History of Malgrave
1930's
In the days following the Great Exodus Prime Minister Arkadiusz Nowak resigned and was replaced by Jozef Wajda, an independent politician that had the support of all major political factions in the country.
During the Great Exodus the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy was able to ensure that enough supplies were carried over to feed the population and provide short-term shelter, but the first Wajda government found itself overwhelmed as it was tasked with building housing and public services while ensuring that the country could produce enough food.
At this time the first Wajda government also encountered its first protests as they implemented a strict system of rationing, and the population was forced to live in cooperative housing arrangements typically contained inside an ASG centre. The Malgravean Communist Party also started calling for a referendum into the future of the monarchy, and the National Council for Stability and Justice started to campaign for more resources to be given to the military. In 1935 Prime Minister Jozef Wajda was once again elected, with a majority of political parties in the country deciding to support an independent politician for the sake of national unity. The Malgravean Communist Party and the National Council for Stability and Justice however refused to support the government, and they both continued to advocate for radical change in the country.
All of these protest actions were initially allowed by the Malgravean government, however, over time the Communist Party and the National Council for Stability and Justice began to call for more radical change.
In 1938 these tensions boiled over when several members of the NCSJ were killed while attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Jozef Wajda, and the Royal Guard in Wizna were forced to fire upon a large mob moving on the Royal City of Wiza. In response, the second Wajda government passed the National Security and Stabilisation Act of 1938.
1940's
In the 1940's the central government was easily the weakest side in the Malgravean Civil War. It had suffered three major setbacks when a majority of the then fully-professional army had defected to the National Workers' Republic or to the Socialist Republic, and a subsequent wave of volunteers had flooded to lands controlled by the Communist Party.
Since the Great Exodus the Malgravean government had also struggled to build up an industrial base sizeable enough to provide military equipment on any large-scale, and the equipment stolen by defecting members of the military only made these problems more acute. At the time the newly formed Special Investigative Service plainly reported that a large-scale offensive from the National Workers' Republic or the Socialist Republic would result in the near immediate capitulation of the Malgravean state despite the predicted heavy resistance that would be offered by the Royal Guard and ground detachments of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
In an attempt to try and bolster the defensive capabilities of the nation it was decided that a new conscripted army was needed and in 1942 the Territorial Defence Force was transitioned from a volunteer force to a conscription army by the third Wajda government and in the space of a few months around thirty thousand conscripts started to receive basic training by members of the Royal Guard and the few members of the since disbanded Royal Army that didn't defect. Despite the establishment of the Territorial Defence Force the Wajda Administration still believed that the government was at risk and increasing reports from the SIS about a planned NWR offensive did nothing to alleviate these concerns, however luckily for the government these reports didn't come to fruition as the NWR was consumed by political infighting, although that fact was not revealed until several high-profile NWR figures defected in the late 60's.
After the initial concerns about a possible NWR offensive had been forgotten the government continued its five-year plan to build-up the nations heavy industry by constructing several new "industrial cities" with the first of these being called Pakosc, after a species of bird that used to reside on the Malgravean homeland. It has also been reported that the government even garnered international support in the form of resource imports and other deals, however successive Malgravean governments have denied this and said that the governments isolationist stance was never broken.
In this time period Malgrave held two elections 1940 Malgravean General Election and the 1945 Malgravean General Election. Jozef Wajda won both elections with the support of the Conservative Party and the Unity Party who both supported the principle of an indepedent unity government until the start of the 1950 Malgravean General Election.
1950's
Helen Magnus and the Technology Party won the 1950 Malgravean General Election on a manifesto that promised to spearhead technological advancement and industrial expansion as opposed to the more militaristic approach favoured by the other major political parties in the country. Prime Minister Magnus believed that the heavy fighting between the National Workers' Republic and the Socialist Republic benefited the central government as it gave the government time to train and rearm its military with the equipment recently researched by superior Malgravean R&D. In recent history their has been some debate over the effectiveness of this approach between members of departments of leading universities in Omsk and Epping but both schools of though agree that a failed offensive would've been disastrous at this point of time.
