The country of Morb is very large. It is located in Europe and was occupying the territory of the German Empire and Austrian Empire. Now it is reduced to a territory of Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic if they were united.
As such, the German and Austrian Empires, as well as the Holy Roman Empire, does not exist in this universe.
PRE-FORMATION: THE COMPETING MORBIAN LANDS
Before the official formation of the country, different nation states competed for power and control over the region since the Middle Ages.
Each nation claimed the region for themselves, mostly for nationalistic and propaganda purposes. For hundreds of years, nations annexed and fell to others.
Other European powers, mainly Britain and France, do not actively participate in this perpetual war. The Russian Empire does not sit particularly well with an ongoing conflict virtually outside their borders in Eastern Europe.
When the 19th century came, almost all smaller and weaker nation states were dissolved and annexed. Only three major nations emerged: Morb, Danada, and Poßia. These nations formed fluid alliances with one another, but actively betray alliances every few years or so (the shortest alliance was between Morb and Poßia in 1823, which lasted for only one day).
As leaders died and administrations changed, the nations of Morb and Danada formed the first permanent alliance. These two nations merged and proclaimed the Confederacy of Morbian States in 8th December 1835, a federal body consisting of 22 smaller states or provinces of Morb and Danada.
The Confederacy refused to include Poßia, beginning a long rivalry between the two that would last for centuries. The good thing was, the perpetual war was over, and there was finally peace in Eastern Europe. Nationalistic fervor was still high amongst Morbian citizens however. This ultranationalism eventually led to the Revolution of 1837 where members of the middle-class and even the intellectual and rich higher classes clashed with the governments of Morb and Danada. The revolution was eventually defeated by force.
A new character would soon join this nationalistic frenzy, even after the revolution ended. An obscure politician by the name of Darwin Mercado announced his first ever public speech in 1848, in which he announced his proposed policy of Morpolitika. Many of the citizens supported him and frequently demanded the government to give Mercado a position of power.
This is further fueled by his newspaper articles and his book called “The Practice of Morpolitika”, which details this rather pragmatic solution. Morpolitika believes that all Morbian states, excluding Poßia, are to be included within the Confederacy. He advocated for a united Morbian Empire.
The Confederacy would enter into a Cold War with Poßia. The former is supported and even financed by Britain, while the latter is supported by France. The Confederacy led a naval conflict with Denmark in the Danish-Morbian Skirmish of 1854, and also made an incursion within French territory with help from the British.
The final straw of the Cold War was during an incident between the borders of Morb and Poßia, where a train containing cargo and 200 passengers was hijacked and destroyed. The Morb-Poßian Conflict erupted in 1870, giving rise to nationalistic fervor and giving Mercado more power.
Morb and Danada lost the Morb-Poßian Conflict, which resulted in the sogning of the Treaty of Fain. The Confederacy was dissolved, and its place the United Morbian Confederation was formed.
Nationalism and patriotism eventually united all Morbian states into a single governing body and quickly eliminated any internal opposition. Despite the conflict having ended with a “Poßian victory”, the cold war between Morb and Poßia continued.
THE FORMATION OF THE MORBIAN EMPIRE
On 10th July 1875, the council of the confederation announced that the United Morbian Confederation be renamed officially into the Morbian Empire. Markus I from the House of Ypatris became the head of state, with Darwin Mercado becoming the Prime Advisor.
To understand this section and future ones, it is important to understand the political system of the country. The country was more of a federal republic. At least, that’s what Morb wants the rest of Europe to believe. Each of the 42 member states held considerable autonomy. They are even allowed to adopt an independent military force, albeit smaller in scale than the government military. These states must all adhere to the government and its policies.
The states of Morb and Danada become the main centre for politics and the former is the “governing state”. The Morb Constitution followed closely to Mercado’s Morpolitika policies. The country has a parliament called the Morparlamen, holding the ability to pass, reject, or amend laws. There is also the Morlegislacil, the federal council. Every state has its representative and holds the power to vote and enter into government matters. Although, the democratic system is rigged to some degree to have Morb obtain the highest amount of votes.
Finally we have the Emperor. The Emperor is almost absolute in power. He is the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Emperor is given extensive legal power through the Constitution and basically controls the Morparlamen AND the Morlegislacil. He holds the final decision to decide laws and votings.
Below the position of the Emperor is the Prime Advisor. He is the Head of Government and is the one managing external and foreign affairs as well as overseeing the multiple Advisory Departments. The Prime Advisor is basically the title of Prime Minister. At the time, the Prime Advisor is Darwin Mercado. Below that is the Advisory Departments and Advisors. These are the ministries and ministers of the country.
MERCADO ERA: THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EMPIRE
Darwin Mercado quickly became a power in the inner circles of Morbian politics. Mercado’s domestic policies helped found the authoritarianism of his country and gave more and more power to the Emperor. Morb’s semi-parliamentary government carried out a smooth political and economic revolution that quickly increased the industrial power of Morb.
Within just decades the new country became a European power. Mercado sought to “form a more linear power structure, granting a fair societal hierarchy, strengthen the bond between classes to empower the state, and to rid the country of the negativity of liberalism and socialism.” Mercado was anti-socialist and strongly believed socialism did not work for modern societies.
Mercado was a little bit mixed in terms of colonialism. He believed it may benefit Morb but he also viewed it as a waste of money since colonies are more difficult to manage for a new country like Morb. Ever since Morb lost their war with France and Poßia, Mercado became a little more cautious with expansionism. He feared the French would seek to crush Morb and wold forge an alliance with great Russia and Poßia which would effectively trap and isolate Morb.
Mercado instead opted for better relations with Russia and Italy, along with a seperate non-aggression pact with the Ottoman Empire all in the year 1881. Advocates within the military demanded an unsuspecting strike on Russia, but Mercado shut those demands down.
He wrote: “While it is true Russia is our historical enemy, always supporting anti-Morb nation states during our Disunion Era, we are incapable of inflicting a single scratch to the large empire. We are a newborn, barely two decades old. Our industrial might must expand before we make a move, and even then the risks are high. I do believe Russia should not be a permanent ally but the reason for this alliance is to prevent another bitter neighbor."
Mercado was increasingly paranoid to the slightest foreign developments that seemed “military”. In 1888, Morbian officials stopped a cargo of horses from being supplied to France in fear that the horses may be used for cavalry purposes. Mercado also ordered a deep investigation as to the reason of multiple purchases of Morbian chemicals in Russia. The ambassador to France repeatedly told Mercado that the French did not seek revenge and was not arming its military for a preemptive strike on Morbian soil.
After this brief political conflict, Mercado became closer towards his allies. Italy had a brief armed conflict with Poßia which was financed by Morb. The Ottoman Empire was growing increasingly allied towards Morb as the construction of the Wayne-Baghdad Railway began. Several ideas were also exchanged with the Russians. Britain, France, and Poßia watched from afar as Morb industrialized and expanded.
In 1890, Emperor Markus I died from a heart attack. His brother, Emperor Augustus IV assumed power. Mercado was kept in office after a definitely not rigged vote. And so he continued to expand his growing country.
MORBIAN COLONIES
While Mercado did not feel the need to begin colonizing, the Morbian populace was enthusiastic about the idea. Suffering under public pressure and criticisms from members of the Morparlamen, Mercado eventually gave in and pitched the idea for the Scramble for Africa in 1884. He successfully colonized Morbian New Guinea and Morbian Samoa in the Pacific. He also took over a piece of Indochina to be shared with the French. Brunei was also seized by Mercado.
Almost all of Central and Southern Africa was under Mobian control. Along with the seizure of some ports in China and the East Indies, Morb quickly became a colonial enterprise. Although they were careful enough not to overlap with British interests, the same cannot be said with the French.
Throughout their colonial administration, the Emperor decreed of a mass genocide of the Herero and the Namaqua people as the result of a prior rebellion in 1894. Allegedly, some African women were sold as sex slaves, while the rest of the population were subjected into brutal and unfair treatment.
THE ALDERMAN REGIME AND END OF THE MERCADO ERA
In 1899, Emperor Augustus IV died from cerebral hemorrhage. His son, Frederick I, became the next in line. Alderman was an admirer of the British parliament and many believed that his reign would liberalize the country. His ties with the British strengthened Anglo-Morbian relations and helped establish a Navy for Morb.
During the early stages of his reign, he gave more political involvement to the Morparlamen and gave fairer decrees to the Morlegislacil. He also dismissed Robert Lars, the Danadian interior minister, which severely impacted Mercado’s administration. Shortly after the 9th day of his reign, however, Frederick died to unknown causes. Prince Alderman III was next in line and soon became Emperor.
Alderman was relatively young at the time, however he was not foolish. He had observed that other European monarchs were slowly becoming constitutional figureheads. This decision led Alderman into conflict with Prime Advisor Mercado. Mercado explained to Alderman that he would simply be guiding him rather than using him as a puppet. Alderman was insistent that he remained an independent leader. Many sycophants within the Morparlamen whispered to Alderman’s ear, saying that the previous Emperors would agree with his decision.
The major difference between Alderman and Mercado was that the former sought diplomacy to resolve problems, while the authoritarian-minded Mercado would use the police force or military to quell any uprisings or problems. This was further brought upon with a violent strike by the farmers and miners in the region of Eastern Seraphilia. Mercado was insistent on using the military to quell the rebellion and kill all that oppose the “orders of the Emperor”, while Alderman wanted to negotiate. Alderman successfully negotiated with a delegation from the revolting peasantry, and came rushing to Mercado, and allegedly saying, “I do not want to taint my country with tales of murder between my people.”
This led to a heated conflict, where Mercado insulted the young Emperor and stated, “Sometimes diplomacy isn’t enough. We’re not like the Americans, who are protected by two oceans and weak neighbors. We are in God damn Europe. We have to be more wary of our situations.” Eventually, Alderman had enough and fired Mercado from his position. Mercado was then exiled to Switzerland.
While this change seemed good in Alderman’s mind, many of the populace did not agree. They had come to adore Mercado, even branding him as a national hero. They also viewed Alderman’s reign as weak and ineffective, since the lack of military involvement to resolve conflict weakened the balance of order within the country.
Under Alderman’s rule, Morb no longer had iron-fisted Prime Advisors. Many who succeed Mercado had difficulties running their job. All of them were dismissed within a few days. There was even one account when one former Prime Advisor was charged with “high treason” and hanged. However, there was one Prime Advisor named Leonard Pravitry that introduced some economic reforms and reduced unemployment. For a while he became the next great Prime Advisor, supported by Emperor Alderman and the Morbian citizens.
However, not all was satisfied with Pravitry’s reforms and to a broader extent the Alderman Regime. Danadian land owners felt threatened upon the campaigns of Privitry. Danada, which had become Morb’s closest state ally, was now threatening to depart from the Empire.
Alderman’s reign was also threatened with two major threats: the Socialist Party of Morb (SPM) and the Morbian military. The former introduced regular socialist policies to leak into several states. Industrialists are particularly afraid of the SPM, so Alderman had to break his own rule of diplomacy and began a large-scale crackdown on the party’s members. The latter threat was more dangerous to Alderman. The Morbian military was growing in power and could threaten the Emperor’s rule if not dealt with caution. Mercado had warned Alderman of the threat in a statement: “In the end, they have the weapons. We only have words.” Alderman became increasingly paranoid and slowly but surely implemented a regime built on suspicion and lies in place.
Under the Alderman Regime in the early 1900s, the populace were constantly warned to keep a lookout on “criminal organizations” such as the SPM. The military was made to compete between different internal factions. He even made sure that his government was always competing for the Emperor’s attention. That way, both the military and political opponents within the government are busy fighting themselves.
Life in the Alderman Regime was also strict. The education system was made to be more nationalistic. It is mandatory for all students to shout, “HAIL THE EMPEROR!” when a class is starting. Failure to do so may result in the expulsion of the student out of the school.
The phrase “HAIL THE EMPEROR” became engraved in the minds of the citizens, it became a daily greeting. Intellectuals often made fun of the phrase to criticize the growing authoritarian regime. Rations were enforced based on the loyalty of the citizen, segregation and racism was strengthened, and slavery was made mandatory to “keep the production growing".
Alderman became increasingly immersed in the ideas of colonialism.
In a speech he stated:
“Without colonies, our production is reduced. The populace of those colonies are not humans, my people. They are merely husks designed specifically to fuel the needs of the country. They are incapable of our speech, they are incapable of logic, they are incapable of forming resistance movements because they are too stupid. Treat the negroes as cattle. If one does not comply, kill them.”
Ever since this speech, Alderman began constructing entire factories and farms for African slaves to work in. To Alderman’s eyes, they are completely disposable. When an African slave gets too weak, too old, or is scarred with a disease, the owner has every right to kill them. Bodies of diseased slaves were sent to “waste recyclement centers” where they are burned to ash. Alderman’s regime also became increasingly racist not just to Africans but also to anyone not of “Morbian descent.”
Alderman prohibited interracial marriage and would kill any child birthed from such marriage. African children were also often employed to child labor. As such, the Alderman Regime was massively criticized by European scholars and intellectuals. To this day, nobody really knew why Alderman was racist. It only impacted his reign negatively.
Of course, not everybody agreed with this extremely racist policies and authoritarian regime. In 1915, 16 years of Alderman’s reign would be crippled by a large conflict in Europe that is also spiralling out of control to overseas colonies. This war is none other than World War One.
WORLD WAR ONE
It is still disputed as to when WWI really started, but for the sake of context and continuity, I will include the realtively minor Poßian War of Succession.
While we were exploring the Alderman Regime, we have not explored much of European politics. You may remember Poßia, the opposing country against Morb. In 1905, King Christoph IV of Poßia has passed away with no male successor. His daughter, Miriam Brite, cannot become the next ruler of the country. In spite of this, Miriam holds territories held by her father. Under Poßian tradition, it is not possible for a woman to become a leader. But Christoph IV did not have any other relatives that were available for the throne, save for Miriam Brite. And so, the question of Poßian succession became heated among the Poßian government.
For Poßia’s opponents, this was a golden opportunity to sweep in and eradicate Poßian dominance in the Balkans. Morb was particularly interested in the thought of seizing Poßian territory while the country was in disarray. And so, Emperor Alderman approved a military operation to seize the Poßian region of Senarvhia, modern-day Albania, without a declaration of war beforehand. The invasion of Senarvhia went according to plan and was successful, at the cost of drawing in the rest of Europe.
France, who was a traditional ally of Poßia, backed the country against Morb. Britain, which did not want to see a French domination of the continent, allied with Morb. The two coalitions fought a heavily stalemate war. After all, the war was fought simply because of the question of whether a woman should ascend to the Poßian throne. After five years of fighting, Poßia begrudgingly signed a peace treaty with Morb and abandons its French ally to fight the coalition of Morb and Britain. The treaty between Morb and Poßia declared the official annexation of Senarvhia into Morb and also decreed that Miriam Brite become the Archduchess of Poßia. France finds itself alone, but was able to seize control of Belgium and Luxembourg, countries guaranteed neutrality by the British, and continues to push through the Netherlands.
Morbian and British forces were able to cut down a supply line stretching from occupied Belgium to Alsace-Lorraine and severely weakened the French war effort. Eventually in 1911, the War of Poßian Succession came to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Reandra.
This conflict soon became the thing that would set light to World War One. On September 11th, 1915, Miriam Brite and her husband were on a tour to Senarvhia as a part of her new campaign of “peace with our past enemy”.
This campaign foolishly believed that Poßia and Morb could hold more positive relations. During the trip, a Morbian nationalist by the name of Alexander Vitaworsk shot Miriam straight to the head while her car was driving around the city. Morbian police were able to arrest the man, but the assassination left a huge impact on Poßia. The government blamed Morb for having orchestrated the assassination, but Alderman denied any involvement. This became known as the September Crisis, where both countries were as heated as ever in an attempt to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means.
Poßia seeks for French support of the situation in the case of another war against Morb. France, despite Poßia’s betrayal during the War of Succession, assures the country that it would protect them. Russia, who had their treaty with Morb not renewed, also supports Poßia in case of Morbian military aggression. Poßia sends an ultimatum to Morb, forcing them to agree on some terms, especially concerning Senarvhia. Alderman ignores the ultimatum, and Poßia declares war on Morb.
Russia begins a partial mobilization of its army and Morb instinctively declares war on Russia. France joins the conflict by keeping its promise of backing Poßia. Naturally, Britain joins on the side of Morb. Quickly, two coalitions formed: the Entente of France, Poßia, and Russia against the Allies of Britain and Morb. Thus, World War I has officially started at October of 1915.
[If you want to explore more regarding World War One in this universe, expect a follow-up examination later in the future. This section would be a brief overview of the events in thos universe’s WWI.]
