Ares Convention

The Ares Convention is a landmark international treaty in BattleTech, signed in 2412 it laid out the ground rules for warfare. It is arguable the equivalent to the real-life Geneva and Hague Conventions.

History

In the 24th century, the powers that would become the Successor States gradually emerged, expanding themselves across the Inner Sphere, claiming colonies along the way. Unfortunately, it was not always a peaceful process as either desired planets were already colonized and did not want to be under another person's banner. As a result, before the eve of the Star League, most of the Inner Sphere was consumed in the Age of War after Terra's Demarcation Declaration two centuries earlier had left colonies to fend for themselves.

In 2412 the Free Worlds League invaded the Capellan Confederation world of Tintavel, and found resistance to be stiffer than normal. Soon enough, things spiraled into an atomic free-for-all and in the end the planet was decimated by sustained nuclear bombardment. Both sides eventually withdrew in horror and as word spread, people were worried about the prospect of nuclear annihilation.

As such, the leaders of the major nations gathered together and decided to hammer out some rules for war specifically to prevent things like Tintavel from becoming the norm. Limits were put on the use of weapons of mass destruction, orbital bombardment of civilian targets, biological weapons and set rules for surrender. It took a while but eventually all but the Taurian Concordat (who were unhappy with the Capellans already using nuclear weapons against them due to their status as "Periphery barbarians" who didn't sign the accord) and the United Hindu Collective (which recognized that the conventions would make war regular and sanitized. Though once they joined the Federated Suns, their objections became moot).

Impact

In general the Ares Convention was successful in terms of minimizing the loss of human life and reducing damage to buildings, infrastructure and so forth. On the other hand, it normalized warfare and turned it from a "last resort" in the eyes of interstellar governments into "another regular tool" in their diplomatic toolbox. A particular quirk about the Ares Convention is that it lead to the age of the BattleMech thanks to the renewed focus on dirtside forces thanks to Warships having lessened importance now that their main draw of thermonuclear table flips was largely set aside.

Additionally, while a good-intentioned attempt to keep collateral damage to a minimum, all good things inevitably came to an end. With the Reunification War launched by Ian Cameron to bring the Periphery states to heel after they refused to rejoin the Star League, he authorized the suspension of the Ares Conventions for the SLDF and allied forces to crush the Periphery States until they submitted. With exception of the Free Worlds League (where the Captain General gave explicit orders to her troops to treat their Canopian adversaries fairly), other client members were less consistent with treating their foes fairly. As a result, the Outworlds Alliance and the Taurian Concordat had both their industrial bases and militaries crippled for decades to come. This was a key reason why their descendants have very bitter memories on the Star League. Come the Succession Wars and all powers threw them out the window. Despite being rendered void, the Ares Conventions served as an idealized template for "civilized warfare" in the eyes of military figures and were succeeded by the IS "Honors of Wars" and Clan "Zellbrigan." One example being sparing support vehicles (such as Coolant Trucks) from targeting and offering downed pilots or isolated settlements a chance to surrender peacefully. On the other hand, both were partially motivated by desires for ransom, salvage, and a desire to either preserve precious LosTech or resources.

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