On the wider national front Prime Minister Magnus increased the top rate of income tax, increased the minimum wage and expanded the scope of MalTec by adding the production of domestic appliances to its responsibilities. In 1954 Rosalba Pontecorvo, the Minister of Science and Engineering first proposed the establishment of an overseas research colony however the military situation and the threat this idea posed to the governments isolationism meant that this idea was put on hold.
Just before the start of the 1955 General Election Rosalba Pontecorvo, the Minister of Science and Engineering and Antonio Santoro, the Minister of Health announced that the Malgravean Health Service and the Royal Institute for Biomedical Development had discovered a slight weakening in the Malgravean immune system and was currently investigating the cause of what is now known as Malgravean Immuno-Deficiency Disorder (MIDD). At the time it was theorised that attempts to ensure that every Malgravean citizen was connected with the ancestors caused MIDD or that the exodus had somehow caused the weakening but the cause of MIDD remains unknown.
Helen Magnus went on to win the 1955 Malgravean General Election with an increased majority, as she had been able to increase ration shares for goods that were considered luxurious in the past such as olive oil, and eliminate them entirely on stable goods like pasta and milk (although a large portion of this supply was now filled by soya and other non-dairy forms of milk). At the same time Prime Minister Magnus had been in power during a steady increase in the employment rate, although modern analysts argue if this was a result of her policies or the fact the country was in the final stage of its re-construction following the exodus.
At the start of 1956 however things began to change as TDF checkpoints reported increased harassment from the Patriotic Front in the region surrounding Pakosc. In response to these attacks Prime Minister Magnus wanted to use units of the Special Investigative Service and the Royal Marines to target and eliminate or simply deter the units responsible for harassing the TDF units, however at this point the Prime Minister received push back from Arkadiusz Gorecki, the Defence Minister who wished to try a more aggressive offensive utilising masses of conscripts from the TDF to permanently occupy thee positions used by units of the Patriotic Front. In response Magnus reluctantly approved the offensive operation despite the objections of Adrian Kava, the Minister of State Security and a classified member of the SIS.
Operation Swift was an unmitigated disaster and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest military defeats in Malgravean history, as members of the TDF increasingly reported shortages of ammunition and the continued rationing of artillery support essentially turned the uphill assaults into suicide missions. In the space of a few weeks an estimated 28,500 members of the TDF lost their lives during the offensive and another 74 lost their lives when local TDF forces had to fend off a series of counter-attacks by the Patriotic Front.
It was undeniably the lowest point in the Prime Ministers term and after Arkadiusz Gorecki resigned from the government Helen Magnus announced that she was not running for a third term. In the immediate aftermath of Operation Swift many expected the Patriotic Front to launch an offensive operation but the frontline remained relatively peaceful for the next few years, although recently declassified SIS reports frequently highlight concern over the city of Pakosc and it is believed that the construction of a military academy in the city was quickly rushed to ease the concerns of several high profile SIS officers. At this time Marshal-General Stefan Wojewódzki was replaced and Valentina Wronski was placed in overall charge of the Malgravean Armed Forces.
1960's
At the start of the 1960's Johann Leipzig and the newly formed Conservative Action Party (Malgrave) were swept into office, as the Technology Party struggled to deal with the political fallout Operation Swift and the decision made by Helen Magnus to withdraw from political life. Prime Minister Leipzig believed that the nations industrial base had reached sufficient levels to merit an increasingly aggressive approach to at least one of the factions in the continuing civil war.
As the SIS had expressed concerns over the safety of the industrial city of Pakosc (now inhabited by just over 300k Malgraveans) it was decided that the best course of action would be to launch a series of offensive operations against NWR positions in the area. Over the course of the next three years the TDF launched Operation Shield, Operation Hammer and Operation Bastion in an attempt to control the area of Pakosc, and while all operations were successful in their goals and managed to drive the NWR from several positions around Pakosc the TDF sustained heavy losses during this time period, and constant complaints about low-pay and poor living conditions were consistently ignored until tensions boiled over and the TDF announced the start of a general strike.