The British and the French were the first to engage in conflict. They engaged in naval warfare in the Atlantic, but it was clear the Royal Navy was doing quick work on the French. Both sides mainly fought in the North Atlantic Ocean. British victories were clearer day by day, and the French were forced to retreat temporarily and focus on the European theater. There, the French try to seize the British island of Malta.
In India, the British attempt to fortify their borders but suffered under attack from Indian resistance. The Battle of Kolkata effectively drove the British out of the city. However, two weeks later, the British recapture the city and defeat resistance forces there.
In the Atlantic theater, France deploys more battleships to fight against the Royal Navy. In the European theater, France prepares an offensive against Morbian territory. Reclaiming Belgium and advancing through the west of Morb, the French were able to inflict heavy losses to Morb in the Battle of Dorfin and Battle of Ypratis. Morb was trapped between the three Entente forces, the French spearheading an advance in the west, Russia seizing the far eastern territories, while Poßian forces are mobilizing. While Poßian military is not yet fully mobilized, Morb launches a campaign against the Poßian region of Maunsarla, modern-day Montenegro, with massive success.
The campaign was a success due to the lack of protection the region received from Poßian forces. A Poßian counterattack soon followed, but was easily repelled by Morb. Morb continues to advance to Saqbypia, modern-day Serbia, but a Poßian counteroffensive prevented the Morbian forces from entering Belgrade. The Morbian forces are pushed back to Senarvhia.
In the West, the French offensive against the Morbian state of Hundredorff was taken. Heavy Morbian forces were deployed to stop the French advance. To the east, Russian advance is left unopposed, but there were some Morbian expeditionary forces sent to slow down the advance. Britain attempts to divert French attention from going any further to Morb by attacking several of the French Atlantic ports.
At this time, the Ottoman Empire and Italy join on the side of Morb and Britain, starting the Italian front and the Caucasian front. With the Italians engaging on stalemate warfare and the Ottomans keeping pressure on Russia by invading the Caucasus and attacking Russian ports in the Black Sea, the French forces in Morb are weakened due to lack of any considerable French support.
Emperor Alderman takes control of his military to lead the battle personally. Together with his generals and a bit of strategy, the Morbian Army attacks the French Army and wins despite having fewer men. In the Atlantic front, Britain moves over to attack the unsuspecting French in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Britain reorganizes an army to the Morbian front and, together with the Morbian Armies, surround the French and force them to surrender.
A British attempt to seize the port of Saint-Malo failed, but success is met with a British landing in the city of Valognes. The British have landed to mainland France. The French launch a massive 420,000-men campaign against the 70,000-men British army in the city. As expected, the French repel the British occupation. While Britain rules the seas, France rules ground combat. Britain instead tries to establish a naval blockade on the country.
Meanwhile, the Italians make a small advance into French territory, while the Ottomans suffer a massive blow after the Russians seize Tbilisi. In Africa, the British were able to invade French Togoland during the Battle of Lomè. In the east, while Morb repulses the Russian Army in the Eastern Front, the Poßians invade Senarvhia and reclaim the region. France gathers an army of 500,000 men for a massive offensive against the British in the African theater. The British intensify attacks against French colonies.
In the east, Russia links up with the Poßian army. Together, they repel Alderman’s army, which opens way for the Morbian capital of Wayne. However, after a falling-out between Russia and Poßia, their campaign is abandoned and Alderman gains ground. France’s Navy is decimated in the Atlantic theater, essentially ending it. The French lose a total of 400,000 men in the campaign and withdraw entirely from the Atlantic. Withou a stable military fleet, French colonies fall to disarray. Britain quickly launches an invasion on French Indochina, while destroying the last remnants of the French Navy in the Indian Ocean.
In Europe, France is growing weaker and can no longer impose a threat on Morb. Fortunately for the Entente, a conflict occured between Morb and Britain. Emperor Alderman has sent the first ever usage of aerial technology to fly over Britain and collect data from above. The British cabinet do not approve of Morb’s spying missions. And so, after a lengthy diplomatic argument, Britain leaves the Allies and becomes a de facto Entente member. Britain knows the French have nothing and won’t threaten British colonial dominance anymore, and Morb is actually a far greater threat to British supremacy in continental Europe. Britain imposes a naval blockade on Morb. Now desperate of winning the war, Alderman builds his last major army to fight in the Western Front. Luckily for Morb, the Russians encounter an unexpected civil war led by the communist Bolsheviks. Trying to pull Russia out of the war, Vladimir Lenin approaches Emperor Alderman and signs a treaty.
The Eastern Front is gone, and now Morbian forces are all pushing towards the Western Front. Italy is massively devastated by British naval attacks while the Ottomans cannot hold on to Poßia and Britain.
During the closing stages, Spain joins the Entente with further reinforcements from Portugal. Italy sues for peace and withdraws from the war. The Ottoman Empire try to resist British forces marching straight to Baghdad. An incident between a Morbian vessel and American supply ships draws the US to the war.
Prior, Morb and the US have begun an undeclared naval war in the Atlantic. Alderman launches his final major offensive towards Poßia, which succeeds. But the Western Powers are marching through west Morb and are slowly approaching Wayne. The Ottoman Empire surrenders, and a few days later, peace negotiations begin after almost eight years of war.
Two seperate peace treaties were signed. The Western Powers of US, France, and their Iberian allies demand the immediate withdrawal of all Morbian colonial forces. Morb loses almost all of its colonies, save for the few ports in the East Indies. Britain does not participate in this treaty.
Another treaty was signed between Morb and Poßia. Morb would liberate Maunsarla to Poßia at the cost of retaining Senarvhia. World War One has ultimately ended in July 16th 1922. Death tolls are 13 million, most are civillian. Morb is completely humiliated and has to pay to the Entente an unbelievable sum of $500,000,000.
THE MORBIAN REVOLUTION
As we have learned from the end of WWI, the Morb Empire is severely crippled after the loss. The Ottoman Empire, which has existed for centuries, collapses under Arabian resistance and Armenian response to the genocide. Italy has to surrender territory to Poßia and France. Morb suffered the hardest blow. Its territory is completely reduced. Its presence in the Balkans is gone, and it only exists as a medium-sized country in Eastern Europe.
Not to mention the fee it has to pay to the Allies. Emperor Alderman, who was relatively pro-British, felt betrayed that Great Britain switched sides at the most crucial moment. The Morbian government is riddled with economic crisis and political instability as the Emperor’s grip on power is weakening.
Trying to restore his government, Alderman made the mistake of giving the military more power by seizing the police force and converting it into a military-run body. Not only that, but every state within the country is increasingly eager to restart the dark ages of the pre-Morb era. An era of perpetual conflict. Alderman did not want history to repeat. But there was no hope left. His government is ransacked and bankrupt, and he has to pay an unbelieveable fee to the victorious Entente.
Alderman’s speeches drastically changed. His tone became aggressive, and his messages became increasingly anti-French and anti-Poßian. The populace, hungry from famine and threatened by violence, demand a change to the government. Reforms needed to be made, but with no money it is impossible to do so. The only other option left for Alderman is if he abdicated from the throne. Then arose the question of succession. Alderman had been very unfortunate not to have a single living male heir or any other relatives. If he abdicated it would further boil his country into turmoil.
CALLING THE MORLEGISLACIL
Desperate for a solution, Alderman decided to use the Morlegislacil. It had been three years since the legislative body has been used. In part due to WWI, but also to Alderman’s decision to call the shots himself. The Morlegislacil still held the unfair and rigged voting system, granting the state of Morb a success rate of 100% everytime. When Alderman called the Morlegislacil, he found the council on disarray. Representatives of every state was debating without Alderman present.
The council was held in the Palace of Vlorva, the same building in which Emperor Markus I was coronated. Thus, the palace held much historical value to the country. It had not changed ever since.
Alderman did not want to change the rules of the council. All he wanted was economic reform, and not consitutional change. Unfortunately for him, the Morlegislacil wanted the latter to occur. If Morb held a monopoly on votes, then a satisfying outcome may not be produced. When all things are equal, then the country could heal forever more. The lifting of press censorship allowed many liberals and intellectual middle-class to write their own demands for a change to the political system and demanded a renewal of the Constitution, which was by now fairly outdated, having existed for nearly a century.
The economic situation continued to grow worse, for at most times Morb could not continue to pay the large payment imposed by the Entente. The French were particularly irritated at these moments, and moved to invade the industrial-rich state of Estherberg and claimed the industrial output as payment. Morb kept being pushed around by the Entente. British planes usually intervened in Morbian waters and claimed certain parts for themselves.
This idea that the Entente simply wanted Morb to fall and collapse into economic ruin was promoted in Alderman’s propaganda. The nationalistic fervor of Morb was reignited. And a single individual became more infatuated with the notion of Morbian unity and supremacy more than anybody: a former commander of WWI, Johann Walder.
JOHANN WALDER
First, a bit of background on Johann Walder. Walder was born on June 15th 1898 to an upper-class family that held regional political power. His father was a state governor, while his mother was a member of the Outer Government, which is the lowest position in the governmental hierarchy.
Walder’s life could’ve led him to become another spoiled state governor, but he did not interest himself in politics until much later. His main priority was to join the military. His father disproved of this choice, stating that military membership should only be reserved for the middle-class. Walder rebelled, and eventually when he was 13, he joined a military school in the city of Brüyen, the fifth most populuous city in Morb. There, he was installed in his post as a handy artilleryman. Walder held an overwhelmingly positive reputation amongst his peers. Unlike most soldiers, he joined willingly and was satisfied of this job choice.
Although action was quite lacking, Walder was once sent to Morbian Sudan as a colonial soldier. However, at the outbreak of WWI in 1915, he was immediately transferred to fight in the European theater.
The first mission Walder was tasked with was relatively simple; to combat a French fleet arriving in the harbor in the Morbian town of Sevilla. The Battle of Sevilla was planned to be more of a diversion campaign while the main armies disperse across the three fronts. Johann Walder was called in to replace the injured artilleryman of his infantry. Walder was briefed on the mission, and he demanded to examine the situation further. Having assessed the situation, Walder began to hatch a more effective plan.
Walder’s plan went a little like this: Instead of pushing to the south as planned, his infantry would be split in two groups. One group would go to the southwest part of the harbor, where Walder would place his artillery there. Another would go to the opposite side of the harbor, where they would act as a distraction. Walder wanted to direct the fleet’s attention to the second group by giving the appearance that it was a larger army and therefore the main combatants. When the fleet is aimed at the second group, the first group would fire their artillery constantly at the ships.
His infantry reluctantly followed the plan, but surprisingly the plan worked well. Artillery shells fired constantly at the distracted fleet and damaged two ships. The Entente fleet was forced to retreat after two days. It was a crippling defeat for the Entente. While the main army was struggling to fight, Walder’s infantry managed to be the one to inflict a major defeat to the enemy.
Walder is celebrated upon in Wayne. Many Morbian people believe he is an unsung hero of WWI. As a reward for his deadly competence, Walder was promoted to an army commander leading an offensive to Poßia. Walder meets his new army but finds it in disarray. All of the soldiers are ill-equipped, malnourished, and protesting on unequal treatment. Walder used his public speaking skills by persuading his army to move forward and reap the riches of Poßia, installing a little bit of nationalism inside them.
Motivated after hours of lectures by Walder, his army can finally advance towards Poßia. Walder’s Batallion, as it would be called, became a major Morbian effort to knock Poßia out of the war. Walder analyzed and assessed the situation. There were two armies guarding the Batallion’s target: the fortress city of Djielge in modern-day Romania. A Russian and a Poßian army was their major concern. Walder was aware that he lacked the men to fight two armies at once, and quickly devised a strategy to effectively combat the enemy.
Walder’s strategy was now to divert the weaker Russian army towards his Batallion and quickly encircle the army for a quick victory. With the Russian army gone, the Batallion could use full force to charge at the Poßian army. On May 10th Walder initiates his plan. The plan worked well, and after a few battles such as the Battle of Chrųstika, the Russian army was forced to surrender. Walder pushed back the Poßian army, who quickly retreat and cross the Grülya River.
The Poßians placed soldiers along the river to defend it from the Batallion. Walder sent a portion of his army to keep the Poßian river defense while the majority of his army quietly cross the river. Now with the threat of encirclement, the remains of the Poßian army retreat without giving resistance. Poßian presence in the city of Marge is completely gone as they continue to cower from Walder’s Batallion. Johann and his men eventually arrived at their destination, Djielge, where he experienced the deadliest battle yet. Walder’s Batallion won after several months of fighting, but by the time he has done this, Morb is losing the war.
Walder returned to Morb, praised as a hero despite Morb’s impending defeat. Emperor Alderman even rewarded Walder in his palace. While Walder wanted to lead in the war yet again, he was now unable to. Morb surrendered to the Entente forces.
Finally we came to the present: economic depression, political and social instbility, growing anarchy, and violence. After the Morbian military was reduced, the rank of Johann Walder was degraded. He became a secret intelligence agent. In the ages of chaos within Morb, his job is crucial to understand the situation better.
In 1927, Walder married his long-time love interest, Diane Wilson. Their marriage was greatly celebrated by friends and family, with some former soldiers of Walder’s Battalion showing up for the wedding. At the same year, Walder, realizing that he has to commit full-time to his new wife and aware of the government’s slow descent, he quit his service from the military entirely. At this point in time, Walder would have been interested in socialism.
He believed a socialist Morb could give more equality to the workers and therefore fix the country’s dying economy. Although, he is fully aware of the fate of communists in Morb. As the Emperor’s grip on power is losening, several political parties are left unchecked. Walder joined one of them – the Labor Party – and was in charge of spreading socialist propaganda through newspapers and speeches.
Unfortunately he was alerted by Morbian authorities and had to flee with his family out of the state and into the far eastern regions of Morb, where he had heard prominent socialist activity based there. He also begged the Labor Party to give some form of protection for his family. He told his Party his extreme intelligence in battle that almost singlehandedly defeated Poßia in an attempt to persuade them. The Labor Party did try to protect Walder’s family, but with minimum effort.
Walder, being a member of a noble middle-class family, was well-read and intelligent. He wrote a book regarding his socialist views and the situation in Morb, titled the “Walderian Solution”. Prior to this, he wrote several essays about Russian literature, some stories, and one unfinished novel which was the predecessor to “Walderian Solution”. What was the book about? Well, it was far more radical than any of Walder’s other works. There, he outlined his views on the Morbian situation, and told readers about his experience as an army commander in WWI, along with his exceptional strategic skills. He also widely denounced the Vatican in the book following his atheistic views, causing a large controversy that ended with Walder making truce to the Vatican at the start of WWII.
Due to this controversy and his book being denounced by the Labor Party for being too radical and having “too much natiobalist nonsense.”, Walder felt betrayed, he left the Labor Party and believed that socialism may not be the correct path for him. At the final months of 1930, little socialism remained within Walder. He considered his book to be righteous and blamed the Labor Party for being small-minded bastards that didntsupport his plans for the future. Walder no onger trusted the government nor the socialist cause.
Causes for the formation of the NAMU can be traced back to the Walderian Solution. Walder argued that Morb could've succeeded in WWI with the power of the mighty Royal Navy from their British ally. If course, Britain ended up betraying Morb and siding as a de facto Entente member. Walder believed that this falling-out was avoidable, if Emperor Alderman was less frontal and aggressive about his approach to the situation. He blamed both the British for their betrayal, and the Alderman Regime for worsening the situation. Thus, he presented anti-British ideas.
He said: "If Morb were to conquer Europe one day, I will make sure the people of Great Britain experience the most horrifying fates imaginable for their unholy action of betrayal. They will be conditioned in forced labor, must comply our every order, and - if one is slightly out of line - have their families killed in a slaughterhouse."
After failure to negotiate in the Morlegislacil while people demanded change, some members of the federal body split off and formed the Unity Party. The Unity Party declared themselves entirely independent from the federal body that is Morlegislacil, and sought to unite all classes against the Alderman Regime. The Party attracted peasants, former soldiers, and intellectuals, slowly growing in membership. Johann Walder became a prominent member of the Party. His ideas were widely accepted by the members, and soon it was rearranged into the Memorandum of Morbian Unity.
The growing threat of the Party to the Alderman Regime was noticed by the fragile Emperor. In an attempt to stop the Unity Party, Alderman ordered his men to arrest suspected Party members and commence a large-scale purge in the Morparlamen, Morlegislacil, and the upper levels of the government. Seeing the increase of military aggression promoted by the Regime, the Party decided to meet in an abandoned church. They all swore that the Party will persist in its mission to "uphold equality and peace" until a new Constitution was formed.
