The war was immediately caused by the Westside's decision to blockade a key route used by the Valley. The war was preceded by the already chilly relations between the two countries. The Westsiders' actions were borne out of the idea that the Valley was too weak and badly equipped to fight back. While this was technically true, the Valley had found a Old Time machine gun to counter Westside's superiority in weapons. With the machine gun, everything went downhill for Westside and ended with the Valley's occupation of Westside.