Before the coup and resulting war, the country of Buckministan (formerly Acirema "As-seer-ima") wasn't any more united than it is now. Blatant political corruption, a binary economic system and a manipulative media, pushed most civilians in the country to the point of indifference, if not dismay. Despite social media and modern communications technology, the population became more isolated than unified, which, in turn, led to an increase of violence and crime, as the fabric of the nation seemed to collapse. To some, the eventual rise of Generalissimo Buckmaster showed promise, as he swore a return to the days of old, and to "drain the swamp", a reference to rooting out and punishing any corrupt politicians currently in office, but his divisive policies and the elimination of nearly all entitlement programs, programs that tens of millions of citizens were accustomed, all but ensured the country would fall into a bitter civil war. Some have argued that civil war was his intention all along, but others hold that it was simply the inevitable conclusion to the sickness that plagued the country for decades prior. ​

Post coup, as rebellion and conflict spread, civilians were bombarded with propaganda to join both sides. The Blue Brigade promised jobs, security and the continuity of the conventional family unit, while the Red Rebellion appealed more to the rebellious and anarchistic tendencies of the youth, promising them glory and a place in the new government, while villainizing the older generation as the cause of the war. Favor in the conflict may have leaned towards Red's young, energized base, if not for the fact that so many of the older civilian population were veterans, and armed. In the end, most of the civilian population simply chose to dig in and wait out the conflict, refusing to join either side. However, as the conflict continued, and resources became scarce, many civilians, that once opposed joining either faction, found themselves with the tough decision of either working for the factions as paid contractors, fleeing their homes or almost certain starvation. With no real ideological motives beyond survival and protecting their property, the civilian population that has chose to remain in Buckministan, can be characterized fragmented, chaotic and desperate, an existence wrought with betrayal, revenge killings, and theft. ​

As time passed the civlilians that stayed in Buckministan and survived, did so primarily by forming tribes Most fled, but over time those that remained consolidated into family tribes and crime syndicates as theft and Revenge Killings plagued the war-torn city. Murphy, Qasim, Washington, Gomez, Elba, Horowitz, Heinrich, Yang, Patel, Petrov, Tanaka, And Blanc being the 12 largest of these tribes. Some experts suggest that the push for diversity and unfettered immigration coupled with a crumbling national identity and cohesive goal accelerated the fall of Acirema's culture, leading to the staunchly divided state of it's remaining civilian population, despite the collective struggle of survival.