Commentaries on the Fourth War, Prologue

This is the Prologue of Sir Edrington W. Grunwald's book, the Commentaries on the Fourth War.

Prologue
Some amongst you will go into this work with two questions: what sort of commentary is this and why the Fourth War? I answer the former first, as I intend for this book, and the series that will follow, to be a first-hand chronicle of the war between the Grand Alliance and the Horde. My commentary will be primarily military, economic, and political in nature, and understandably that commentary will host its own biases that I make aware to the reader now. However, that commentary will be somewhat limited, for the primary purpose of this work is still the cataloging, presentation, and argumentation of events as they happen. For the more traditional historians among the readership, this will seem somewhat ludicrous – for how can anyone hope to write history in the now? In this sense, I pay homage to the ancient historians of our collective past. I do not deny the difficulties inherent in this style of history, but I attempt to make an earnest effort regarding it nonetheless. In short, I aim to provide the present reader a window to the perilous times we currently live in, giving some measure of context and, dare I say, comfort through information and opinion. As for those that will come after us, I welcome you all to look upon these pages and correct me wherever I have erred from the truth.

And as for the latter question, there is much debate amongst academics regarding the name for this next great conflagration. Names may initially seem entirely unimportant, perhaps even trivium. However, I argue names give identity and clarity – they present a single, explicit depiction of what the conflict was, its scope, and even its importance when compared ‘at a glance.’ Since the arrival of the orcs, our realm experienced three ‘Great Wars’: The First, the Second, and the Third. I argue we are now in the Fourth. It meets all the parameters typical of the other Great Wars, including an intercontinental scope – both direct and indirect, full support and intervention by all parties under the Alliance and Horde at that time, escalation of violence, and, perhaps most importantly, a noticeable shift in economy and politics. In the interim status-quo of the so-called ‘phony war’ between our two factions, skirmishes and consistent but comparatively smaller military production characterized the period. The occasional flare up, such as the fighting during the Great Cataclysm and during the discovery of Pandaria, was not enough to constitute a full-scale war. Even the Siege of Orgrimmar, that great confrontation to usurp the rogue Garrosh Hellscream, was a joint effort by Alliance forces and Horde rebels. This conflict in the aftermath of the War on Argus represents the next real war, defined by clearly drawn political divisions and a rapid increase in war-time production. While there is a myriad of reasons for this development, it is equally fascinating that this breakdown centers on the next evolution of the perpetual arms race between both parties. Namely, of course, I refer to Azerite.

Azerite alone, however, is not enough to explain away the beginning of the Fourth War. As I proceed in this work, I develop my central thesis for this chronicle and my commentaries: After the fall of the arch-demon Sargeras and the destruction of the Burning Legion on Argus, a tenuous peace followed in its wake. With the discovery of Azerite at the site of Sargeras’ blade, it was the Horde, under the leadership of the Banshee Queen Sylvanas, that made the first efforts to aggressively capitalize on the new mineral. Although the Alliance engaged in escalation along with the Horde, I present the Fourth War as a defensive war on behalf of the Alliance. It is clear, both from my accounts of the fighting on the ground and personal deliberations, that the Horde’s aggression, punctuated with the burning of Teldrassil and the razing of the kaldorei capital, forced a joint military response from the Alliance and His Majesty, King Anduin of Stormwind. Only time will tell how the character of this war will develop, but I believe that the Alliance’s casus belli – its reason for war – is morally justified in the wake of the Horde’s actions on Teldrassil and abroad. Therefore, I present this as the beginnings of the Fourth Great War.