THE FALL OF THE ALDERMAN REGIME
Alderman was very alarmed at the growth of the Unity Party. The Regime tried its best to purge as many members of the Party as possible. But the sheer size of the Unity Party rallied citizens in Wayne, and so Alderman could not effectively hold back against the coming revolt. On 12th August, the Unity Party was reformed into the NAMU; the National Advocates for Morbian Unity. This allowed Walder to become one of the leaders of the revolt movement. The Royal Guard was being mobilized to quell the revolt, which only served to fuel the fire. The NAMU's target? The high-security prison of the Chimera. The prison was where most Party members were arrested, and allegedly there were over 5,000 Party members held there.
Two days later on the 14th, the Royal Guard and the military was sent to protect the prison. When the mob came, many of the soldiers joined the mob either out of fear or an actual willingness to end the Regime. The Chimera held tons of weapons stored for prison guards, allowing the mob to become dangerously armed. The warden, Travert Lemens, was sawed in half by the crowd after being dragged away from his office. 83 prison guards were killed, many more soldiers were dragged away by the Party with fates unknown. The Chimera was completely overrun, all its prisoners released into the mob, and they headed straight to the Emperor's palace.
The mob of over 70,000 people marched with a thirst for the Emperor's blood. Walder became a representative of the mob, stating in an interview that: "The previous plan was believed to be accomplished using diplomacy. But now, our plan is to take over the government, by force if necessary."
Armed militias took over cities and other important objectives to weaken the power of the Alderman Regime. Many messages were sent to Alderman himself, demanding his abdication before the mob reached the palace. Alderman ordered a state of siege on the entirety of Wayne, while the remaining loyalist government officials desperately tried to use the military to stop the march.
Eventually the military was overpowered and/or joined the mob. The palace was reached within five days of revolts and chaos. Alderman decided to meet Walder and other members of the NAMU and the mob into the palace while the others waited outside. There, Walder threatened the Emperor with violence, having his right thumb cut off using a butcher knife.
The Emperor was left completely alone during this meeting, so he couldn't call in the Royal Guards. After hasty diplomacy and more threats, the scared Emperor was forced to give power to the NAMU. This act was celebrated as the Birth of a New Morb, and the mob cheered. While the NAMU were not given direct government power, they are now considered as heads of government. Alderman was still allowed to own his riches, at the cost of losing his power. Alderman is now nothing more but a constitutional monarch and a puppet.
PROCLAMATION OF A NEW EMPIRE
Immediately after the revolution had succeeded, the NAMU began drafting a new constitution. NAMU member Langdon Brestlin prepared a draft for the consitution, called the "Constitution of Unity." It was largely based off of the US Constitution, upholding a fair democratic process and giving rightful power to the Morparlamen and the Morlegislacil, which since the creation of the country, did not act with enough sovereignty. The Constitution was proclaimed by the Morparlamen in 1937, which also proclaimed the First Morb Republic.
While this was largely celebrated, the very unity that bonded the NAMU quickly began to fall. There were several political differences between key NAMU leaders such as Walder himself, who advocated for a more radical, ultranationalist government bent on establishing supremacy over continental Europe. Nevertheless, the revolution was still upheld and the new government began to consolidate their power.
Former officers of the Alderman Regime were swept away; exiled or placed under arrest indefinitely. Remaining royalists, pro-Alderman, and just monarchists in general were also rounded up and arrested. The states of Morb were given more authority on internal decisions. A new country police force called the Civil Guard was enforced, essentially turning the police into a distant branch of the military. The capital of Wayne was the best policed city in Europe by 1938.
While the country was prosperous, in 1940 the divisions between the NAMU were being more apparent as time goes by. Sentinels, also known as simply the leaders of the NAMU, such as Shawn Hydes, Adrian Dupont, and Alexander Liestentein continued to believe in the revolution. Some members of the NAMU did not fully agree with the policies of the revolution, but continued to follow along. Others, like Johann Walder himself, completely denounced the ideas of the revolution. Walder and his friends, Albert Drenswich and Richie Connerly, along with a NAMU leader names Jacques Paul Mephi were more radical. They wanted the revolution to shape Morb into a country of glory. They gained the support of several other extresmists and nationalists.
Following a brief stint for rallying a crowd against the revolution, in 1941, an arrest was placed on Walder and his extremists by the Civil Guard. While he was never caught, Walder resigned from the NAMU to pursue his own goals. He and his ultranationalists formed the National Morbist Party, with virtually the opposite policies of the NAMU.
Not long after this whole ordeal, a celebration was held in Wayne to commemorate the fall of Chimera. NAMU held an oath of 'The people, the country, and the Emperor.' The celebration was attended by Alderman himself, along with his adopted son. Despite this show of unity and solidarity, the NAMU was still slowly collapsing.
The Civil Guard often competed with the intelligence agency Overseer. Sometimes violent clashes would even occur between the two. The greatest threat to the revolution and NAMU thus far was the NMP formed by Walder.
Now, what about the mighty Emperor Alderman? While he did make an appearance in the Chimera Day celebration, he only did so because the new government told him to. Alderman was virtually under house arrest in his mansion, only acting under NAMU. His remaining loyalists urged him to abandon the mansion and travel to a royalist stronghold in the Far West of the country, bordering with the Benelux. Alderman agreed, hoping that he may establish a monarchist resistance against the NAMU. He and his son left the mansion, disguised as peasants, and journeyed across the country.
Unfortunately for him, he was recognized by an Overseer agent and arrested. The news spread like wildfire across the country. The citizens of Morb were still giving Alderman some form of respect despite being a constitutional monarch. After Alderman's attempted escape, the public began to demand a more extreme fate to Alderman rather than imprisonment: public execution. However, this idea waa dismissed by the government.
The NAMU government began forcing citizens to swear an oath of loyalty to the new regime. The NMP took advantage of the situation and promoted the "spies and traitors" idea. Calls for the country to become a republic were growing. The government found Alderman useful to an extent, but still regarded him with suspicion. Many radicalists within the NAMU, including NMP sympathizer Brawm Lincoln prepared a petition to execute Alderman.
Gathering much support, on 17th January 1942 a crowd of 1,700 people were protesting in front of the government building. The government called the Civil Guard and tasked Shawn Hydes with suppressing the crowd. Arriving on the scene, Hydes ordered the Guards to shoot on the crowd. 13 to 50 people were killed in the barrage, Brawn one of them.
The massacre damaged Hydes's reputation and how the new government handles these masses. The NMP again takes advantage and paints Hydes as "the second Alderman." The authorities continued to shut down radical newspapers and clubs, save for the NMP, who have established an intricate network across the country.
THE FIRST MORB REPUBLIC
In late March of 1942, the government was finally going to decide whether the country should continue to become a constitutional monarchy or a republic. The election was held in the Morparlamen, while debates of broader state sovereignty were further discussed in the Morlegislacil. The NMP was allowed to join. As such, two factions were forming in the election: the moderate NAMU led by Hydes, and the NMP led by Walder and the defector of the NAMU, Jacques Paul Mephi. Political tensions were high.
In the same month, the government ordered another mass purge of remaining royalists and socialists. Between 1,000 to 1,900 people were arrested and executed. The government explained that most of them were criminals, although the facts od this statement are questionable. The March Massacres became the most well-known policy imposed by the NAMU.
After much debates, it was finally decided that the Morb Empire would become the First Morb Republic. The monarchy was completely dethroned, and Alderman became an average citizen placed under arrest. A new Morbian calendar was created, placing 1942 as "Year One" to mark the birth of the republic. The next debates were regarding Alderman. The governmeng debated whether Alderman should be executed or not. However, members of the government were quickly becoming disillusioned by NMP propaganda and manipulation from Mephi. Mephi's Manifesto protrayed Alderman as the enemy of the state. He spread lies that Alderman was secretly co-operating with Poßian officials.
It was finally decided in April 12th 1942, that Alderman was to be executed for charges of conspiracy. It was an overwhelming vote; 328 to 190. The execution was to be carried in April 20th. Alderman was transported to a prison closer to the Morparlamen building. Alderman was given the chance to speak his last words, and they are now famous across the world. He said: "A man that rebuilt his country could die at the hands of its very people." He was executed by a shooting squad. His adopted son was also killed via drowning. Thus, the remains of the Alderman Regime were over.
POLITICAL CRISIS AND RISE OF THE NMP
The NAMU hoped that the execution could help gain support to their cause. Instead, it was met with further crisis. Nobody really celebrated Alderman's execution. Instead, they demanded a solution to the rising food prices. Famine was ravaging through the far ends of the country. Even uprisings instigated by the Labor Party were erupting across the country. The NAMU have made a fatal error in allowing the NMP to attend elections. It gave them more authority. The NMP were quickly gathering much support in the countryside by giving free food supplies to the people. The NAMU were isolated by the NMP. While things look bad for the NAMU, they did manage to assassinate Mephi, by far the most influential NMP member.
Growing discontent against the NAMU for not taking official action against the famine situations allowed radicalist parties to fight back. Elements of the Overseer and the Civil Guard participated in minor riots. On 31st May, a coup was started by these mobs, demanding economic reforms, equality to the workers, and cheap food. Over 80,000 loyalists to the NAMU were arrested. In a moment of "dire situation", the NMP, now supported by virtually everybody important, took over many government bodies. The NAMU were powerless. While the NMP did not fully take over the government, their control over important government bodies are enough for them to consolidate power. Walder, now the leader of the NMP, reorganized a new state ideology called Morbism. Economic reforms were initiated, and food prices were relatively normal.
The remains of the NAMU at this point are completely gone. The government is seized, and Johann Walder is given the title of Supreme Consul. The First Morb Republic ended under a year, and in its place is the Greater Morb Republic. While the people cheered for the NMP, they would experience a regime known for totalitarianism, mass surveillance perpetuated by the government, and paranoia.
THE GREATER MORB REPUBLIC AND WALDER'S REIGN OF TERROR
Walder and the NMP were originally celebrated as true heroes of the revolution. However, it quickly degenerated into a totalitarian mess, using fear and nationalism as a means to eatablish control. At the end of the month, the NMP set price controls over a wide array of products, and punished food hoarding with the death penalty. The Civil Guards were reorganized into the Revolutionary Units, or RUs, as a country police force. The RUs maintain a strict control over every citizen. They used mass surveillance to ensure citizens stay in line, and use violence to achieve their goals.
The Morparlamen passed a new law called The Law Regarding Suspects, which basically dictated that anyone committing a crime would receive the death penalty, no matter how minor the crime may be. Anti-revolutionary thoughts, anti-NMP ideas, and pro-British or pro-Poßian tendencies are all punishable by "eviction from society", which while implies exile, is another way of saying "torturing one until they wish for death." Walder also formed the "Principles of Morbism", which are as follows:
THE PRINCIPLES OF MORBISM
A true Morbian knows that for every adult, classified ages 18 - 64, to acquire permanent jobs based on their roles in the societal hierarchy.
A true Morbian knows that begging on the streets is an act of treason and should be punished through expulsion from their city.
A true Morbian knows that Supreme Leader Johann Walder is to be prioritized first. Portraits of the Leader must be kept clean and always safe from dangers.
A true Morbian knows that riotting is an act of violence and will be punished by the decrease of your social credit.
A true Morbian knows that to respect each other, one must dress according to the Leader and our Government.
A true Morbian knows that a good parent is to send their newborn to be raised in Primary Education Centres to be raised and taught the basic principles of Morbian society.
A true Morbian knows that valuable treasures should be shared to the Government to increase welfare.
A true Morbian knows not to indulge themselves on the works of foreign countries, allied or enemy.
The concept of Morbism was elaborated upon by Walder himseld in the second chapter of his Walderian Solution, called the Doctrine of Morbism.
There, he explained:
"Morbism is an ideology exclusively belonging to the country of Morb Republic. It embraces all of the country and excludes every person outside it. Foreign political and spiritual views is also prohibited with the enforcement of Morbism. Morbism is totalitarian, one cannot deny it. However, we model this totalitarianism for the greater good of the country and its people."
With this concept, Walder and the NMP set to improve Morbian culture and society based on traditional, modern, and futurist aspects. Under Morbism, the definition of Morbian nationality rests on militarist foundations, and the NMP's "individuality" policy would rid themselves of individuality to become a component of the country and be prepared to die for it. Only NMP members were classified as "true Morbians", and have complete access to all government insitutions. As such, many citizens were encouraged to join the NMP to gain "True Citizenship" and gain an improvement on their quality-of-life. Execution is a common method to get rid of undesireables. Some of these undesireables would also be stripped of their citizenship and barred from employment, essentially exiling them from society. Morbians living abroad are forced to pledge allegiance to Morb rather than the country they currently inhabit.
Walder's propaganda idolized him as the country's savior and painted the NMP as a "guiding light". The NMP attempted to give an omnipresent aura. This is further backed by the formation of the OverLook, a rearranged version of the Overseer (the reason for this rearrangement was because the Overseers plotted an uprising prior. The uprising was stopped by Morbian authorities). The OverLook acts as a quasi-"thought police" that constantly monitors its citizens and uses violence or manipulation to please the Walderian regime. It is extremely similar to the Revolutionary Units, but have afar broader control over their jobs. A cult-of-personality was built around Walder, displayed in huge ceremonies and parades.
Everything in the Walderian regime is monitored. Phone calls are detected by the OverLook to ensure they do not present anti-revolutionary or anti-Walderian ideas, newspaper articles that paint a bad image to the Walder regime is censored and replaced with a lighthearted one. Not even members of the NMP are spared of this lifestyle.
THE PATH TO WORLD WAR TWO
At this point, the Morb Republic no longer retains democratic ideals. Now replaced with a totalitarian, one-party system fueled by militarism and ultranationalism. While all of these events are happening, the Three Powers of Britain, France, and Poßia witness in horror as Morbian expansion seems imminent. A participant I have not mentioned throughout this narrative is the United States. The US is fortunate enough to be relatively isolated by the Atlantic Ocean and in the middle of two weaker countries. The US and its Western allies were already dealing with a war in the Pacific, waged by the growing Japanese Empire. Walder was particularly impressed by the Empire of Japan. The suggestion of an alliance was brought upon by Albert Drenswich, now acting as the General Advisor for Foreign Affairs, which is a fancier way of the title Foreign Minister. Walder had grown fond of Drenswich, calling him a "second Mercado" a few times.
Drenswich spent most of his childhood in Japan, for his parents were on a long business trip and did not want to leave their child behind. Eventually, Drenswich was immersed with both Morbian and Japanese culture. As such, when the Pacific War broke out, Drenswich was more sympathetic towards Japan. Now that Morb had basically become a European counterpart of Showa Japan, Drenswich urged Walder to form an alliance with the Empire. When the request was sent, it was soundly rejected two days later. The reason: "We don't want to accept a European power to fight in our war." Walder and Drenswich was crushed. The latter tried forming diplomatic meetings with representatives of Japan, but they also refused to. Japan was at its zenith in 1942, having seized almost all of the European colonies stationed there, from Indochina to the East Indies.
In the beginning, Morb was clearly desperate of allies. Nationalist governmentes have begun to appear in Italy, Spain, and Turkey, but all three had reasons to object Walder's rise to power. Italy claimed Morb belonged in Italian sphere-of-influence and should not act independently, Spain claimed Morb held plans to invade Gibraltar and push towards Spanish mainland (nobody ever knew where that rumor came from), and Turkey was busy rebuilding itself after the recent revolution. The Turkish government led by Adem Tosun believed Morb had cheated the Ottoman Empire during WWI.
In as early as 1943, Walder announced that rearmament must begin, although cautiously at first to not alert the Entente. After being urged by Richie Connerly and another NMP official, Ralph Longbrom, Walder quickly shifted his intentions to manipulating the Entente. He declared before the Morparlamen that all he desored was simply world peace. He claimed that he completely supported the current European balance of power and even requested US President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an agreement. Roosevelt accepted Walder's effort of military disarmament, but the latter would only do so if the rest of Europe does the same. Most of the European powers failed to do this, and so Walder withdrew from the League of Nations. In a totally not made-up referendum held two months later in October, 95% of people supported this decision.
In 1944, Walder told his generals that he would personally lead the army in the vase of war. The region of Lower Senarvhia, which had been under League of Nations supervision for two decades. Walder entrusted military general Elliot Lögreburg to construct a navy, trusting him as the Grand Admiral due to his naval experience during WW1. The military would be increased from 500,000 men to a million. Britain agreed to Morb building a naval fleet by signing the Anglo-Morbian Naval Conference on June 17th 1944. Walder moved diplomatically closer to Nationalist Turkey, and began asserting more dominance over their fascist neighbor of Italy. Drenswich proposed an alliance with the Soviet Union, believing that having a major power like Russia in their side would be increasingly effective in threatening certain enemies like Britain or France.
