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[Theophilos]

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Early Diplomatic Relations

IRON swiftly moved to open diplomatic relations with several alliances on Planet Bob. The first official opening of diplomatic relations was with the Orange Defense Network (ODN), which has stood to this day as a mutually beneficial and successful relationship. IRON sought not to take over the Orange Sphere with force, but to work with other Orange Team alliances in the wake of the Citrus War.

The best historical accounts place the New Pacific Order (NPO) as the second alliance which opened official diplomatic relations with IRON. The NPO sent Bakunin’s Dream and Heft as their first Ambassadors to IRON. While early IRON-NPO relations were somewhat ambivalent, they would eventually smooth out into the friendly relationship as it stands today.

Another notable relationship was with the alliance OPA, which was a like-minded and similarly-sized alliance. IRON’s first ever Mutual Defense Pact was with OPA during this early period, but would only last a month before IRON adopted a policy of “no MDPs,” the precursor to a period of IRON neutrality.


Rising Power in the Antebellum Period

After the Citrus War, IRON found itself in a strong position, both diplomatically and militarily. In its first few weeks, IRON encountered a rapid increase in aggregate nation strength. Part of this was a push toward the rapid development of a nuclear weapons arsenal. Within several weeks, IRON had the most nuclear weapons in the game for a brief period: 80. However, the NPO eventually beat IRON in the race to 100 nuclear weapons.

This arms race took a toll on the early IRON alliance. By rapidly developing nuclear weapons, many nations snubbed economic growth and quickly fell behind the NPO in the nuclear arms race. In the end, the NPO won out due to their world-renowned banking system. However, even though IRON lost this initial arms race, it was still one of the most powerful alliances in the pre-First Great War period.