The Milestones of the War that Shaped Gundam's Origins
In the year 0079 of the Universal Century, humanity found itself embroiled in a devastating conflict known as the One Year War. This war, which lasted for a single year, saw half of all humanity perish.
The conflict began when the Principality of Zeon, a group of space colonies, declared war on the Earth Federation on January 3, 0079. The Republic of Zeon, the furthest of the colonies, had declared independence from the Earth Federation twenty years prior.
The Republic of Zeon was the first to develop and deploy mobile suits, bipedal humanoid machines of war, in conflict. The three mobile suits developed under Project V were the long-ranged, track-based artillery platform Guntank, the bipedal support suit Guncannon, and the close-quarters combat-specialized suit, Gundam.
The Gundam, a prototype mobile suit, nearly fell into Zeon's hands, but was deployed in combat by the civilian son of one of the lead researchers on Project V, Amuro Ray. Ray's actions played a major role in the early stages of the war, particularly in the first open fleet battle in human history between the remnants of the Federation fleet and Zeon forces.
Zeon's liberal use of nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction caused massive casualties in the opening days of the war. Despite this, the stalemate in the conflict was not caused by strategic acumen or military advancement, but by the self-destructive nature of humanity.
The success of the White Base's campaigns and the increasing deployment of a new range of Federation mobile suits in the RGM-79 line (known as "Jims") saw the Federation launch a new space fleet from Jaburo, pushing into Zeon's defensive lines in space.
By March of 0079, Zeon began dropping ground forces and mobile suit divisions directly on Earth. The Republic of Zeon restored its republic status and formally surrendered on January 1, 0080, just two days shy of the anniversary of Zeon's declaration of war.
The One Year War ended at the Battle of A Baoa Qu on New Year's Eve, with the deaths of much of the Zabi leadership and the scattering of Zeon's remnant forces. Amuro Ray led a vanguard that saw the Gundam carve a path through Zeon forces back to Earth, playing a major role in the liberation of key Federation facilities across the Americas.
The One Year War was a dark period in human history, one that saw unimaginable destruction and loss. Yet, it also marked a turning point, a moment when humanity was forced to confront its own capacity for destruction and find a way to move forward.
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