"Let us maintain peace!" | speech from President Aurelia Aquila

The following is a speech from President Aurelia Aquila regarding the recent global tensions between the GENDT and the Global Watch.

Dear people of Orbis, whether you come from Luna or another nation, ally or enemy, I ask that you listen to me.

Think of the people who have suffered in wartime. Think about your family and friends and their family and friends who have seen far too much death and devastation. The people who watched their homes burn and ran far away from everything they knew. The founder of this very nation laid down her life for peace. You all know the story, but she gave up everything she had for Luna. We've all lost people to war.

Now you claim that the Global Economic National Defense Treaty, a pact that has vowed to assist and defend its members against hostility, is being aggressive to the Global Watch?

No, I don't see any aggression; perhaps we stood with our member, the Japanese Isles, although they made the first attack, but in an expression of support for the United Provinces of Japan, Nova Mundus claimed an clear attempt to bring down the GENDT, a threat to the safety of every nation within it. I do not speak for the entire GENDT or any other nation. No, right now I simply speak for Luna. Let us look back to the times of the North American Defense Pact: a time when a terrible war and its subsequent events led to the fall of three strong alliances, the NADP included. Nova Mundus was once again threatening the safety of the GENDT, and we, Luna, saw it fit to act against them. But we understand the war being a counterattack against the Japanese Isles for their attack on a ship from the United Provinces of Japan, and so we will standby in a position of neutrality until further notice.

Where else does this tension arise from? Right here in our lands, as we struggle to remove hostile invaders from our territory with the help of our allies. To those nations standing by Dreamistan, hear me now: you are supporting war criminals and imperialists who simply look to gain from the suffering of our people with their so-called 'Dragon Opium.' 

They call it "order"? No, this is not order. We were a nation born from rebellion; we do not see order the way you do, I suppose. Was order the tyranny we lived in before the revolution? I suppose there was order, but there is order in freedom too. An order of peace and a voice for the people of Luna. An order of democracy that we have fought hard time and time again to maintain, because it is what we stand for. This nation, as I said, was born from the toppling of one government and the rise of another. The phoenix on our flag is simply a symbol of our rising, and we raise that flag in Arcadia to show that not all hope is lost. We will get Dreamistan out of there and save our people.

Now for the Global Watch. I don't know, frankly, if the rest of the GENDT agrees or not; in fact, we haven't even spoken on this subject. But I believe your reforms are a massive step in the right direction. I am in full support of the reforms you have made. Months ago, prior to joining the GENDT, we were asked to take the GW into consideration, and we were strongly considering; however, we had tensions and hostilities with several members, many of which stayed unresolved despite our reconciliation with one member.

Our joining the GENDT, leaving all discussions of the Global Watch and withdrawing from the Treaty of Denon, was seen as an act of betrayal towards both of them. We did not intend for it to be that way, not at all. The Treaty of Denon? Perhaps our former president was quite aggressive with that. Now, believe me here: we were almost family to each other, as she'd been a friend of my sister's for quite some time even before the revolution, so we'd known each other since we were children. But I am not her, and I didn't particularly agree with every political decision she made. Her address to the Treaty of Denon, as much as I do agree that the war between the treaty and the USSRz was unnecessary, was clearly one of aggression, and I apologize on the behalf of the Lunar government for that. Now for the Global Watch, I understand what you see in our decision to join the GENDT. You think we left in the middle of alliance discussions to join your enemy, and I see why that seems hostile to you. But let me make this clear: we intended to join the GENDT since the day of its creation. Our support for socialist nations resulted in us originally being barred from joining, but when the alliance announced new joining rules, we realized that we could finally join the alliance wherein half its members were already closely allied with us. So we stepped forward and applied once again, and here we are now in the GENDT. Our application, in fact, was at the beginning of said alliance discussions; our acceptance was as we were considering. I see why this could pose issues, but there is no reason to be hostile. The Global Watch the way it was before its reforms was not particularly friendly to us, as a liberal social democracy with our political beliefs. The GENDT upholds our beliefs and accepts members who practice them — not, as some say, forcing those beliefs upon others — and as a nation with longtime ties with several members, we chose to join them as an official member so we could protect them and they could do the same for us.

We have considered, to alleviate the tensions, leaving all blocs and alliances and maintaining the ties we had prior to joining the GENDT, going back to the state of at least partial neutrality as we were before. But, no, for now we choose to remain as we are. We will remain in the GENDT, because they are our allies and friends who have helped us get back on our feet after hard times. We will not leave them for some desperate attempt to bring about peace. We will be loyal to our allies and never repeat our mistakes of times long passed.

But it is high time now that we calm this global tension and bring about a maintained peace throughout Orbis, for war will not bring us anything but death and devastation. We don't want to lose anyone else, and I am sure that neither do you. Think of those feeling lost without the ones they loved the most, and of the mothers and fathers crying for their children killed on the battlefield, or almost worse, caught in the crossfire of a battle. Those who have lost everything they ever knew and loved. War and all its atrocities must not be allowed to occur, not today. It isn't always possible; I am not saying that we never fight, for sometimes we must take a stand for what is right. But not now. Today is not the day. Today is the day to lay down our weapons and embrace peace. We must stand together in freedom, in peaceful times, and then the world will prosper.

Thank you for listening,

President Aurelia Aquila of Luna