In response to the strike Prime Minister Johann Leipzig attempted to use the Royal Guard to arrest the ringleaders of the strike, however Paragon-King Gianfranco Zunino made a rare intervention and used his constitutional powers to counter the order and furthermore banned the Royal Guard from intervening in workers disputes in the future. Over the next few months the Malgravean government was effectively forced to negotiate with the TDF,, and the two sides eventually came to an agreement that included set wage increases and base improvements in return for the gradual dismantlement of the TDF union.
At this time the SIS began receiving intelligence that the NWR was planning an offensive operation against the city of Pakosc, and it recommended that a force of Royal Marines and the TDF be sent to prevent the city from falling into enemy hands, however the government was fearful of further strike action from the Territorial Defence Force and several members of the government including Prime Minister Leipzig believed that the morale of the TDF was too low to be reliable in an extended battle against the Patriotic Front (Malgrave), so instead they ordered the city be evacuated.
In response civilian evacuations started but the 2nd Southern Training Regiment and a majority of students and staff members from Pakosc Academy refused to obey the order and instead armed themselves and started to fight the advancing forces of the NWR. The Battle of Pakosc lasted for four years and resulted in the death of over 8,000 Malgravean combatants and some 22,000 civilians but the offensive was stopped in its track and the surprise victory of the defenders acted as a rallying call for members of the TDF throughout the Malgravean Civil War.
During the Battle of Pakosc the Conservative Action Party managed to pull off an upset and win the 1965 Malgravean General Election, although their surprise victory is often credited to the disunity between the various left-wing parties in Malgrave as opposed to the popularity of the Prime Minister. After the city of Pakosc was returned to the full control of Malgravean forces the government started to take a more cautious approach and through the careful redeployment of the TDF re-captured several villages that the NWR had used to attack Pakosc. It's also known that Adalbert Kaczmarek, then the Minister of Justice began to independently investigate allegations of corruption within the government after receiving complaints from senior members of the TDF about missing funds.
It has also been reported that the first purposeful deployment of magic and the first official contact with foreigners took place during the Battle of Pakosc, with many eye witnesses reporting a strange explosion sometime in 1966 and others pointing to a strange group that visited a local Student Division base around the same time but that has been denied by the Special Investigative Service, although the still classified nature of SIS reports on the battle has led added to support of these conspiracy theories.
1970's
The 1970's started off in a relatively calm manner as a quick series of battles between the TDF and the Patriotic Front put a temporary hold on any large-scale offensive operations. In 1971 Adalbert Kaczmarek, then the Minister of Justice started to investigate Prime Minister Leipzig for corruption after uncovering some discrepancies in several projects designed to increase the combat effectiveness of the TDF.
Following a two year investigation the Ministry of Justice officially charged Prime Minister Liezpig with both corruption and treason against the Malgravean state and after a short trial the former Prime Minister was executed and buried in disgrace. Adalbert Kaczmarek was quickly appointed Prime Minister by the Conservative-Action Party and in 1974 he managed to pull off another upset by winning the 1974 Malgravean Emergency General Election (for an extended six year term) with the CAP once again exploiting divisions within the left-wing.
In 1975 Prime Minister Adalbert Kaczmarek announced the start of a series of economic reforms, and legislated the privatisation of Malgravean Road Haulage Corporation and MalTec and the opening of the hotel, financial and large-scale food production sector to the private sector. On the military front in 1976 the Territorial Defence Force started a series of offensive operations against the NWR, and buoyed by recent successes and taking full advantage of damage inflicted on the NWR by the SR the TDF began to liberate more and more territory until the city of Aria was fully captured in 1979.
In a rather controversial incident captured members of the ruling military council were summarily executed and other low-ranking officers of the Patriotic Front were killed during clean-up operations, an independent investigation was started to attempt to account for these incidents but it has been criticised in recent years for failing to secure a large number of convictions.
1980's
The 1980 Malgravean General Election ended with a victory for the recently formed Progressive Unity Party as Nikola Tesla swept into office under a pledge to increase living standards and defeat the Socialist Republic without wasting innocent lives. Prime Minister Tesla started by secretly organising talks with the Malgravean Communist Party using the Socialist Party as a go-between, although he also continued to approve planned offensive operations against the Socialist Republic and in 1982 Sarosa was captured by the TDF.
