How do you make a Civ declare war on you?

[Lord Oden]

Every time i send a ship in to other Civs waters I get a "leave now <or declare war>" statement.
Especally when i am the larger civ.

Their ships constantly come into my water.
When ever i speak with them i never get a chance to force them into war if they do not leave.

The only choice i get is "your are in my terratory, dont do it again."

The other AI acts as if nothing happened.

I dont want to start the war, but it seems there is no way to to make them start it.

I cant make any trade imbargos or anything because since I am the largest civ the other 4 civs all have military protection against me. (which it the opposite of our world)

 

[Sman]

why would u want to them to declare war on u??? if they are making u mad just go and hand thier ass to em.... btw I think it is random, sometimes u get "please leave" or sometimes "Please leave or I wil declare war"

 

[curmudgeon42]

The way it works with AI civs is that htey ask nicely the first round, and if you are still there the round after they can force you. I would imagine it works the same way, so you have to ask them nice one round, then do it again the next. Maybe you will get a different option?

 

[exorcist]

Asking nice the first time is always mandated and the second time, it is often the war option, sometimes (this i think is random) it will take three times but they have to be consecutive turns. The thing that pisses me off is that they get half way across you're territory by then and then it shoots them across when they get booted... not ot mention they can build their city by the third turn... ugh

 

[Maj]

The two best reasons why it is better to provoke another civ into declaring war on you have to do with reputation and war weariness.

If you're the one to declare war on another civ, you lose brownie points with the other civs (ie reputation) and set yourself up for reprisal by them, embargos and poor trade deals. By being the "victim" of provocation, you don't lose any reputation.

Under a republic or democracy, the effects of war weariness are far more signifigant and occur sooner if you're the aggressor. However, if you are not the one who initiated the conflict, then those effects will be considerably less severe.

As for HOW you get another civ to attack you, that's a bit of tricky problem to tackle. You cannot coerce them into attacking you on your own terms, on the date you choose. You can infuriate them by constantly placing troops on their territory and by making outrageous demands (eg Asking for 10000 gold "or else"), but that does not necessarily mean they will attack, especially if your military might is comparable if not superior to theirs. If you keep them in a rage long enough they will eventually attack, but probably not as soon as you wanted, and maybe even with a few newly sought friends who you did not want on your back.

My advice is, if you want to start a war, even if it's for a couple of cities, make sure you have at the very least 4 times what they have defending. I tend to make it far more than that. And don't plan on having the war end the second you take those cities, and don't plan on being able to take and hold them within a couple of turns unless your military might is far more than considerable.

War in Civ3 is very different from what is was in the prequels. Diplomacy is trickier and the AI cannot easily be pushed into declaring war on you, unless they're more powerful; and if they are, what the hell were you doing pissing them off?

-Maj