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The One Year War summary...
This account of the One Year War serves as a prologue of sorts to the original Gundam series. Though the early days of the war have never been portrayed on-screen, they have great repercussions throughout Gundam history.
The One Week Battle
The cataclysmic conflict later known as the One Year War begins on January 3, UC 0079. Three seconds after declaring a war of independence against the Earth Federation, the upstart Principality of Zeon launches massive attacks on the space colonies at Sides 1, 2 and 4. Zeon forces bombard the Federation fleets stationed at these Sides with nuclear weapons and pump poison gas into the colonies, routing the unprepared Federal Forces and killing 2.8 billion people with their destructive tactics.
Attempting to bring the war to a swift conclusion, Zeon then launches Operation British. Zeon forces attach engines to one of the now-depopulated colonies and force it out of orbit, intending to drop the 20-mile-long cylinder onto the Federation's headquarters at Jaburo in South America. The Earth Federal Forces intercept the falling colony, but are repulsed by the Zeon mobile suits guarding it.
Though the falling colony does impact on Earth, it breaks up into several pieces during its entry into the atmosphere and consequently misses its target. Colony fragments rain down upon North America, while the largest chunk lands on Sydney, Australia, where it creates an impact equivalent to a 60,000 megaton blast. The Sydney impact creates destroys one-sixth of the Australian continent, creating a 500-kilometer crater and killing 200 million people. The casualty toll for the first days of the conflict, referred to as the One Week Battle, now stands at about three billion people.
The Battle of Loum
On January 15, the Principality of Zeon makes a second attempt to carry out Operation British. Entering Side 5, Zeon forces begin attaching engines to another colony in order to take a second shot at Jaburo. This time the Earth Federal Forces are ready for them, dispatching an armada three times the size of Zeon's to prevent the colony drop. The Zeon forces quickly abandon their mission and instead launch an all-out attack on the Federation fleet. The two sides begin lobbing nuclear missiles back and forth, laying waste to Side 5 and killing 2.5 billion people. From the colloquial name for Side 5, this conflict is known as the Battle of Loum.
Zeon's mobile suits prove to be devastatingly effective in this unprecedented space battle. A lone Zeon pilot, Char Aznable, destroys five Federation battleships. Although the Federal Forces prevent the activation of the engines, the Federation armada is wiped out and its commander, General Revil, is captured by Zeon's elite Black Trinary pilot team. Both sides withdraw, having turned Side 5 into a "shoal zone" of debris and colony fragments.
The Antarctic Treaty
Less than two weeks into the war, the indiscriminate use of nuclear weapons and chemical warfare have killed half the human race. Earth's climate has also been ravaged by the effects of Operation British, and a small-scale "nuclear winter" is under way. Shocked by the carnage, the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon meet for negotiations in Antarctica.
During the negotiations, the battered Federation comes close to surrendering outright, until General Revil escapes captivity and gives a rousing speech claiming that Zeon is exhausted. With many of Zeon's best pilots killed during Operation British and the Battle of Loum, and its limited resources stretched to the breaking point, Revil declares that the enemy is bluffing.
On January 31, the warring parties sign the Antarctic Treaty. Though there is no Federation surrender and no peace settlement, the treaty establishes certain rules of warfare that both parties are to abide by. Nuclear and chemical weapons are banned, as are colony drops; nations that declare themselves neutral, like Side 6 and the lunar cities, are to be left unmolested; prisoners are to be treated humanely; and attacks on the energy fleets that supply both sides with vital fuel are prohibited.
Earth Invasion
The Principality of Zeon may be exhausted, but the Earth Federation is itself in dire straits. The destruction of the Federation's space fleet and the environmental disruption caused by the colony impact gives Zeon an opening to attack Earth itself. Quickly organizing an Earth Attack Force, Zeon carries out a series of drop operations throughout the month of March, ultimately seizing half Earth's surface and capturing several key Federation bases.
In the first drop operation, on March 1, Zeon's 1st Terrestrial Mobile Division lands in Asia and captures the Federation's Baikonur spaceport. It then heads around the west shore of the Caspian Sea into Europe, and around the east shore into the Middle East. A resource mining unit commanded by Colonel M'quve is then dispatched to the north shore of the Caspian Sea, where it begins extracting mineral resources to feed Zeon's war machine.
The second drop operation, on March 11, targets North America. The 2nd and 3rd Terrestrial Mobile Divisions land on the west and east coasts, respectively. Within two days the 2nd Terrestrial Mobile Division has captured the Federation's sprawling California Base, which soon becomes Zeon's major terrestrial stronghold.
The third drop operation takes place on March 18, when the 4th Terrestrial Mobile Division lands at several key points in Southeast Asia and Australia. A couple of weeks later, the 5th Terrestrial Mobile Division is dispatched to reinforce Zeon's forces in North Africa and the Middle East.
