Kei River War
| Kei River War | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||
 Ciskei |
 Kwazulu | ||||
| Units involved | |||||
The Kei River War was fought from 31 December 1945 till 19 October 1947, between Leftist International Ciskei and Kingdom of Kwazulu. It was small regional war, often overlooked by the South Ecros War, which was raging during the same time. Communist Ciskei lost the war, uniting the the two countries, creating modern Kwazulu-Ciskei, after a Royal Coup.
At the start of the South Ecros War the Kingdom of Kwazulu announced that it will support Pavulturilor, Leftist International Ciskei soon followed by announcing their support for the Commintern. The decades long tension, followed by border clashes reached it's highest point and Ciskei declared war on Kwazulu on 31 December 1945. Ciskei forces crossed the river from three points, one north, middle and southern points, occupying large amounts of land in the north and south but had struggles at Nongoma, the capital of Kwazulu, the middle crossing point. The war slowed down by early 1946 and long ensuing standng war. Both sides saw successes with offensives but neither could break the other country. Eventually Kwazulu managed to break through and pushed back to the original border. WIth Ciskei's depleted forces, Kwazulu managed capture the Ciskeian capital and capitulate the country. The war ended with the Royal Coup of 1947.
During the war, both landlocked countries faced difficulties shipping arms and supplies through neighbouring countries mostly slowed down the war. Ciskei, in particular, faced external trade problems and poor internal communications. Although Ciskei had lucrative mining income and a larger and better-equipped army but mostly less trained amry with series of factors turned the tide against it, and Kwazulu managed to push back and conquer Ciskei.
