Meanwhile in North America, two old rivals, the US and the CSA were taking the path to war once again. The US had built up its army in the years before the Great War, as did the CSA. In the north, the Republic of Cascadia still had a weak, third world army. However, the Empire of Mexico, south of Cascadia, had built up, along with Colombia, one of the world's strongest armies. Allied with Colombia's army, the two countries formed the strongest armed forces in the continent. In 1913, the US met CS troops near the US-CS border. The CS troops had been defeated by the Americans, and the CSA's government turned to Germany for military help. Alarmed by the new alliance, the US joined the Mexican-Colombian alliance and turned to France and the UK for military assistance. In 1914, the war broke ou