Solomani Rim War (990 to 1002)
War between the Third Imperium and the Solomani Confederation during
which a large portion of the Solomani Rim sector
was returned
to Imperial control.
The war was the culmination of centuries of disagreement between the
Imperium
and the Solomani Sphere. Following rifts at court, the Imperium
established
the Solomani Autonomous Region
(Solomani Sphere) in 704, and then
ignored
the region, allowing it to develop independently while the central
government
paid closer attention to the Spinward
Marches and the Gateway. By 900, reports that the Solomani
rule
of many client-worlds within the
sphere was over-bearing and heavy-handed forced Empress Margaret II to reassess the
situation,
and she (by proclamation in 940) dissolved the Solomani Sphere and
reintegrated
it into the Imperium. The Solomani resisted.
Hoping to profit from Imperial preoccupation with the Third Frontier War and the
disorganization which followed upon the abdication of Styryx in 989, the Solomani reasserted their control over the
complete
Solomani Sphere, including those portions reabsorbed into the Imperium.
The
Imperium declared war in 990.
The initial phase of the war went very well for the Solomani.
Although
the Imperium maintained sizable fleets along the border, they were
inferior
in strength to the massed naval elements of the Solomani Confederation.
In
most areas, the Solomani regained the border worlds lost to the
Imperium
in the last half century and even occupied a number of worlds that had
never
been part of the Solomani Sphere.
However, Solomani fortunes were checked in 993 when the large invasion
force
attempted to regain the worlds in the Old Expanses sector; it
encountered
near-fanatical resistance and was repulsed with heavy losses.
The period from 993 to 998 was one of stalemate. The Solomani
abandoned
their plans for further expansion in order to rebuild their forces.
However,
their policy of inflexibly defending every border world was a constant
drain
on their resources, and the Solomani were not able to regain the
initiative.
By 998, the Imperial Navy had achieved strategic dominance as the
greater
industrial base of the Imperium made its power felt.
The last phase of the war, 998 to 1002, consisted of a near-continual
advance
by Imperial forces into the heart of the Solomani Sphere. The
basic
Imperial strategy was to attack along two parallel axes of advance,
with
lesser task forces spreading out to create a huge pocket of Solomani
Territory.
Although the Solomani occasionally achieved a tactical success against
a
task force (such as in the Battle of Kagukhasaggan in early
1002),
they were unable to halt the main advances. With the liberation
of
the Vegan district in
1001,
the Imperium gained the secure base envisioned in the reign of Styryx.
The
loss of the Vegan district prompted the
Solomani
to embark on a desperate gamble. Recalling the time when the
outnumbered Terran
Confederation was able to defeat the Vilani
Imperium, the Solomani consolidated their remaining naval forces into a
single
fleet and struck at the Imperial fleet that was advancing out of the
Vegan
district.
At the Battle of Dingir, in early 1002, the Solomani Grand
Fleet was
scattered and substantially destroyed. The remnants of the
Solomani fleet fell back deeper into the Sphere, and the Imperial
forces firmly established
themselves in Terra's
own
subsector.
The Imperial high command decided that Terra would have to be
invaded
in order to end forever all claims of Solomani superiority and thus the
use
of Terra as a rallying standard elsewhere in the Sphere.
In
order to invade Terra, a sizable fraction of the Imperial
forces in the Solomani Sphere were assembled into an assault force,
which effectively ended the pursuit of the defeated Solomani fleet.
The invasion began
in the second quarter of 1002, and the hard-fought campaign lasted
until
nearly the end of the year. Terra was recaptured by a
massive
invasion, and the capital of the Solomani was lost to them. At
that
point, the war for the Imperium effectively ended. Solomani
sentiments
differ, and there is still a strong anti-Imperial faction along the
Imperium's rimward border.
The battle for Terra had, however, consumed so much of the
Imperial
military's resources that the Imperial high command felt they lacked
sufficient
strength to resume their advance into the rest of the Solomani
Sphere.
Accordingly, they negotiated a temporary armistice with the Solomani
military
commanders, who were glad to gain a respite to regroup their remaining
forces.
The war ended on this basis as both the Imperial and Solomani civilian
governments,
who were concerned with the strain placed on their economies by the
protracted
war, informally agreed to extend the armistice indefinitely.
Although scholars have debated the wisdom of invading Terra,
some
claim that the battle was a marginal if not a pyrrhic victory for the
Imperium.
The general consensus has been that the war as a whole was a
victory
for the Imperium. A substantial amount of the Solomani Sphere was
reabsorbed
by the Imperium, and a vigorous Vegan Autonomous District was set up to
oversee
Imperial interests along the new border.
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