Snowinn Civil War (1972 - 1983)

The Snowinn Civil War completely shattered a nation once believed to be peaceful and prosperous. Over 800,000 people died in one of the deadliest conflicts in World Awesome, and over 500,000 other people were misplaced. The war was fought between the people who wanted a republic Snowiny, which respected freedom of speech, gun rights, the right to live, etc, the people who wanted to set up a communist dictatorship, and the people who wanted the government to stay an absolute monarchy, as well as minor amounts of neo-fascists and neo-nazis. There were also attacks from indigenous tribes west of the country. The government before the civil war was absolute monarchic, but with lots of rights to freedom of speech. The war was started by conflicts between people who did want dictatorships, those who wanted a status-quo and those who wanted a full-time democracy with a president instead of king or queen.

In the end, the war was not really won by either side, but the side which benefited the most after the war and could be called the victor are the pro-republic rebels. They achieved their goal for about 3 years in 1979, until a coup by Snowgirl II in 1982, who declared herself queen. She was assassinated in 1983 by Salmon the Guy, who declared himself king and abolished absolute monarchy; installed a constitutional monarchy and introduced a brand new constitution. The entire country became satisfied with these new reforms and Salmon was accepted as a king. It took the country over 10 years to recover, and by the end of Salmon's reign, Snowiny became a massive global power once more.

MOTIVE FOR THE WAR: Assassination of freedom of speech fighter John Stapler in Clamshire on June 7th 1972, by 25-year-old anarchist Tom Husby.

CAUSE OF THE WAR: Growing discontent among the Snowinian population.

After freedom of speech fighter John Stapler was murdered in Clamshire, Clamshire and soon proof arrived that the government may have ordered his execution, riots happened all over the country, but the most violent ones were in Cool Town, Cool State. Police would torture protestors, publicly execute them, harass them and throw teargas. The people decided no more will they be oppressed, and by 1974, most people around Snowiny picked up their weapons.

The execution of this person wasn't the only reason for a revolution; long before the person was executed, the government oppressed its population. In fact, by 1972, the king Snowman VII was close to declare his own personal dictatorship. The citizens, of course, did not tolerate this.

However, the citizens all had different beliefs. The mostly agricultural and peasant northwest was in favor of communism; the central areas of the country were pretty okay with the monarchy while the eastern part of the country supported a direct democracy in the country. The war lasted extra longer and took away extra victims because the factions revolting did not agree with each other.

The war's first battle was the Battle of Fort Cadence between the Monarchists and Communists, in the northwest part of the state of Great Dorpy, from March 3rd to March 5th. The battle was the first rebel victory against the government. The monarchists withdrew southeast, to the center of the state, where they met with the Republican rebels who opened fire at the Battle of High Hills, from March 15th to March 24th; on March 18th the Communist rebels joined the battle with all 3 sides fighting each other. The battle was a catastrophe with all 3 sides retreating and with over 130,000 soldiers dying, becoming the deadliest battle of the entire war in terms of military loses. All 3 sides would retreat their own ways, the communists west, the republicans east and the monarchists south, but the communists would quickly return and occupy the entire field.

In February 1976 the monarchists led a huge offensive towards Plains City and failed to capture it. From the east the Republicans were crushing the monarchists and to the north the communists were invading; a new threat for all 3 sides came from the west after indigenous tribes heard the news of a civil war and quickly rushed to claim all possible Snowinn land. By the summer of 1976, the monarchists collapsed and the entire land was divided between the indigenous tribes in the west, the Communists and the Republicans. Throughout late 1976 and 1977, the communists made shocking advances against the democrats. By the end of 1977, the communists were threatening Clamshire and Melonville, the two capitals of the Republicans.

In the meantime, the position of king/queen constantly changed because not only were the people in revolt, but the royal family was in turmoil too. The position of king was changed 5 times during the revolt:

1972 - 1974 = King Snowman VII
1975 = Queen Snowgirl I
1976 = Queen Katarina I
1976 - 1977 = Queen Katarina II
1977 = Queen Katarina I
late 1977 - 1979 = King Snowman VIII

The most decisive battle of the war was the Battle of Clamshire during the harsh winter from December 9th, 1977 to February 20th, 1978. It was the longest battle of the war, the most devastating, and had the most civilian casualties (24% of the population of Clamshire died in the battle and tens of thousands of more people were injured). It also marked the turning point of the Snowinn Civil War. The communists were looking to win Clamshire and defeat the Republicans, but they didnt know how pro-democracy the east and central part of Snowiny was. Before the commies arrived, the republicans armed the pro-democracy population of Clamshire and organized them for battle. When the commies arrived, they fought back with the most brutal force.

