Great Chronoschism
The Great Chronoschism (sometimes abbreviated GC) was an event that occurred in 3296, plunging the world into null-time
Rationale & Mechanism
Starting in 2760, President Jaguar and his schismmancers, sensing growing unrest, began to fear manipulation of the time crystal.
In order to prevent past-action, he began to horde flags and in 3296 he reached the inflagtion point, wherein he was able to manipulate the time crystal such that the majority of all flags generated would end up under his control.
With complete control of the ley lines he was able to perform a continuous fracture attack on the time crystal, destroying time itself.
Effects
Not much is known about the period of chronoschism itself, and even less can be communicated, as the effects of causality and reverse-causality do not apply during null-time, making it difficult to describe events (if it can even be said that "events" "happen" during null-time).
A series of far reaching shockwaves were sent out into the past, reaching as far back as 2020 and intensifying in magnitude, frequency, and duration as 3296 approaches.
Recovery
Time was recovered in -502 via poorly understood reverse-eschatological-f-tactics. It is speculated that the shockwaves allowed some form of chronoanteretrorereification
Many people described the recovery as an ecstatic experience, and analogize null-time to a dream or the effects of a psychedelic flashbulb.
It is unknown how much time was nullified, but lower bounds place the span at no less than 1000 years, with most upper bounds at millions of years and some even at trillions of years.
Prevention
It is widely thought that the Great Chronoschism cannot be prevented as doing so would prevent the shockwaves and thus prevent anti-schism action from occurring, leading to the current situation. Skepticism remains on whether it can be delayed, and further study is needed to determine feasibility.
General consensus exists that although it may not be possible to delay or prevent it, it can almost certainly be shortened. It is thought by some that at one point recovery happened c.a. -1, and the current -502 recovery date is a result of progressive anti-nullification.
A fringe group of vexillians believe that by completing The Survey, null-time will itself be nullified and the fracture of the time crystal will become impossible. The majority, however, agree with the general consensus and believe that completing The Survey could bring the duration of the schism down to an infinitesimal fraction of a second but never to zero