World War III Rising from the ashes of the Eugenics Wars of the mid - 1990s , the era of World War III was a period of global conflict on Earth that eventually escalated into a nuclear cataclysm and genocidal war over issues including genetic manipulation and Human genome enhancement . World War III itself ultimately lasted from 2026 through 2053 , and resulted in the death of some six hundred million Humans . By that time , many of the planet ' s major cities and governments had been destroyed . ( ; ; ) Prior to the war , in 1968 , when a time - displaced Captain James T . Kirk was trying to reason on whether or not he should trust Gary Seven to stop a nuclear weapon , Seven warned Kirk that if he didn ' t allow Seven to stop the weapon , World War III would commence then . ( ) The Eugenics Wars themselves were also , at times , referred to as World War III . ( ) History . World War III was fought in an era where various factions were known to control their military with narcotic s . ( ) Among the parties involved was the Eastern Coalition ( also referred to as " the ECON " ) , whose direct attacks included those against the United States of America . ( ) In 2026 , at the start of the war , Colonel Phillip Green led a faction of eco - terrorists that was responsible for the loss of thirty - seven million lives . ( ; ) Colonel Green ' s activities during the war were often cited as " genocidal " and treacherous . He and his troops personally killed hundreds of thousands of individuals affected with radiation sickness and other " impurities , " using as a rationale that it was necessary in order to prevent their passing on such traits to later generations . ( ) He was notorious into the 23rd century for striking at his enemies in the midst of negotiating with them . ( ) Despite an escalating and ongoing global conflict , manned space exploration continued at least into the 2030 s , for example the " Ares IV " mission to Mars in 2032 and the launch of the " Charybdis " in 2037 , Humanity ' s first mission to leave the Sol system . ( ; ) The New United Nations was also founded during these early years of World War III , and was among the first attempts to rebuild Humanity during this era ; for instance , by 2036 , it had declared that no Human being would be held accountable " for the crimes of their race or forebearers . " But not everyone heeded or respected this decree and some parts of the world later " abolished all United Earth nonsense . " ( ) Humanity eventually turned over a new leaf when a few courageous people began to realize they could make a difference . ( ) The war culminated circa 2053 , when several of Earth ' s governments met in San Francisco to declare a cease - fire , effectively ending the war . ( ) As a result of this world war , like the two before it , whole generations were nearly wiped out . ( ) The use of nuclear weapon s engulfed Earth with an immense dust cloud , resulting in numerous nuclear winter s . ( ) When it was over , Earth ' s atmosphere was irradiated with a detectably heightened amount of radioactive isotope s . ( ) Although they were aware of it , the Vulcan s did not intervene during the course of World War III , as they perceived it as a local problem they should not get entangled with . ( ) Three years later , Colonel Green gave an impassioned speech , asking for the impure to once again be purged from society . ( ) In 2063 , a short time after Earth emerged from this global war , First Contact was made with the Vulcans , leading to increased recovery from the war for parts of the world . ( ) Recovery from the war was ongoing for the following decade , and was impeded by the 2069 onset of the first of the Earth - Kzin Wars , prompted when a sublight Kzinti invasion force arrived in the Sol system . The war was fought with what sublight ships were available , as major construction of warp - capable starships had barely begun , and ended when the first starships were dispatched to the Kzinti homeworld . ( ) When news of the Vulcan contact reached , some Vulcans , including V ' Lar , were fascinated by Humanity , but also worried , believing the idea that Humans had deemed themselves ready to join the interstellar community , so soon after the war , seemed premature . ( ) Indeed , for several years after first contact , various parts of Earth were still affected by what became known as the " post - atomic horror . " In 2079 , one such culture reverted to a state of near - barbarism that followed the credo " kill all the lawyers , " and " guilty until proven innocent . " ( ) Due to these and other factors , parts of Earth continued to be in – as Captain Jean - Luc Picard put it in 2365 – " chaos " well into the early 22nd century . ( ) The post - atomic horror gave way to the stirrings of new attempts at establishing various unified world alliances , including the European Hegemony in 2123 . ( ) These alliances were eventually instrumental in the establishment of the United Earth Government in 2150 . ( ) By the early 2100s – less than two generations after the post - atomic horror – Humanity was finally able to eliminate most if not all poverty , disease , war , and hunger . Along with it , a lot of other things disappeared from Humanity , including hopelessness , despair , and cruelty . ( ; ; ) The legacy of the war was felt in many ways during the hundred years after its conclusion . It was the subject of many films during that time and , in 2153 , one of these epics won a majority of awards . ( ) In the early 22nd century , the philosophy of Neo - Transcendentalism was founded by Liam Dieghan ; he advocated " a return to a simpler life " in response to the war ' s carnage . ( ) The war additionally influenced a powerful xenophobic movement of mid - 22nd century Earth known as Terra Prime . Led by John Frederick Paxton , the organization drew inspiration from the war through adoption of Colonel Green ' s goals and teachings concerning a " pure " Human race . It also blamed the Vulcans for not stopping the war with their superior technology , and thereby saving the lives of hundreds of millions of people . This blame was then channeled into a general distrust of all non - Humans . ( ) In 2372 , Admiral Leyton described the threat of the Founder s of the Dominion infiltrating Earth and its facilities as being " maybe the greatest danger it ' s faced since the last world war . " ( ) Appendices . Background information . During development of , World War III was alluded to as a potential result of the Sino - Western trouble . Although not referred to in the final draft of the script ( dated ) , the war was addressed by NBC executive Stanley Robertson in a letter he wrote about the first revised final draft of the teleplay and sent to Gene Roddenberry on 17 May 1966 . In that letter , Robertson stated , " " As we discussed , a suggestion would be that on Page 48 of this draft , it be made pointedly clear that there was no ' World War III ' between the Sino - Western powers . Let ' s keep emphasizing with our writers , as we know you have been , that this is a topic we ' d like to avoid . " " In the second revised final draft of the script ( dated 20 May 1966 ) and a deleted scene from " The Corbomite Maneuver " , World War III was referred to as having been averted , in the outcome of the Sino - Western trouble . ( " Inside the Roddenberry Vault , Part I " , " " special features ) In , following Kira Nerys and Miles O ' Brien ' s visit to San Francisco during an alternate 2048 ( where the Bell Riots had not occurred ) , O ' Brien noted that " that " was " " not the mid - 21st century that [ he ] had read about in school , " " adding , " " Earth history had its rough patches , but never " that " rough . " " It might be interesting to know what O ' Brien saw that was more " rough " than a nuclear war responsible for six hundred million casualties . Like the Earth - Romulan War , very few details have been presented in " Star Trek " on World War III . In , this event received a Trekker ' s Choice Award for the ' ' Award , as being " the favorite historical moment only alluded to in " Star Trek " . " According to the " " auction catalog , during the middle of ENT Season 4 , plans were in place for an episode to feature Colonel Green . It was planned to link Q ' s World War III uniform to the colonel by having the emblem on Q ' s hood appear on flags representing Green . Such a flag was created for , and seen in the briefing room aboard the . When " Enterprise " was canceled , plans for the episode fell through and all that remains of the link between Q ' s uniform and Colonel Green is the flag seen in the mirror universe . In an early script of , upon seeing Beverly Crusher ' s new more advanced scanner , a doctor wondered if it was Japanese .