On the economic front Prime Minister Tesla pushed forward an increase in the minimum wage, an increase in paid holiday time (to five weeks a year) and re-nationalised MalTec. Epping, Omsk, Pakosc and other cities also received improvements to their metro system and in more rural areas the national rail and bus networks were strengthened and modernised.
In 1983 the United Kingdom of Malgrave and the Socialist Republic of Malgrave announced the official cessation of hostilities as the Epping-Rensk agreement was officially signed. The agreement dissolved the Socialist Republic and the Communist Party (with many members joining the Socialist Party). In response the government announced a general pardon for all SR fighters not accused of serious war crimes, agreed to support cooperatives and workers self-managed enterprises and gradually end the nations isolationist stance. Since then the agreement has been criticised by members of the CAP for being too lenient but supporters of the agreement say it was the only way to ensure the end of the war without ordering more conscripts to their death, and point that the economic reforms stipulated in the agreement benefited the Malgravean economy and the isolationist stance of the government was idiotic.
Following the success of their previous economic reforms and inspired by the PUPs performance during the 1985 Malgravean General Election Viktor Ivanov, then Minister of Industry announced the implementation of a scheme designed to increase industrial output by modernising equipment and automating several parts of the production line. In response to these plans workers across the country complained to the Most Illustrious Glorious Confederation of Proud Malgravean Proletarians (MIGCPMP) but after the MIGCPMP gave their support to the plans the workers started the Malgravean Workers Organisation, a trade union outside the authority of the national trade union confederation. It is said that Minister Ivanov was shocked at these developments (specifically the creation of a union outside the control of the confederation) and the rather luddite basis behind them, and angered many union officials when he refused to meet with representatives from the MWO claiming that they represented an illegal organisation.
After Prime Minister Tesla intervened some small negotiations took place in 1986 but those dissolved after the Great Riot of 1987 that resulted in the deaths of some 13 police officers and 7 protesters. In response the leadership of the MWO was arrested for its role in inciting violence but after several hours they were released after agreeing to dismantle the NWO, at the same time the government also announced the formation of a job guarantee scheme and said that the reforms would be conducted at a slower pace.
As certain information behind the Great Riot of 1987 has been classified by the Special Investigative Service conspiracy theories have popped up claiming that the violence was incited by undercover operatives of the SIS, although this has been repeatedly denied by the SIS who say that every investigation into deaths during the riot are classified due to the ongoing state of emergency.
1990's
At the start of the 1990's the Conservative Action Party (Malgrave) won the 1990 Malgravean General Election and Alicja Kowalska was elected Prime Minister. Since the successful completion of the Epping-Rensk Agreement and the forced dissolution of the National Workers' Republic of Malgrave it was believed that the nation would finally enter a long period of peaceful economic development, and groundwork was done in parliament to try and end the long-standing state of emergency.
In 1991 these preparations were halted when remnants of the Patriotic Front (Malgrave) and the newly formed New Malgravean Communist Party started an insurgency campaign against the Malgravean government. In response, the TDF established security zones in cities and other population centres, but in a rather controversial point, the TDF didn't engage in the same wide-ranging offensive operations they did in the past and instead focused on a defensive strategy with minor counter-attack offensives in certain provinces.
Over the next few years the central government instituted a series of tax cuts and implemented a series of name changes for state-owned corporations that provoked a series of large-scale protests. It is believed that the government was planning a series of privatisations and an attempt to weaken the influence of trade unions but that was halted when Prime Minister Alicja Kowalska was killed in the 1994 Karlino Central Station Bombing. The Technology Party and Vittorio Bellandini won the subsequent 1994 Malgravean Emergency General Election (under a six year term) and the party started off by immediately reversing the previous tax cuts passed by the Conservative-Action Party, increased the level of funding to research institutes, raised the minimum wage and implemented a series of public works reduced to create full employment.
In addition, the government also continued movements to follow the Epping-Rensk Agreement by ending the isolationist policy by 2000, and several hundred civil servants were hired to re-write legislation to include foreign nations/individuals and establish a Foreign Ministry. At the start of the 90's the Malgravean economy began to stagnate despite efforts made by the government to create artificial growth, a series of terrorist attacks following the 1994 Karlino Central Station Bombing led to further economic damage sparking the start of what is referred to now as the Lost Decade
It should also be noted that future Prime Minister Rachel Berry was injured during the 1994 Karlino Central Station Bombing and the attack spurred her to become more active in politics.
