Author Topic: AAR: United Nations of Earth (Background)  (Read 1423 times)

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Offline Kristover (OP)

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AAR: United Nations of Earth (Background)
« on: January 30, 2022, 04:01:25 PM »
This post is to establish the lore for my upcoming v2.0 game which will be a Earth system conventional start.  I wrote this a few years ago before COVID and updated it recently as my lore baseline.  I still kept the 2020 baseline as my start and plan to use 2100 as my starting year.  Enjoy!

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2020:  The ‘Baltic Crisis’ – Russian Federation launches a surprise invasion of the Baltics.  All three Countries are quickly overwhelmed.  There's minor clashes between NATO forces particularly Polish/US aircraft vs. Russians but the invasions are complete within four days and NATO doesn't have the willpower to remain united.  US/UK elect to not intervene further beyond sanctions and Russians complete takeover.
 
2021:  NATO dissolves.  It is replaced with the EU Defense Initiative.

2022:  ‘The Pacific War’ Crisis erupts when Taiwan formally declares independence.  PRC attempts invasion.  US Navy intervenes and two CVNs are sunk by the PRC as hordes of theater ballistic missiles neutralize US bases across the region.  War goes on for two months and despite severe damage to PRC Naval forces and a remarkably hard-fought campaign on Taiwan itself, PRC wins and Taiwan is forced to surrender.  The Peace Treaty of Shanghai is humiliating and requires the US to withdraw forces from South Korea and Japan to get their surrendered troops back.  This is regarded as the beginning of the Chinese era of predominance.

2024-40:  Climate Change rapidly accelerates with temperatures and drought making parts of the Middle East and Africa completely untenable.  Massive refugee crisis causes both the EU and the USA to enact severe border restrictions.  This causes tensions in EU with North African nations and Turkey often clashing with EU national forces.  Permafrost melting in Siberia reveals incredibly fertile land which begins to attract climate migrants from the PRC and increases border tensions between the PRC and Russian Federation.
 
2026:  China strengthens the Shanghai Cooperative Zone (SCO) by signing alliances with the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. With the US abandonment of the western Pacific, Japan, Singapore and Australia sign a Defense Pact.  Vietnam stays unaligned but does cooperates with Japan and Australia.
 
2022-40:  After their defeat in the Pacific War, the United States becomes increasingly isolationist.  They remain the largest economy in the world but their military withdraws from most places as the US focuses on continental defense.  Politically, the Republican Party is utterly discredited and in 2022 and 2024 elections the Democrats sweep into power and begin to enact parts of their progressive agenda.  This is vehemently opposed and by 2030, there is a low-grade insurgency in parts of the country as well as local nullification of Federal laws results in increasing fragmentation.

2030:  Several instances of violence in the Middle East as the refugee crisis causes clashes in North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and the Turkish frontier.  In a repeat of the earlier 'Arab Spring', An alliance between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel barely succeeds in stamping down much of the violence in the region though the harsh measures against religious minorities do so cause much consternation with Turkey and Iran.

2030-36:  Seeking to counterbalance China, Russian Federation begins a comprehensive effort to woo India into an alliance. There is soon a three-way contest for influence in Central Asia between the PRC, Russia/India, and Turkey/Iran.

2042-45:  The first border clashes occur between the PRC and Russian Federation in Siberia as increasingly repressive action against the Chinese migrants compels a PRC response.

2046-48:  The PRC, allied with the recently reunified Korea and the rest of the SCO alliance, declares war against the Russian Federation with a lightning first strike involving cyber-attacks and precision orbital strikes against Russian C2.  This complements it’s conventional forces driving deep into Siberia.  The RF quickly loses ground and by the end of the year it begins to use tactical nuclear weapons in limited fashion to stem the advance – a surprisingly # of which are stopped by Chinese defenses.  The use of nuclear weapons compels the PRC to expand their war aims to topple the Russian government. There are minor clashes India and China during this period but India refrains from intervention. In a blow to the Russian Federation, the Central Asian nations offer active support to the PRC advances.  The war goes on longer than any expect with successful seasonal offensives by SCO forces followed by several months of guerilla combat behind the lines.

