Mauritania

Once one of the poorest nations in Africa, Mauritania was able to claim a position as one of the foremost powers not just on the continent, but worldwide following the Human-Vannai War and the instability that it brought. While nations around it crumbled and fell into anarchy, Mauritania was able to hold together long enough to organize a resistance to the relatively light Vannai Puppet presence, and over time, managed to successfully annex and rebuild many of its neighbors with the aid of soldiers and civilians seeking refuge. 
In the years since the fall, Mauritania had ballooned to incredible proportions without the aid of Armor Corps or any other associated suit-factions, remaining distinctly hostile to their advances, and securing their borders solely through the use of pre-war military equipment - in stark contrast to some other African nations. Though that hostile attitude slowly softened, allowing ACC forces to base in the nation, it remains one of very few nations on Earth that are still hostile to the use of suits as technology.
Having grown far beyond the pre-war borders, Mauritania has grown to include much of the North African mediterranean coast, including Senegal, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Though this remained stable during the war, the end of the Human-Vannai War, marked by the destruction of the alien Mothership, has seen widespread discontent amongst the populations of the occupied nations, who are becoming increasingly hostile to a government that they no longer see as saviours, but as jailors.
==History==
===Pre-War===
As with much of Africa, Mauritania was once subject to European colonization, in this case by the French. Claimed during the late 19th century, the land wouldn’t see true occupation until the early 1900s, nor official status as a colony until it’s absorption into French West Africa in 1920. French rule saw an official end to slavery, and the immigration of a number of now protected ethnic and cultural groups, leading to various conflicts within the nation.
Mauritania gained its independence in 1960, leading to the formation of a single party authoritarian regime, installed with the excuse that Mauritania was “not ready for western-style multi-party democracy”. This continued until 1978, where the president was ousted in a coup following a disastrous war to lay claim to the western sahara. Military rule survived an attempted coup in 1987, and continued until 1992, when control was returned to a civilian government. The country survived an attempted coup in 2003, remaining under civilian control until 2005, where a second successful coup yet again ousted the civilian government while the president was out of the country. The country remained under military control until 2006, when the country was again returned to civilian control, after which the country enjoyed its first democratic election in 2007, formalizing the final transfer of power. A third military coup shook the country in 2008, which was followed by disputed elections in 2009.
===Human-Vannai War===
Being a nation suffering from limited industry, infrastructure, and internet access, Mauritania escaped the early days of the war relatively intact, and an effective defense was swiftly organized. This allowed Mauritania to offer shelter to fleeing soldiers, aiding their war effort and keeping manpower high. This also allowed the country enough breathing room for the military to consider yet another coup, and a group led by Colonel Issa M'Bareck stormed the capital and ousted the government, establishing a military council with Colonel M’Bareck at it’s head.
The coup led to a change in doctrine from the largely defensively focused one that they’d adopted in the early war to a more aggressive and expansionist doctrine that favoured acquisition of land and resources from their neighbors while they struggled to fight off the Vannai, or in some cases, had completely collapsed. Focusing their attention on nations to their north, Mauritania set their sights on acquiring the remaining supplies and populations located in the more industrialized nations along the mediterranean, expanding towards and eventually absorbing Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, before turning their attention to their other neighbors, absorbing Senegal and Mali. 
Receiving only limited aid from ACC originally, the Mauritanians were forced to fend for themselves, and as such cultured a burning hatred of suits, ACC pilots included. Their stance softened slightly following the Bright Offensive, after ACC opened discussions to hand over formal control of land reclaimed around the Mauritanian borders, however Mauritania was never more than tolerant of ACC operations.
===Post-War===
Following the war, racial, ethnic, and cultural tensions within the fledgling empire began to stretch the government’s already taxed ability to maintain control to its limits, and the military junta in charge were forced to resort to increasingly brutal means of suppressing protestors, rioters, and political dissidents. Observers have been known to describe Mauritania as “dystopian”, as the Services de renseignement Mauritaniens continue to use brutal tactics to root out and suppress any suspected secessionists. 
With the formation of The European Federation in 2019, the two nations have had a strange relationship. Though broadly politically aligned, the Federation has pressured the smaller nation for some time in an effort to further isolate their neighbor from the ACC, in the hopes of acquiring an ally, however with the warming of relations between ACC and Mauritania and the slow implosion of military control, the Federation have been distancing themselves from the official government, and have begun to support secessionist groups, offering weapons and supplies, as well as guarantees of recognition should they assert their independence. 
This culminated in late 2019, where Federal meddling in the nation became too obvious to ignore, and was theorized to be the precursor to an armed invasion of the north coast, a claim substantiated by the buildup of forces in Gibraltar during the heightened period of instability. However, whatever plans the Federation may have had to invade were waylaid by the the use of a nuclear weapon in China, which proved to be a more pressing concern. The lack of Federal intervention did nothing to slow the growing instability in the nation, and it is now believed that the country will soon suffer from a full blown civil war.
==Policies==
===Military===
Mauritania maintains one of the strongest militaries in Africa, thanks to a large number of highly experienced soldiers, stockpiles of weapons taken from the pre-war armouries of their neighbors, and a capable core of veteran officers well versed in anti-suit combat. It has been suggested by foreign military theorists that Mauritania may have some of the most advanced anti-suit strategies in the world, a feat even more impressive considering the diminutive size and poorly equipped state of it’s pre-war forces. 
However, behind this strength lies a critical flaw: Mauritania is heavily reliant on foreign equipment and foreign soldiers, and lacks a strong industry or large population within their pre-war borders to draw upon for peacekeeping efforts in the event of internal fracturing. Despite that flaw, Mauritania has effectively safeguarded their borders with modern military equipment and well trained soldiers alone, a feat few nations can claim.
===Economic===
In order to maintain its military, and rebuilt much of the infrastructure the nation(s) lost during the war, Mauritania has nationalized many industries, and has adopted a stance of wealth extraction towards its “colonies”, attempting to funnel funds and workers from their richer neighbors, much to the chagrin of the locals. This policy has been met with only very limited success, leading to a slight increase in the concentration of economic power in Mauritania proper, though the vast majority of industry, population, and infrastructure are located in the north, in former Morocco and Algiers.
The separation between the capital and the largest concentrations of population and wealth in the nation has led to a legislative and legal sluggishness that has only been exacerbated by a lack of reliable communications infrastructure.
===Diplomatic===
Mauritania maintains frosty relations with other nations at best, with no official alliances or offers of support. It has become hostile to their northern neighbors, the Federation, after their obvious meddling in Mauritanian affairs became clear.
Category:PACYOA: TE
Category:TE Nations
Category:Africa