Great War

The Great War was a global thermonuclear war caused by the Sino-American War. It resulted in the destruction of all participating nations and abroad, global disruption of the climate and billions of casualties as a result of nuclear blasts, exposure to radiation and the subsequent collapse of social and government structures, all within the span of just two hours.

Prelude
The nuclear holocaust was a direct result of the decade-long conflict that left both the United States and China exhausted. By 2077, a combination of attrition, loss of supply routes, and offensives conducted by the United States across the front left Chinese units in Alaska stranded and cut off from reinforcements. The liberation of Anchorage spearheaded by winterized T-51 power armor units under the command of General Constantine Chase marked the end of the Anchorage Reclamation, after a decade of war. Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.43: "Chinese Army (Simulated) U.S. Army (Simulated) With conditions deteriorating between the United States and China, a military presence in Alaska was established to prevent a possible invasion across the Bering Strait. With increasingly scarce oil reserves, a last deep-sea deposit below the Pacific Ocean was claimed by China before allegedly being sabotaged by American special operatives. Strained relationships spiraled downwards into escalated conflict, as China marched on Alaska, and the Sino-American War of 2066—2077 erupted. Under the command of General Jingwei, the Chinese Army usurped control of Alaska's oil pipeline and reserves. In response, the Americans had begun what came to be called "The Alaskan Reclamation Operation" (2067—2077). ''Under the leadership of General Constantine Chase, the U.S. Army battled fiercely to the front lines of the conflict before General Chase deployed specialized power armor units that began pushing the Chinese back. Future power armor suits were further refined as the conflict dragged on, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was reclaimed. With resources flowing through Canada, strained diplomatic tensions between Canada and the United States becoming problematic, and as the Canadian forces attacked the pipeline, the country was annexed.'' ''A combination of inclement weather, constant American bombardment and trench warfare, and U.S. powered armor unit attacks sweeping through mainline China, the Chinese supply lines weakened and finally broke down completely. By the beginning of 2077, the city of Anchorage was finally liberated, the Chinese invaders eradicated, and the operation had been deemed a success. A commemorative memorial was erected in Washington, D.C., in honor of the soldiers who fought and perished for the greater American good. Violence between America and pockets of Canadian freedom fighters continued throughout 2077, until the Great War obliterated almost all infrastructure, commerce, and human life." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles'')

The campaign in mainland China, which began with the amphibious landings at Shantou in 2074, was reinvigorated by gaining ground in Alaska and the deployment of T-51 units. However, as American soldiers pushed deeper into the mainland, Chinese resistance increased. By October, the situation transitioned from a rout into a stalemate. Despite a decade of war, there was no end in sight. Billions of dollars and thousands of casualties were spent in vain, despite taxes and various wartime revenues ensuring the federal government was able to fund a standing army the likes of which the United States had never seen before. In a desperate attempt to bolster the offensive and break the stalemate, bases across the United States were sealed and troops were redeployed.

The situation was made worse by the fact that the oligarchs ruling the United States retreated to remote locations around the globe, expecting a last-ditch nuclear strike from China at any moment. The oil rig off the Californian coast was claimed by the president and key members of the junta, a group which would later become the foundation of the Enclave. The United States was leaderless, continuing on simply due to inertia. In 2065, Robert House arrived at the conclusion that a nuclear war was inevitable by 2080 or sooner.

Events
The war both began and ended on October 23, 2077. Chinese submarines were identified by the United States Pacific Fleet at 00:03 EST off the coast of California, moving into position. At 03:37 EST, a squadron of high-altitude bombers were sighted off the Bering Strait. At least one Chinese stealth submarine, the Yangtze, moved close to the American East Coast, launching all warheads, save for one, due to a malfunction.

Six hours later, at 09:13 EST, the Integrated Operational Nuclear Detection System detected the first four missile launches and the United States went to DEFCON 2. Four minutes later, NORAD confirmation sealed the fate of the world. At 09:26 EST, the president ordered a retaliatory strike according to scenario MX-CN91. Nuclear bombs hit Pennsylvania and New York at 09:42 EST. By 09:47 EST, most American facilities had gone offline.

