NOTE: All monetary values are adjusted for inflation. Conversion rate for Valeanian Lien to US Dollars is approximately 1.43 Valeanian Lien to 1 US Dollar as of 2015. Conversion rate for Vacuouan Pounds (Les livres Vacuouain) to US Dollars is approximately 2.75 Pounds to 1 US Dollar as of 2015.
Years 1993-1994: Staring Down Fortress Vacuoua
On January 3, 1993, the last neutral country in Remnant, the Grand Duchy of Alidade, declared war on Vacuo and Hachure, bringing the entire world into the war. They joined in after a plot to overthrow the government and install an Authoritarianist one in Alidade was revealed the year before. Vacuo responded by invading the country. However, backed by Mistralian forces, the Alidadians were able to evict Vacuouan troops from their territory in July 1993.
On January 19, 1993, Operation Downfall went into action. Over 500,000 Allied soldiers from 4 different countries landed on the beaches of northern Menagerie. On February 11, 1993, the winter offensive into Meridia was launched by Mistral and Alidade. In June 1993, Atlas landed in Stadia and began a campaign to free Lindwurm from Vacuouan rule called Operation AZ40K.
By November 1993, Meridia, Volos, Stadia, and North Dragonica were freed from Vacuouan rule, Vacuouan forces had been kicked out of Mistral, and half of Menagerie was under Allied control. Even so, the Vale-Vacuo front was still a stalemate, with neither side gaining an advantage. In one battle at the Sparti River, from August 1 to November 18, over 750,000 Allied and 500,000 Authoritarianist soldiers were the casualties of the costly and inconclusive battle, as the Allies only gained 12 miles of land.
As the Allies went into the Menagerie, they saw firsthand what many activists had warned about for years: Forced labour camps, ghettos, mass executions, and genocide. Some soldiers committed suicide after seeing such horrific things, while others, particularly other faunus, took their anger out on the guards and killed them after they had already surrendered. The worst camp was the Porte Minette labour camp, which also served as a medical experimentation and death camp. It's estimated over 3,250,000 million died in the Porte Minette camp alone in its 12 years of operation, causes ranging from starvation, shootings, beatings, abuse, medical experiments, euthanisation, and more grisly methods.
As the leaders of the Allies learned of this, they decided that a new international organisation was needed to eventually judge the Vacuouan and Hachurian leaders responsible for these horrid acts. On January 1, 1994, arrest warrants were issued for 30 Vacuouan and 10 Hachurian leaders by the newly created International Military Tribunal for Vacuouan and Hachurian War Criminals. Additionally, many newly freed countries set up their own tribunals to deal with collaborators and lesser leaders. In all courts, the maximum penalty was death. In the IMT-VHWC, death sentences were to be conducted by hanging and, like the IMT, filmed live on TV for the world to see.
In February of 1994, all of Lindwurm was freed from Vacuouan rule after Vacuouan forces evacuated from Dragonica, and Hachure surrendered, its leader, Ditmer Beumers, being captured while attempting to flee the country. In March of 1994, Menagerie was fully taken over by Allied forces. Vacuo was now all alone, and vulnerable.
As this happened, Gris Manchette began to go mad, still insisting he could achieve victory as Vacuo's cities were laid to ruin by air raids. He began to sack many of his generals who he thought were unloyal, even though they were really just facing defeat on the battlefield. He also became a recluse, retreating to his bunker in Port Vacuo. To make matters worse, 2 of his 3 sons were killed in action in May 1994, and his daughter was captured in June and reportedly raped. This made him go even crazier. In an unsuccessful attempt to bring his sanity back, his doctor began giving him cocaine. By the end of 1994, the 74-year-old Manchette used the illicit substance over 10 times a day.