Lost Decade

The Lost Decade was a period of civil unrest and economic crisis that occurred within in the United Kingdom of Malgrave between the period of 1992 and 2002, the cause of the Lost Decade has been a subject of fierce debate within Malgravean society, with terrorism, economic shock and isolationism all being marked as contributing to the crisis.

Background

Following the electoral victory of the Progressive Unity Party in the 1980 Malgravean General Election, the newly formed government started holding diplomatic talks with their counterparts in the Socialist Republic of Malgrave, these talks which were mediated by the Republic of Breheim led to the signing of the Epping-Rensk Agreement in 1983 and brought an end to a period of civil conflict that had ravaged the country since 1938.

At this time Malgrave experienced a positive economic and social boom known as the Cultural Revolution (Malgrave) in which artists like Sakura Saito rose to prominence and a larger number of television shows and films were produced due to the reduction of war-time restrictions.

Between 1985 and 1987 a dispute emerged between industrial workers primarily focused in Pakosc and Rensk, the workers were initially upset over a series of planned technological reforms being brought in to modernise several MalTec, MalTra and other assorted factories, however, when the Most Illustrious Glorious Confederation of Proud Malgravean Proletarians (MIGCPMP) supported the plans of the governments their anger grew to encompass frustrations over the trade union movement.

In the Epping-Rensk Agreement, a series of economic reforms had been promised to alleviate concerns of representatives from the Socialist Republic, and activists from the Malgravean Socialist Party attempted to use these metrics to promote the independence of the MIGCPMP, however, the Great Riot of 1987 and the death of people led to this movement being swiftly clamped down on by the government who feared another resurgence of violence.

It is said that the formation of the New Malgravean Communist Party was linked to dissatisfaction with the response to the Great Riot, however, as the senior organisers of the movements died before the formation of the terrorist movement this claim is disputed.

Stagnation

In a shock result, the Conservative-Action Party came away victorious in the 1990 Malgravean General Election, the new government started to set its mark on the country axing a series of infrastructure programmes that the previous government had intended to complete in the city of Rensk, Aria and other locations that formed part of the Socialist Republic and National Workers' Republic.

Furthermore, the government started the process of privatising MalTra, MalTec and MalPha, however, fierce resistance to these plans from the Most Illustrious Glorious Confederation of Proud Malgravean Proletarians (MIGCPMP) forced the government to delay its plans which were further delayed by the outbreak of violence within the country as remnants of the Patriotic Front and the newly formed New Communist Party started a campaign of terrorism in the country.

At this time the Malgravean economy began to enter into a period of stagnation, such a phenomenon has been blamed on the continued isolationist stance of the country, however, the constant strikes from the trade union confederation and the start of the terrorism campaign has also been blamed for this, and the subject is still hotly contested within academic circles with Nadzieja Brzezicki noted as an expert on this period.

Decline

In an attempt to counter the outbreak of terrorism within the country the Conservative Action Party (Malgrave) mobilised an increasing number of soldiers from the Territorial Defence Force to service security checkpoints across the country, however, on top of providing security benefits the security checkpoints also had a negative impact on the number of Malgraveans that were willing to travel long-distances and both the tourism and entertainment industry, a vital part of Malgravean economy at that time began to suffer from the stress.

Furthermore, the 1994 assassination of Prime Minister Alicja Kowalska during the 1994 Karlino Central Station Bombing led to further instability in the country, and despite the subsequent election Vittorio Bellandini in the 1994 Malgravean Emergency General Election the country dipped into recession for the first time since the Great Exodus

Between 1994 and 1998 the Malgravean economy shrunk by an average of 8.25% per year, although this decline was experienced mostly in 1994 and 1997 respectively which accounted for half the losses.

Recovery

In 1998 the economy began to show signs of recovery, with losses of only 3.2% being recorded which was in stark contrast to the 8.9% decline suffered in 1997. It is theorised that a decline in terrorist activity following a series of successful TDF raids organised with the assistance of the Special Investigative Service combined with work the country was undergoing to exist isolation helped factor into the recovery, however, with many things relating to the Lost Decade this is still a hotly debated topic within academic circles.

Shortly after the election of the Progressive Unity Party in the 2000 Malgravean General Election the country recorded its first period of economic growth since 1993, the credit for such an achievement is widely disputed between supporters of the Technology Party and supporters of the Progressive Unity Party, however, it is known for starting a period known as the Grand Recovery, a 10-year period in which the economy regularly experienced growth between 7 and 13% and various state-run companies began to expand abroad.

Impact

Due to the severe economic decline, the Lost Decade has been associated with an increase in deaths related to MIDD due to poor diets associated with the rise in poverty and the mental health crisis that gripped the nation at the time, a strange side effect of this was an increase in the number of Malgraveans entering college ahead of schedule, a notable example of this being Seo Yi-kyung who entered Epping Central College at the age of 14 and Claudia Donovan who became the youngest student at Niels Bohr Academy when they joined at the age of 14, as a result, a large number of senior Malgravean positions tend to be held by figures that are relatively young compared to their regional counterparts.

After the collapse of the National Workers' Republic, the ASG initially struggled to gain a foothold in the region, however, the charity work the organisation carried in former NWR areas alongside several propaganda campaigns organised by successive central governments resulted in the organisation becoming accepted in the former separatist republic. Furthermore, the cultural programmes started by the ASG at this time is credited with aiding the re-development of Malgravean culture with Rhee Chae-Yeong and Park Eun-Ji of Eclipse both crediting the ASG with helping start their musical career.

In 2018 a report from the Royal Omsk University concluded that the skills picked up by the ASG during the Lost Decade had contributed positively to their ability to assist the Spirean and Altean populations during the successive crisis that hit that region, and has contributed towards the ASG being one of the largest providers of international charitable assistance in the region.