WesWorld

(A little bit behind schedule)
July 2, 1921

- 13th Council Session to be extended.
- Emperor arrives in Vladivostock.
- Fuso/Nagato whereabouts still unknown.
- 16 inch guns to be placed at Imperial Castle and Edo-jo.

- 13th Council Session to be extended.
Today, Sir James Eric Drummond, Secretary General of the League of Nations, has informed all Council members of the League of Nations who attended the 13th Council Session that the 13th Council Session is to be extended. On June 27, he already told them that the possibility existed that this session would be extended. He already informed His Imperial Highness, crown prince Hirohito about his decision yesterday to handle the article 11 request during the session. Sir Drummond stated that the main reason was the state of war between Nordmark and Argentina. He also hopes that the problems between Italy and Greece will also be solved. He wants the Council to gather at Geneva again on July 10, 1921, the day on which Nordmark plans to present the evidence concerning the recent incidents. He hopes that Nordmark’s delegation member, Carl Johan Enckell, will be able to show the evidence to the Council that day.

- Emperor arrives in Vladivostock.
This morning at about 11 AM, the Battleship HIJMS Yamashiro, escorted by the Cruisers HIJMS Tama and HIJMS Isuzu, sailed into the harbor of Vladivostock. Here His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Shodahito, together with Empress Kameko and the Elite Imperial Guards disembarked. They had come there to board an armored train and travel along the Trans Siberia Railway westward to attend to the Funeral of King Gustav V and Queen Victoria in Stockholm, Nordmark. While the Guards boarded the train, His Imperial Majesty made a short statement about the current situation before boarding the train himself (see below).

- Fuso/Nagato whereabouts still unknown.
While three Japanese ships arrived in Vladivostock, no one seems to know where the other four ships have gone. There are rumors that the ships are heading toward Argentina in order to protect the Japanese cargo ships there, but nothing concrete yet.

- 16 inch guns to be placed at Imperial Castle and Edo-jo.
The Bakufu has made the decision yesterday to put a pair of 16 inch guns on display on the grounds of the Imperial Palace and a pair on the grounds of Edo castle. The guns, originally created for the Kaga class batleships, are no longer allowed to be fitted to a ship of war. Sixteen of these guns were already made for the Kaga and Tosa, but the ships are now being converted to carrier. While no definite plans were released, it is believed that the remaining twelve guns will be used as coastal artillery.

The Council of the 13th Session (http://www.indiana.edu/~league/councilsess13.htm):
Paul Hymans (United Netherlands Kingdom)
Gastao da Cunha (Brazil)
Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher (British Empire)
Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo (China)
Gabriel Albert Auguste Hanotaux (France)
Luca Orsini Baroni (Italy)
Kikujiro Ishii (Japan)
Jose Maria Quinones de Leon (Iberia)

President: Kikujiro Ishii
Secretary General of the League of Nations: James Eric Drummond

Statement of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Shodahito.
Vladivostock, the Second Day of the Seventh Month of the Eighth year of the Emperor Taisho.

On the 29th day of the Sixth month of this year, the Kingdom of Nordmark has declared war on the Republic of Argentina. While it seems to be a matter between the Kingdom of Nordmark and the Republic of Argentina at this moment, I fear that this may escalate into something bigger if it is not stopped right now. It is important to let words solve the problems between the Kingdom of Nordmark and the Republic of Argentina, not bullets.
Nordmark made many accusations. It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has been hostile toward the Kingdom of Nordmark; It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has forcefully annexed the island of South Georgia, which was recently handed over to Nordmark by Great Britain; It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has taken captive the Nordmark Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Villa Nueva and the diplomatic staff.
However the claims of Nordmark of Argentina’s involvement in the Death of King Gustav V and his wife, Queen Victoria, or the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp are not clear. Nordmark claims that what happened was no accident, but a deliberate action. However, we have been shown no evidence to support this theory yet. So as long as no evidence is shown to the other nations, Japan will consider the tragic events that killed King Gustav V and Queen Victoria to be just an accident (until proven otherwise), and that Prince Carl Philipp has joined up with our four Kongo class Battlecruisers and their escort ships (until proven otherwise).
As far as the Empire of Japan is concerned, what happened could have been similar to what happened on the 22nd day of the second month at Karljohansvern Naval Station, only with far more serious results due to the fact that “the destroyers were fully loaded, with all munitions at 125 per cent of capacity, including a complement of depth charges”. It should also be noted that the Urho Saanio and Torstein Arctander were among the newest of destroyers for the Navy of Nordmark, so such weapons, as a test, could have been installed before the Karljohansvern Incident.

It should be noted that, in order to ensure the safety of trade between Japan and Argentine, the following steps have been taken:
- Any Argentine vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, that sails in Japanese territorial waters, will be protected by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
- Any Argentine vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, that sails outside the Japanese territorial waters is allowed to enter Japanese territorial waters to fall under the same protection as those already sailing in the Japanese territorial waters.
- Any Argentine merchant vessel flying the Imperial colors outside Japanese territorial waters will be considered a Japanese merchant vessel.
- Any actions by another nation against Argentine vessels inside Japanese territorial waters or against Argentine vessels flying the Imperial colors will be considered as an action against Japan and will be considered to be a declaration of war.
- Japanese territorial waters include the areas around the Japanese mandates of the Chosen, the Formosa, and the Mikuroniisia territories, the latter territory with exception of the area around the island Guam.
- Any actions by another nation against a Japanese vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, sailing in Argentine territorial waters will be considered to be a declaration of war.

The Empire of Japan requests the following from the Kingdom of Nordmark:
- The immediate release of evidence that support their claims of the Republic of Argentina’s involvement in the deaths of King Gustav V and Queen Victoria and the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp.
- Call off all its war activities against the Republic of Argentina.

If the Kingdom of Nordmark has such evidence, it should present the evidence during the Council Meeting as soon as possible.

Should the Kingdom of Nordmark succeed to convince the council that the Republic of Argentina was involved in the deaths of King Gustav V and Queen Victoria and the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp, the Empire of Japan will request the following from the Republic of Argentina:
- Cease all aggression against the Kingdom of Nordmark.
- Withdraw its forces from the island of South Georgia and any other territory claimed by the Kingdom of Nordmark on which forces of the Republic of Argentina are present.
- Release all Nordmark citizens held in captivity, in custody, or in detention.
- Arrest all persons involved in the King Gustav V/Queen Victoria case and the Prince Carl Philipp case. All these persons should be handed over to the Authorities of the Kingdom of Nordmark.

If the Republic of Argentina fails to comply with these demands in 7 days, all Argentine vessels must leave the Japanese territorial waters and/or remove the Imperial colors within 24 hours. Further actions will be taken if Argentine vessels are still in Japanese waters after 24 hours.

Signed
His Imperial Majesty, the Taisho Emperor
-----------------------------------Shodahito.
(OOC: with "request", Shodahito actually means "demand" but he doesn't want those particular parts to sound too aggressive)