The Center's Declaration of War

Of the Center, the Republic, and the South, the Republic was naturally in the greatest hurry.

The South was under pressure from its military expenditures, but it could weather them without much trouble thanks to the finances it had built up and the support of its people.

The Center's situation was bad as well, but it was somehow suppressing everything through the authority of the Imperial Family, which had lasted for a thousand years. This was possible because, compared to a democratic system, an imperial system made it far more difficult to remove an incompetent leader.

But the Republic could not do that.

Its financial situation was not as strong as the South's, because it had chosen to escape the Great Depression through the expansion of its munitions industry and war.

The munitions industry required enormous resources and manpower. It provided an immediate boost to employment, but... if an actual war did not break out, military spending would begin crushing the Republic from that point onward.

"That is why the sooner we start the war, the more advantageous it will be for us."

That was why the Republic had approached the Empire.

Because the Republic was an outsider, it was able to grasp the Empire's situation more clearly. From its perspective, the odds of winning the Empire's civil war lay with the South.

The Center was going to lose to the South anyway...