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The Fall of Colonia
Editing has been suspended as this article relates to a current world event.

The Fall of Colonia (September 5th 2011 – November 14th 2013) refers to the series of civil wars which devastated the Central European nation of Colonia during a 2-year period between 2011 and 2013. The war began in the nation’s capital city of Akord and rapidly spread to engulf all five main regions of the nation – The City, The Dales, The Plains, The Coast and The Islands. While academics and political scientists are at odds to how the war started, it is clear that one catalyst was the confirmation in early 2011 that the flowers of the plant Sveltewort, a member of the daisy family found only in the northerly mountainous region of Colonia, was a fast and effective cure for many forms of cancer. The shifts in national wealth triggered by this discovery, and the resultant ‘Wortrush’ to maximize profits, destabilized the nation sufficiently to allow the conflict to begin.

Initial reports and aerial surveys have confirmed that 95% of the nation’s infrastructure has been destroyed and more than 90% of the nation’s population has either been killed or displaced by the conflict.[citation needed]

As of 16/11/2013, no formal Governing body has made contact with the outside world from within Colonia. The World Council has made it clear in a series of airdropped pamphlets that unless they receive reassurance from within Colonia that a governing body is in place, the state will be declared defunct and placed under the command of World Council peace-keeping troops.

The First War
The Neutrality of this section has been questioned

The First War of Colonia refers to the opening conflict of the Colonian Civil Wars which led ultimately to The Fall of Colonia. The War is generally agreed to have taken place between September 5th 2011 and March 14th 2012.

The Riots of Akord
The conflict began with a series of riots which broke out in the city of Akord as disaffected young people took to the streets, looted shops, started fires and fought with police. The rioting quickly spread to other towns and cities across the nation, especially the nation’s second city of Ortra. These riots began as protests against the government after it was revealed how several MPs had become wealthy from Sveltewort, while the public continued to struggle with austerity measures. Caught off-guard, the police forces of these cities used techniques such as kettling to subdue the protests and there were several deaths.

The Raid of the Dales
In one instance a mob of 50 young people from the capital City, Akord, launched a raiding party which took them up into the Dales in order to harvest Sveltewort in the night. This group was violently repelled by the local Dales residents, and several were killed. Outraged by this, vigilante groups from other regions flocked to the Dales to try and either exact revenge, other groups descended to harvest the Sveltewort for themselves among the chaos.

The September 16th Massacre
In order to assert some control in the region, the Government sent troops to the Dales. Contradictory reports from within central Government claimed that the troops were either protecting the nation's most valuable resource or saving the people of the Dales from the raiders. It remains unclear whether the army was ordered to open fire on the raiders on September 16, or if the shooting was started by a rogue individual. In total, 276 people were shot by the army that day, with casualties being suffered by all 5 regions.

Civil War
The following six months (recognised as September 16 2011 to February 7th 2012) saw the country lurch into full civil war, with the Army and the citizens of the Dales fighting against a ‘People’s Army’ made up from fighters from the other regions, primarily the City, Plains and Coast, with a handful of fighters from the Islands. The conflict spread out from its initial centres in the Dales and The City to engulf all regions of the nation apart from The Islands.

End of the First War
The decisive moment of the first war came on the 7th of February 2012 when, following the leaking of documents proving of the corruption of the sitting government, two thirds of the National Army broke away from Government control and sided with the City, the Plains, the Coast and the Islands to defeat and destroy the population of the Dales. This stark objective was achieved, with any survivors from the Dales fleeing north and East to neighbouring Dacia. At Noon on the 17th February 2012, the sitting government who supported the Dales was swiftly deposed and replaced by an interim military government representing the nation’s interests. This government was headed by General Michael Malstrom who became the 17th President of Colonia. The Dales were left deserted, with a no-man’s land of mines keeping out would-be looters of Sveltewort. It is estimated that more than 1500 survivors from the war lost their lives to these mines as they attempted to enter The Dales to secure the Sveltewort.

The Second War
The Second War of Colonia refers to the conflict between the people of Colonia’s capital city, Akord, and the interim Military Government which seized power at the end of the First War of Colonia on the 17th February 2012. The first shots of the war were fired on March 17th 2012, and as of 14th November 2013, no formal ceasefire has been declared.

