The Liberation of Tyrooz: Five Years Later
On the 21st of December 2019 the Astragonese civil war ended as the last guns went silent in the capital city, though brief the conflict claimed an estimated 40,000 lives and left large sections of the capital region in a state of ruin. The now iconic image of imperial troops raising the Kevsha standard over the ruins of the old city remains a defining image of the conflict, but five years on what has changed?
Spend an evening in the city centre and you would lilkely have a hard time believing that these streets once lay in rubble, burnt out shopfronts serving as cover for snipers. Life has largely resumed its natural rhythm, age old complaints about cost of living and inflation more pressing than the dangers of bombs or bullets.
Despite lasting less than six months the damage was intense, the new city was heavily damaged during fighting, the now infamous shelling of the Tyrooz grand hotel still a painful memory of the destruction wrought. Even as these buildings were renovated homelessness and poverty remained persistent and deeply challenging issues. Bus Driver, Eddie Onyeti still remembers sleeping rough:
“My apartment got bombed, maybe that’s too light a word, a bunker buster reduced my home to dust might be a better way to describe things. I spent six months sleeping on park benches and under the highway bridge, by the time I was offered welfare and housing I had been homeless for nearly two years. I was lucky, managed to get back on my feet, theres a lot of other people who are still sleeping on benches…”
Much of the capital’s recovery can certainly be traced to the actions of the nascent imperial government immediately after the conflicts end:
- Profits from the state oil concern were heavily invested in urban renewal, welfare programs and emergency support
- Taxation was lowered for approximately two years after the wars end, a painful but ultimately effective measure that allowed large sections of society to recover.
- The use of the military in post war reconstruction
- Seizure of assets owned by corrupt officials and regency loyalists
The result was that while the short-term economic situation was incredibly challenging (Astragons GDP suffered a decline of nearly 3% between 2019 and 2021) the reconstruction ultimately saw a return to stability. As of 2024 the country’s economy has rebounded with impressive gains, even when considering the financial hit taken during the Aurorian recession and the disruptions caused by the global shocks from the 2nd Ducrijeckan and Sovereignty wars.
The capital certainly did not bounce back immediately, walk far enough and you can still find bullet holes and burn marks, however the majority of the ruins have been bulldozed and gleaming new buildings replace the shattered husks leftover from the war. Yusuf Nekumba can still remember the night the battle destroyed his former shop front
“The power was gone, blackouts were running across the city, we were told by the tyrants officials to stay indoors, that proved to be a mistake as a lot of people were killed when the airstrikes started, my shop was not spared either, it was smashed into by a tank and then gutted by looters and fire, by the time It was safe enough to go outside again there was nothing left but a burnt out ruin”
Like many Tyroozan’s though Yusuf persevered, he rebuilt his business using a reconstruction loan from the government and now makes a comfortable living selling motorcycle parts. This success did not happen overnight, the years after the war being far from comfortable.
“At first It was very hard, gangs roamed the streets at night and the army did most of the policing by day, between the slow movement of business in daylight and the endless murders and muggings at night making a living became very hard”
Regular police services did not resume until 2020 and it wasn’t until 2022 that the coverage was restored to the entire region, other civic services were equally slow to come back. Malia Murembe a nurse at Tyrooz General remembers the confronting situation post war:
“We were short on everything, half the staff had died or fled and supplies were non-existant, people suffered immensely, the number of deaths from infections and treatable illnesses skyrocketed after the fighting stopped, if it hadn’t been for foreign donations the number would likely have been far higher”
Much of the cities infrastructure was rebuilt or upgraded thanks to the intervention of corporate entities like Kazingo Motors and Bashadh and Kashka, this allowed for the rapid restoration of civil life but it also created massive divides that exist to this day. Corporate rebuilding pushed up prices on everyday items and caused numerous suburbs to become unaffordable for longtime residents, resident of Kabuya boulevard, Thambo Mureme had this to say:
“When the corporations rebuilt Tyrooz they also claimed it, half these shopfonts are owned by corporate businesses and subject to a levy tax! Back in 2018 this was all family-owned businesses, now its 90% chain stores, don’t even get me started on the cost of things, every commodity is more expensive, rice? Hope you like paying triple what it’s worth and even loitering in front of these shops can get you moved on, this isn’t the old city I remember”
Still not all voices are grim, middle class programmer Laurel Kasimba remembers the years after the war with relative fondness:
“People that were prepared to move and had in demand skills benefitted immensely from the post war period, before the war corruption and laws designed to keep the people placated meant that getting a job with a degree like mine was basically impossible unless you had connections, when the war ended half the ministers were dead and the other half on trial for treason, new build tenements and affirmative hiring meant that I got my first home and my first job out of college and a lot of younger Tyroozans had similar experiences”
As night descends upon the city center a cool breeze drift in from the sea, music plays over loudspeaker as people fill the bars and restaurants, it is a Friday and people from across the city have flocked here to take in the evening atmosphere and spectate on the national teams latest, farcical, performance. The resurrection of the city is a controversial and divisive topic but though imperfect the city is alive and thriving, five years on that is quite the achievement.