Interlude
A period of uneasy peace ensues, as both sides begin rebuilding their forces. While it reconstructs its lost fleet at Jaburo and the asteroid base Luna II, the Earth Federation begins work on its own mobile suits and other advanced weapons. Meanwhile, the Principality of Zeon completes the asteroid fortresses Solomon and A Baoa Qu, forming an unbreachable line of defense around its home colonies at Side 3. With its captured resources, Zeon rebuilds its forces and develops new mobile suits designed for land and sea combat.
After several months, the Federation and Zeon are again approaching full strength, and both sides are drawing up plans to bring the war to a speedy and triumphant conclusion...
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More Info. about the series....
The Earth Federation
The one constant in the Gundam saga is the sprawling, bureaucratic, corrupt and cowardly Earth Federation. This unified world government organized the space colonization program, and then proceeded to incur the undying enmity of the spacenoids by turning Earth into a private playground for government elites. Acronyms used in the animation imply that it might properly be referred to as the "United Nations" or "Earth Union," but the Sunrise animation studio has since decided that "Earth Federation" is to be the official translation.
Earth Federation Government
This is the central government that rules over Earth and its space territories. The Federation Government's exact structure is unclear, and at various times it appears to be run by both a cabal of cabinet ministers and a bickering mob of demogogic politicians. Our best guess, based on material published in Gundam reference books and oblique references in the animation, is that the Federation Government is organized along the lines of the modern-day United Nations.
According to this model, the highest authority is the Earth Federation Assembly, a congress of elected representatives from the Federation's member nations which meets once or twice a year to debate broad policy matters (as seen in Zeta Gundam). The assembly is headed by a chairman, who is the top official in the Federation Government. Meanwhile, a permanent security council takes care of day-to-day matters and supervises the Earth Federal Forces. This would presumably be the shadowy cabal we see in Gundam 0083, deciding how to respond to the threat of the Delaz Fleet.
The location of the Federation Government and its various branches changes over time. During Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ, the Federation Assembly's meeting place is in Dakar, Senegal. In UC 0092, the Federal Forces' headquarters are moved to Lhasa, Tibet (a temporary relocation, as it turns out). In the Hathaway's Flash novels, the Federation cabinet meets in Adelaide, Australia. And by the time of Victory Gundam, the Federation Government has relocated all its operations to the lunar metropolis of Von Braun City.
Earth Federal Forces
The Earth Federal Forces are the military arm of the Earth Federation Government. Like a modern-day military they're divided into several branches, the most often-seen one being the "spacy" or space force. The space force is is sometimes identified in the animation as U.N.T. Spacy, but the Sunrise animation studio has now officially determined this organization's name as being the Earth Federation Space Force.
During the One Year War, the Federal Forces are headquartered in the underground fortress of Jaburo, constructed in a labyrinth of natural caves in South America. With its location a closely-guarded military secret, and protected by its subterranean location, Jaburo proves itself nearly invulnerable to enemy attack. This fortress is also a mighty manufacturing base, whose mobile suit factories and spaceship docks are used to rebuild the ravaged Federal Forces. However, within a few years of the war the Federal Forces have moved their operations elsewhere, and Jaburo has been relegated to a mere supply base.
The Federal Forces' other key stronghold during the One Year War is the asteroid fortress Luna II. Originally known as Juno, in UC 0045 this 180 kilometer-wide asteroid is moved from the asteroid belt into Earth orbit, where it becomes a mobile mine for colony construction. In UC 0060, with colony construction halted and tensions rising between the Federation and the space colonies, Luna II is converted into a military base.
In UC 0070, Luna II is moved to its final location at Lagrange point 3 to support the construction of the Side 7 colony. Since this puts it at maximum distance from the Principality of Zeon, the moon, and the other space colonies, its strategic significance is pretty slight. However, as the Federal Forces' only surviving space outpost, Luna II proves a valuable staging area for the Federal Forces during the last days of the war. Though its manufacturing capacity is small compared to that of Jaburo, it also contributes some quantities of warships and mobile suits to the Federal Forces' arsenal. After the war, Luna II remains in use as a military base until it is raided by the Neo Zeon in UC 0093.
During the last days of the One Year War, the resurgent Federal Forces succeed in capturing the Principality of Zeon's asteroid fortress of Solomon. Now renamed Konpei Island, the captured fortress serves as a staging area for the Federal Forces' final push into the enemy's homeland. Due to its prime location near Side 1, Konpei Island becomes the primary space headquarters of the Federal Forces after the war... at least until a disastrous attack on the Federal Forces' naval review in UC 0083.
Titans
This elite branch of the Earth Federal Forces is formed in December, UC 0083, to hunt down renegade Zeon forces. Though their supreme commander is General Jamitov Heimann, day-to-day operations are typically left in the hands of Colonel Bosque Omu. Operating nearly autonomously from the Federal Forces, the Titans quickly broaden their mandate to the ruthless suppression of any and all anti-Federation movements.