2048:  ‘The Refugee War':  The Chinese steadily push the Russians back creating a massive refugee crisis in Europe.  Russians and other displaced people begin pushing hard towards eastern Europe and Scandinavia.  The EU begins to mobilize forces to reinforce its border but this creates huge issues with both Russian and Turkish units at the border.  An intermittent shooting war between Turkey and the EU begins in the Balkans and Aegean.  This crisis serves to cement EU defense cooperation with the EDI quickly becoming a unified European Armed Forces.  Korea has a falling out with the Chinese based off several unfair uses their forces and withdraws from active involvement in the Russo-Chinese war.

2049-2050:  The ‘Great Eurasian War’, ‘World War 3’, ‘The Apocalypse’:  With Chinese Forces outside Moscow and the Russian front completely collapsing the Russians launch a massive first strike against the Chinese with their remaining strategic nuclear weapons.  Once again, Chinese defenses are partially effective against the incoming but enough missiles get through and China absorbs close to 40 large nuclear explosions against their cities and critical infrastructure.  The Chinese respond with several nuclear strikes against targets in eastern Russia which finally collapses the Russia state.  As the Chinese reel, India notes its chance and launches a massive invasion over the Himalayan Mountains to secure advantage against China.  For about three months, Indians mauls the reeling PRC forces and drives deep into Tibet before China launches its remaining nuclear arsenal at India.  Chinese cyber-operations neutralizes India's less advanced defenses and every major Indian City is obliterated.  The Indian state collapses and knocked out of the war but not before launching their own nuclear response which did massive damage to both the PRC but particularly their Indonesian/Thai allies. Further west, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the Arab countries attempt to secure their frontiers as refugees overwhelm them.  There is conventional fighting and then nuclear weapons are exchanged as Israel and Persia immolate themselves and the Turkish Army and other regional forces are decimated in apocalyptical combat. By the end of 2050, almost 2,000 nuclear weapons have been expended and 3.0 billion people are dead and the war is effectively over.  The worse was yet to come.

2050-75:  The ‘Long Winter’  The aftermath of the nuclear war irrevocably changes the climate.  The great fires cover almost a quarter of the globe and within six months a giant band of dust encompasses the upper latitudes.  ‘Murder Storms’ – radioactive storms scours much of Asia and the sub-continent.  Sunlight is reduced in most central parts of the world and temperatures never quite recover.  Temperatures dramatically drop world-wide and even by 2100 still haven't recovered to 2000 levels. All of this has a massive effect on agriculture with Asian agriculture almost completely non-viable in most areas and crop yields in the America’s much reduced.  Mass famine is the defining feature of this period with even unaffected areas in the Americas seeing severe malnutrition.  Simultaneously, COVID-19 mutates from it's previously benign form by the general decline of global nutrition and reduced immunities from radioactivity into a particularly virulent and nasty virus which sweeps the world.  The breakdown in the global health network is unable to contain it.  Within five years of the Apocalypse starting, world populations were reduced to less than 1 billion people with Eurasian and African countries seeing 90% mortality rates (or more) and even industrialized countries in Europe and Americas seeing 30-50% mortality.  Each region handled the Apocalypse differently:

   North America:  The United States, still in a national malaise after the Pacific War and fighting several small insurgencies in their country didn't participate in the Eurasian War.  In the aftermath of nuclear fighting, several heavily armed uprisings erupted in various areas of the country with succession movements breaking out countrywide.  The government was able to put some down but many of the areas of the country became ungovernable and vital national systems shutdown.  The breakdown of interstate commerce and rejection of Federal control were devastating when confronting both the plague and famine.  Some areas of the country remained organized and under Federal or State control – the US Northeast, Texas, and Utah were notable areas of stability - but the remaining areas saw much suffering. 

