Marrian Civil War

Background
Marria gained independence from Gherweb on December 13th, 4054. Around the same time as the declaration, they began ethnic cleansing operations (albeit nonviolent ones), moving Gherwebis to Gherweb's Dalesian colonies. It is unknown exactly when they became a dictatorship, but the most widely accepted answer is on January 5th, 4055, when they changed their flag to the last known flag for any united Marria. On February 8th, the Marrian government ordered that all Gherwebis move within one month or have their homes claimed through "eminent domain". They also renamed the capital from Marriastad to Qaris. All these operations were made as a part of a plan to, in their words, "decolonize" Marria. On March 7th, 4055, a little less than a month after the order to have Gherwebis move from their homes the Marrian government announced the beginning of an operation named Project Reclamation, in which the Marrian government had all Gherwebis found killed immediately. A later estimate by the Gherwebi government found that 200,000 Gherwebis died in "Reclamation", and the Vitaen government has classified it as a genocide.

Vitae's response
Terra Vitae immediately deemed this as ethnic cleansing, and condemned Marria and ordered it to stop the violence. It warned that it would encourage Dalesian countries to intervene against Marria, and would also have Ceveulian-Dalesian countries to transport military forces to forcibly stop the violence. However, it was unable to immediately react, as Terra Vitae lacked land in Dalesia at that time. Vitae also condemned Aurelia for continued support of Marria despite the genocide that was ongoing. Due to the genocide, Terra Vitae classified Marria as a "non-humanitarian country", and considered doing the same to Aurelia due to its support of Marria. The tensions resulted in threats of armed conflict between Vitae and Aurelia if the former ever gained Dalesian land.

Resistance to the genocide
The next day, on March 8th, the Marrians announced thar "Project Reclamation" would be expanded to include massacres against Arrentinians. Fieryia expressed concern and disappointment over this, while Weißbrünn generally expressed indifference, but Hennecartia, which is an entirely Dalesian nation, threatened military action if they went through with the plan. Fieryia eventually agreed with Hennecartia's threat. Brief concern over a report of a nuclear strike in Marria by Hennecartia followed, but the reports were quickly disproven. Marria also directly stated that it was doing these actions in order to prevent its people from revolting, as the economy of Marria seemed to be failing badly. It was at this time that Weißbrünn began to distance itself from the Marrian dictatorship.

Fieryia, this time, said that they would supply Marria 1000 Cellen a day to improve its economy in exchange for an end to ethnic violence. However, Marria took this as an attempt to get it dependent on Aurelia, and refused the offer. Marria then proceeded to escalate the genocide, and Attadania as a whole condemned it for its actions, while trying to refrain from direct military actions at the same time. Later on March 8th, resistance to the ethnic violence among the Arrentinians began, while other Arrentinians began to cross the Marrian borders with Aurelia. The resulting migration of Arrentinians resulted in a significant refugee crisis. Marria ordered Aurelia to supply them, but Aurelia refused- it asked Marria to hand its country over to the Aurelians, but Marria quickly refused this too. Quickly, resistance to the genocide among the Arrentinians grew to the point that Marria began to describe it as a civil war.

Beginning of civil war
As Marria's situation worsened, Terra Vitae essentially told them "you reap what you sow", which became a quite popular saying in Vitaen foreign politics. Marria responded by saying that its citizens were dying in the violence- May Nicolo famously responded by saying, "They're starving because they're revolting, and they're revolting because they're starving." This too became a popular saying. As Marria continued to repeat the same sayings, the phrase "Cry about it, Marria" became popular among the Vitaen populace, to the point that one councilman said it in a Council meeting, drawing some laughs. Nevertheless, Marria attempted to print money to dish out to its population, but the lack of supplies being created caused a period of relatively unreported inflation.

On March 8th, the situation in Marria was deemed to significant that Marria itself declared that civil war had begun. That same day, Marria's government was deposed and replaced with a military junta. By March 11th, Nascassia presented a map on Marrian refugees, showing that they were fleeing to Surmallion (of Nascassia), Aurelia, Theeserrasland, and apparently Kairas/Carrastan. On March 12th, Marrian Television 1, one of few stanidng Marrian news networks, showed that there were 4 main belligerents, with their stances against each other then unknown:


 * Marrian Government
 * Democratic Revolutionary Forces
 * Arrentinian Salvation front
 * Northern Seperatist Movement

Foreign intervention
On March 13th, Aurelia declared war on Marria and sent military forces into Marria to expel the rebels there and set up a puppet state. Lutosia stated that they would accept Marrian immigrants, and Attadania also sent forces into Marria to join Aurelia. The Aurelians outlined their goals to rescue Aurelian foreigners in Marria, embargo Marria, and shut down Marrian assets within Aurelia. However, Sillak of Attadania stated that they would instead support Marria. Around that time, as joint-Hennecartian-Aurelian forces moved into Marria, a new rebel group, known as the Marrian Liberation Front, rose up. They essentially supported a new dictatorship, just with different leaders and some different ideals- they themselves were quoted as saying, "Democracy is incompetent".

