2014 Margatian Rearmament Program

The 2014 Margatian Rearmament Program was a military program implemented by the Margatian Government. It was implemented after the Frosian War, in which Margate fought in the Western Theatre, where the Margatian government realized that they needed a strong military to face up to terrorist activity, communist world-domination bent nations, and for the Onerepublic semi-imperalist program.

Origins
After the Margate-Sherbian War, which ended in 2004, the Margatian governemnt considered rearmament for defence purposes, later shelved when military agreements were signed with the USA and Freezeland, which expired in January 2014. It was also brought up in 2007 when the Onerepublic program was iniated, but later thrown aside in favour of a peaceful economic union with willing nations. Several political parties and groups were formed in favour of this idea as other imperalistic nations were grabbing islands for their economic benefit, but this did not garner public support.

In 2013, the short-lived success of the First Annexation of Nexon proved that Margate needs a strong military in order to continue their onerepublic scheme. Because of that, Supreme General SlenderXP and the rest of the Three Great Generals suggested the idea of rearmament. However, the idea wasn't well recieved by the Parliament, which considered the proposal to be breaking the Margatian tradition of neutrality in conflicts unless provoked.

Despite the rejection of the idea and the other two Supreme Generals telling him that a rearmament program was not necessary, SlenderXP pressed on with the idea, stating that the newly annexed state of Nexon, itself being a military hub, could have weapons-manufacturing plants, military bases and research labs built on it. Not long after that, the Frosian War started. A NNM-organized sabotage of the under construction Margatian Space Command's HQ and a takeover of Westion City by NNM militants led to Margate joining the War, both locally and in the Western Theatre of the war in Snowiny and Terra Federation

Soon after the war, a letter once again recommending total military rearmament (which was a long version of "I told you so”), written by SlenderXP's secretary, was received by Prime Minister Loong Lee. After that, the Rearmament Bill was passed by the Margatian Parliament. Thus, the 2014 Margatian Rearmament Program was created, headed by the Ministry of Defence with consultations from the Three Great Generals.

the Program
The 2014 Margatian Rearmament Program has six main goals in mind:
 * 1) Expand the number of soldiers in the military, as well as creating a patriotic civilian population that is ready to defend the MAI.
 * 2) Expand the arms-manufacturing industry of Margate.
 * 3) Expand the stockpile of missiles, especially Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
 * 4) Create a strong warship-building and aircraft-manufacturing industries in the nation, both for military and economic purposes.
 * 5) Improve the military technology of the Margate Armed Forces.
 * 6) Cut off foreign military equipment reliance and import to zero.
 * 7) Develop the new Margatian Space Command (MSC) for colonization and military purposes.

Phases
The Rearmament Program was divided into several phases in order to make things more organized and prevent the Program from spending too much money at a time.

Phase I (Redesignation)
In Phase I, the color of the Margate Armed Forces was redesigned. Meanwhile, research labs were constructed in Nexon to make the military technology of Margate more advanced. By the end of Phase I, construction of the Margatian Space Command (MSC)’s HQ will be finished.

Phase II (Mass conscription)
Large-scale conscription into the MAF was initiated in Phase II. The state media was used to recruit interested penguins into the army. Three months of grace period were given to unemployed penguins for them to find work before manndatory conscription followed. Every unemployed but fit penguin (excluding students and retirees) would be forced to join the MAF, increasing the employment rate of Margate to 99%. At the same time, new military technology was being researched.

Phase III (Production, Training and Building)
Phase III started as soon as research into military technology was finished. Arms-manufacturing factories will start manufacturing the new military equipment required by the MAF. While military weapons and vehicles were produced into the excess, the newly conscripted soldiers will be trained by drill instructors. Those who were trained were put into new army bases or existing ones. Construction works on shipyards and aircraft-manufacturing factories were started. Phase III ends with the openings of these buildings.

Phase IV (Ship-rocket work)
Phase IV followed Phase III. The Margatian War Machine starts pumping out airplanes and warships with its shipyards and aircraft-manufacturing factories. In the MSC, astronauts were being trained and space cruisers built.

Phase V (Missile stockpile)
At this final phase, 5 KZT Triple X missiles, 150 Surface to Surface Missiles (SSMs) and 25 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM) will be added to the missile stockpile.

Reception
The 2014 Margatian Rearmament Program received mixed responses. Margatian patriots, generals, right-wing government officials, nationalists and imperialists praised the Rearmament Program, saying that Margate could be well-protected in the future, as well as being able to complete its Onerepublic plan.

However, local peace-loving hippies and some leftist politicians (as well as some foreign ambassadors) disliked the Rearmament Program, especially Phase V of the program. They said that Margate should be a neutral nation that promotes peace instead of war. Opponents of mandatory military service also spoke out against this, saying that penguins should be given a choice.

Supreme General SlenderXP and some nationalist army officers responded back at the critics, saying to the hippies and leftists:”If you want our grand Republic and freedom to fall under the flippers of terrorism and oppressive dictatorships, go ahead. Try to form a government here, but our patriotic Margatians will definitely overthrow a government that welcomes terrorists to harm and pillage the nation that it is supposed to be governing.” To Snowinian ambassadors, the army generals said that their nation is undergoing a rearmament program of their own. As for opponents of compulsory conscription, they said:”We already have a mandatory military service policy 50 years ago. Giving unemployed penguins a job in the MAF reduce poverty and rise the employment rate. If you like seeing penguins living in poverty, then you definitely had no sense of penguinity.”