   South America:  COVID hit them particularly hard and metropolitan areas in Brazil and Argentina were essentially depopulated.  Still, the geography of the country allowed entire populations to avoid damage.  South American agriculture was one of the few places of plenty during the Apocalypse with many national governments maintaining viability throughout this period.

   Africa:  Nowhere in the world was hit harder by COVID than Africa.  Africa saw little action during the war but COVID swept into the continent and the breakdown of global transportation and institutions left the continent particularly vulnerable.  Massive die-offs occurred across sub-Saharan Africa and few places were spared as COVID mutations defeated local efforts.  South Africa managed to hold the line but their more moderate government was taken over by a renewed Zulu nationalism which killed European and Indian populations in a bloody civil war.

   Europe:  Europe’s borders remained a theater of combat during the entire Apocalypse with first massive and then dwindling waves of migrants attempting to enter the EU.  The Europeans completely closed their borders as national forces fought rogue Turkish and Russian remnants attempting to open the border at various points.  National sovereignty was subsumed by various Emergency actions to handle the plague and various internal breakdowns of orders – like the descent into madness experienced by the UK and subsequent EU takeover – and harsh measures were enacted.  COVID and the famine took their toll but European order was maintained.  Also notable was the shift from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia as the center of Europe. Norway/Sweden/Germany becoming the most significant powers.  One of the key developments was a concerted centralization of scientists under the Nobel Academy in Stockholm comprised of European and Japanese Scientists as well as outreach the surviving universities in North America.  Many American scientists fled during this timeframe and sought refugee.  Referring to themselves as the ‘Argonauts’, they were intent on preserving as much knowledge as possible.

   Asia: Catastrophe – Massive stretches of the Chinese Coast and Northeast as well as the Middle East and Indian sub-continent (which was for all intents and purposes eradicated) were completely irradiated and famine and COVID finished off the rest. The PRC managed to hold on in an organized fashion in central China and was able to survive only through the harshest and most draconian rationing ever witnessed.  There were some surviving Indian military units which set up Hindi successor states in the high Himalayas but beyond that, there was a little left of those combatants.  Further west, Turkey disintegrated into a series of small despotic realms which when they weren’t flinging themselves at the European border were generally fighting each other. Arab refugees were generally killed or enslaved by Turkish masters.  The only bright spot was in Korea which avoided being targeted during the nuclear strikes.  The reunified Koreas moved underground and maintained order by ruthlessly closing their borders.  While they weren’t the technological powerhouse Japan became, they were a significant society which remained cohesive during this time period.

   Pacific:  During the Eurasian War many actions happened in the Pacific and both Indonesia and the Philippines received Russian and Indian nuclear attacks.  Japan and Australia’s alliance proved to be a blessing as Japan received the brunt of the radioactive storms sweeping east.  Well over half of the Japanese population were moved to Australia and to Indonesian islands seized by the Japanese/Australian forces.  The remainder of the Japanese population went underground with their technology or into shielded arcologies which Japanese society had already begun to construct across the Japanese Islands prior to the war.  The combined government of the two nations managed to keep Pacific commerce and communication lines open during the Apocalypse years.

2076:  EU decides to formalize a structure to reestablish global commerce with the rest of the world.  Contact had been maintained over the years but most everyone tended to their own survival.  The EU efforts are successful as the EU manages to reestablish relations with the Japanese/Australian alliance and the larger enclaves in North America including a confederation in the Northeast.  The driving force behind this initiative were the Argonauts and the EU – already technocratic in its approach – began to organize directly under Argonaut guidance/control.

2077:  The Japanese/Australians in cooperation with the Koreans begin to conduct outreach efforts to stricken Indonesian and Chinese survivors.  In the EU, the EU absorbs the remaining Russian enclaves and begins to make forays into Turkey.  Also, European researchers discovers a vaccine plus a treatment regime for the plague and spreads it around the world.

