Niihama Pact

The Niihama Pact was an alliance between Imperialist Yamatai and the Kingdom of Kuiju during the Second Escar-Varunan War.

Relations between Yamatai and Kuiju had already been friendly prior to the Second Escar-Varunan War due to a shared opposition to Chisei and Arshavat. Yamatai was a major trading partner of Kuiju, and had also assisted in modernising the Kuijuan military through weapons sales and military advisors. Following the Zawhan Disturbance in 1933 between Kuiju and Chisei, Kuiju attempted to form a formal military alliance with Yamatai, but little progress was made. Both nations had imperialist ambitions, with Kuiju seeking to seize large amounts of territories from Arshavat and Yamatai aiming to achieve and maintain political and economic hegemony over the Escar-Varunan.

Following the outbreak of the Second Escar-Varunan War with the Chiseian invasion of the Yamatai-occupied New Territories on Chiseian soil, Yamataian forces were steadily pushed back and were under threat of being forced to abandon the mainland. Talks between Yamatai and Kuiju began in secret from October 1937, with discussions finalised in December. On 17 December 1937, the Niihama Pact was formed between Yamatai and Kuiju with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in Niihama. Kuiju pledged to assist Yamatai by launching an invasion of Chisei, while Yamatai promised to assist Kuiju in a future invasion of Arshavat by attacking Arshavat from the south-east.

On 1 February 1938, Kuijuan forces invaded Chisei in a surprise attack, forcing Chisei to divide its forces to face the Kuijuan invasion. This enabled Yamatai to carry out a major counterattack in the east, also enabling a series of amphibious landings on the north-east region of Chisei.

Proposal for a Kuiju-Yamatai alliance
Against Arshavat.

Ideology
The Niihama Pact's primary goal was territorial expansion at the expense of their neighbours. In ideological terms, the Pact described their goals as breaking the hegemony of the plutocratic Escaric colonial powers and defending the region from communism. The Pact championed a number of variants on fascism, militarism, and autarky.

Yamatai
At the time, Yamatai was one of the more powerful states in the region, despite its lack of a large colonial empire. The island nation had managed to build up a robust manufacturing and financial sector that neighbouring states came to rely on for commodities, fuelling a massive war machine that the nation was unafraid to use in wars against its neighbouring states. Yamatai had already proven its military prowess against Tsutikuo in the War of 1867, proving it was capable of defeating a nation many times larger, and later the occupation of Chisei in 1921, proving that it was able to defeat a major, well-developed colonial power. Through these conquests, Yamatai proved itself to be a belligerent, imperialist nation. Also guided by the racialist-nationalist Kayakoist thought, Yamatai's government believed in their military, economic, religious and racial superiority over all other races in the world, and sought to eventually unify Chisei and Yamatai, dominate Escar through military and diplomatic means, and prepare the Western Escaric race for a massive, cataclysmic war with the Ordans.

In this context, the colonial powers sought to contain Yamatai, enacting some sanctions and trade restrictions in an effort to halt the expansion of the nation. This led directly to the 1932 Yamataian Economic Crisis, which drove the Yamataian government to take action to contain the damage, and seek revenge on the perpetrators, primarily Chisei, Yeongseon and Zusea & Ossintoria.

Formation
On 15th April, 1934, the leaders of Yamatai and Kuiju met in the newly-constructed Yamatai-Kuiju Friendship Centre in Nīhama, Yamatai, to sign the Niihama Pact. The first activity of the alliance was a naval exercise off the northern Chiseian coast, involving the newly-constructed Yamataian "super battleship" Empress Kayako.

Dai Yashima Armistice and the collapse of the Pact
Yamatai signed the Dai Yashima Armistice and ceasefired with the Allies without telling Kuiju, because Kuiju was a good distraction against Arshavat and prevented a total loss of Nanyokuni. Once Kuiju realised this, the Pact basically ended.