Accompanying the Marrian Liberation Front in the list of rebel groups was the Northern Separatis Movement, which aimed for the separation of the northern regions of the country as an independent country. The goal of the Democratic Revolutionary Forces was, at the time, unknown, but likely was related to installing democracy in Marria. On March 13, Saylandia made the decision to join the war on the side of the rebels and Aurelians- Bagninda and Ašanlerv had made the same decision prior to them. Around that same time, the Northern Separatist Movement refused Aurelian requests for cooperation betweent the two entities. The reason was that Aurelia aimed for a brief period of autonomy for the Northerners prior to gaining independence after a couple of years, while the Northerners wanted independence immediately.

Rebel infighting and expansion of the war
The NSM declared its fight against the MLF along with the DRF, while the Aurelians attempted negotiations with the DRF- autonomy and independence, along with reconstruction of Marria. Aurelia, however, did not speak of creating legitimate democracy, which the DRF was likely fighting for. As a result, the DRF refused, saying that the Aurelians intended to install a dictatorship. On March 15, Surmallion declared its intervention in favor of a more democratic solution, and Nascassia declared military support for them. Troublisia also outlined the sides in the war: the ASF, MLF, and Aurelians (along with other interventionist forces, presumably) were all on the same side; the DRF and NSM remained on separate sides. Aurelia also began plans to outline what they aimed to take- they did not aim for annexation of all of Marria, however, only external islands, colonies, and some of the western portions.

By March 21st, the scattered pockets of the Marrian Liberation Front had mostly united into one large territory. Combined with support from the ASF and the Aurelians, this made it a formidable opponent for the rest of the sides in the war. During this time, the Aurelians and MLF were encircling the capital, which was located on a capital to the east of the Aurelian mainland. On March 22nd, Gherweb, Marria's former colonizer, began supplying the Aurelians against the Marrians. On March 29th, Ašanlerv declared war on Marria and began bombardments of Marrian military bases. The combined weight of all the factions attacking the Marrian government weakened it severely, and by April 2nd, Nascassia stated that "...the Marrian government's collapse is imminent".

By April 3rd, Marria's government was gone. Virtually all leadership was dead, and a central government no longer existed. Marria had officially entered anarchy.

True anarchy
Following the Marrian government's collapse, a new group known as the Al-Amaal (literally "workers/laborers"; also transliterated as the Al-Eumaal) was reported to have begun making gains in the southern portion of the country on April 4th. Terra Vitae initially expressed interest in the group, as it had perceived it to be a proto-state of some sort; upon learning that the human rights under the Al-Amaal were not good, it ceased its interest. Vitae also searched for what it called a "Rojava"- Nalibian for an oasis of peace in a turbulent nation (the closest possible single-word translation is "oasis")- and looked into the Northern Separatist Movement, which still aimed for independence. But interest generally decreased there too, for no specific reason, however.

A statement by the Vitaen Department of Information-Conflict branch stated, "Marria, as of now, is effectively in anarchy, with a disastrous human rights situation, a lack of a central government, and ethnic, political, and criminal violence having skyrocketed." An estimate by Marrian human rights groups found that the HDI had fallen to about 0.410, and gang violence was now common, as a lack of central government also meant a lack of police. Some groups attempted to make their own police force to address lawlessness, but they were usually ineffective. By April 11th, the DRF was quickly falling to the MLF and NSM, while the NSM was able to resist the offensives done by the MLF. The MLF attempted landings around a bay that the NSM held. Another list of significant rebel groups published by the "Independent Republic of Marria" (which only held a titular role, as its government had collapsed at that point) showed how the internal conflict has expanded significantly.