This overzealous policing ultimately results in the 30 Bunch Incident of July 31, UC 0085. Here, the Titans respond to a civilian demonstration by pumping poison gas into Side 1's 30th colony, killing its three million inhabitants. Though the true cause of the colony's destruction is kept secret, this atrocity causes the anti-Titans and anti-Federation movement to intensify. By UC 0087, this political struggle has developed into a genuine civil war, and the resolution of the struggle is depicted in the series Zeta Gundam.
The Titans are based at Side 7, where they have reconstructed the lone colony cylinder left over from the One Year War into the colony Green Noa 1. A second colony has been added, originally named Green Noa 2, but better known as Gryps. Gryps is a sealed cylinder of the Zeon design, divided into two segments. One of these, Gryps 1, contains the Titans' factories and shipbuilding facilities. The other, Gryps 2, is ultimately equipped with engines and a powerful laser cannon, turning it into a mobile colony laser that the Titans can use to attack rebellious space colonies.
In June of UC 0087, the Titans form an alliance with the Republic of Zeon, which transfers the asteroid fortress A Baoa Qu to the Titans' control. The Titans relocate the asteroid to Side 7 and rename it the Gate of Sedan, where it becomes their primary base. The Titans also have a couple of terrestrial outposts, including the Kilimanjaro base atop the eponymous mountain in Tanzania, and a base of some kind in New Guinea. The underground fortress of Jaburo initially serves as a Titans supply depot.
Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG)
Though the name of this resistance organization positions it as an opponent of the Earth Federation, its essential goal is the elimination of the oppressive Titans and the reform of the Federation Government. Led by Federal Forces Brigadier General Brex Forra, the AEUG's ranks include many other former Federal Forces members, notably a mobile suit pilot by the name of Captain Quattro Bajina. It's sponsored by a number of powerful corporations that oppose the Titans' policies, notably the lunar manufacturing cartel Anaheim Electronics and New Hong Kong's Luo Corporation.
Organized in response to the 30 Bunch Incident, the AEUG doesn't make its first full-fledged sortie against the Titans until March, UC 0087, when the newly-constructed flagship Argama carries out a raid on the Titans' stronghold at Side 7. Hijacking several Federal Forces ships docked at the lunar city of Granada, the AEUG assembles a makeshift fleet and begins a running guerilla war, culminating in the destruction of the Titans fleet in February, UC 0088. With its primary foe eliminated and its own forces decimated, the AEUG soon loses its relevance and is effectively absorbed into the Federal Forces.
Though the AEUG can often find support in such hotbeds of political unrest as the lunar cities of Granada and Von Braun and the colonies of Side 2, it has only a few truly safe havens. Its central headquarters is the refugee colony of Sweetwater, while the mobile dock ship La Vie En Rose provides supplies and repairs in the field.
Kalaba
The Kalaba is essentially the terrestrial branch of the AEUG. Its ranks are likewise dominated by Federal Forces veterans, including White Base crew member Hayato Kobayashi and, eventually, his comrade Amuro Ray. The AEUG and Kalaba often lend each other personnel, equipment, and operational support in their mutual struggle against the Titans, and there's no hard and fast separation between the two organizations.
The Kalaba has access to a handful of mothballed military bases and spaceports such as Florida's Kennedy Space Center and the Hickory facility near Southern California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, but once used these are quickly identified by the Titans. Ultimately, the Kalaba's only home is the huge transport plane Audhumla, a five-hundred-meter behemoth captured by the AEUG during their assault on Jaburo.
Londo Bell
By the time the Titans and the first Neo Zeon movement have been defeated, the surviving members of the AEUG have been effectively absorbed into the regular Federal Forces. Many of the core AEUG members are subsequently transferred to a new auxiliary unit called the Londo Bell, organized in March, UC 0090. Like the Titans, this force is charged with investigating anti-Federation activity in the space colonies. Since its membership is made up of people who put their lives on the line to oppose the Titans and their brutal tactics, the Londo Bell force carries out its mission in a far more humane fashion.
The Londo Bell is headquartered at Side 1's neutral colony of Londenion, a rather upscale colony with lots of open space for recreational horseback riding. Its forces consist of the mobile battleship Ra Cailum, commanded by Colonel Bright Noa, and three Crap-class cruisers, carrying a total of some 20 mobile suits.
Manhunter (MHA)
This mysterious division of the Earth Federation Government functions as an immigration police force, enforcing the Federation's strict regulations as to who is allowed to remain on Earth. Though this might seem a limited and unglamorous role, the organization variously known by the acronym MHA, the descriptive Manhunter, or the nickname MaHa is one of the most powerful and dreaded branches of the Federation Government.
Though the Manhunter division is seldom seen in the animation (aside from a brief hippie-thrashing cameo at the beginning of Char's Counterattack), Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino refers to it in his novelizations of Gundam F91 and Victory Gundam, and casts the Manhunter division as the primary villain in his far-future Gaia Gear saga.
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