Drenswich arranged a meeting with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who was impressed by the proposal for the alliance. Walder personally met Stalin as well, and both immediately became good friends. The two dictators are aligned because they hated the Western powers, and they wanted to assert their own control in their respective parts in Europe. At this point Japan had surrendered to the US, and the Soviets are freed in the Manchurian front. In January 9th 1945, Walder and Stalin formed the Morb-Soviet Pact and signed a secret protocol of invading Poßia and dividing Eastern Europe between themselves.
While tensions were pretty decent, Morb and Britain have not made the best relationship. The British did not like the looming threat of a Western invasion by Morb, and also did not like the recent Morb-Soviet Pact.
British prime minister Clement Atlee viewed Walder as:
"One of the most dangerous people in Europe. His military skills are efficient, his intelligence is perceptive, and he knows how to deceive a Western power. We must be ready to fight for our beaches, for we mah never know when that unpredictable man would strike."
Unfortunately for Atlee, one little spark could set off catastrophic events. Walder eyed on Switzerland, and Stalin eyed on the Baltics and Finland. Both are eager to wage war on these nations. Switzerland had been observed by Morb ever since the Alderman Regime. Traditionally, Switzerland should have belonged to Morb, and now with Walder's militarism, military action is possible. A foil to Walder is that Britain had guaranteed Switzerland its stern neutrality. But just one shot, one single shot to the small country could cause British aggression.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR: THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
It is still argued regarding the actual cause of the war. Rising tension from ultranationalists were one definite reason. The most likely reason was that Britain was simply jealous of Morbian supremacy in Europe, and Atlee purposefully granted Switzerland its neutrality to entice the Morbian dictator into war. Walder was intervening in European politics at will, threatening the European balance of power that he "supported" back in 1943.
There was one serious attempt to negotiate with Walder, however. British politician Oswald Mosley tried contacting Drenswich in 1946. Mosley proposed for a renewal of an Anglo-Morbian Alliance by giving some British holdings to Morb. Mosley offered some posts in the British Raj, an open access to Malta, and give Sierra Leone, British Somaliland, Zanzibar, and Gambia to Morb. Drenswich however demanded the British to give them full access to Malta and "at least a quarter of the British Raj".
Of course, these demands were too large, and Mosley realized that diplomacy with Morb was not possible. Britain was arming itself for possible war with Morb. Atlee announced the "European Revival" project by funding military armament to its allies, including the fascist Italy due to its strong anti-Morbian stance. Britain was confident of this choice due to their naval supremacy. However the British were still sure Morb could reach Britain somehow, especially due to their rising air force.
British Admiral Jeremy Dwight said, "I believe the Morbians will come at us at any time. I simply state that they won't come by sea."
On April 2nd 1946, a false-flag border incident perpetrated by Morb allowed the country to freely declare war on Switzerland. After the incident, Morbian forces arrived from the north and east of the country, while an air bombing was commenced across the countryside. As the Morbatallion (the name of the Morbian military) advanced across the country, Swiss bases of operation were moved closer to the Swiss-Morbian borders to establish defense lines to the northern perimeter. After the mid-April defeat of the Swiss Army in the Battle of Zürich, the Morbians gained an undisputed advantage. The Swiss had to wthdraw deeper into the country, and as Morbian forces began an encirclement, Switzerland surrenders.
With Switzerland being annexed into Morb and became one of the 43 member states, Britain gathered its allies to wage a war against Morb. France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, and Poßia, all those countries have simultaneously declared war on Morb. In response, Walder assumed command of the military and lead an invasion to the Benelux. The Soviet Union declared war on Poßia, as per the Morb-Soviet Pact, and distracted Poßia from engaging on a direct conflict with Morb. On May 9th, at exactly 4 AM, the code word "Batavia" was relayed to all Morbian military divisions, beginning Operation Swift Storm, the codename for the invasion of the Benelux.
Morbian military pummeled through Luxembourg unopposed. The 2nd Army launched its simultaneous offensive against Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch Air Force was destroyed within a few days, Belgian ground defense was weakened by Morbian military, and Luxembourg was occupied. A desperate Allied offensive in the Hague was met with defeat. Rotterdam was destroyed by the Morbian air force. Both countries fell after a week of fighting. A combination of Walder's strategic skills and military might allowed Morbian victory to be achieved. The powerful Royal Navy imposes a naval blockade on Morb, but is futile due to the resource output of the country from its occupied territory.
With the Benelux conquered, Walder focused on another member of the Allies. Morb and the Soviet Union launched a joint attack towards Italy, which Walder held interests of. On 19th September, the invasion was carried out. Morbian forces poured from occupied Switzerland while Soviet forces poured from occupied territory in Poßia. Italy was supported by British air support, and was successful in a counter-attack against the invaders. The Italian army, ill-prepared for war, could not keep up with having to fight in two fronts.
Despite multiple support from British, French, and Portuguese forces, the Italian army was surrounded by both the Morbian and Soviet forces. British forces were overwhelmed as well. Atlee, realizing the fate of Italy is clear, ordered a mass evacuation of all Allied troops to Malta. The Allies fought their last stand against Morb on November 10th, in the fierce Battle of Rome. Allied ships continued to arrive and evacuate as many people as possible from the Morb-Soviet war machine. The Battle of Rome saw over 70,000 deaths. 7,000 soldiers were captured by Morb and the Soviets.
The Morb-Soviets didn't conquer all of Italy, however. The government of Italy continues to fight in south Italy, essentially dividing the country into two opposing forces, locked in conflict. A puppet state in northern Italy was set up, called the Italian Unified Republic. Mussolini, the Italian dictator, was executed, along with other members of the Fascist Party. Walder then crowned himself as the King of Italy.
On November 25th, the Nationalist Turkey joins the Morb-Soviet bloc. The three powers aligned themselves as the Universalis, believing they can rule the world. With increasing Soviet aggression, the Republic of China declared war on the Soviet Union, essentially bringing an Asian front in the war. Stalin funded the Chinese communists to engage im guerilla warfare against China. So the front was relatively contained. In Europe, things were still boiling. Walder executed a plan to divert the Royal Navy away from mainland Europe and to engage them in a surprise attack in the North Sea. The Morbian fleet, under Elliot Lögreburg, departed from Vissershaven on December 18th.
Unfortunately for Lögreburg, they met with the British fleet earlier than expected. At first, the British were outnumbered. Only 27 British ships against 33 Morbian ships, with the Morbian battleship MM Sunrise being present. The British, under Admiral Nathaniel Williams, decided to play the strategic approach. He plans to place his ships in the Morbian flank, hoping to break it and gain an upper hand. Lögreburg was aware of this tactic, but for reasons unknown, did not prepare himself or his fleet in the case this occured. As such, Admiral Williams's plan worked perfectly. The British fleet split the Morbian fleet in two, severely damaging MM Sunrise and isolated the battleship from the other Morbian ships. The Morbian fleet attampted to escape, with the British continually asserting their naval dominance. The fierce battle resulted in the loss of 22 Morbian ships, while the British lost only two. This forced Walder to realize an invasion of Britain is impossible, and he would need to build his Navy better.
France and Britain plotted to invade occupied Belgium by new year. The British and French armies worked together to accomplish this. An army of 270,000 men was formed, and they marched towards Belgium. With the Soviets and the Turks busy in the Poßian front, Walder quickly gathered the Morbatallion and ordered them to go at full speed into France to confront the Allied army. He organizes a diversion, sending a part of the Morbatallion towards Dunkirk, which distracted the main Allied army. The two engage in the Battle of Dunkirk, while unbeknownst to Allied command, Morbian military forces arrived and encircled the area. The British realize, too late, that they are surrounded. A bloody battle was fought between the Allies and Morb, with casualties up to 150,000 within five days. After two weeks of fighting, the Allied army in Dunkirk surrenders. 25,000 of them are sent to Morb to work as forced labor in the Morb Correction Facilities, which have been dubbed as the "Morb Gulags."
By 1947, the casualties of war are up to 400,000. Walder and the Morbatallion finally arrange the invasion of France. Now with British presence in the country annihilated in the Battle of Dunkirk, Walder studies the fields of France and quickly devises an ingenious strategy. Walder and his men would move through the countryside at night, and station themselves in the town of Lens. On January 17th, the French army arrive at the town to find the Morbatallion. The two forces immediately engage in battle. Walder orders the Morbatallion to flee the town, disillusioning the French army of victory. Convinced that the Morbians are retreating, the French march onwards. However, beyond the hills, the bulk of the Morbatallion arrive and storm the French army.
The Morbian forces immediately surround the French, now split in two, desperately try to survive the Morbian onslaught. With the first French army pushed to the east and the other French army being surrounded, the latter army surrenders. The remains of the French try to cross the river, which is targetted by Morbian artillery fire. With the French defeated near the borders of Belgium, the Morbatallion steamroll through France. Walder's armies decimate villages, towns, and cities, while marching towards Paris. Along the way, the Morbatallion pillage, loot, burn, rape, and capture. The Allies are horrified of the Morbatallion's savagery. As the army arrives in Paris, French leaders fear what the Morbatallion would do in Paris. The French and the Morbians hold an agreement in Paris. France surrenders to Morb, thus knocking out one of the most important Allied member in continental Europe. A lot of territory would be annexed into Morb, while the remains of France was reduced to the Confederation of the French, a Morbian puppet state.
By May of 1947, almost all of western Europe, apart from Iberia, was reordered at will under Walder's reign. Finland joined the Allies and started the Winter War against the Soviets. Now with France defeated, the Morbatallion could finally divert itself towards Poßia, their traditional enemy for a century. The combined forces of Morb, Soviet, and Turkish power quickly decimated Poßia. The invasion commenced with an overwhelming air attack over the Poßian capital of Brügrad and facilities of the Grand Poßian Air Force by the Morbian air force, the Morflyarlin while launching ground attacks through the northwest. These attacks were followed by Soviet and Turkish forces. Turkish forces have managed to claim modern-day Bulgaria while Soviet tanks steamrolled through Poßian countryside. While the Poßians were able to fend off against the Turks in the east, it was inconsequential following the collapse of Poßian military.
Poßian morale decreased in the invasion. Seperatist movements by Serbs, Croatians, Roma, and Slovenians strongly weakened the Poßian war effort. The invasion ended in July 17th, after about two months, the conflict ended after an armistice was signed. Poßia was to surrender unconditionally towards Morbian occupation. Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Serbia were granted independence, but they are nothing more but mere client states to Morb. Poßia's eastern territories were consumed by the USSR, now extending their reach to the Balkans. Within two years, the Universalis have conquered almost all of Europe. Walder then proclaimed the Greater Morbian Empire on September 21st 1947.
After this crushing defeat on Poßia, tensions died down throughout 1947. With French holdings under Morbian control, an African campaign did occur, but it was relatively isolated from the main conflict. The USSR and China took to the seas and engaged in naval combat. Mongolia was seized by the Soviets on September 3rd, but other than that there was no notable ground conflict.
The next conquest of Morb would be more of a betrayal. Despite being a full-time Universalis member, Turkey continued to trade with other powers, most notably the United States. While the US simply watched the conflict on Europe from afar, Walder held negative sentiment to America from the start. He repeatedly told Tosun to withhold from trade activities with the US. While Turkey did annex Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria to show their strength in the Middle East, they still had resources left out. Plus, the nationalist government led by Tosun held a tedious power hold, meaning it was able to succumb to its own people if a revolt did occur. The USSR did not support the Morbian-Turkish alliance anyways, and Walder did not want to anger the Soviet Union at the time. And so, their alliance with Turkey ended in all but name.
Starting from November 1947, the Morbatallion gradually encroached Istanbul and Ankara until they occupied both cities and seized power from the Turkish government. Tosun was exiled to Cyprus while Walder installed a client statr in Turkey, where he placed Richie Connerly as the new Sultan of Turkey. Nationalist Turks did not accept the change, and waged guerilla warfare against the Morbian government and opened the Turkish front. And Walder realized the consequences of his actions the hard way. Morb was suffering defeat after defeat in Turkey. Dry, hot climate severely weakened troop morale, and Walder at this point was diverting troops across North Africa and the Turkish front at once. The British were exploiting from this opportunity and supplied the rebel Turks. However, on February 5th 1948, Walder enjoyed his first victory in the Turkish front after besieging Ankara and taking as many Turks as hostages to be sent to Morb Gulags for labor. But whenever Walder was not in charge of direct military operations, Turkish resistance continued to tie down his men.
Connerly's government tried contacting the Soviets to assist in the Turkish front, but the Soviets refused, only ever seizing the city of Van in a completely unrelated attack.
Walder wrote in his memoirs that betraying Turkey was the one single mistake that cost him victory. This was apparent in the Morbian offensive into Russia, when Walder had to actively disperse troops across the two fronts and weaken his grip on military might. The Turkish front was eventually merged into the Middle Eastern theater when British landings were possible in mid-1949.
THE INVASION OF RUSSIA
DECLARATION OF WAR
Walder only allied with the Soviet Union to keep the massive country from waging war against him and Morb. Stalin eventually realized that Morb could easily betray him as easy as the events in Turkey. Stalin, who at this point respected Walder, was angered by this revelation. He contacted Drenswich and demanded an ultimatum towards Morb: concede all of Poßia to Russia and “war can be avoided.” The news was given to Walder, who chose war over surrendering. He had amassed a massive army in the Morbatallion, and was generally ready to invade Soviet Russia.
On April 16th 1948, Walder announced in his palace the following:
“Attention, soldiers and citizens alike. Mark this day, April 16th, as the day we rid ourselves of Soviet oppression in Eastern Europe. The Soviets pledged their alliance with our great country, and we believed it could mark the dawn of a new era. Unfortunately, Russia has broke her vows with our Empire and refuses to explain her strange conducts until the Morbian Sun dawns upon the Russian soil. Russia has chosen its fate to be placed upon our hands. Does she think of us as a degenerated kind? Are we not the people that constantly fought since the very beginning of our country’s creation? Russia places us between dishonor and war. Our choice is not as difficult, for there is only one. Let us march then, beyond the Polish salient, beyond the Ukraine and beyond the Baltics, and bring our glory to Moscow. We shall raise our sun above the city for all to see. We shall achieve victory! March forward, and bring our torches to Russia! Long live the Morbian Sun!”
Between the 16th and the 20th of April, troops have been mobilized, armed and ready to take the most treacherous journey towards Russia. Walder’s plan was to seize Moscow, apprehend Stalin and other key Soviet figures, scramble the Red Army, and continue pushing until Soviet resistance ends.
THE GREAT MARCH
Divisions of the Morflyarlin soaring and patrolling the skies, wreaking havoc across towns. The Morbatallion, with countless armies and heavy tanks, rolled through the Baltics with little to no resistance. Moving quickly within the region, the Morbatallion were well-equipped to ravage through farms and cities alike if necessary. The Baltics held flat land, allowing tanks to move in a linear fashion. It was a massive geographical advantage for the invasion.
The Morbatallion was spread equally across the Baltics and the “main front” of Ukraine and Byelorussia. Supply lines were fluid, and the Morbatallion moved steadily across. On 29th April, the Morbatallion reached Kyiv and quickly overwhelmed Vilnius in Lithuania. The attack was carried out by multiple artillery fire, proceeded with a large amount of troops charging towards the city to pick on the weakened soldiers stationed in the city. The attack was completely by surprise, as almost in an instant, the Morbatallion abandoned its slow, steady nature and changed into an aggressive, fast-moving armies. The Battle of Kyiv was a Morbian victory.
The news was given to Stalin, who was surprised of the sudden Morbian attack. He felt betrayed, and ordered a full declaration of war against Morb. At the start of May, the Soviet command centres in the Baltics was squeezed out, and Ukraine was completely overrun, apart from a Russian resistance in Crimea. The next target for the Morbatallion was Riga, and after brief skirmishes with the Red Army along the way, the horde of Morbatallion soldiers besieged the city. The Battle of Riga left 5,000 Morbian soldiers dead, and nine infantry units destroyed, but it was more of a pinprick towards the size of the Morbian invasion.
Walder (who assumed full command of the Morbatallion during the invasion) was surprised nonetheless that the Red Army put up a good fight. Walder stationed ten divisions and 500 artillery units be placed near Estonia for an invasion there, while the rest of the large army overran southern Byelorussia on 17th May. At this point, Walder expected Stalin to give up and sue peace, since many Russians were being deported to Morb Gulags and many Soviet units were destroyed, only to be met with bitter disapointment. Walder did not want to destroy the Soviet Union, he simply believed “it was in the way of our plans, and so I must eliminate it.”
