and the military and police organizations of the state. Though some may have varying views regarding the present and future state of the Kingdom, it is through the efforts of the people that we prevail through the coming crises in Sirius.
