[Mohoender]

The winter of 2004-2005 is particularly cold. Civilian war casualties in many industrialized nations has reached almost 15 percent by the turn of the year. In these countries communication and transportation systems have been wiped out, food distribution has become almost impossible and the few functionning releif operations have to be cancelled. All over the northern hemisphere, in the wake of nuclear war and widespread unrest comes famine on a scale previously undreamed of, but the worst is yet to come. The exceptionally cold winter delayed simultaneous epidemics but, with the spring thaw, the millions of unburied dead finally bring on the epidemics the remaining medical professionals had dreaded but were powerless to prevent. Plague, typhoid, cholera, typhus, and many other diseases sweeped through the world’s population. HIV and Tuberculosis are now spreading faster everywhere and not only in Africa but the worst comes from SARS and regular flu. By the time they have run their courses, the global casualty rate will be 60%. It is within this chaos that the new world is being shaped.

France, Belgium and Luxembourg had formed the Franco-Belgian Union (FBU) only two years ago and have since been joined by a few countries from Africa and the Middle East (Cameroon, Dahomey, Djibouti, Gabon, Oman, Senegal, Tunisia and UAE). France and Belgium have been hit lightly essentially on their Atlantic coast and have lost all refineries there when Antwerp, Dunkirk, Le Have and Nantes are destroyed. However, when Strasbourg and Toulouse are hit, Paris already has evidences pointing at NATO and orders one of the two SNLE at sea to retaliate. Two missiles are, then, launched at the USA resulting in heavy damages when compare to the number of targets striked. France’s insights of NATO procedures has granted it with a major advantage and in fear to see its last defense being shatered, NATO ensures Paris, that France is no longer a target. Meanwhile, Martial law is enforced nationwide and, as refugees begin flooding across their borders, the government closes its frontiers while the army begins to turn people back with gunfire. In the Pyrenneans, there are several skirmishes with rogue Spanish units as people try to cross into south-western France. In the North, the army is authorized to move west to the Rhine to secure a solid geographical barrier and it results in a short but violent war with Germany and Netherlands. Then, as refugees pile up on the frontier, Saarland is attached to France but a large lawless zone springs into existence where unrest and fighting for food are followed by mass starvation and disease, until this buffer zone becomes barren and empty.

Germany has retained a central government which is now taken over by the military and rules from Nuremberg. However, the country has suffered extensive damages in some regions and entire areas escape its rule. Netherlands have seen their main cities being destroyed and the country is now under partial occupation by the French Army. Austria composes with foreign troops residing on its soil. In the West, German rule is widely accepted and what is left of the Austrian Army merges with the Bundeswehr. In the East, a communist government is formed at Vienna and rules with the help of the Soviet units isolated in the country.

In what was Italy, Milano and Torino had been nuked but the pre-war political split survives. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church has become increasingly influencial again and weight on all political affairs. It has recently convinced Padania to withdraw from the South and the Napoli Republic is de facto independent again. It escapes any kind of central rule while local leadership is highly corrupted and effectivily controlled by the Mafia but Rome has allied itself with the criminal organization, exercising a joint rule over the area.

In the Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal were hit by the nukes with main oil refineries and capital cities being targeted. That had devastating effects and central governments are both a shambles. Gibraltar remains organized and under British control but the area within 20 kilometers of it are in anarchy as the refinery nearby was hit by a nuke. In Portugal, a functional government has been established over the North, at Braga, and controls the nine northern districts along the former Spanish region of Gallicia. In Spain, Andalusia and Catalogna have declared independence and are now forming republics of their own. Madrid has been whipped out and, within the other autonomous communities, a few cities have established almost feudal rules and provide limited protection to locals. Elsewhere, populations survive behind independent and insular walled towns while most land is terrorized and threaten by roving bands of Guardia Civil, GNR and army units which lead a semi marauder extortionist existence.

The Balkans and their surrendings (Slovenia, Romania and Turkey) are a collection of various situations with regions falling under foreign rules, limited areas of stability, widespread chaos and political turmoil on top of an ongoing war that shows no sign of heating down. A similar situation now plagues Ukraine where several military units turn on their former Soviet masters while the former Ukrainian military organized itself among various movements pushing for independence but also conducting several internal feud. As a result of this lack of unity, Soviet forces manage to retain a fragile control over Crimea and over a vital coridor linking Belarus to Romania. The other states in East-central Europe show different situations. Hungary is stable and having escaped the war almost entirely now supplies all sides depending on their hability to pay. Slovakia has fallen under local rule with broad insular areas facing the constant threat of marauders. The Czech Republic is on its knees with Prague grounded and the other cities heavily shelled. Local stability is provided through military rule and the extensive damages suffered by both the industrial and communication networks seriously hamper any rebuilding efforts for years to come. Poland is simply sorched with only a few survivors ruled by national and foreign military units which established themselves in various cantonments nationwide.