Several days after these victories, however, many soldiers were struck by disease. The next day on May 21st, a violent storm occured in the Baltics that forced the Morbatallion units there to take cover and therefore delay the invasion.
Russian general Dimitri Vinogradov, the lead Russian general during the invasion, wrote in his notes of the events suffered by Morb due to the storm:
“It had disastrous effects on the Morbian forces. Movement speed was impeded due to disease, and sometimes entire divisions simply stopped advancing to tend to the weak. Supply lines were heavily disorganized, and roade are often blocked by fallen trees. The delay and frequent loss of supply caused troops to suffer. Walder’s troops were well supplied, but it proved inadequate during their invasion.”
The foraging of supplies from the Baltics proved hard after the storm. Supplies were heavily dependent on Poland and Ukraine, but due to the distance between the Baltics and the agriculture-rich Ukraine, troops were not able to efficiently deliver supplies to the Baltic Army of the Morbatallion. Some 5,000 stragglers, left behind by their division, became a gang of lawless mobs that ravage villages independently from the Morbatallion, waging guerilla warfare against the local population. These soldiers essentially became bandits, and further hindered supply lines. Walder received countless reports of desertion, starvation, sickness, and even suicide.
Nevertheless, Walder pressed his troops to continue their rapid movements. On June 27th, the Baltic Army finally reached Estonia and besieged the city of Tallinn at the far borders. Soviet resistance was fierce, with the addition of the Russian general Dimitri Vinogradov, who became a feared name across Morb. Walder himself even respected the general. The Siege of Tallinn resulted in the deaths of 250,000 soldiers in the Morbian side. With the city successfully sieged and the entirety of the Baltocs under Morbian control, Walder initiated his next plan: besieging Leningrad.
MARCH TO LENINGRAD
All Morbatallion divisions, specifically the ones in the Baltic and ones in Byelorussia, were ordered by Walder to reach the same objective: reach Leningrad.
Soldiers from the Ukraine are sent to create a diversion for the Soviets. Walder wanted the Soviets to believe he was heading for Stalingrad, while in reality the bulk of his army was charging at full speed towards Leningrad. On July 14th, Walder visited the front lines and assumed command in his base at occupied Minsk. Stalin, after an inspection at several Red Army posts, returned to Moscow and left Vinogradov in charge with Iosif Rubinov. Rubinov was tasked with establishing defensive positions, but always failed due to the agility of the Morbatallion. Rubinov was forced to retreat, leaving Vinogradov to propose another solution in stopping the Morbian war machine. Vinogradov, as we have seen from his notes, was well-aware of the supply problems encountered by Morb. As such, the Russian general ordered a scorched earth policy whenever they retreated. This prevented the Morbatallion to exploit the region and therefore plague the soldiers with starvation and lack of natural resources. While Walder’s army was large, it is incapable of re-supplying itself with fresh troops in an instant. The Soviet Union had a massive population, so despite losing heavy casualties, they are able to replenish their armies quickly.
Stalingrad was defended with heavy Soviet artillery and fierce ground-to-air combat over patrolling Morflyarlin vessels. While Stalingrad was being defended, Leningrad was given some fortifications under General Rubinov. As the Morbatallion approached Sosnovy, Vinogradov ordered the town to be protected in an attempt to slow down the onslaught of the Morbatallion. Vinogradov had left general Mikhail Zokhin’s 27th Division to guard the town, along with artillery and some tanks to boot. The town came under heavy artillery fire at 2:30 PM on August 14th by Morbian forces under General Louis Eldrichson and Michael Altwin.
Some 200,000 Morbian soldiers attacked the town. Fortunately for the Russians, Eldrichson and Altwin, also fueled by the two generals’ distrust of one another and their competition for power, could not cooperate properly and allowed the Russians to escape the town, at the cost of 23,000 Soviet casualties and 50 vehicles and other equipment to be destroyed. The Morbians only lost some 5,000 men. The Morbians had many excellent chances to annihilate the Russian Army, but never took the chance to do so. It was a miracle that Soviet units were able to escape. Vinogradov was alerted of the news by Rubinov, and the two began to work together to protect Leningrad from the coming Morbian forces.
Unfortunately for the generals, on August 19th, Finland joined the Universalis and began to restart military operations into Soviet territory. Vinogradov realized – too late – that Leningrad was encircled by the Eldrichson-Altwin army from Sosnovy, the Finnish forces from the north, and the bulk of the Morbatallion ravaging from the southeast. Rubinov chose to stay at the city to give one final stand, while Vinogradov, due to his importance, was to be evacuated away from the city to continue the Soviet war effort.
THE BATTLE OF LENINGRAD
After the capture and destruction of Sosnovy, General Eldrichson’s 4th Army, along with General Altwin’s 10th Army, advanced from the town and continued its progress to Leningrad. The 18th Army, despite 150,000 soldiers lagging behind, steamrolled through Ostrov and Pskov after remaining Soviet troops retreated to Leningrad. Ostrov and Pskov were blazed to the ground and continued marching from the Luga River. Finnish forces were expected to arrive through Lake Ladoga.
The last railway connection to the city was severed on August 30th. General Altwin was sure that Leningrad would fall. Evacuation of civillians and industrial resources led the Morbatallion to believe the Red Army may be abandoning the city. On 5th September, new orders were received to annihilate the Red Army stationed in the city. On 10th September, the 4th Army was redirected to an offensive towards Moscow, leaving Altwin under lead command of the invasion. After analyzing the situation, Altwin proposed to severe lines of communication from the city to isolate it further from any backup.
On 6th September, Walder contacted Altwin his orders: “First we take Leningrad. Then we take the Donetsk Basin, and finally march to Moscow. Do your best work, General Altwin, and I may reward you and your family for your competence thus far.” With railways guarded by Finnish forces and a mass encirclement launched by the Morbatallion, Leningrad was effectively isolated, and its fate sealed.
On 20th August, Morbian artillery shells hit the city for the first time. Industrial factories, schools, hospitals, and civillian housing units are targetted by artillery fire. Walder ordered for the Finns and the Morbians to block all railways to prevent civillian evacuation and demands an immediate execution of any and all citizens caught escaping from the city. On 31st August, the Finns go on a defensive line.
On 12th September, the Morflyarlin commence aerial bombardment over the city, targetting public areas. Trains carrying food were to be destroyed, their supplies seized for the Morb-Finnish effort. With the city mostly destroyed from bombardment, the Morbatallion and Finnish forces all charge the city simultaneously.
So desperate was the situation that civillians took to the streets and fought alongside the Red Army. Altwin was particularly eager to destroy the city. The Russians managed to seize a railway bridge and liberate it from Morb-Finnish occupation, but was retaken after three days. Buildings were demolished, with tank warfare being common in the battle. Rubinov was horrified by the outcome of the battle. Soviet ground-to-air defense failed to shoot down most Morbian planes. A desperate offensive was launched by the remains of the Red Army in Leningrad, but to no use. Rubinov’s base was immediately bombarded and seized by Morbian soldiers. The Soviet general allegedly fought with the Morbian soldiers, only to be shot dead in the struggle. Leningrad was set ablaze. Remaining civillians, including children, were taken to Morb Gulags. Children esoecially were forced to work in factories to help construct and repair Morbian equipment, constantly drugged to keep them alert. After the city was burned down, it was further destroyed by bombardment from Morbian planes.
THE CAPTURE OF MOSCOW
The Morbatallion was ever-approaching Moscow. With Leningrad blazed and Stalingrad weakened, along with some other successful military operations, the path to Moscow was open for the taking. Following the destruction of Rubinov’s army and his death in the battle, Stalin begrudgingly replaced his post with several other Soviet officers. Two of them, Dmitry Zurkoff and Alexander Kuthurov, were particularly important in aiding Vinogradov for future Soviet operations. Stalin personally promoted Kuthurov as Field Marshal last month. His base was to be placed in the outskirts of Moscow in the northernmost regions.
Russian sources claim that Kuthurov was sending a message to Stalin, asking if they should evacuate the city now or to continue fighting. The Soviet dictator refused to leave the capital, stating, “the captain must go down with his ship.” Meanwhile, Altwin and his armies were suffering to a cold. Altwin had lost his voice due to the winter. The snows were thick, and the Morbatallion’s advance was waning. Nevertheless, under Walder’s strict orders, Altwin continued to advance into Moscow.
Kuthurov was now concerned of the disposition of his army. It was stretched across Moscow, with injured soldiers amongst them. The Russian general had to make a choice. The Morbatallion are advancing, albeit slowly, but they would most likely arrive in two days or maybe even less. There won’t be time to heal all of the wounded soldiers and evacuate the city at the same time. Kuthurov, in a secret directive, told Vinogradov that “the fate of some citizens and soldiers may be left to the mercy of Morb.” Vinogradov refused, not after hearing the horrors of Leningrad.
He gave a verbal message to Kuthurov:
“If the Morbians want to occupy Moscow, we shall fight to the very last man. No matter how difficult it may seem, no matter how improbable the chances of victory are, we cannot let the Morbians take the city without a proper fight.”
Kuthurov, however, allegedly ignored the message. He believed that Stalin could singlehandedly end the conflict and stop the bloodshed if he simply negotiated peace to Walder. Kuthurov would try to negotiate with Altwin, while residents of the city were told to stay calm and evacuate immediately, lest anything goes awry. High-ranking Soviet leaders were evacuated, while Stalin left behind. On 14th September, Altwin’s armies and the rest of the Morbatallion arrived in Moscow. Altwin had received word of an attempted surrender by the Russians. His armies stopped approximately two miles from the gates of Moscow, awaiting the arrival of Kuthurov and the Russians. The Morbian armies waited for half an hour, and there was no response. Walder contacted Altwin to ask about the holdup.
“The Russians tried to negotiate but they failed to show up. Permission to fire?” Altwin asked. “Fire, Goddamn it,” Walder responded.
Without a single word, Altwin fired a barrage of artillery fire into the city, to mark the Morbian advance. The Morbatallion was tasked to encircle the city to not allow any evacuations to occur. The Morbian armies stormed the entrances and exits, poured into the city, and realized why the city seemed quiet. The Red Army was hiding, and when the Morbian armies barged through, Soviet soldiers popped out and immediately began to shoot at the invaders. This attack was met with surprise and bewilderment by Altwin and Eldrichson, whose armies had just arrived. Altwin ordered the Morflyarlin to commence aerial bombings, while tanks would break through the city walls and destroy everything. Altwin tried to taunt the Russians, giving a sarcastic reply, “What a very terrifying attack! How would we fight this off?”
The Battle of Moscow was the deadliest battle, other than perhaps the Battle of Wayne later on. The Morbians stormed the streets, ravaged buildings, and destroyed churches. Kuthurov desperately tried a flanking manouver to the Morbians advancing to the Kremlin, but to no avail. Civillians armed themselves, took to the streets, and tried to fight back the Morbatallion. Altwin authorized an immediate on-site execution of these fighting citizens. The city was in flames, caused by arsonists trying to harm the Morbatallion and by the Morbatallion thenselves. The fire spread scross the city, and Eldrichson confiscated all fire-fighting equipment to leave the citizens in a blazing ruin of the Russian capital. It became known as the Moscow Fire, and allegedly, the flames were so high that one could see the ashes from miles away.
Within the Kremlin, Stalin realized his futile mistake of refusing to evacuate, and witnesses his city, his country, burn before him. Kuthurov, Vinogradov, and most Soviet officers have left in their own accord. Stalin knows the Morbians would capture and torture him as a way of Walder’s mockery. The Soviet dictator prepared a cyanide tablet. He put it in his water, drank it, and let himself die in the burning city. By the time the Morbians stormed the Kremlin, Stalin was long dead.
The suicide of Stalin and the conquest of Moscow not only weakened morale, but also disorganized the Red Army. Walder rejoiced in this victory. With Moscow gone, the Soviets would stand little to no chance against the Morbatallion.
The occupation of Moscow itself was horrible for Russians living there. Eldrichson was stationed there as a military governor of Moscow, and he allegedly drove his car through the streets, picked a random woman, forcefully took them to his car, brought them to his soundproof room, and sexually assaulted them. Eldrichson made sure the women would not report this to their families, otherwise he would kill her and all of her family members. Eldrichson also took in Russian children and sent most to Morb Gulags and the rest to Morb, as to indoctrinate the children under Morbism. The Morbians also regularly attacked houses and looted valuables, leaving Russians poor and starving.
Russians were also handpicked by Eldrichson to carry supplies for the Morbatallion. They would carry food, heavy equipment, and other resources for days straight, in the cold Russian winter even. These unfortunate Russians were chosen regardless of sex, age, and social class.
Despite all these things, resistance movements are still plotting within Moscow. Eldrichson ordered a crackdown on these suspected rebels, and have them shot and hanged in the Red Square. As to the corpse of Stalin, it was burned and its ashes spread across the snow.
TURNING POINT OF THE WAR
1948 was a bleak year for the Allies. The remains of the Soviet Union was seized by the military. The country became a military dictatorship, with fierce military control enforcing its citizens. Its leader, none other than Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev had refused Walder’s peace offers, and continued to fight against the Morbians in guerilla warfare. Rebels stationed in Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad were given supplies due to an underground system built for the rebels. Khrushchev also attempted to negotiate with the Finnish government to leave the Universalis and join the Allies.
The Eastern Front was still raging, the Turkish campaign was as brutal as ever. The leaders of the Allies all gathered together in Cairo to discuss regarding Morbian hostilities. These leaders were US president Harry S. Truman, British prime minister Clement Atlee, still in office due to war, and Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev. The three argued about their next step of operations. The US had joined the war due to a Morbian attack on an American merchant ship off the Atlantic. The three Allied powers, along with several other governments-in-exile, declared the Cairo Oath, and all pledged their full involvement in the conflict and end the Morbian Sun’s light from Europe.
The three leaders still held differences against what to do, however. Khrushchev demanded the Western Allies to give more support to the Eastern Front, while Truman, persuaded by General Eisenhower, agreed to take a preemptive strike on occupied France. The British wanted to focus on ridding Morbian presence in Africa. The Allies agreed to get rid of Morb from Africa, stating that by 1950, Morb would no longer show itself in Africa. As for the Eastern Front, Khrushchev is given some American support.
I have not explained much of the situation in Africa. The Morbatallion had managed to claim French North Africa and Italian East Africa, with the former being their main base of operations for the African theater. The Morbians had made claim on the Congo and some other territory in the east. Before American participation, the British were solely fighting against the Morbians in Africa. I will spend some time detailing about the African theater, which was less successful than the Eastern Front.
By the end of April 1948, the Morbians along with their puppet allies of France, Northern Italy, and Poßia have taken most of North Africa, successfully linking Italian East Africa by invading Sudan. Togo, Ghana, and Madagascar was taken by the Morbians at the dawn of May. The Morbian campaign in Africa was led by the Morbatallion Frontline Desert Corps, the MFDC or simply the Desert Corps or Desert Army, under Morbian officer Elliot Dexter. Dexter and the Desert Corps weee able to inflict massive damage to Allied forces in Africa by blowing up supply lines and gaining the help of some clans to fight for them. Despite stubborn resistance from British forces, South Africa was successfully invaded. Over in the Congo, over 7,000 British soldiers were encircled by the Morbian 33rd Division during the Battle of Kalemie and was only saved by the might of the Royal Navy. The Morflyarlin crippled Allied movement. There was only ever one major victory of the Allies in mid-1948, that being the Battle of Kinhasa. Other than that, no matter how hard they try, the US and its European allies were not prepared to fight the Morbian war machine, the same fate that befell the Soviets in the Eastern Front.
In early May 1948, Dexter launched an assault on Gibraltar, an important British holding, planning to attack with aerial and naval assault. Unfortunately for them, the attack was thwarted after an engagement with four British battleships in the Battle for Gibraltar. An Allied air attack soon followed and crippled Morbian supply lines. Dexter next ordered an invasion of Malta, yet another important British holding. With the Americans present, the Morbians would lure the American ships away from the island by using their trick of falsifying an attack while the bulk of the army arrives to the real objective. In mid-May, the Morbians launch the Nairobi Campaign in modern-day Kenya, seeking to eradicating the natives for saving American troops. The Morflyarlin commence aerial bombardment on villages and fought against the Americans stationed there. Captured soldiers and natives are sent to Morb Gulags. In early June, the Desert Corps launched its operations into action, but after British intelligence were able to break Morbian military codes, the Western Allies knew everything from battle plans to order of battle. With this knowledge, a decisive victory was achieved in the Battle of the Red Sea.
With its capacity for aggression greatly diminished, Walder, who was focusing on total destruction of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Fron, contacted Dexter for a siege on Agig, a city under Allied fortifications. The Western Allies planned a counter-attack and managed to threaten Morbian possessions in East Africa, as a first step towards a major Western Allied offensive. Although, the Allies need much time to prepare for this attack and instead focus on crippling Morbian supply lines further.
