The History of Greatland and Strongland, part 1

Long ago, before anyone can remember, there was a wandering tribe looking for a place to settle and create a village.

After many years they found a rich and fertile valley they started to immediately build houses. Half claimed large plots

of land and began to work the fields while half stayed in the village to develop the raw materials. The community grew

this way for centuries. Eventually they began to use money and created schools, hospitals, markets, factories, and spent

time developing a rich culture.  The blue soil in the valleys turned the farmers fingernails blue and the city workers’

fingernails became yellow due to all the industry.

The farmers generally wore white to keep themselves cool during their hard work while the city dwellers wore black due

 to their fashions.

The farmers used a triangular logo to represent their connection with the mountains, while the city folk used a circle,

 which mirrored the shape of their city walls. Over the centuries, the two halves grew until there had to be a substantial

government set up to control their complex infrastructure.

The city folk built the government headquarters in the main square, and named their country Greatland.

There, everything for the land and city dwellers was regulated. Since it was located in the city, populated mostly by city folk,

 they ruled in favor of their own people. At least, this is how the people living in the valleys saw it. For whatever reason, the

 city people became richer and richer, and the valley inhabitants poorer and poorer.

The people in the valley eventually revolted and started an independence movement. This soon led to a revolution and

secession – the valley people created their own country with its own flag, laws, taxes, etc. – it was named Strongland.

After several decades, the two countries stopped arguing and became strong trading partners. For a while both flourished.

 Then there were some bad years with little rain, crop failures and industry closings. Agriculture and industry suffered.

Both sides blamed each other for these problems.

New presidents on both sides tried to rally their citizens to understand that they themselves were not to blame for their

 problems, but that somebody else (the other country) was trying to take advantage of them.

Their tone of voice was quite angry, and the threat of impending war was in the air.