UK has been heavily nuked and is now facing a full scale civil war. Survivors of the prewar government have gathered around Prince William which has been crown as King William V (he is nicknamed “King Bill”). His Majesty’s Government (HMG) established itself at Portsmouth and the new government immediately engage in military operations intended to restore full sovereignty over the realm. So far, this has been met with very limited success and the state only rules over the South-East. Scotland and Wales have become independent states along Cornwall while over most of England, surviving cities had declared independence when it became obvious that no immediate help could be expected from government officials.

Scandinavia escaped almost entirely unspoiled with the exception of northern Norway and eastern Finland. However, since the beginning of the year, various governments express growing concern in front of the decaying situation that plague USSR. In order to adress this issue the various head of states meat at Kalmar on September 1 when three days earlier, Soviet High Command for Leningrad Military District has launched a large scale offensive in Sweden in an attempt to seize production facilities and raw materials there. On September 5, while Denmark withdraws, the “New Kalmar Union” is signed between Finland, Norway and Sweden which are now facing this new threat together. This comes as a very bad surprise to the Soviets which don’t have enough troops to face the combined forces of the Scandinavian countries. Gotland Island had already been seized but everywhere else, Soviet units retreat as they prove no match for the Swedes and risk to be cut by the Finns. As winter comes, entire Soviet units disolve, many others turn marauder and threaten the wild space of Finland.

This bold move reflects the growing instability that has plagued the Soviet Union for months. Remote cities turn away from Moscow, people rise up and Republics declare independence, taking control of their remaining military. Regional and frontline commanders refuse to obey central orders and take initiative of their own, trying to carve petty kingdoms for themselves. It is in the wake of this mess that Marshal Aleksei M. Ivanovsky stages a military coup in Moscow, on December 20, overthrowing the Soviet government and establishing the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland (KCR in its Russian acronym). Compared to pre-war government, KCR is weak but it is, nevertheless, responsible for some outstanding achievements. Limited power is restored to Moscow, limited production starts again and some supplies are sent to various military units. At last, KCR starts to work at restoring part of the railways, paving the way to a semblance of stability. The task, however, is gigantic and might take decades to be achieved.

In North America, as civil war rages, a flood of hungry refugees begin crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico. This is too much for the socialist coalition government which immediately joins ALBA and establishes a number of large refugee camps. Over, summer, with the heat going up, these camps start to be touched by widespread food riots and the Mexican government orders this violence to be dealt with military force. Border states protest, form a loose coalition and start to mass what troops they can gather to the Mexican border. Hoping to counter this threat, Mexican army units cross the Rio Grande but this move provides an oportunity to the US Joint Chief of Staff who calls on American patriotism. Unexpectidly, unrest dries down in weeks, people gather in mass to federal military compounds as units, understrength and armed with a broad collection of weapons, are quickly shifted South. Scattered fighting grows into open warfare while ALBA declares war on behalf of the Mexican government. Mexican light armored columns, soon backed by the Cubans and the ragtag Soviet Division “Latin America”, starts their drive Northeast toward Arkansas and Northwest into southern California. To the North, the Soviet Command for the Far East gathers what it can and launches its last offensive over January and February landing an army corps in Alaska where it progresses quickly. However, as they reach Juneau and Whitehorse (Canada) over summer they are met with fierce resistance from US and Canadian troops. Then, when their supply lines are cut by remnants of the US 3rd Fleet sinking what is left of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, progression comes to a brutal halt. Most retreat but several isolated units declare themselves in favor of NATO while others simply dissolve or turn marauders.

Also at sea, remnants the US 4th Fleet has taken action against ALBA and does its best to achieve supremacy. This fleet, however, has very reduced assets and control of the seas is hardly ever achieved. It cannot even prevent the landing of Cuban and Venezuelian forces in Florida and Texas. For a time, it appears that the southern part of US will fall to the invaders but that couldn’t be admited and the cruiser “Vicksburg” is ordered to launch a number of nuclear cruise missile at Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. Before the cruiser is sunk, its actions result in the grounding of Caracas, Maracaibo, La Havana and Mexico City along all oil refineries but the smallest one at Ciudad Madero. Nevertheless, that last refinery sustain some serious damages from conventional strikes and its output is reduced to one third of its past maximum. This, the last nulcear strike ever conducted during the war, ends military operations and brings instability among members of ALBA, soon resulting in the dissolution of the alliance and triggering a civil war into Mexico. Meanwhile, military units isolated in Florida are crushed by New American activists fighting alongside Cuban Americans as anarchy spreads again to the USA. Nevertheless, a truce holds between federal and anti-federal forces but when Congress reconvenes for the first time since what is now known as “The Exchange”, several senators and congressmen among the surviving ones don’t attend.

