Air and Sea Arms Race
Political event
"The Impero demands an increase in responsiveness of our military. Our people must be safe, whether they be in our far-flung islands, or our frontier provinces. To this end I have authorized increased spending to enhance and secure our military supremacy over our skies and seas." -Cosima Ghiacciato in an Autumn speech in 1005 3A.
In response to the growing tension between Tharrisia and the Union following The Lavrentis Papatzis Affair, the Impero declared a new period of military build up. Focusing on the perceived weakness of the Tharrisian Navy and Air-Navy compared to the Federated Union of Eastern Kalin and Strakan Empire equivalents respectively, Cosima Ghiacciato and the Senatus announced a new period of military build up specifically focusing on those two parts of the Impero military. Brand new state of the art battleships would be laid for the navy with reforms undertaken to attempt and make it a more respectable Auxilia posting; meanwhile extra resources would be dedicated to the Air-Navy and the creation of military Airships with a similar reform effort. The new build up did not go unnoticed by the other powers. Especially the Union, which itself matched the new build up with its own military improvement efforts. Since the Tharrisian effort was seen as a direct response to Union naval superiority, the Union began to spin that fact into propaganda for both its citizens and abroad. At the same time, it also focused on more of a build up of its professional military core; hoping to make it more able to match the professionalism of the Tharrisian Legions. This led to equivalent propaganda and political jabs by the Tharrisians who saw it as the Union admitting their land army couldn't compete with the Legion. Much more silently, the Strakan Empire took note of this as well. While Tarkus joined other leaders on the continent in condemning the saber rattling of the two Great Powers, it was also noted by some that Strakan military expenditure also increased at the same time.