2078-85:  The ‘Formation Wars’ :  The Atlantic Union (successor state to the Canadians and the United States) begins efforts to bring into Confederation the various enclaves and survivors in North America.  Utah, Texas, and Cascadia agree to a loose Confederation with the Atlantic Union and the there is enough weariness among the rest of the survivors that they agree to rejoin the successor alliance though resistance is fierce in some quarters and there is some brutal no-quarter military actions in this period.

2090:  The EU opens the Global Conference of Unity and has a proposal – an iterative Federation into a true world government based off the EU model with local sovereignty aligned with a global Constitution complete with unified Armed Forces.  The Japanese/Australian alliance and the North American States sign up immediately as well as the South America states.  Interestingly, the PRC enclave signs up immediately as well, followed a year later by the Indian states.  The sole powers remaining outside are the Turkish and the South Africans.  The new transition government announces a ten-year transition period to unity.  The EU and Japan/Australian Alliance unifies their space agencies and begin a concerted effort to reenergize sustained human presence in orbit.

2092-94:  The newly designated Transition forces, primarily EU and Japanese/Australian forces reduce the Turkish Frontier and conquer the South Africans in short wars which saw the reintroduction of some of the high-technology tactics and technology that was present in the opening of the Eurasian War.  Friendly governments are installed and the Turkish and South Africans sign up for the new government.

2096:  The recently established United Nations Service Academy – set up in Paris – enrolls its first class of officers.  Meanwhile, EU scientists utilizing ground breaking quantum research discover a new branch of physics and materials science which has ground breaking potential to revolutionize multiple areas of science.  UN authorities name this as a high priority for their new government.

2100:  The United Nations of Earth officially takes over the world government with its capital in Stockholm, Sweden.  One billion citizens welcome their new government and the promise of moving on from their past.

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State of the World in 2100

Europe:  The former European Union states represent the single most stable polity on the planet but the power structure is much different.  France is the most populous state but the true power of the region lies in the German/Scandinavian portion of the European state with their stewardship of the former UK and the majority of the industry lying in the coastal Germanic area.  Europe represents the cultural and administrative center of the planet as well as having the most advanced ground forces.

North America:  Recently reunited but still considered a wild place. It is the second most populous place on the planet and it serves as the agricultural bread-basket of the world.  It is least technologically sophisticated of the three major polities but the recently established UNE Shipbuilding Yard in Canada and has become a technological draw with the Toronto-New York-Boston metroplex approaching European/Japanese levels of technology.

Pacific:  The Japanese/Australia Confederation was a successful merger with Australian providing the raw materials and agriculture and Japan’s arcologies and aquaculture being telling.  The Japanese remain the most technologically advance nation in the world and the majority of the commercial space industry and systems are of Japanese origin.  The Koreans are becoming an advancing power as well in the region incorporating areas of Siberia and Manchuria into their territory.
 
China and India:  The PRC has bowed to the UN government but still remains a nation deeply tarred by its reputation for starting the Apocalypse and is routinely regarded suspiciously, particularly by the Europeans (they absorbed Russians) and the Japanese/Australians who had to deal with the radiation storms and plague brought about by China.  It isn’t a technological or industrial powerhouse but it is rapidly trying to bring itself up to speed.  Interestingly, it is the North Americans who hold the best relations with the Chinese and Indians as it seeks to provide aid to help in their recovery.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2022, 05:24:53 PM by Kristover »
 
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Offline nuclearslurpee

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Re: AAR: United Nations of Earth (Background)
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2022, 07:41:56 PM »
An interesting and rather involved setup for everything to go "boom" in the end. Will you be writing a full AAR or is this just to share the background of your campaign for those interested?
 

Offline Kristover (OP)

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Re: AAR: United Nations of Earth (Background)
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2022, 07:51:02 PM »
I'm planning on writing an AAR.  I don't really min/max this game - I approach Aurora as more of a combination toy-box/story generator even if that means I play sub-optimally.  I find going deep into the backstory helps me set the context for what's to come.