The Novi Grad Bombings were attacks orchestrated by the United States Air Force in which the Sokovian city of Novi Grad was devastated in a series of air raids, resulting in massive infrastructure and property damage, along with heavy civilian casualties.

The bombings contributed to the country's decline and led to civil unrest and anti-American protests, with many Sokovians blaming their government for not being able to protect them, as well as holding Stark Industries responsible for supplying weapons used in the attacks.

Background[]

To be added

Bombings[]

Air Raid[]

On March 30, 1999, Sokovia was under a state of heavy turmoil, when shooting took to the streets.^[3] American forces coordinated an air raid over the city of Novi Grad, deploying bombs and mortar shells over the city.^[1] Multiple buildings, including residences, were damaged. The bombings contributed to a heavy toll of civilian casualties.^[1]

In one such instance, the Maximoff family of four (Olek, Iryna, Pietro, and Wanda) were watching The Dick Van Dyke Show when their building was struck by two Stark Industries mortar shells. After the first detonated, part of the building fell apart, killing Olek and Iryna; Pietro and Wanda took cover underneath a bed, three feet from the second shell, which failed to detonate. Unbeknownst to her at the time, Wanda had been using unadulterated Chaos magic to prevent the shell from detonating.^[3] Afraid that movement would set off the bomb, the children stayed still for two days until they were rescued, and developed a hatred for Stark Industries.^[4]

Recovery Efforts[]

On March 31, 1999, newspapers including The Daily, El Verdadere, and Liberty News, as well as the WHiH World News news station, reported on the significant casualties and property damage sustained in Novi Grad. In the recovery efforts, it took two days before Pietro and Wanda Maximoff safely escaped their apartment, then in shambles.^[4]

Aftermath[]

Anti-American Protests[]

Public outcry and civil unrest was officiated after the bombings; Pietro and Wanda Maximoff organized protests on the streets of Novi Grad blaming the Sokovian government, enforcing the ideology that they were left powerless due to foreign oppressors,^[2] and shifting blame towards the United States of America; specifically, the industrial tech conglomerate Stark Industries, led by former arms dealer and industrialist Tony Stark, who would later become a member of the Avengers as Iron Man. In one such protest, protesters had made signs reading "America out of Sokovia," "No justice, no peace," and "Boycott", translated from Cyrillic. Wanda and Pietro's particularly constant political activity put them on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s watchlist, as a potential threat.^[4]

Baron Strucker's Experiments[]

By 2013, the protests in Novi Grad had escalated into a Sokovian civil war, which intensified further when foreign forces were dispatched to suppress the rioting. Helmut Zemo would describe Sokovia as being in a "failed state" prior to the Ultron Offensive because of these rebellions.^[5]

HYDRA leader Baron Strucker and Dr. List began indoctrinating test subjects from Sokovia under the pretense of justice for experiments with the Mind Stone. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff were amongst the citizens who volunteered to be guinea pigs for the organization, believing they were "changing the world", and helping their country by gaining the power to put an end to the fighting on their streets. However, the twins did not know that HYDRA was in fact arranging for local riots to conceal their operations on the outskirts of the city. The resulting experiments gave the Maximoffs superhuman powers, that of which were previously unadulterated because of their bloodline from witches.^[2]

City Destruction[]

In 2015, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff's vendetta against the Avengers heightened after they forged an alliance with the genocidal Ultron. However, when they learned Ultron's true goals, the twins joined the Avengers instead; the city of Novi Grad, once plagued by the bombings, was elevated into the sky with a complex series of thrusters forged from vibranium. Iron Man and Thor were forced to destroy the city after a destructive battle when Ultron dropped it from the sky to avert human extinction.^[4]

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

• Avengers: Age of Ultron's description of the Novi Grad Bombings is retconned in the WandaVision episode Previously On.

References[]