Resource Wars

The Resource Wars were a series of global conflicts beginning with the war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East in April 2052 and ending with the Great War on October 23, 2077. Some of the conflicts included the annexation of Canada by the United States and the Chinese invasion of Anchorage, Alaska.

Resource Wars timeline

 * 2052


 * April: The Resource Wars begin. As many smaller nations go bankrupt, Europe, dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, responds to rising oil prices with military action. Chinese geologists and petroleum exploration engineers work to tap the last remaining oil fields deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, but these efforts are sabotaged by American spies, paving the way for the U.S. energy company Poseidon Oil to claim the resource and erect an oil rig of their own. China will eventually retaliate by invading Alaska in 2066, where the Anchorage Front Line becomes the first and most important battlefield.


 * May-July: The United Nations, already suffering, begins to collapse. In a series of heated debates, many nations withdraw from the organization as the U.N. tries to keep the peace. On the 26th of July, the United Nations is disbanded.


 * Note: This information comes from Chris Avellone's Fallout Bible time line. According to the Sierra Depot GNN transcript holodisk, which Avellone claims is non-canon, as it was supposedly modified by the Sierra Army Depot soldiers, the U.N. still existed in 2074.


 * December: A terrorist nuclear weapon destroys Tel Aviv.


 * 2054


 * January: Limited nuclear exchange in the Middle East raises fears throughout the world and sets the United States' Project Safehouse in motion.


 * 2059


 * The Anchorage Front Line is established, as the United States increases its military presence in Alaska to protect its oil interests. The United States attempts to place pressure on Canada into allowing American military units to guard the Alaskan Pipeline. Naturally, this raises tensions between both countries.


 * 2060


 * The Euro-Middle Eastern War comes to an end as the oil fields in the Middle East runs dry. The reasons behind the war are forgotten as both sides are reduced almost to ruin.


 * The European Commonwealth dissolves into quarreling nation states, fighting over the remaining resources.


 * 2066


 * Winter: China, incensed by the United States' takeover of the Alaskan Pipeline fourteen years earlier, invades Alaska. The Anchorage Front Line becomes a true battleground.


 * Note: This date for the Chinese invasion of Alaska comes from Chris Avellone's Fallout Bible timeline. According to the Sierra Depot GNN transcript holodisk, which Avellone discards as non-canon as it was supposedly modified by the Sierra Army Depot soldiers, this happened on October 10, 2077.


 * Winter: Tension between the United States and Canada are rising as Canada is reluctant to allow American troops onto Canadian soil or to allow American planes to fly over Canadian airspace. Canada eventually backs down, however, and U.S. troops pass through Canada. This sets the stage for the Canadian annexation in 2076.


 * 2067


 * The first suits of T-45d power armor are deployed in Alaska. While lacking the full mobility of future versions, its sheer power proves to be incredibly effective against Chinese infantry. Its ability to carry heavy ordnance is key in dominating various localized conflicts, and it has the power to destroy entire towns without endangering the wearer. China rushes to create its own versions, but their technology is many years behind the United States.


 * 2069


 * The U.S. military presence in Canada and its increasing consumption of resources for the war effort starts to take its toll on the country. Vast stretches of timberland are destroyed, and other resources in Canada are stretched to the breaking point. Many Americans refer to Canada as Little America, and Canadian protests go unheard.


 * 2072


 * Amid a growing number of protests and riots in several Canadian cities, a group of fanatical citizens attempt to break in and sabotage the Alaskan pipeline. Provoked by these events, the U.S., which has been secretly planning to annex Canada for five years, sets a plan in motion to make it official.


 * Completed B.O.M.B. missiles are sent to different space centers around the U.S. so that they can be carried into space and installed into the B.O.M.B. satellites. The process, though slow, is being carried out fairly regularly. (source: Reservation design document)


 * 2073


 * September 15: As China becomes increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government feels that a countermeasure is needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project (PVP) is officially formed. Plans are made to begin experiments at the West-Tek research facility in Southern California. (mentioned in the FEV research holodisk)


 * 2074


 * Negotiations concerning oil between the U.S. and other world powers comes to a dramatic end. After a much heated debate, the President storms out of the meeting, later issuing a statement declaring that the last known supply of oil in the world will be used exclusively by the U.S. and that the U.S. will not sell or trade any oil to outside parties.


 * Contrary to their claims of seeking only to retake Alaska from the Chinese, American power units, infantry, and mechanized divisions are deployed to China. However, they become bogged down on the mainland, putting a further drain on American resources and supply lines.


 * Note: This information comes from Chris Avellone's Fallout Bible timeline. According to the Sierra Depot GNN transcript holodisk, which Avellone discards as non-canon, this happened on October 22, 2077.


 * 2075


 * February 14: Understanding that they have been nearly taken over by U.S. troops, Canada finally agrees to be annexed. (Source: Sierra Depot GNN transcript holodisk).


 * 2076


 * January: The United States' annexation of Canada is complete. Canadian protesters and rioters are shot on sight, and the Alaskan Pipeline swarms with American military units. Pictures of atrocities make their way to the United States, causing further unrest and protests.


 * March 30: The President of the United States orders the Pacific Fleet to the Poseidon deep sea oil derrick located at a secret location out in the Pacific. (referenced in the Sierra Depot GNN transcript holodisk).


 * June: The T-51b power armor is invented. This will prove to be the pinnacle of power armor technology before the Great War. Many of these units are deployed to China, and they begin to carve a swath through the Chinese forces. The Chinese resources are strained to the breaking point, and the supply lines from the nations China has annexed begin to break down.


 * 2077




 * January 10: The United States succeeds in reclaiming Alaska and, along with it, the Anchorage Front Line.


 * January 22: Power armor is first used within the United States for crowd and quarantine control. Units that had originally served in China and the Anchorage Front Line find themselves fighting Americans at home. Riots over scarcity of food increase, and many civilians are killed. U.S. and Canadian soldiers attempt to escape, but are captured and sent to military prisons.


 * March: Prepared for a nuclear or possibly even biological attack from China, the U.S. President and the Enclave retreat to remote sections around the globe and make contingency plans for continuing the war.


 * October 23: The Great War begins, and to this day, it is unknown who fired the first weapon. Though air raid sirens sound throughout cities, very few people escape into the Vaults under the belief that it is a false alarm. The Vaults are sealed and the world is plunged into nuclear winter.

Behind the scenes
A pre-Fallout "Resource Wars" game set in collapsing Europe (during the United Kingdom's invasions of the Middle East) is one of the games that J.E. Sawyer would like to make if he could do any game, regardless of money and developing time.

To see more info on petroleum and how it pertains to the Fallout world, see Petroleum.