We now come to the present situation. After the conference at Cairo, the Eastern Front died down for a bit. With added Allied support, the Soviet Union was able to reorganize its troops and focus on countering the unchallenged Morbian advance in the Eastern Front. The Morbatallion was advancing towards the main Soviet military base of the city Nizhny Novgorod. The importance of this position was vital for the Red Army. After Moscow, the Red Army really did not outnumber the Morbians in any major way, and so Vinogradov and his fellow comrades needed to think strategically. Khrushchev proposed to send 800,000 men in 84 divisions to fight the Morbatallion, but no more than 25 divisions were available. On 3rd October 1948, Walder officially launched Operation Flood, the drive towards Nizhny Novgorod. The Morbatallion held defensive positions along the cities of Saransk and Vladimir. The Morbatallion needed to act fast, however, to avoid the cruel Russian winter. Altwin was personally warned by Walder of this danger. “We have to strike the Soviet city before winter. If winter comes beforehand, our chances of victory would be slim.” In order to halt the advance, Russian peasants evacuated ahead of the Morbatallion, taking cattle, burning crops, and even destroyed certain buildings in a scorched earth policy.
The first attack completely took the Soviets by surprise. The 2nd Army attacked from the west while the Morbatallion advanced in its frontlines and managed to cripple the Soviets. With the Soviet 3rd and 13th Armies encircled, the 3rd and 4th Armies encircled four Soviet armies in the east, rapidly destroying it and capturing over 500,000 Soviet soldiers to be sent to Morb Gulags. The Soviets only held 90,000 active men and 150 tanks left for the defense of Novgorod.
Walder announced in the Morparlamen that he expected the capture of the city and collapse of the Soviet government by the “start of winter.” On 13th October, the 3rd Army penetrated Soviet defense 87 miles away from Novgorod. As such, martial law was declared in the city. Weather was worsening for the Morbatallion however. Temperatures fell drastically as the ground turned to mud, slowing vehicle movement. At the same time, due to the scorched earth policies and guerilla warfare waged by Russian peasants, supplies were shortening for the Morbatallion. Altwin ordered a temporary halt for the operation while the Morbatallion tried to reorganize. The Soviets held an advantage. They were far better prepared for the winter, and while the Morbian halt lasted, Vinogradov reorganized his troop positions. In less than a month, the Soviets were able to amass 11 new armies with 30 new divisions, mostly Siberian reserves.
With the ground finally hardening on November 15th, the Morbatallion resumed the attack, although Walder was extremely dissapointed. There had been no improvement on the supply situation. Against the Morbatallion were the 6th, 17th, 31st, 42nd, and 43rd Soviet armies. Walder planned to move the 3rd and 4th Armies across the Volga River and envelop the city in the northwest. The rest of the Morbatallion would approach from the Fedyakovo district and blockade the south. As the Soviets reacted to the flanks, the 10th Army would attack the center. Within two weeks of fighting, the Morbatallion slowly crept on towards thr city. On 22nd November, the Soviet Siberian units, aided by the 42nd and 43rd Armies, managed to inflict a paralyzing defeat to the Morbatallion as the 2nd Army Group was destroyed. Despite this, the Morbatallion were able to cross the Volga in a final attempt to encircle the city.
By 2nd December, the Morbatallion were only 15 miles away from the city. Some accounts of Morbian soldiers claimed they could see the Soviet flag in the distance. The Morbatallion were able to arrive just 5 miles away from the city, before the first winter blizzards came. This was what Walder feared. The Morbatallion were not prepared for winter warfare, as opposed to the Soviets. However, both sides still suffered greatly under the cold. The Soviets are in desperate need of clothing, while the Morbians are in desperate need of food. The violent blizzard hindered Morflyarlin operations, disabling an aerial attack over the city. The Soviets had amassed 500,000 men by the city borders and initiated a winter offensive. On January 7th 1949, the Morbatallion were pushed back 162 miles away from the city. The Morbatallion had lost. They have lost 850,000 men from cold, starvation, or other sickness. The Eastern Front was finally lost for the Morbians.
Despite considerable losses, in early 1949 the Morbians were able to stop a major Soviet offensive in southern Russia, keeping most of their territorial gains achieved in the previous year. In May the Morbians were able to get rid of Soviet presence in southern Yaroslavl and secured most of their holdings. Walder initiated a summer offensive in June 1949, seeking to seize Caucasian oil fields from troops in the north and troops in the southwest. The Morbatallion was divided in two: the 1st Army Group handling against the Soviets in central Russia, and the 2nd Army Group in the Caucasus. The Soviets decided to make their stand in the city of Rostov. After weeks of bitter fighting, the Soviets launched their second winter offensive, encircling Morbian troops stationed in Stalingrad and commencing a large strike towards the 1st Army Group. The latter operation failed horribly, but the former succeeded in driving the Morbians from Stalingrad. The Morbian frontlines has now been pushed back in their position before their summer offensive.
By the dawn of 1950, all hopes in the African theater for the Morbians were gone. The North Campaign, the Western Allies’ coordinated effort to get rid of Morbians in North Africa, was successful. In March 1950, Madagascar was finally taken by Canadian and American forces, driving the French, still under puppet rule, out of the island. Soon after, the US, supported by Australia, New Zealand, and Britain, began major ground, air, and sea operations to isolate the Morbian base of Tripoli in Libya and breach the Morbian defense perimeter. By the end of the month, the Allies have completed both objectives and also neutralized major Morbian bases in modern-day Algeria.
On 12th July, the Soviets launched their own counter-offensive, and denied any chance of Morbian victory or even a stalemate in the Eastern Front. After the brutal Soviet victory in Moscow, succesdfully retaking the capital, the Morbians were pushed out from the region. Eldrichson, who at this point was military government of Moscow, was forced to flee his belongings. Altwin’s army rescused Eldrichson and both commanding officers retreated with the Morbatallion. On 3rd September, Turkish partisan forces finally overthrew the client government and liberated the country from Morbian rule. This allowed the Allies to reach the Middle East safely and, together with the Soviets, liberate Poßia and the rest of the Balkans.
By late May 1951, the Soviets have liberated Ukraine and only left a small pocket of Morbian resistance in the Donetsk region and Crimea. A Baltic offensive was stopped by the Morbatallion’s Baltic Army, with the Soviets stopped just outside of Estonia. The Soviets have made multiple incursions into Poßian territory, while the Allies spearheaded an attack in the south through Turkey. By the end of July, all Morbian units in Africa had surrendered following the fall of Algiers. Dexter surrendered to the Allies and became the first major Morbian general captured by the Allies.
FALL OF THE MORBIAN EMPIRE
After final thoughts by the Western Allies, they finally agreed on Operation Tricorn, an all-out invasion of continental Europe. The Western Allies landed on southern France, where Morbian defense was particularly weak. There, the Allies advanced to the north and stationed more soldiers in Turkey to help the Soviets in the liberation of Eastern Europe. The opening days of Operation Tricorn managed to destroy the Morbatallion units in France. Italian resistance was also greatly supported, eventually culminating into the Confrontation of Rome, which successfully overthrew the Morbian puppet government in Italy. Paris was liberated by French rebels. The Western Allies continued to push back Morbian forces, with a failed Morflyarlin operation in the Netherlands crippling Morbian communication in the Western Front. After that, the Western Allies have finally reached Morbian soil, but are stopped by the last major Morbian defensive line in the west. In September 1951, the Sovietd and some US and British divisions rapidly approached the Poßian capital Brügrad and forced a rapid withdrawal of the remaining Morbian armies in the Balkans to prevent them from being cut-off. The Soviet Red Army, with additional support from Poßian partisan forces, managed to seize Brügrad and overwhelm the Morbian puppet states in the Balkans. A massive assault towards modern-day Slovakia essentially secured the Balkans to the Allies.
The following events soundly describe the fall of the Greater Morbian Empire.
Allied forces begin taking many prisoners during the Western Front. Estimates say over 1,500,000 Morbian soldiers were captured by the Western Allies. In February 1952, the Allies have liberated some Morb Gulags and discovered the horrible truth of what happened to its prisoners. Men, women, and children, mostly from Allied countries, although there have been some reports of Morbians amongst the prisoners, have all been exhausted to the bone. Children were used as forced labor to service certain equipment, while adults were sent to work tirelessly for days without food. The prisoners suffered violence and rape from Morbian soldiers, while other died from starvation. Corpses would be burned and used as a fuel source for furnaces. The remaining Gulag guards were forced to give a proper burial to those that have died. On 25th April, the NMP, who at this point followed Walder’s orders unconditionally, decided to act against the Morbian dictator. They ousted Walder from power, and exiled him to northern Morb. The NMP finally chose to disband following the first non-rigged vote in the Morlegislacil since the reign of Alderman. Eldrichson and Altwin were the two men running the military government. Despite this successful toppling of Walder’s government and the disbandment of the NMP, the Soviets did not stop their invasion on Morbian soil, despite the Western Allies agreeing on a stop, since Walder was gone from power. The Soviet onslaught arrived in Wayne and inflicted the same damage the Morbians have done to Moscow: the Soviets burned, looted, killed, and raped. The Morlegislacil building was blown up by Soviet artillery, and the Morparlamen set ablaze. Other government buildings were also destroyed.
After two weeks of violent street fighting, on 3rd May 1952, Eldrichson agreed on a mass surrender of the Morbatallion. Altwin approached the Allied High Command to issue for a formal peace. The Soviets, though bitter, agreed on the terms of the peace treaty. In the ruins of Wayne, the peace treaty was in full effect, and the war had ended. At the cost, of 90 million dead.
The aftermath of the war was the occupation of Morb, liberation of Western countries and, on the contrary, occupation of Eastern countries.
SUBCHAPTER: THE FATE OF JOHANN WALDER
Now you may be wondering, what happened to Johann Walder? He has taken refuge in Denmark following his exile, abandoning his people and letting Wayne be burned to ash. Immediately after the unconditional surrender of Morb, Eisenhower ordered the arrest of Johann Walder. Given a tip from a nearby Danish resident, American soldiers surrounded Walder’s lodgings on June 11th. Walder, who was about to take a flight to Argentina with the false name John Walter, immediately knew his approaching fate. He shot himself in the chest with the single bullet in his revolver, but the bullet missed the heart and failed to kill himself. The US Army sent medical personnel to keep Walder alive during his trial.
As he bled, Walder began to talk, as noticed by two British reporters present at the site. His words: “I am truly sorry for the horrors of the war that I have tainted my country with. Only now did I realize my actions were horrible. Please kill me and leave me to die. I do not deserve to see the light of day.”
Walder was eventually charged with massacre, starvation, forced labor, and inhumanity. Walder was given a brief moment to stand in the podium and give his final speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today to offer a sincere and heartfelt apology for my actions. I must admit, that my country, under my leadership, committed heinous crimes. At the time, I was selfish. I only looked to myself and my country and completely disregarded the rest of the world. I thought it would be the fitting solution for the disunity in my country. I bear full responsibility for my actions. Consequently, now that the war is over, I am to be judged so that the circumstances of the time can be clarified and the future of the world be assured. I mean to pay considerable attention to my actions. And so, at last, I stand before the victors of this grave war. I give my final apology to those both in my country and in others.”
Walder was sentenced to death on June 14th 1953, a day before his 54th birthday. He was killed via hanging. He gave his final apologies to the Allies and gave his badges to his interrogators. His body was cremated, but his ashes is still inside the Morbian National Museum.
As to Walder’s other accomplices, namely Albert Drenswich, Louis Eldrichson, and Michael Altwin, all have suffered the similar punishment of hanging for their part in the war. Richie Connerly was personally executed by Walder due to a prior coup attempt led by him.
POST-WAR AND COLD WAR
A few days before Morb’s surrender, the Oslo Conference was held by the major Allied leaders of Truman, Atlee, and Khrushchev. The Allies agreed to divide Morb into several occupation zones and decrease Morb’s territory. Khrushchev was hesitant to unite Morb, since almost Morbian unity often leads to a boiling of ultranationalism. However, he ultimately agreed this decision to please the Allies. The western regions of Morb are to be seperated from the country and granted independence to this new amalgamation of states called Anthusia.
The Western Allies would govern this country for at least four years, while the Soviet Union was granted full administration on Morb. Both Truman and Atlee believed that putting the Morbians under harsh Soviet treatment would hopefully eradicate the nationalism from a Morbian. The Soviet Military Administration of Morb was signed by the Allies and granted Khrushchev and the Soviets military occupation on Morb. Millions of Morbians were simultaneously expelled from several countries, mostly those that have been occupied during the war. Ethnic Morbians poured in to Soviet-occupied Morb. Some tried to enter Anthusia, since it was deemed less harsher than Soviet occupation, so immigration to the new country was temporarily closed.
Under Soviet rule, Khrushchev, still supported by the Allies, employed a massive domestic policy known as The Eradication of Morbism and Its Variants, commonly known as the de-Morbism policy. Using this order, the Soviets began a crackdown on former high-ranking NMP leaders as well as any leading commanders from the Morbatallion, Morflyarlin, or the Navy; the Morwatrliga. Those arrested would be tried and executed.
Political developments were growing smoothly. On April 20th 1953, a Soviet decree allowed the formation of antifascist democratic political parties. A coalition of these parties, which included the Communist Party of Morb, the Socialist Democratic Party of Morb, the recently established Democratic Theocracy Union, and the Liberal Democratic Party of Morb was formed. The CPM, with 600,000 members in 1953 led by William Portwart, and the SDPM with 680,000 members, merged under pressure from the Soviets in March 1954 to form the Socialist Union Party of Morb (Morbian: Soszialista Unyanpartije Moroland, SUM). In the 1954 elections, the SUM polled around 50% of the vote in each state. The capital of Wayne held a branch of the Socialist Democrats that tried to poll their own votes, although they only held a 49.7% vote, while the SUM held a 69.3%, being in the lead ahead of the Democratic Theocracy Union.
Through the election results, which the Soviets intentionally rigged, the SUM became a leading party in the new country. The final decision was held in the People’s Parliamen (Mor Papolou Parlamen), where the SUM held a majority of seats. The SUM’s party leader, Gunther Prick, became the First Secretary and Prime Administrator of Morb, a fancier way of saying “you’re in charge.” In November 1954, the People’s States of Morb was officially declared by Prick, thus marking the communist era.
EARLY YEARS: 1954 – 1963
The SUM controlled the United Front Coalition, the coalition of parties responsible for maintaining an antifascist and anti-Morbist stance to the people. The new 1959 constitution established a bicameral parliament with an upper house known as the Hipapolou Kammeren (State Chamber) and the lower house called Papolougeneral Kammeren (People’s General Chamber).
The SUM convened in July of 1960, regarding industrial progress. As such, the First Five Year Plan (1960 – 1965) introduced centralized state planning. High production quotas were stressed by the government and labor productivity will also be increased. The pressures of the plan caused a mass exodus from Morb to neighboring Anthusia, which was democratic and under Western supervision. The SUM held a conference where a new economic policy would be adopted to improve the Five-Year Plans. This new policy would simply be called the Reconstructed Organization for Morbian Socialism. The plan called for the strengthening of state-owned economic sectors and implement the economic laws of socialism.
Under a new law passed by the Papoolougeneral Kammeren in 1960, the age at which Morbian youths may depart from their parents were reduced from 23 to 18. Churches, despite assured of religious freedom by the SUM, was subjected to considerable pressure from the goveenment. This applied to all religions in Morb, as a matter of fact. The religious community tried to retaliate against the SUM, but internal disruption from the secret police – the Prism – delayed an alleged attack. There were also conflicts within the government. Prick launched a purging campaign, eradicating remaining opposition in the SUM or the government. Under charges of “lack of support for the Soviet Union”, more members of the government were purged under the decree of stationed Soviet advisors. It is important to note that Prick held no real power. He was a puppet figure for the Soviets, carrying out their actions. In 1963, Khrushchev was ousted by his competitor, Leonid Brezhnev.
Desperately trying to stop emigration and please the growing civillians, the SUM revised the Reconstructed Organization of Socialism by introducing the Shiny Deal. The Shiny Deal was modelled after the economic policy initiated by Georgi Malenkov of the Soviet Union. While the Shiny Deal did increase consumer goods and lower taxes, there were still high production quotas, which did not satisfy the workers at all. When the quotas were raised once more in late 1963, it led to the 1963 Uprising. Strikes and demonstrations happened in industrial centres, and the Prism was sent to maintain the crowd via violence. With help from the Soviets, a total of 200 participants were killed. This action was the first signs of totalitarianism and the reliability on the military to quell domestic affairs. Despite ideologic differences, many compare it to Walder’s far-right regime or that of the paranoid Alderman’s. At this point, the Morbians wanted change.
