Ishval Civil War



The Ishval Civil War (also known as the Ishvalan War of Extermination) was a major event in the Fullmetal Alchemist series and set the stage for many of the significant occurrences throughout the plot in the manga, video games, light novels and both anime series.

History
The people of Ishval had clashed several times with the central government of greater Amestris in the past and had been annexed to a region in the southeast of the nation, near the Eastern Desert. Though religious and cultural tensions continued between Ishvalans and Amestrians, a relative peace had been achieved between the two until 1901, when an Amestrian soldier "accidentally" shot and killed an Ishvalan child. In reality (as seen in the manga and 2009 anime series), this solider was actually Envy in disguise and the killing was done on purpose. The area exploded in a storm of riots and protests until the situation had become an all out civil war, causing massive casualties on both sides. Though the Amestrian Military had the Ishvalans outnumbered by far, the people of Ishval were able to keep the conflict going due to a steady supply of munitions from the neighboring country of Aerugo, which pretended to sympathize with them as an excuse to weaken Amestris' southern border for their own gains.

The fighting continued to spread until the entire East Area of Amestris had become a war zone. In 1908, a full seven years after the conflict had begun, Amestrian Führer King Bradley issued Order 3066, sending State Alchemists in to the front lines to act as human weapons. This decision decisively, and horrifically, ended the war with the territory of Ishval being occupied by Amestrian soldiers and the surviving Ishvalans spread throughout the country as refugees.

It is later discovered that the Ishval War, along with all of Amestris' past military conflicts, was used to create the massive bloodshed needed for the Nationwide Transmutation Circle. Ishval was the second to last corner of the outer pentagon to be hit (the last being the North), and the circle was activated just a few short years after the end of the war.

2003 anime
In the 2003 anime, the military sent in a black ops squad to kill the Ishvalan leadership and start the war so that the people of Ishbal would create a philosopher's stone using the Grand Arcanum.

Trivia

 * If Amestris is considered a fictional counterpart of Germany, the Ishval Civil War could possibly be a reference to World War II. Both lasted seven years and included a genocidal campaign on the aggressor's part.