History of Cinzaverdia

This page details the **history of Cinzaverdia**.

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Cinzaverdian archipelago was inhabited by the Edono people, whose closest relatives are the Wolof people, though they mostly inhabited only certain areas such as Adudam Island and São João Island. The islands were first sighted by Europeans in approximately 1430, by Portuguese explorers sailing for Henry the Navigator. By 1450, Portuguese settlement had begun at Santo André, and Cinzaverdia was incorporated into the Portuguese Empire. The name Cinzaverdia was derived from *cinza verde* - grey and green, referring to the grey mountains and green forests of the islands.

Over the next few centuries, the population of Cinzaverdia grew only slowly; the islands were mostly used for agriculture, though some Edono people were also forced into the slave trade. Portuguese settlement was mostly restricted to the northern part of the archipelago, as the mountainous nature of Gem Island and nearby islands made them unsuitable for agriculture.

A turning point for Cinzaverdia was the discovery of diamonds near what is now Porto Diamante on Água Clara Island in 1790, which triggered a diamond rush. This led to a significant industrialisation of the archipelago, as numerous diamond mines were established, and other gemstones such as rubies were also discovered. Diamonds were also found on Gem Island, initiating the development of the southern islands of Cinzaverdia. In 1803, the British Empire established a colony at the south of Gem Island, at what is now Diamond City. The British colony quickly grew as many mines were established in southern Cinzaverdia, mining numerous types of gemstones such as diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz and amethyst, but also for precious metals such as gold and silver. By the 1820's, the British and Portuguese colonies were increasingly finding themselves in conflict over the natural resources of Cinzaverdia, which triggered the First Cinzaverdian War, which lasted from 1825 to 1834 and ended when the British-supported Liberals won the Liberal Wars in Portugal, and ceded control over the Cinzaverdian archipelago to the British.

Thus, from 1834, Cinzaverdia became a colony of the British Empire. The British period saw parts of Cinzaverdia become amongst the wealthiest areas of West Africa, but also saw a lot of civil conflict with the Portuguese settlers and the Edono people. In 1877, the Portuguese Empire invaded Cinzaverdia again, triggering the Second Cinzaverdian War, which ended in 1883 with a Portuguese victory, which saw Cinzaverdia become part of the Portuguese Empire again.

In 1900, the British Empire attempted to retake Cinzaverdia, but their attention was mostly focused on the Second Boer War in South Africa, and by 1901 the British armies withdrew again.

The establishment of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal in 1933 saw the regime's fascist policies also implemented in Cinzaverdia, leading to increasing public disapproval. In 1958, the African Party for the Independence of Cinzaverdia (PAIC) was created, a sub-party/parallel party to the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) active in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Cinzaverdia did not see any significant conflict during the Portuguese Colonial War, but after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in April 1974 the PAIC/PAIGC grew significantly in power in Cinzaverdia, and on 2 October 1974 Cinzaverdia was granted independence from Portugal. The Republic of Cinzaverdia became a sovereign nation, with its capital at Santo André.

Upon independence, Cinzaverdia initially became a stable multi-party parliamentary state and was part of the Non-Aligned Movement. By the mid-1980's, however, the rise to power of leftist political parties caused some of the population to fear Cinzaverdia would become a communist state. In 1985, part of the military, led by Robert Hampton and backed by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), launched a successful coup d'état. As a result of the coup, a military dictatorship was established, led by Robert Hampton. This dictatorship saw the government shift to the "Free World" power bloc of the United States, and saw high amounts of exporting of natural resources to the United States, and also numerous human rights violations. The capital was also shifted from Santo André to Diamond City.

Almost immediately after the military coup d'état, a guerilla conflict began, with loyalists of the democratic government and Edono freedom fighters fighting Hampton's regime, the Cinzaverdian Civil War. In 1987, the CIA withdrew their support for Hampton's regime, and soon after the regime fell and a democratic government similar to the previous one was re-established, and Cinzaverdia shifted to the Non-Aligned Movement again. As a compromise between the Lusophone and Anglophone parts of the country, a new city was constructed to be the national capital. This city was built on the previously scarcely inhabited Halfway Island and named Udani, the Edono word for "peace".

Since the Cinzaverdian Civil War, there have been no major conflicts in Cinzaverdia, though since the late 1990's there has been some increasing civil unrest caused by Edono nationalist/separatist groups, seeking the independence of Edono-dominated areas such as Adudam Island from the rest of Cinzaverdia.