 * Al-Eumaal/Al-Amaal
 * Northern Seperatist Movement
 * Arrentinian Salvation Front
 * Marrian Patriotic Front
 * Arrentinian Liberation Movement
 * Marrian Liberation Front
 * Democratic Revolutionary Front
 * Students of Marria
 * Aurelian Movement

Of those groups, the ASF, ALM, SoM, and AM were allied with Aurelia. During that time, the DRF was also eliminated and served essentially as a guerilla force. In addition to the rebel groups, the IRoM published a report on the nation belligerents in the conflict:


 * Aurelia
 * Surmallion
 * Ashanlerv
 * Saylandia
 * Hennecartia
 * Delphinax
 * Astrye
 * Gherweb
 * Bagninda
 * Sillak

The rise of the Al-Amaal, and the MLF-Aurelia schism
By May 13th, the Marrian Liberation Front was one of the more dominant factions in the civil war. It's controlled territory consisted of the capital, most colonies, and a large stretch of Marria, dividing it into two. However, the Al-Amaal had begun to increase gains in the southern portion of the country. They eventually established a proto-state under the name of Al-Amaal. With these gains, Medale-Miridge decided to give them political support, or simply avoid condemnation, if they maintained positive human rights records. However, Terra Vitae refused this, as it had mostly changed its mind regarding the Al-Amaal. By May 26th, the Al-Amaal had gained control over lots of the southeastern portion of the country.

Prior to this, the MLF had begun distancing itself from Aurelia due to its perceived inability to provide effective support. In addition, most other rebel groups had likely been weakened due to opposition from the MLF and other interventionist forces. As a result, the Al-Amaal had a safe space to expand greatly in land area. On June 6th, the MLF proposed an agreement between it and the Aurelians as to continue cooperation, in which all Marrian land except for the Marrian mainland would be ceded to the Aurelians, and the State of Marria would be formed as an Aurelian puppet. However, disagreements regarding the status of Al-Amaal (Aurelia wanted it to be an autonomous state, while the MLF disagreed with it), along with the revelation that Aurelia was mainly participating for long-term investment, resulted in the MLF leaving Aurelia's sphere of influence enitrely on June 6th. With Aurelia gone, Gherweb left too. Astrye also departed from the MLF, and Ašanlerv bombed enemy positions before withdrawing shortly after- Astrye returned briefly to do the same. By June 7th, Ašanlerv was out of the war, along with Troublisia. The MLF lost its main source of supplies, and was now substantially more prone to Al-Amaal aggressiveness. Luckily, peace came prior to the manifestation of any attacks.

Peace and aftermath
The MLF was now heavily prone to attacks by the Al-Amaal proto-state. The MLF had lost its main source of supplies, and the Al-Amaal was enjoying quick progress against other crumbling rebel groups. With this likely in mind, the MLF proposed a treaty to be made. the Independent Republic of Marria (titular only, as the actual one had long-dissolved) published a peace treaty for the conflict on June 7th. Marria as a united, sovereign state would be dissolved, and its leaders imprisoned for genocide. Areas controlled by the Arrentinian Salvation Front would be united with Aurelian Fieryia. Northern Marria would be reformed into the State of Marria (North Marria), controlled by the Marrian Liberation Front, while Southern Marria would be reformed into the Islamic Emirate of Marria (South Marria or [al-]Eumaal/Amaal), led by the al-Eumaal/al-Amaal.

Nascassia (and likely Surmallion too) was/were first to sign the treaty. Astrye followed with signing it. Fieryia accepted the new borders. With the Al-Amaal having agreed with the peace agreement and been reformed into South Marria (Amaal/Eumaal), the MLF moved to the Northern Separatist Movement, which was severely weakened. However, the NSM quickly surrendered on the day of the treaty signing. With the NSM gone, after just under 3 months of internal conflict and anarchy, Marria was once again at peace. Actually, Marria as a unified state no longer existed; it was now split into 2 countries, a likely nationalist regime in the North, and an Islamic socialist regime in the South. Nevertheless, former Marria underwent a rebuilding campaign to repair the wounds- but it was clear that the scars of the war would remain for eternity.

Post-violence tensions and issues
Marria was politically, economically, and socially destroyed by its civil war. The war continuously remained a relevant topic in geopolitics, and alliances between countries were essentially made irrelevant as various factions fought for control of Marria. In addition, Terra Vitae's inability to directly intervene (due to the fact that it is entirely on Dalesia) and to stop the violence was what was one of the main causes of the advancement of it's Dalesian space program. Delphinax sold 8 cells in southern Dalesian Delphinax to Terra Vitae, which was only fully verified on June 28. However, Vitae has to rely on Delphinax for travel, which Vitae aims to change in its space program.

With Marria split in two countries with very different systems (a probably nationalist regime and an islamic socialist regime), tensions between the two were inevitable. North Marria (the nationalists) seemed poised to attack South Marria at any moment- so much so, in fact, that it attempted to attack South Marria on June 27, only 20 days after the end of the war. However, these tensions were defused by Surmallion, who persuaded North Marria to call of attacks in order to protect the lives of their civilians. Marria's capital had also been divided between the two countries, in the peace treaty, making the city a potential site for violent warfare if it ever broke out. The tensions between the two new nations created an air of uncertainty regarding Marria's future.