MID-YEARS: 1964 – 1973
Reacting to the Uprising, the new Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev gave Morb sovereignty in early 1964. The Soviet Military Administration in Morb was disbanded, and Soviet advisors withdrew from the country. According to the Soviet terms, the People’s States of Morb was free to decide questions of its internal and foreign policy, as well as its relations with Anthusia. Morb and the USSR would strengthen economic, scientific, technical, and cultural relations. Prick would often consult with Brezhnev regarding politicial questions effecting their countries.
The years towards 1967 will focus on Prick’s foreign policies, since we have spent enough time in the country itself. Prick responded to the era of dètente with the West. While the dètente period gave Morb the decision to free itself from isolation in the Eastern Bloc and reaching some agreements with Anthusia. Prick was hesitant to agree on a mutual alliance with Anthusia, since he wanted to unify Morb under his own terms. In 1968 the SUM recasted its constitution into a communist document. It declared Morb as a socialist state whose power derives fron the working class under a leadership of “its Marxist-Leninist party.” The new constitution proclaimed the coming victory of socialism as a global ideology and restated Morb’s commitment to stay in the communist bloc.
To finally stop the mass exodus towards democratic Anthusia, Prick decided to establish border security. The border between Morb and Anthusia was heavily guarded by both sides, and special requirements are needed for citizens to cross between countries. With Soviet assistance, Morbians began developing more surveillance and security-oriented technology, including CCTVs capable of recording clear audio, a rough identification system, and a more advanced lie detector. All of this tech was being tested in the border checkpoint, as to use it in the public. These strict security regulations and the intended complexity of making a valid pass prevented the exodus to some degree.
Despite these claims, the SUM leadership had difficulties in winning popular support for the repressive social system. Democratic policies continued to attract Morbian citizens to settle in Anthusia. Prick believed the Morbian populace was well conformed to this socialist government, when in reality it was much the opposite. Prick launched an aggressive campaign against Western ideology and indutrialization. Prick’s foreign policy included the strengthening ties with Warsaw Pact countries and organizing a mass opposition towards dètente. He also signed multiple bilateral mutual assistance treaties with communist Poßia.
Prick also encouraged the disassociation of the Soviet Union from the West, stating that they should reform their economy by their own means. Considering democracy a threat to their domestic policies, the SUM would react to anything nearly democratic, such as invading Hungary due to their increasingly liberal views. Not wanting to break their alliance with Morb, the Soviet Union was forced to aid the country against their invasion on Hungary.
In September 1970, the Soviet Union and Anthusia signed the Moscow Treaty. The two countries pledged nonaggression in their relations along with their matters in Europe and international security as a whole. Border disputes with Morb were settled, and Moscow pressured Morb into making bilateral talks with Anthusia. Prick resisted however, further weakening the leadership. In March of 1971, a new leader was chosen for Morb, Eric Hartwin. Prick still held onto a title of Council of State, but that position was very low in terms of power. Unfortunately later in June of 1973, Prick would be assassinated using a bomb during a trip around the country. The perpetrator of the attack was never discovered, although the organization affiliated with the attack would soon be known.
After his inauguration, Hartwin pursued a campaign of rapprochement with Anthusia. Hartwin was loyal to the Soviet Union, yet was also flexible towards dètente. At the SUM’s Eighth National Congress on April 1971, he presented a new political program for the new regime. Hartwin’s reformulation of the Morbian foreign policy, he renounced the objective of unification with Anthusia. Under this program, the country defined itself as a “distinct socialist state” and emphasized allegiance to the East. Morb would eventually negotiate in the Quad-Power Agreement, or the Wayne Agreement, in Wayne in 1971 and sign the Basic Treaty of Unity with Anthusia in 1972.
The Wayne Agreement and the Basic Treaty of Unity normalized relations between the two Morbian countries. The Wayne Agreement was also signed by both the United States and the Soviet Union, aiming to protect trade and travel restrictions and improving communication. The Basic Treaty recognized the two countries, and the two must respect one another’s sovereignty. Diplomatic missions were exchanged and commercial, tourist, cultural, and communications relations were to be established. Both countries joined the United Nations later in 1973.
LATER YEARS: 1974 – 1989
Despite diplomatoc reconcilliation, Morb and Anthusia still held tight border security. The 1974 Constitution added that Morb was a “seperate state” than “democratic Anthusia.” It also deleted any reference to Morbian unity with Anthusia. However, some in the SUM leadership felt the need to unify with Anthusia formally as to give greater space for further industralism. Hartwin created the simple slogan of “Citizenship = PSM, Nationality = Morbian. We are not Anthusians.” Hartwin fully acknowledged the persisting psychological and emotional attachment of Morbian citizens to tradition and culture, and to a greater extent, towards Anthusia, but Hartwin continued to persist for Morbian individuality from its Western counterpart.
Speaking of identity, the People’s States of Morb was infamous for changing their own history. Their all-star socialist idol, Karl Marx, held his own negative sentiment towards Morb. He calls it a warring faction and a threat to communism. This is very true to reality and presents a dilemma towards Morbian communism. The SUM began a secret initiative to erase this section of history, claiming that Marx was pro-Morb and that Morb was always a unified country. There were some reports that claimed the SUM did more radical changes, such as teaching children that Karl Marx was the founder of Morb, which was definitely false. The SUM even destroyed historical buildings that held important points in Morbian history and replaced it with symbols of socialism. It also indulged more towards the history of the Communist Party, such as Thomas Marland’s role in a Peasants’ Uprising against the Emperor, or the struggles of the worker during Morb’s industrialization.
This was all done during Prick’s reign. During the Ninth National Congress in May 1976, Morb rejected Prick’s policies against Morbian history and instead added that history binds a country together and is the essence of that country’s culture. Statues of historical Emperors like Markus I, Augustus IV, Frederick I, Alderman, and a memorial for Darwin Mercado, the first and best Prime Advisor of Morb (of course, there were no memorials to Johann Walder or his NMP associates). Hartwin continues to reference historical figures during his speeches, which reflected Imperial Morb’s policies of revisionism, a policy which the People’s States is using. Despite historical negationism having been fixed, many children continued to believe Prick’s version of history and has caused massive confusion in Morbian history and geography amongst the youth.
In spite of many government action taken against totalitarianism, Morb had modelled its government based on the Soviet Union. As such, there is no tolerance for political dissidents. The Prism continued a crackdown of dissidents inside and outside of the SUM. Just slight pleas for democracy were met with imprisonment or expulsion from the country. Morbian actor Robert Fox Brantont was expelled from Moeb after writing a short essay about the good things of democratization. A total of 100 famous people in Morb were identified as dissidents and expelled from the country.
Morbian writers were taking action against the government’s treatment towards people advocating democracy. They wrote for the Anthusian press and helped shed light on some nefarious scandals od the SUM. The most prominent example was Morbian scientist Rudolph Lyron’s Advance of the West, in which he explains the scientific developments of America and how he wanted to learn from it for the better of his country. His articles were taken down by the Prism and was swiftly arrested. He was imprisoned for two months before being released and deported to Anthusia. In late 1977, a manifesto of an organization known as the “League of Democratic Socialists” was released to the Anthusian magazine Daily Starshine. The league was later revealed to have been made by former SUM leaders that were expelled due to their dissident behavior and have begun preparations for unification with Anthusia.
Many artists, scientists, and other intellectuals began a mass exodus from Morb, the government continued its policies against dissidents. The government attacked literature, the main tool for opposition towards the SUM, using censorship and ideological attacks. The Morbian Church and some other religious institutions openly spoke about the SUM’s repressive policies. As a response to the growing Polish Solidarity movement, the SUM intensified its censorship campaign towards church publications along with dissolving the Democratic Theocracy Union and any other party affiliated with religion. In March 1981, Hartwin explained that he supported what his party was doing, stating that Morb is a “socialist city” and tells the citizens that the SUM system is not fair to everyone.
The Tenth National Congress in April of 1981 focused on improving economy, stabilizing the current socialist system, achieving success in its foteign policies, and strengthening relations with Anthusia. With the SUM as the leading party in all areas of Morbian society, General Secretary (the title of First Secretary was replaced with this one to match with the Soviet Union) Hartwin emphasized the importance of educating party members to be more loyal to the SUM and secure its position. Hartwin claimed that most of its party members are well-educated, having all graduated from university and some having attended an SUM school.
The SUM’s Primary Committee, which was the advisory body of the country since the ’60s, was reduced in power to more of a secondary body. The other bodies, like the Prism or the Secretariat remained unchanged. The congress also focused on a new Five-Year Plan, calling for higher productivity, efficient use of material resources, and higher quality products. Although the last Five-Year Plan was unsuccessful and was unpopular, but the SUM still set a very high goal.
The SUM would not last for much longer, however.
COLLAPSE OF THE SUM REGIME: 1989
The Cold War was rapidly approaching an end. The Eastern Bloc was quickly departing from its previous Soviet overlords. Morb was also in the same, but due to Hartwin’s confidence in his “socialist utopia” and did not want change. In the end the circumstances the SUM brought upon itself led to its collapse, and Morb’s growing international debts were plummeting towards a debt crisis within a year or two. Much of the debt originated from Morb’s attempt to export its way out of its international debt problems, which required imports of components, technologies, and raw materials. Morb was internationally competitive in some sectors such as mechanical engineering and printing technology, as well as breakthroughs in security and surveillance technology. Unfortunately Morb’s rather ambitious attempt to gain a competitive edge in microchips not only failed, but swallowed increasing amounts of internal resources and money. The resulting losses produced a noticeable dip in living standards.
In May of 1989, local government elections were held. The public reaction was anger after learning that the SUM candidates had won the majority of the seats, with “only 98.7% of the votes.” In other words, despite larger-than-ever numbers of voters rejectong the SUM candidates, the vote had been rigged by the party to secure its own position and hold onto power. To protest, a number of citizens applied for exit visas or left the country through illegal means. In August 1989, Hungary removed border restrictions with Anthusia, a breach in the Iron Curtain. In September 1989, more than 15,000 Moebians managed to escape to Anthusia through Hungary. The Morbian government issued a complaint to Hungary, demanding an arrest of all Morbian citizens caught in Hungarian territory, though the Hungarians ignored this message. Thousands of Morbians also raided Anthusian diplomatic facilities to gain the attention of Anthusian authorities. The Morbian government desperately placed an arrest on as many citizens as possible. Meanwhile, mass demonstrations would occur in the states of Dharnoff and Liechsztein, demanding democratic reform.
Ignoring the literal protests and unrest in his country, Hartwin and the other SUM leaders celebrated the party’s 35th birthday. As in previous celebrations, soldiers marched on parade and displayed missiles and other weapons to showcase the increasing military. However, the parade proved to be a harbinger for peotests and demonstrations. Mikhail Gorbachev and other Warsaw Pact leaders were attending the celebration, and members of the crowd repeatedly chanted, “Gorbachev, help us! Gorbachev, save us!” That same night, another wave of demonstrations for freedom of speech hit the country. Especially in Wayne, the Morbian capital. Pressure was mounted on the government to reform. The most devastating demonstrations were in the state of Liechsztein. Soldiers had been dispatched, certainly on Hartwin’s orders. To prevent the public to backlash and form a popular uprising, the SUM kicked Hartwim from power and, in fact, removed from the party as a whole.
Hartwin’s replacement was his right hand man, Frank Egon. He made promises to open up the regime and “reform if necessary.” Few Morbians were convinced however, and the demonstrations continued. People continued to flee to Anthusia through Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Schools were so bare of students and teachers that some were closed down due to lack of employees.
On November 9th, the government created new travel regulations that allowed Morbians who wanted to go to Anthusia, permanently or temporarily, to do so directly through the re-opened Morb-Anthusian Border. The stab at the SUM came when the government made a very late decision to delay the effect of these regulations to two days after its proposal. Nobody told Egon, for some reason. So when he was asked when these regulations would occur, he replied with, “I think… as soon as possible. Maybe immediately and without delay.” When the news was broadcasted on Anthusian and Morbian television, countless crowd gathered in the border, with unprepared security. Outnumbered, the guards reluctantly let them through. When the government finally stepped in to announce the crucial mistake, the crowds did not leave and instead seized the guards’ weapons, threatening to shoot if the border was not opened. Egon finally opened the border for free, and the two countries of Morb and Anthusia finally touched for the first time.
The fall of the border was the final swing to the SUM. Communist rule was unpopular, and formally ended in December 25th of 1989, when the Morparlamen deleted the constitutions drafted by the party. Egon resigned from the SUM, followed with several other leaders. The SUM’s other organizations also dissolved not long after the border fell. Due to a lack of leading bodies, the SUM, with its few 1,100 remaining members, chose to dissolve and fully ended radical, totalitarian-oriented communism in Morb. Just two days later, a Prime Advisor was appointed by the new Morbian government, a man named Markus Han-Mordof. Thus began the modern era and Morb’s final rebuilding.
MORBIAN REFORMATIOM ERA
After the fall of the SUM and the end o the Cold War, border checkpoints between Morb and Anthusia were opened and the two countries unfied into a proper Morbia state. This event is celebrated as the Morbian Unification of 1990. With Morb having united, Mordof can finally focus on rebuilding the country.
Mordof held a Morparlamen Special Session Meeting in November of 1990 to address the remnants of the previous government. One particular individual stood out amongst the others, that being Hartwin’s youngest son, Tommy Hartwin. The man had been a very unpopular character in the SUM. He was allegedly indulging in corruption of government money, but no definitive proof could be obtained of Tommy’s supposed scandals. After the SUM disbanded, Tommy’s whereabouts have been unclear. Urged by the Morparlamen to bring the man to justice, Mordof assigned an operation to investigate his corrupt behavior and also capture Tommy Hartwin. Mordof apppointed military officer Anthony Mikhael Yons as the MIC of the operation. Upon further investigation, Tommy Hartwin had a long list of nepotism and corruption in his name. The SUM was preparing to arrest him but it dissolved before it could take action. It wasn’t long before Tommy was found in a modest apartement not far from his original home, and was put to trial. Anthony charged Tommy of also having participated in the Coffee Scandal, which brought upon some economic downturn to Communist Morb in the long run. Tommy was sentenced to jail for 25 years.
Political parties were also rising in Morb, the aftermath of the SUM’s end in total power. The Socialist Democratic Party existed as one of the main options for the people. The Democratic Theocracy Union was also re-established, along with the Democratic Party. These three parties would become the leading political parties in the country until now, although there is a fourth one which we will explain in great details later.
Apart from that brief act, Murdof’s government also stabilized the economy a bit, in the face of financial crisis and also the chaos left behind by the SUM government. Murdof’s government worked on an ID card where Morbians can show their formal identity to prove their citizenship, and there were also talks of a social credit-esque system being developed, though it only stayed a rumor.
Under Murdof, Morb made significant changes to its political system that promoted freedom of speech and fair democracy. Shortly after taking office, in January 1990, Murdof’s government lifted the SUM-era restrictions, gave freedom for the creation of political parties, and ended state censorship and surveillance. He also committed to the formation of democratic elections. In May 1990, he passed new reformist laws to the Morparlamen and brought it to the Morlegislacil for further discussions. These laws set elections for July 1991, reduced the number of seats in parliament held by the military, which was massively used by Morb up until this point in history and barred political activity committed by civil servants. Political opponents criticize Murdof for still allowing some seats to be held by the military, and taking little action to military reforms.
Murdof also passed laws which granted significant autonomy to regional governments. The laws resulted in indirect elections for mayors and governors, amd allowed local legislature to hold such executives accountable. These changes would not be made until Murdof’s time in office ended.
Although Murdof had been viewed as a leading transitional government, he received many opposition from within the government as well. In July of 1991, the month of the election, Murdof struggled to win control of his government by personally appointing Farell Levis as an assistant Advisor. Murdof was ultimately able to defeat his rival camps. Unfortunately the biggest threat to Murdof was in fact Farell, who began to disassociate himself from Murdof. Adding with a faction of reformists, Murdof was clearly outnumbered. Near mid-July, the Morparlamen put forth three Prime Advisory nominees: Murdof, Farell, along with former Defense Advisor Eddy Gunthersrat. After extensive campaigns, Murdof eventually won and was chosen as a Prime Advisory candidate, but a large opposing faction still favored Farell as the next Prime Advisor. Murdof’s political career eventually ended after the Vyen Bank Scandal of ’91, where it is revealed Murdof had been funneling banking funds to members of his re-election team. Murdof would be succeeded by his other major opponent, Adler Warling.