2000's
After years of economic stagnation and poor performances in national polls and local elections the Technology Party lost the 2000 Malgravean General Election to Nikola Tesla and the Progressive Unity Party Immediately following this election result and keeping to the promises made in the Epping-Rensk Agreement Malgrave started exiting isolation and opening relations with the international community, and the government instructed Ministers to continue reforming legislation and ensure that it could deal with the expected influx of foreign citizens and corporations.
In 2002 the government experienced its first major political controversy when Quinn Fabray, (then the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development) when she was caught making controversial comments about the criminal past of a foreign news anchor.
As this controversy was ongoing the government was passing a series of new infrastructure and housing projects through Rachel Berry, the Minister of Transport and Catherine Lowwe, then Minister of Housing and Urban Development to ensure that the nations infrastructure and housing stock could deal with the abandonment of years of isolationism.
In 2003 Quinn Fabray was appointed to the position of Foreign Minister following the sudden resignation of Alex Nepi and was tasked with continuing with opening the country to the international community, although at this point this process was intentionally slowed by the Tesla Administration who feared that rapid de-isolationism could damage the Malgravean political, cultural and economic system so relations were only established with a handful of nations. As Malgrave continued to form relations with the international community, and the government continued its infrastructure projects the Malgravean economy began to experience a steady rate of 3%+ yearly growth and the Progressive Unity Party experienced a burst in popularity and easily won the 2005 Malgravean General Election.
On the counter-insurgency front both the Patriotic Front (Malgrave) and the New Malgravean Communist Party continued to harass TDF units across the country, and despite new counter-offensive campaigns and a willingness in both government and the opposition to end the State of Emergency the campaign of violence continued, and in 2009 this culminated when Helas Metro Station was attacked by forces belonging to the New Malgravean Communist Party.
In response to the terrorist attack Prime Minister Nikola Tesla offered his resignation citing his failure to defend the population, and in a surprising move appointed then Transport Minister Rachel Berry to replace him as Prime Minister.
It was expected that the newly appointed Prime Minister wouldn't be able to form a sufficiently loyal and experienced cabinet to win the subsequent 2009 Malgravean Emergency General Election but a series of quick announcements of loyalty from party stalwarts Viktor Ivanov, Thomas Plume and Catherine Lowwe ensured that the PUP exerted a united front during an extremely energetic campaign whereas members of the Conservative-Action Party struggled to get going and major public disagreements within the CAP led to the PUP easily winning the Emergency General Election.
Prime Minister Rachel Berry immediately increased the speed of de-isolationism establishing strong economic, cultural and military relations with over two dozen countries and formulating a plan with various state-owned corporations to expand Malgravean economic influence abroad and establish a new customer base for Malgravean products and services. In addition the Prime Minister through Claudia Donovan, the Minister of Science and Engineering and Viktor Ivanov, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development kick-started a plan to construct a research colony, a plan that had originally been proposed in the 50's by the Technology Party but paused due to the Malgravean Civil War
As the decade drew to a close the Malgravean economy continued to experience steady growth, and construction was officially started on the first Malgravean research colony as the land was taken from the Royal Institute for the Advancement of Universal Technology.
2010's
In the immediate aftermath of the 2009 Malgravean Emergency General Election Prime Minister Rachel Berry had moved quickly to reward the members of the PUP that had supported her sudden ascension to leadership, and Catherine Lowwe, Claudia Donovan, Nadzieja Brzezicki and Thomas Plume and several other allies found themselves in cabinet positions.
All of this earlier political manoeuvring meant that the Prime Minister was relatively free to push forward her own political agenda, and she started by continuing to increase the pace of de-isolation. Operation Infinite Reach, a wide-ranging operation against the international slave trade and Operation Open Hand, an operation specifically targeted against Imerian slavers were both launched on the 1st of January 2010, although the latter operation was cancelled following the temporary subjugation of the Imerian nation and its forced abolition of the slave trade.