The nuclear exchange continued for two hours. According to President Dick Richardson, both China and the United States suffered catastrophic losses. The standard nuclear warhead used in the Great War was that of a strategic nuclear warhead ranging from 200-750 kilotons in explosive yield with high-yield variants found on Chinese submarines. This was actually far worse for the Earth, as the lower yield warheads deposited more soil and debris into the lower atmosphere, resulting in a much more concentrated fallout that eventually enveloped the planet. The entire world was blanketed with multiple nuclear strikes, and the world and its entire ecosystem were irrevocably changed for centuries to come.

Environment
The results of the Great War were devastating, as they combined with biological and chemical weapons that saw widespread use during the Sino-American War.

The changes in climate led to widespread alterations of the ecosystem. The new climate meant that many plants could no longer grow or be cultivated, ranging from common vegetables to specialized crops, such as coca plants or opium poppies. Due to necessity, crop variants mutated by radiation were adopted by survivors, including mutated cabbage and maize. These cultivars thrived in the warm weather of the Southwest, with similar mutations proliferating across the colder climates of the northern reaches of the continent.

Animals were also adversely affected. The combination of radioactive fallout and various local mutagens, particularly the Forced Evolutionary Virus in New California, led to widespread genetic mutation. By 2080, new species were created almost overnight, replacing animals that had gone extinct or been out-competed. One mutated species to emerge from this melting pot of genotypes is the brahmin, a mutated cattle variant. Once the mutation stabilized, the brahmin turned out to be well suited for the harsh conditions of the wasteland, requiring little water and relatively small grazing areas, while providing plenty in return, including milk, meat, leather, bone, transportation, et cetera. As such, it rapidly became the most widespread livestock animal in New California, and the backbone of many a wasteland economy.

Humans
The impact on humanity and civilization was painfully severe and traumatic. Although emergency response units and elements of the National Guard were mobilized on the evening of October 22, their ability to provide aid to victims and refugees was severely hampered by the lack of any centralized command and control, resulting from electromagnetic pulses which disabled most communications equipment. Despite efforts by the military to bolster relief efforts, the shock of the nuclear attack resulted in their morale crumbling and many deserting their posts. By the time radiation sickness began to set in among victims of the attack, the situation had already become hopeless as they were no longer receiving any supplies with which to aid the victims. Whiskey and painkillers were the only care available to most patients.

Those who lived outside of major cities or managed to escape them in the narrow window of time granted by the sirens faced a much better chance of survival. However, one exception of Las Vegas was spared a direct nuclear strike, thanks to Robert House, who disabled or destroyed 68 out of the 77 warheads heading for the city. Although suffering from the sudden loss of access to water, food and medical care, these survivors went on to found new communities across the newly born wasteland, becoming the founding fathers of a new civilization struggling to rise from the ashes. These included Darkwater, the founder of Junktown, Angus of the Hub, the founders of Megaton and Diamond City, and so on and so forth. Some of the less fortunate survivors on the surface turned into ghouls, a result of their exposure to radioactive fallout and/or thermal radiation from the blasts, with their horrifying appearance leading to a kind of racial prejudice among other human survivors.

A relative few were able to reach safety in underground vaults constructed by the Vault-Tec Corporation at the behest of the federal government, with most often trading suffering on the surface for suffering in confinement, due to the social experimentation that had been initiated by the forebears of the Enclave. Some refused to go into their assigned Vaults, believing that it was all just another drill, not realizing the truth of their situation until it was far too late. Vaults that didn’t fail as a result of their experiments frequently became another source of civilization across the wasteland, such as Vault 15, whose inhabitants founded the village of Shady Sands (as well as the raider tribes of the Khans, the Vipers and the Jackals), the Los Angeles Vault, which led to the establishment of Adytum, and Vault 8, which led to the establishment of Vault City.