Draconian Martial Law
On 27th February 2013, the Interim Military Government under President Malstrom passed a series of extraordinary security laws in order to ‘bring peace and stability’ to Colonia. These included the curtailment of various civil liberties and the imposition of Martial Law throughout the nation. The following days saw peaceful protests against the measures spring up across the nation.

Outbreak of War
On 17th March 2012, government troops in Akord fired shots against agitated protestors representing the Colonian Freedom Fighters. Several protestors returned fire and street battles broke out across the city. The following weeks saw all-out guerrilla warfare develop, with the Colonian Freedom Fighters adopting Jean Louis DeFacto as their popular leader.

The Rise and Fall of Ortra
This refers to the failed attempt by the people of The Plains to assert their city of Ortra as the new capital of Colonia following the destruction of Akord. On April 23rd 2012, Susan Casson, the Mayor of Ortra, announced that Ortra would replace Akord as capital of the nation, and that a new, more radical form of democracy would replace the corrupt system. While confirming that she was temporarily taking power, Casson stressed that this was only to take the nation to a point where a general election could take place. She appealed for peace from all regions. Seeing her as attempting a further coup, Jean Louis DeFacto and representatives of all other regions denounced Casson.

The Bloody Harvest (April-May 2012)
The Bloody Harvest refers to the rush by semi-official groups from all major regions to secure and harvest the valuable Svelteword crop for their own needs. The Bloody Harvest began when Harvest Parties from The Plains were sent out by Susan Casson in order to finance the alternative seat of government from Ortra in The Plains. In response to this, the Coast sent parties of their own to The Dales to harvest Sveltewort. Fierce fighting quickly broke out between the two groups, who also met with resistance from any local Dales residents surviving in the area. Amateur photography confirms how the yellow fields of Sveltewort were dyed red with the blood of combatants.[facts disputed]

Refugees flee south
As the fighting between the Plains and The Coast spread down along the boundary between the regions, and the guerrilla war raged in Akord, tens of thousands of refugees fled south to the coast and boarded boats to The Islands, which were still relatively untouched by the fighting. The arrival of the refugees spread panic across the Islands, resulting in the guards at the gates of various settlements refusing to allow them to enter. 1000s of refugees were thus left exposed on the beaches of the Islands, with dozens reported to have died.[facts disputed]

Battle of Etlan
On July 22nd, 250 hungry refugees attempted to force their way into the Island’s town of Etlan. They were forcibly repulsed by the town guard and other citizens, with more than 100 refugees reportedly dying in the battle.[facts disputed]

Fall of Colonia
By the autumn, it became clear that there would be no winner in the battle for Akord, the capital city. Both the Colonian Freedom Fighters and the military government forces were close to annihilation, and break-away factions and criminal gangs were already appearing. Recognising the impossibility of victory, General Malstrom and the military government fled Colonia into nearby Dacia on 4th October 2012, broadcasting a recorded message informing the people that “Colonia has fallen”. On 5th December 2012 the World Council announced that Colonia was a leaderless rogue state, and suspended its trading rights and aid packages.

The Lost Year
The Lost Year refers to the period from December 5th 2012 to November 2nd 2013 during which time only fragments of news about the fate of Colonia reached the outside world. Journalists who gained access to the country confirmed the following:

- Pockets of fighting were still taking place, on a local level, across the nation. - The region of the Dales was all but deserted, with fields of land mines surrounding the valuable Sveltewort plantations. - More than 90% of the pre-war population had either fled or died in the war. - Criminal gangs were in control of most of the major cities.

Death of DeFacto
On 2nd November 2013, the body of Jean Louis DeFacto, the leader of the Colonian Freedom Fighters, was found hanging from a lamp post in central Akord. This marked the end of the Colonian Freedom Fighters and left Akord almost entirely in the hands of the criminal gangs.

Beacon
On 13th November 2013, international monitors picked up an SOS Beacon emanating from central Akord. It was delivered by a small group of survivors who had gathered in a former Town Hall building which was not yet over-run by gangs. The message asked for any survivors in the nation to make their way to Akord to join a gathering of Colonians.