Epping-Rensk Agreement
The Epping-Rensk Agreement is the name given to the deal negotiated between the United Kingdom of Malgrave and Socialist Republic of Malgrave which brought and end to the Malgravean civil war. It is noted for the involvement of Breheimian diplomats which were used as neutral intermediaries, although, several decades old it still provokes debate in Malgrave as the agreement forced through several changes including an end to the long standing isolationist policy the country had implemented in 1938.
History
In the 1980 Malgravean General Election, the Progressive Unity Party promised to start peace negotiations with the Socialist Republic to try and bring an end to the conflict. Such a movement was widely criticised by the Conservative Action Party but proved to be quite popular with the wider population who wished to see a swift and bloodless end to the conflict with the Socialist Republic, as the end of the National Workers' Republic of Malgrave was noted to be quite traumatic.
Work on a settlement between the Socialist Republic and United Kingdom started shortly after the election of the Progressive Unity Party in 1980, however, distrust between the two sides greatly hampered dealings and talks eventually broke down due to this and the continuation of military operations.
At the end of 1980 work was restarted on these talks but with the addition of negotiators from Breheim, as such an intermediary negotiator was acceptable to both sides due to the work of Breheimian diplomats. Between 1980 and 1983 representatives from the United Kingdom and Socialist Republic formed the framework of an agreement, with the final agreement being signed in Pakosc on the 26th of May 1983.
It has been reported that an attempted coup was launched after the completion of this agreement and such a theory formed the basis of the popular series Revolution. Such a theory remains controversial due to the lack of evidence and is regarded as a false conspiracy.
Impact
The Epping-Rensk Agreement had several major impacts on Malgravean society which are still felt today. Obviously, the most notable impact was the fact that the agreement brought the Malgravean Civil War to a peaceful conclusion. A conflict that had raged for nearly five decades. the civil war had brought hardship and misery to generations across Malgrave and in the weeks that followed an outpouring of emotion combined with a relaxation on censorship led to the Cultural Revolution, a period of time which is noted to have forged the birth of M-pop and the popularity of Mdramas.
Malgrave also agreed to finally put an end to the longstanding policy of isolationism. It is argued that such a change would have come naturally, as the Lost Decade proved that the economy needed some outside trade connections but the long-term commitment to the policy aidd in the construction of infrastructure to meet new stresses which may of been missed if the country had rushed into joining the international community during the Lost Decade.
It is also said that the high number of worker cooperatives and worker self-managed industry is a direct result of the Epping-Rensk Agreement, although, this is only partially true. In the Epping-Rensk Agreement, the Malgravean government agreed to pass legislation to allow workers to transform private companies into worker cooperatives and workers self-managed enterprises. It wasn't until the Lost Decade when this was utilised on a large scale, although, as a result the majority of companies not run by the state fall into these two categories.
In 2013 it was reported that the work performed by Breheimian diplomats was a contributing factor for many Malgraveans organising financial aid to Breheim, as a majority of trade union activists and tourists stated that they wished to help the Breheimian people because Breheim had helped the Malgravean people in a time of trouble.