After the previous edition covered the end of the NAP and the events of January 2025, February brought a global NAP and a remarkably quiet period. As a result, this chapter will be relatively short, focusing on the events of February and March 2025 that set the stage for what followed in April—probably the most challenging month of my eLife.

The First Alliance

On the same day the global NAP was signed, another major development took place. After being rejected by BFTE, Croatia shifted its focus toward creating a new alliance that could protect it from possible Slovenian retaliation, which some Slovenian players had threatened once the NAP expired.

With GAUSS having collapsed, Serbia emerged as the ideal partner. At the time, it was led by Foxie, and our countries had quite a lot in common. Both had fought on the same side during WW2, both were relatively young nations, and neither had existed from Day 1—at least not within their respective homelands. Bosnia and Herzegovina became the natural choice for the third member, primarily because of its geographical position, even though it had indirectly supported the opposing side during WW2. Bosnia and Herzegovina was then—as always—led by Ciro.

Following successful negotiations, a defensive pact called South Wind was signed, with Foxie becoming its first leader. The alliance was officially announced in this article. As it turned out, the desire to create an alliance—and a shared appreciation for good jokes—were among the few things everyone actually had in common.

The first disagreements emerged almost immediately over the alliance's purpose. Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted a purely defensive pact, Serbia remained somewhere in the middle, while Croatia wanted a fully fledged alliance that would also support its territorial expansion. By mid-February, Croatia had already reached around 40 active citizens. Its economy was growing, and with it came increased demand for food and weapons. Domestic production could not keep up at the required scale without the resource bonuses provided by colonies, making territorial expansion increasingly important.

Another point of contention was the alliance's expansion. The original idea was to invite Slovenia and Macedonia, bringing together all ex-Yugoslav countries with similar languages under a single alliance. After Slovenia rejected our offer, we turned our attention elsewhere. I honestly cannot remember what happened with Macedonia, and unfortunately my screenshot archive does not contain any information about those negotiations. Bosnia and Herzegovina vetoed the inclusion of Georgia, which was led by war criminal Kysely Cesnek. China therefore became South Wind's fourth member, led at the time by WolfStark and adriias.

Ambitions of Expansion

Croatia's desire for expansion continued to grow throughout February. Because the global NAP involved a huge number of countries on both sides and remained in force until the beginning of March, Croatia's options were limited. If we wanted to expand as quickly as possible, the only realistic targets were smaller countries that had fought on our side in the previous war. The potential targets were Italy, Albania, and South Africa. Ultimately, we chose the latter, and on February 28 Croatia shocked the eWorld by declaring war on SAF.

Although Shkodër was highly desirable because of its 30% iron bonus, Durban and its 15% food bonus ultimately tipped the scales in South Africa's favor. Our plan was to rent Shkodër as soon as the war was over—a detail that would become very important later.

We encountered our first problems during the opening battle for Durban, which was an air assault. Australia joined South Africa's side, but that was expected. What we did not expect was the involvement of Macedonian tanks, most notably Aiden Pearce and Demetrios. Although Macedonia's intervention constituted a violation of the NAP, which was still in force at the time, their president, Aexil, made little effort to return the damage or otherwise correct the "mistake."

Croatia eventually won the war with help from Serbia and Slovenia, with Slovenia mostly compensating for damage caused by its own rogue players. The victory, however, came at a much higher cost than anticipated. We burned through a huge amount of resources that had never been part of the original plan.

What was supposed to be a straightforward campaign—capture three or four regions and sign a quick NAP—turned into a complete wipe of SAF, the destruction of its young and ambitious community, and a war that kept Croatia occupied throughout March. Macedonian intervention was primary reason that made it happen and South Wind refusal to help in offensive actions left us almost alone against coalition.

Manga's Mistakes and the Calm Before the Storm

Manga's diplomacy contributed significantly to prolonging the war. He repeatedly presented SAF with unrealistic demands, which they predictably rejected. At home, dissatisfaction was also growing. Croatia's young and still immature economy was already struggling to provide its citizens with sufficient supplies, while Manga's use of gold for his own purposes created further frustration.

Motorina, El Scorpion, SPMarine, Fuhrer, and I formed the core of an increasingly dissatisfied coalition and began demanding changes, which Manga repeatedly dismissed. We were later joined by Jiren and Aldrich. Aldrich's account has since been deleted, but he would become an important figure in the events that unfolded from June through the end of the year. The latter two were members of Manga's own party, and their support would prove crucial to my first rise to power—a story that will begin in the next edition.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Consider purchasing Premium for additional memories and material from this period and event that serves as introduction in new chapter.