One Year War - Introduction

Introduction

In Mobile Suit Gundam, the story focuses on a small group of survivors and Federation soldiers aboard the new Federation space warship, White Base, where the war is shown from their view point starting in September U.C.0079. The One Year War is not completely told in this series and the earlier events of the War, such as the colony drop and use of WMDs in the One Week Battle, are only briefly told in the introduction of each episode.

After the Earth Federation forced the immigration of the majority of humanity to the space colonies, tensions between the space colonists and the Earth elites were common and ubiquitous. The Republic of Zeon at Side 3 began pushing for a peaceful independence under the leadership of Zeon Zum Deikun. The Earth Federation considered this a threat to the stability of the greater Earth Sphere, so they began applying economic pressure in an effort to force Zeon back into the Federation; an effort that ultimately failed. In U.C.0068, Zeon Deikun, a major politician within the colonies, unexpectedly died (though never confirmed, his death is strongly suspected of being an assassination by the Zabi family), and the independent Republic became the Principality of Zeon when Deikun's deputy, Degwin Sodo Zabi, seized control of the administration. On seizing control of the now-Principality, Degwin Zabi rapidly militarized the state by expanding the size of the Zeon National Guard, elevating it to the status of a full-fledged army. The mobile suits and the majority of the Zeon space force was formed during this time period, as was the Flanagan Institute.

Alarmed at the sudden build-up of arms at Side 3, the Earth Federation launched the 60's Armament Reinforcement Plan and the 70's Armament Reinforcement Plan, both aimed at building up the strength of the Earth Federation Space Force (EFSF). Federation engineers converted the mining asteroid Luna II into a major military base and rolled out the Salamis and Magellan-class warships during this time period.