Warling’s administration was more focused on international affairs. Warling immediately took action to form the European Confederation via the Minsrat Treaty. It was concluded in early 1992, after agreements with twelve other European countries. The main focus of the treaty was to announce a new stage in so-called European integration. A goal of a shared European citizenship, the introduction of a single European currency, and common foreign and security policies.
Following his inauguration as Prime Advisor, Warling became the head of a Socialist Democratic coalition. Throughout his campaign for Prime Advisor, he portrayed himself as a new social democrat who would promote economic growth while strengthening Morb’s generous social welfare system.
Warling’s domestic policies closely followed some of Murdof’s previous ideas. In his first term, Warling’s government wanted to phase out nuclear power, fund renewable energies, and liberalise the naturalization laws. Economic growth was slowed to only 0.2%, and unemployment was rising by 10%. Warling tried to make cuts to the social welfare system, including the national health insurance, unemployment payments, pensions, and lowered taxes and made reforms to employment amd payment. He also appeased to foreign investors, which kinda worked, but not to the point where the economy was improving.
After the 1994 elections, the Socialist Democratic Party slowly lost support in polls. Many disliked Warling’s ‘Third Way’ political program and perceived it to be a dismantling of the Morbian welfare state. Moreover, Morb’s unemployment rate remained a serious problem for the government. Warling was too focused on building the European Confederation and left some members of the party in charge rather than himself, weakening his grip on power.
Warling’s taxation policies were also unpopular. When the satirical television show World’s Best Solutions released an episode called “War Bing”, featuring actor Elliot Brandt as Warling himself. The episode was basically trash-talking Morb’s indirect taxation systems and remarked how Murdof did more progress within a year than Warling within three. It became Morb’s 1994 Christmas #1 hit.
Marking a clear break with the caution of Morbian foreign policy since WWII, Warling laid out his country’s role in international affairs, describing Morb as “a great European power” that would not hesitate to pursue its international interests. Warling also established the Socialist Democratic political tradition of Lysdat därwn Annversi, roughly meaning “The Leader’s Dawning Anniversary.”
Warling also sought to compensate for the victims of NMP-era labor. Reversing the hard-line stance of his predecessor Murdof, and agreed to contributing to the improvement of industrialism using the work force from these survivors. They wold be specially funded by the government, and Otto Lansart was chosen as a representative for Morbian industry in negotiations with the survivors’ organizations, American lawyers and the US government.
Warling began playing in the war theatre as well. He sent forces to Afghanistan to help quell the al-Qaeda and to also test the Morbian military. Warling declared in 2002 that he would not participate in the war against Iraq without a UN mandate. During the summer, when the federal elections were held, Warling presented the Morbian Way as an alternative solution to “American warmongering” and presented Morb as a peace power, rather than a warring country.
Relations with the Middle East under Warling’s administration was tight. He initially took part in the bombings over Iraq, but decided against it, as described before. He was pro-Israel and held strong relations with the country and its allies, such as Jordan. Warling’s stance also set up a broad anti-American sentiment in the Socialist Democratic Party. Some radicals of the party compared the US president George H.W. Bush as that of the tyrannical Johann Walder. Morb stays true to this stance by allying with Russia and envisioning a Morb-Russian mutual alliance.
The 2007 elections were held and ended in a massive stalemate between the Socialist Democrats and the Theocracy Unionists. This was resolved in October 11th when Warling’s former personal assistant, Rudolph Tyrewyle, formed a coalition of the two parties under his leadership. Rudolph was the longest serving Prime Advisor in postwar Morbian history, and he spent much dedication too. Unlike Warling or Murdof, Rudolph cared about Morb’s internal development and closely worked with his coalition party to decrease unemployment rates and give better wages to the more hard-working middle class.
It was fitting as well. When Rudolph was inaugurated, the country was suffering under those problems of unemployment and economic downturn, partly left by Warling’s extensive spending on foreign projects. Farmers were in trouble as prices had fallen by 60%. On his succeeding days in administration, Warling called for a bank holiday, similar to what US president FDR did back in the 1930s, and established multiple government bodies to maintain domestic security.
The Federal Response for Emergencies (FRE) was set up and was freely compared to the FBI. The Workers’ Safety and Equality Administration (WSAE) was formed to oversee industrial progress and ensure the safety of workers. The most popular was the Redirection of Unemployed Citizens Agency (RUCA), which helped over 300,000 unemployed citizens by giving them jobs in more rural areas. The Morlegislacil agreed on the creation of the Federal Trade Agency (FTA) which provided mortage relief to farmers and homeowners. The Administration of Agricultural Development (AAD) was tasked to increase commodity prices. Thid was all done under a span of five years or less.
Rudolph also made reforms to the Morparlamen’s system, which has remained relatively unchanged since its creation in the 19th century. These changes can be simplified to “making the parliament not rigged.” The Morlegislacil was also changed so every state has equal amounts of votes, as opposed to the state of Morb automatically having two extra votes during an election. Rudolph also strayed away from Warling’s anti-American sentiment and began rebuilding an alliance with the US. Rudolph did not do these tasks alone, as he had multiple competent advisors during his administration. Harold Heartcliff, also the director of the FRE, Dumner Williams, and Henry de Waslingtente were the notable few.
Times were booming in Morb. It had firmly set itself as a powerful country in Europe. However, there was one more problem that the country would face before entering the more peaceful present days.
THE TERRORISM ERA
We have to wind back in time for this one, to May of 1952. The Second World War was coming to a close. Walder had been overthrown, and a temporary military government is set up by his former primary generals, Eldrichson and Altwin. With the Soviets outside the Glass House building, they surrendered immediately to avoid a massacre. While the two generals and other leaders charged of war crimes were tried, there was one person that escaped justice. That man being an obscure officer, Krillian Turner. The man hid away with remaining NMP members and Morbatallion soldiers in the US after being helped by NMP sympathizers and changed their identities. Krillian changed his name to William Turner-Houston and lived a very secretive life. Krillian was a hardcore NMP member. When he heard news of Walder’s execution, he allegedly cried for seven minutes.
Krillian and his remaining supporters returned to Morb to not only get closer to their origin country, but also to establish the NMP once more. Of course, that was impossible since the party was outlawed. So Krillian organized a movement to blend in with the protests in the SUM leadership. Krillian contacted NMP sympathizers, radicalists, right-wing nationalists, anyone that wanted to join his movement.
The movement grew and grew, until it became the Fighters for Morbian Restoration (FMR). It was a loose oeganization of ultranationalists and NMP members alike. Krillian began to propagate this movement to the public, calling for a better government than the SUM’s. No surprise, Krillian would later be arrested by the Prism and then executed for promoting ultranationalism once more.
Several FMR leaders fled to neighboring countries, mostly Britain, France, or Russia. There they began promoting a strong anti-British and resentment towards Morb, claiming it was too blinded by “forces of communism.” The FMR secretly planned branches in England, Spain, France, Italy, Serbia, Denmark, and Russia. They spanned across Europe as a secret organization wanting to restore NMP to the Morbian throne.
That opportunity came, coincidentally, during Rudolph’s helpful policies and economic boom of Morb. The FMR targetted their attacks to mainly Britain and Morb, but some attacks were also reported in the Balkans and Iberia, but this is yet to be confirmed.
On 12th March 2013, three FMR members unsuccessfully tried to hijack a plane in Britain headed to America. The members were found with a makeshift time bomb inside their luggage. Initially the British government thought this was an attempted attack perpetuated by al-Qaeda or any other Islamist terrorist organization and therefore did not take their presence too seriously due to their extensive knowledge of the organization. The arrested members kept to themselves and never revealed their membership to the FMR. At this point nobody has heard of an FMR. On 1st August, the FMR attampted to assassinate the British ambassador to Morb, Leonard Cadwell, by planting a bomb along the route taken by his car. The bomb detonated prematurely however, but it benefitted the FMR because it injured more people than expected. Five people were killed due to their proximity to the bomb, while 24 people were gravely injured, including Cadwell. Rudolph’s government would massively apologize to the British government for this incident and promised to keep a keen eye on potential terrorists.
On 13th September, the FMR attacked once more during a convention in the Morbian Museum of Arts. The bomb was planted inside a car this time, inside the underground parking lot. There were packs of cars, tight together, and when the bomb exploded it caused a chain reaction and completely decimated the parking space. This bomb killed 16 people, who were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time, and injured 27 others. Alerted by yet another attack within the span of a month, Morb issued the European Confederation and the UN to stay alert on “terrorists in Europe.”
A more complex attack was carried out durimg Christmas Eve, when the streets were full of clueless citizens. As a direct attack against the Democratic Theocracy Union. Six bombings occured simultaneously on Christmas Eve:
– Five Catholic and Protestant churches were targetted for bombing and killed three people.
– A bomb was found within a truck in a supermarket parking lot. Four officers tried to disarm the bomb, but was too late as the bomb exploded prematurely. A civillian was also killed at the scene.
– Another explosion during a Church sermon, killing four people.
– The bomb maker was busy setting up the bomb within a mall when it suddenly exploded and killed the bomb maker.
– Three bombs placed between the Morb-French border detonated, injuring 22 people.
– Finally, three churches bombed at close proximity near one another. A pastor found the bomb and was trying to throw the bomb away with help from a security officer, but the bomb exploded and killed the latter.
After this coordinated attack, Morbian authorities were furious of this terrorist group. After Britain and Portugal suffered similar attacks, the US was alerted of terrorist presence in Europe and came to give added security.
On 30th December, five days after the Christmas Eve bombings, a series of bombings occured in a British metro station during a busy day. 22 were killed, and hundreds were injured. During this attack however, British authorities managed to successfully capture an escaping FMR member. They brought him under intense questioning, before he ultimately confesses that the al-Qaeda have no relation with these attacks and instead the FMR was behind this, also giving details of how they want to restore the NMP government. That member was sentenced to life as opposed to execution due to his useful information. The US, Britain, Morb, and seven other European countries began planning a hunt of the FMR, codenamed Operation Fleeting Weasels (“Weasels” was the term coined to FMR members throughout this era).
Two years have passed since any recent activity by the FMR. A complete, unnerving silence. The CIA has managed to decipher the FMR’s next plan on 21st September of 2014 and sent a warning to the Morbian government. Despite the high and strict security, a man randomly walked in front of the US embassy and pulled a grenade, killing himself and injuring on-site guards. But that was not the only attack in that year.
At 12:07 AM, on October 13th, an FMR suicide bomber inside the Partislav Püube, or the Party Pub in English, detonated a bomb inside his backpack. The explosion killed him and injured many others, and many patrons immediately left the building. Twenty seconds later, another FMR member planted a car bomb in the neighboring Shira Clubhouse.
The bombing was done during a most busy night. The local hospital was ill-equipped for such a scenario, however. Some victims needed to be hurriedly transported to neighboring Belgium or Switzerland to get special treatment. As such, many patients unfortunately died to untreated burns. Another bomb exploded near a US consulate, but damage was minimum and only one person was injured.
The total number of deaths was estimated to be 212, with over 309 people injured. Rudolph stepped in and announced a formal declaration of war against the FMR, who have established themselves as an unofficial faction:
“My dear Morbians, tonight was the gravest of nights in Morbian history. On 12:07 AM, two bombs detonated in two, densely-crowded clubs. The bombs have killed more than 200 as of this speech. I was taken aback by this news. We have been attacked, along with our Western allies, by some foreign group claiming themselves to be the legitimate government of our great country. It puts a disgust on my face, that they kill innocent people to gain power. This group – the FMR – have been plaguing the country with repeated terrorist attacks since 2013. Over a year of continued terror and fear. The unprecedented loss of life is staggering, but we will not sit silent. Together with our European and American allies, we have decided to declare war upon this group. We will bring war to them, and we will avenge the lives of many. This is your Prime Advisor, and always Remember October 13.”
Directly after this event, in October 14th, the US State Department issued a travel warning for all tourists that wished to travel to Europe to avoid crowded areas, especially clubs and bars. During a patrol on November 2nd, a US soldier, Johnathan Smith, and two British soldiers were killed in a shoot-out with ten FMR members. Three members were killed, but unfortunately the US soldier died in combat. He was given a medal of honor posthumously. On 10th November, a bomb decimates a bus terminal, killing six and injuring 24. At the same time the US ambassador to Morb personally contacted to Rudolph, demanding a temporary lockdown of tourism in the country to prevent further casualties, in which Rudolph agreed upon.
The next few days during this war against the FMR was mainly focused upon tracking its leaders. Two were caught, John Shantly and Barry Hambrill. Both were sentenced to death. On January 7th, using information given by Hambrill during his interview, the CIA was able to discover a literal bomb manual being given anonymously through the Dark Web to FMR members. The bomb manual, upon being obtained, was discovered to be a step-by-step guide to FMR members across Europe on how to make a bomb and where to go. This single manual was thought to be used in the 2014 Club bombings, the 2013 embassy bombings, a US consulate attack, the art convention bombing, and the Christmas Eve bombings. Capturing FMR members were proving difficult, since they operated anonymously.
Later in mid-January, an alleged FMR member willingly went to the nearby police station and confessed that he was a member and had some things to tell to the CIA. The man, 34 year old Thomas Hopkins, confessed that he was part of an FMR plot to bomb the Israeli embassy in Morb. Furthermore, Hopkins told agents that he could not name a single FMR member besides himself. He was later imprisoned for nine years.
The bombings fortunately stopped after the 2014 attacks. Morb was beginning to launch their own special operations to capture high-ranking FMR leaders with the help of CIA research. The most important FMR leader was Noord Thorn, a bomb maker, explosions specialist, and recruiter of the FMR. Thorn was killed during a 2015 raid by Morbian police. Thorn’s colleagues would later explain to the CIA that Thorn was actually forming a splinter group from the FMR, which was “so aggressive, frontal, and militant, that we had plans to get rid of him.”
On 9th November, a bomb-making expert of the FMR, Azure Harrold, was killed in a raid by Morbian authorities.
During the New Year, the FMR hijacked television stations and broadcasted their message to “open the eyes of Morb.” The video was a five-minute hate speech against the “modernist government of Morb, capitalist bastards of America, and imperialist Britain.” It was all spoken by the words of Alei Zantaph, widely accepted to be the orchestrator of the FMR bombings. Apparently he also claimed to have helped the al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks, but this is thought to be a useless threat to the US. The year 2016 had no terrorist incidents.
On 13th June 2017, the FMR’s head of military operations was caught by Morbian authorities during a successful hunt on FMR bases in southern Morb. Two days later, Alei left another message for Morbian authorities to listen to, presumably as a response to their success: “The pigs continue as the butchers sharpen their knives.”
Throughout 2017 to 2018, leaders of the FMR have been captured rapidly. The FMR and Alei was aware of these frightening developmentd and threaten to “end all the birds with one stone.” On January of 2019, the British military announced that they have successfully shot down a plane with two important FMR members in it: so-called “spiritual” heads of the FMR, Zachary Hert and Muhammad Thoriq. Both were thought to be dead, until Alei broadcasted another message, criticizing the British and mocking them for their quick judgement. It was later revealed that the plane shot down was a civillian plane with ten passengers in it, having been hijacked by the duo, before both were able to jump out from the plane mid-air before it was shot down.
Alei Zantaph was Europe’s most wanted man. He broadcasted the FMR’s propaganda or message to authorities and has thus far been able to escape detection. Until October 9th when the FMR launched a massive attack on a hotel, housing Prime Advisor Rudolph himself. Hundreds of police officers were on stand-by without public knowledge, which caught the FMR by surprise. 96 officers were killed in the firefight, and 152 FMR members were either killed or captured. A British officer nearby noticed a hooded man running away from the firefight and immediately apprehended him. It was none other than Alei himself.
After Alei’s arrest, there have been no more word about the FMR. As for the man himself, he was charged with the death penalty and put under complete Morbian administration.
MODERN ERA
After the terrorism era, Rudolph’s administration had come to an end following the election results in 2020. Social Democrat Lincoln Strüber was elected as the Prime Advisor. Strüber’s early administration was focused on improving life under the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Strüber also involved himself with the Russo-Ukrainian War by giving Ukraine military support, which resulted in Russia’s loss in the war.
CLOSING PAGES
And that marks the end for Morbian history, for now. You, the reader, have come very far in exploring this real and factual historical timeline of a real country in Eastern Europe. Morb was plagued with a lot of nationalism. In fact it was a country born from hatred and ultranationalism. At first it seemed like a country destined to fail, a country that would always have arguments with others. But it stayed up until the end.
After working on this project for months I can proudly say that this was worth it. My biggest – yet most absurd – work of art yet. I hope you enjoy reading through this long history book. Hope you learned Morbian history extensively as well. Anyways, that is all I have to say. Goodbye and look forward to future projects.