That doesn’t forbid Senator John Broward (D, Ark), former governor of Arkansas who appointed himself to fill one of the two vacant senatorial seats, to be elected President by the House of Representatives. General Jonathan Cummings, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, refuses to recognize the constitutional validity of the election, citing the lack of a proper quorum and irregularities in the credentials of the attending congressmen, and declare a continuation of martial law until such time as a new census becomes practical, that being necessary for a meaningful reapportionment of congressional seats and presidential electoral votes.

President Broward responds with a demand for Cummings' resignation, which Cummings declines to submit. While some federal military units side with the civilian government, a majority continue to take orders from the Joint Chiefs, particularly those overseas, for a simple reason: the habit of obedience is deeply ingrained, and, in many cases, is all that had allowed units to survive thus far. The main effect of the split is a definitive erosion of central authority but a return to a full scale civil war is avoided and, forced to choose between two rival governments (Civgov/Milgov), both with considerable flaws in their claims to legitimacy, many states or even localities simply choose to ignore both. Alaska declare independece turning on the soviet forces stuck on its soil to form the core of its army. Hawaii is de facto independent, Utah, Texas and other states declare independence while a Confederate Sovereign State (CSS) is formed by Alabama, Geogia, Mississippi and Tennessee. New America increases its actions nationwide and rules over Maine and Florida. FBI refusing to side with either governments attempt to organize as an extra-territorial organization operating nationwide but independently of the ruling bodies. Officially, forces of the two governments refrain from violent confrontation, but there are sporadic local clashes over key installations, occasional bloody coups within military units, and numerous assassinations and "dirty tricks" by rival intelligence agencies.

Further north, Quebec, backed by the FBU, declares independence and mobilize its forces against Canada. Skirmishes occur with units loyal to the legal government but true fighting doesn’t take place. Both Canada and Quebec facing each other in what appears as a Phoney War.

The Carribeans are once more the theater of piracy and travelling the seas is dangerous at best. Cuba (Independent), Guadeloupe (France), Martinique (France) and Trinidad & Tobago (HMG allied) are the only territories retaining true governmental control and struggle to survive within the sea of chaos that has become the region. Among them, Cuba remains the only true independent country but, after the grounding of La Havana, the society has become increasingly rural. Moreover, the Cuban military which took upon itself to bring back troops from abroad, takes control of Grenada by accident in the process. All over Central America legal governments face revived insurgencies with the exception of Panama (held with support from Civgov). The entire region going from Colombia to Surinam is now dominated by competing drug cartels while Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia are facing an active isurgency by the Shinning Path and other groups. MERCOSUR, however, has closed its borders, established military curfews nationwide imitated in that by Chile. Then, as both entities still conduct large COIN operations in the favelas of Brazil, in Amazonas and in the Andes, they exploiting their ressources and remain organized.

In the Middle East, fighting remain undecisive as both sides become increasingly isolated. As already last year, in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia despite local efforts nobody really attempted to intervene and it seems fires shouldn’t continue for months but for years on an apocaliptic scale. The coalition has formed a government of its own and still fights the shia of Iran and Iraq backed by Soviets now independent from Moscow. Officially, the road through Central Asia remains open but the semi-independent governments of the region and a revival of the antique tribal system has made it dangerous. The Arabs have lost any kind of unity while the Jews appear to do better. Cities, including Jerusalem, are largely left to themselves but towns and Kibbutz provide much of the needed support and Israel retains an organized army, a few ships and a limited air force.

In Africa and Asia the situation remains unchanged but a major event takes place in Oceania. Australia, New Zealand and various countries of the Pacific attend a regional conference at Sidney on March 15 and, after two weeks of deliberation,declare neutrality in the ongoing conflicts while a treaty is ratified, creating the Oceanian Confederal Union (OCU). Trade barriers between members disappear while protectionist policies are enforced toward the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the new union gets almost immediately involved in a war with Indonesia. New policies have resulted in workers from that country to be expelled in mass and Jakarta declares war. Fighting is bitter especially at sea and around Darwin where the Indonesians have landed troops but the Oceanian forces achieve success, helped by a Malaysian offensive on Borneo and by the acquisition of Chakri Naruebet (renamed Vampire). Defeated, the government in Jakarta falls and, replaced by one favorable to Canberra, signs the peace as parts of the army revolt.