MalMart, MalTec and other Malgravean state-owned enterprises also started to aggressively expand into the international community, and they now boasted a large presence in Kouralia, Celritannia and the Greater Pony Herd. At the same time, foreign corporations also began to expand into the Malgravean market, and several large banks from the Greater Pony Herd opened up branches across the country, while Kouralian and Rohanian companies also began to compete in the active market.
Aurelia Wyrzykowski and the Ministry of Cultural Sensitivity gained attention, as the Ministry censored several foreign productions, although a majority of foreign imports passed the censorship tests. Claudia Donovan, the Ancestral Study Group and the Malgravean National Broadcasting Corporation attempted to follow the example of Malgravean state-owned enterprises and began to promote Ancestral Study and Malgravean cultural products to the international community, although it would take a few years before shows, like Adventurer High School, and Pakosc: Total War would start to become popular overseas.
Malgrave found itself in an incredibly strong position at the start of 2013, as years of strong economic growth and steady employment from public works in the research colony, the expansion of foreign companies, and the continuation of longstanding social programs resulted in a high standard of living. In addition to these economic achievements the country also celebrated as Queen Helena Wells announced that she was pregnant, and several noted productions were released. All of this changed at the end of the year with the outbreak of the so-called The Great Humiliation, when the forces of Atum threatened the Malgravean population with orbital bombardment and Queen Helena Wells sacrificed herself to save both the Malgravean and the Imerian people from complete destruction.
In the immediate aftermath of the so-called Great Humiliation the Ministry of Defence received harsh criticism for failing to properly organise an appropriate defence, and allegations of corruption and incompetence soon found its way onto the headlines of the major newspapers. In response the government organised an independent review of the response from the military, the report highlighted the rapid response of the Territorial Defence Force and the Royal Marines, and cleared the Ministry of Defence of all allegations of corruption and incompetence but political pressure from within the PUP led to Robert Leipzig being replaced with Katia De Campo
As the Malgravean Queen had sacrificed herself to the Atumites during the early stages of the Atumite-Malgravean conflict the Malgravean nation remained unscarred from orbital bombardment, the same could not be said for the Imerian nation. It had been bombarded from orbit after refusing to surrender the High King, and several cities had been completely destroyed. Malgrave offered assistance to the Imerian nation to help rebuild, and anti-radiation mushrooms and particles were sent to clean-up the bombardment sites, while engineers and robots were tasked with rebuilding Imerian infrastructure, although both of these charitable efforts haven't prevented the rise of anti-Malgravean sentiment in Imeriata for unknown reasons.
The Malgravean government also suspected that the Atumites could launch another invasion, and demand more concessions from the Malgravean people as they understood that the Malgravean military lacked the capabilities to destroy a large orbital fleet. In response Thomas Plume started negotiations with the Dornalian Government in 2015 to purchase a battleship and several spacecraft capable of defending Malgrave, with the possibility of an additional defensive and economic partnership.
Following the death of Thomas Plume, the newly appointed Foreign Minister Eliot Reymont attempted to forge a relationship with The C'tan. The C'tan had long established an embassy in Malgrave, but in previous years the government had been rather fearful of the unequal power dynamic between the two civilisations, however, the recent threat of Atumite invasion had eliminated those fears and a C'tani-Malgravean Alliance was now seen as an ironclad method of avoiding a second Atumite-Malgravean Conflict.
Eliot Reymont continued the work of her predecessor by moving to strengthen the alliance between the Dornalian and the Malgravean government. It was originally predicted to be a hard endeavour due to the large political differences between the two governments, but a quick economic and cultural relationship was formed between both nations. Dornalian companies like Alfa Romeo and Tyrol Foods soon became popular accompaniments to an episode of the Juanita and Lyudmila Show and other foreign cultural productions. MalMart, MalTec, MalTra and other state-owned corporations have also expanded into the Dornalian market, although Eliot Reymont garnered some controversy amongst the conservative Dornalian movement when she criticised the actions of the Dornalian government and promised that Malgravean state-owned corporations like MalMart would offer a living-wage and numerous health and educational benefits to its employees and direct family members.