The battle was devastating, and both sides had a hard time defeating the other. The battle only turned worse when in late December and throughout January it started snowing; in fact, the snow storm that just happened was the largest in recorded Snowinn history; the temperature outside was below zero and the snow reached as much as 30 cm. In early February rain started as well, leading to the formation of ice and lots of slippery. On the night of February 19th, the supreme commander of the communist rebels Karl Gutenberg ordered his troops to retreat out of Clamshire, claiming it was possible to conquer that city. The republicans walked in the city next morning, marched in the square with thousands of people greeting them, despite the dark weather. Horatio immediately ordered no time be wasted; he resupplied his troops, and invited all young men from Clamshire to join the struggle for liberation.

On February 20th, Horatio's armies started chasing Gutenberg's forces. Gutenberg's forces stopped just west of Clamshire for a rest, at a local town which seemed to have lots of food supplies, but they didn't have time to eat the food and get drinks as the republican forces attacked. The republican forces killed 30% of his army in that single battle. Gutenberg panicked, and ordered quick retreat west. In the north, near Melonville, the republicans also prevailed. The republicans started pushing west.

In the west of Snowiny, the indigenous people west of the country resumed attacks against the Snowinns, but their attacks were weak. The communists were distracted fighting the republicans, but even then the natives could not fight the Snowinns. The indigenous people kept certain areas of west Snowiny occupied up until the end of the war. The natives were not properly equipped; their weapons were outdated and they didn't prepare winter clothing.

The republican advance seemed unstoppable and by middle 1978 all the states except Cool State, Ashville, Northridge and Balloonpop were under Republican control. The final battle of the war would happen in early 1979; a 14 day battle resulting in a decisive republican victory and the surrender of communist forces.

Throughout 1979 and 1980 new institutions were opened, and a new constitution was written. A republic was estabilished. Now it only had to return to peace and normality. The nation, however, failed to recover from this disaster. Hans Horatio's reforms failed and unemployment was at 67%, a record high for the entire world. Riots continued throughout the years of the Republic of Snowiny. In 1982 another oppressor from the Snowmen Dynasty (the dynasty over which the war started) called Snowgirl II took the throne by assassinating Hans Horatio and several other pro-democracy government officials. She quickly urged a restoration of monarchy and called the situation to calm down. The people just had a terrible civil war and now another maniac steps in to murder thousands of innocent lives and censor free speech? The population found this impossible, and immediately riots started. Shortly after this coup, Snowgirl II was killed in a bombing attack during her visit to MaketoBalloonia, a country which actually supported the Snowmen dynasty and despised the revolutionaries in Snowiny, both the communists and the republicans.

In 1983, Christopher Salmon the Guy says "ENOUGH!" and holds a public speech in the Clamshire Central Square (since 1984 known as Freedom Square). He leads a march to the government with over 70,000 men, women and children. He seizes power in the government, and immediately declared a parliamentary monarchy, a kingdom in which the king has limited power. Most Snowinns agree to this.

In 1984 a new constitution was introduced. In 1985 the traditional blue-yellow-blue tricolor was picked as the national flag for Snowiny, replacing the former red-yellow-black flag. Throughout the middle and late 1980s the Guy worked on establishing a "crowned republic". He worked to reunite the Snowinns, an revive their optimism and energy. In 1991 he stepped down in favor of Arthur Snowman VIII; he himself was against his family's greed for power during the 1970s and helped the republicans win the war; and he was the Guy's prime minister from 1984 to 1991. He would reform the country and make it more democratic, and by the end of his reign in 2007, Snowiny was a nation with a high living standard, a high living wage, low unemployment (in 1984 the unemployment was 65%, in 1991 it was 10% and by 2007 it was 0.3%) and a very happy population.