[Raellus]

I'm currently reading a history the Vikings (Children of Ash and Yew) and just started the chapter on slavery. The Vikings were notorious slavers.

Just prior to the dawn of the "Viking Age", during the middle of the 6th century A.D., there was a "nuclear winter" event believed to have been caused by 2-3 massive volcanic eruptions occurring within a few years of one another. This might have inspired the mythical Fimbulwinter- the "Mighty Winter" preceding the Armageddon-like Ragnarok of Norse mythology.

To make a long story short, IRL there was a pretty significant die-off in Scandanavia (50% of the total population, perhaps more) mostly due to crop failures caused by several years of reduced sunlight and lower average temperatures caused by huge quantities of volcanic particulates lingering in the upper atmosphere (an estimated 87 cubic kilometers!). This die-off, greater than that caused by the Black Death and the 30 Years War combined (!), led to the collapse of most social institutions in Scandanavia, resulting in, or greatly exacerbating, a period of warlordism, in which strongmen preyed on the weak and/or fought amongst each other for scarce resources. Slavery was almost certainly practiced in Scandanavia before the 6th century A.D., but it really picked up in the years immediately following the "Fimbulwinter" period.

It's not hard to extrapolate parallels between the "Fimbulwinter" and warlordism of 6th century A.D. northern Europe and a literal nuclear winter affecting early 2000s Europe.

From a purely economic standpoint, when there is high demand for labor, and low supply thereof due to few willing providers, there's an incentive for slavery.

Historically, slavery has been fairly common in pre-industrial societies requiring a lot of manual labor. After the TDM, most of the world would have been flung back into pre-industrial levels of manufacturing, construction, and agricultural technology. Labor intensive undertakings such as large-scale farming, fortification-building, rubble-clearing and settlement reconstruction would all require large quantities of labor. With a shortage of willing workers due to the effects of WWIII, there would be an economic incentive for slavery. Roving bands of armed men- of which there would be plenty by the winter of 2000-2001 could make a living mounting slave-taking raids and trading their chattel to rebounding polities (like Krakow, for example). They would also probably keep some slaves themselves, to perform various camp duties, act as porters, etc.

I think a lot depends on how dog-eat-dog one wants their T2kU to be.

-