In 40 AG, Fire Lord Azulon ordered a series of raids of the South Pole as a means of eliminating the Southern Water Tribe from the war effort. Over the course of the next 54 years, the raids instituted by the Southern Raiders virtually eliminated the tribe's waterbending population and effectively weakened the tribe. In 97 AG, many of the tribe's chieftains and warriors, led by Hakoda, left to join the Earth Kingdom in the war effort, leaving the tribe devoid of leadership. In addition, the isolation of the local tribes from one another resulted in further deterioration of the Southern Water Tribe's political structure.