1999
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The U.S. Congress convenes immediately after the spring planting for the first time since the use of ICBMs in autumn 1997. Senator John Brown (D-Arkansas), the former governor of Arkansas, appoints himself to one of the state's two vacant senate seats, followed by Congress electing him president. General Jonathan Cummings, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, regards the vote as unconstitutional and refuses to accept the result, citing vote fraud and the shady pasts of many congressmen.
(Although Cummings' decision is later widely criticized, his views were arguable. Many of the congressional seats were disputed. Many of the congressmen present were just local strongmen who had acquired most of the old congressional districts. Some had never even seen the district which they were supposed to represent. It could be confirmed that at least once a dispute over a congressional seat had been solved by guns while the House was in session.)
General Cummings declares that martial law will continue until a new census has been made, which will be necessary for the redistribution of congressional seats and the election of the president. President Brown responds by demanding Cummings' resignation, to which the general refuses. Although some military units moved over to the civilian government, most of the military continues to take its orders from the JCS (especially outside the U.S.) for two reasons: First, there is a tradition in the army of obeying one's superiors and the chain of command, which has usually kept the troops together so far. Second, the JCS possesses nearly all the remaining intact communications networks.
In North America the greatest effect of the split is the accelerated crumbling of central government. Most citizens refused to listen to either of the two competing governments, for their legality was mostly superficial.
The remaining national organisations and foreign governments choose between the competing governments. Germany's military government and the Polish government-in-exile continue with the military government (MILGOV), while the former Yugoslavian and Romanian partisans choose the civilian government (CIVGOV). The remnants of the CIA obey CIVGOV while the NSA remains loyal to the military, organising its own network of operatives to replace the CIA "defectors". Officially, the two governments avoid violence, publicly proclaiming to seek a peaceful resolution. In reality there are occasional skirmishes over vital bases, bloody coups in military units and numerous assassinations and other "dirty tricks" occur between the competing intelligence networks.
The troop transfers to Europe continue in the autumn, though at a very small scale. A few remaining warships protect the convoy, which consists of various merchant vessels. After CIVGOV's initiative both governments try to outdo the other, regarding success as proof of the faction's ability to remobilize the nation. In reality the mobilization only applies to the Atlantic coast and leads to huge resistance. Few people think at this point that shipping men, equipment and supplies to Europe is at all feasible with America's own situation being nearly untenable.
In reality the reinforcements are just a meagre amount of light vehicles and ammunition and mostly light infantry. Mortars are becoming the most popular fire support weapon, since they can be manufactured easily in small machine shops and backyards.
In Europe the front is immobile for most of the year. Patrols and guerrilla activity have become the most important methods of waging war due to the spread out nature of the armies. The front morphs from a unified line into a deep, sparsely populated zone as the troops settle down and start farming and small-scale industry in order to improve on their own supplies. Local civilians are hired to farm the land and to tend to administrative duties in exchange for protection against the ever increasing bands of bandits that plague the countryside. In some areas the security that a military unit provides to civilians means safety from the unit itself - a kind of post-apocalyptic "protection money." Many units in barren areas disperse or turn to banditry as they fall low on supplies. Even though most attacks are directed against "enemy" territory, they are later also directed against "allied" units, though not against units of the same country - at least not yet.
The chaos and death that has struck most of the population with the collapse of world trade is felt all over the world. The population of central Africa has been particularly hit hard, for with the onset of war the production and supply of the HIV vaccine to Third World nations has ceased at the same time as the number of AIDS cases has risen to 50% of the population.
No area is far enough away from the war to avoid it. Even the research stations in Antarctica and in space have been abandoned due to the war.
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Next: 2000
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