Paige Punishment

The Paige Punishment was a reparations bill between Ariel and Faringway. The bill directly led to the events of 'The Great Faringway War'

## Paige Punishment

### Date(s)

9th of Orestis 1948 - 9th of Orestis 1953

### Leader(s)

Perneto Obliski - Grand Chancellor of Ariel,Andrew Oldman - President of Faringway, Walter Walson - President of Faringway

## Context

Perneto Obliski, Grand Chancellor of Ariel, was fixated on the idea of nuclear warheads ever since he was elected in 1936. It wasn't until 1948 that Obliski was able to test any of his nuclear weapons. Whilst developing the 'Wilson I' atomic bomb, a malfunction occurred, and the testing facility was destroyed in an explosion. This also damaged ta nearby Faringway town. President of Faringway, Andrew Oldman, expressed dissatisfaction with the destruction of a small part of one of his towns, so demanded reparations. Since Obliski considered Oldman an inferior, plus he was bad at covering up his nuclear testing, he ignored Oldman's request. Oldman was annoyed by this gesture (or lack thereof) and decided to investigate the town in Ariel himself. He marched troops into the town, whilst they were attempting to cover it up. It caused quite a lot of confusion and Obliski was furious. Obliski (clearly having the high ground due to his arsenal) demanded reparations from Faringway this time. Oldman could not refuse the reparations like Obliski did, since he would risk war (plus Faringway had lost all their allies due to the Garfunkel War).

## Paige Punishment

The reparations Obliski made were known as the 'Paige Punishment'. It demanded 35% of all crops and produce that Faringway made for the next 5 years. However, value of 35% was fixed in 1947, therefore if Oldman were to plant 135% of the crops he planted the previous year, he would end up with the same amount. Oldman lost the next election and was replaced by Walter Walson. Luckily, Walson was far more competent than Oldman, and thought of the 135% idea almost immediately.

## The Great Famine

Due to the fact Ariel was now getting 35% of Faringway's crops, 35% of Faringway's population was not getting fed. Walter Walson wasn't elected until 1950, meaning there 2 years of a famine with an incompetent leader. After the 2 years had taken their toll on Faringway's citizens, Walter Walson created a bill which would potentially fix everything (1950). Walter Walson managed to pass a bill known as the 'Baker's Bill', which suggested raising taxes in order to focus government funds on farming. Josquin Alstreet (Faringway Minister of Propaganda) created countless pieces of propaganda, encouraging people to become farmers. The aim of the Baker's Bill was to focus funding on farming, so they could produce 135% of their previous crop yield, therefore feeding their people and paying their debts to Ariel. The bill and propaganda was actually rather successful to begin with. They managed to get through 1953 with just enough food to last.

But due to the existence of a Nationalist Party known as the 'LIGMA Party' run by Mojang Asdain, the bill was soon to become unpopular. Mojang had managed to convince the general public that the Baker's Bill was useless (which was far from the truth). Mojang suggested that the only way to stop the Great Famine was through violence and military spending. So when Mojang was elected, he removed the Baker's Bill, right as they were about to recover from the Great Famine. In 1956, and he focused funding on the Military. Mojang then launched a series of attacks on trade routes between Redding and Alberat, which caused 'The Great Faringway War'
.