Post - atomic horror The term post - atomic horror was used by future Earth historian s to refer to the global turmoil which resulted after the end of the Third World War in 2053 . Because the war was a nuclear exchange , large populations of Human s were bomb ed out of existence , and the survivors were placed in jeopardy by radioactivity , supply shortages , and the collapse of most of the major governments . In the mid - 2050s , Colonel Phillip Green ordered the euthanasia of hundreds of thousands of radiation - sickness stricken Humans so they wouldn ' t pass on mutations to future generations . Green outlined his rationale by speaking to a crowd about how they must " reject the impure and cast it out . " ( ) During the 2060s Zefram Cochrane lived in Bozeman , Montana where he and his team of engineer s began developing the warp drive and finally built Earth ' s first warp ship , the " Phoenix " . The ship drew the attention of the Vulcan ship " T ' Plana - Hath " passing near Earth . The Vulcan ship landed in Montana , thereby making first contact with humans , and opening a new era for the whole of mankind leading to increased recovery from the war for parts of the world . ( ) This event is generally referred to as the defining moment in Human history , eventually paving the way for a unified world government . ( ; ) However the ' horror ' would still prevail for some years to come . When news of this event 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 . ( ) By 2079 , the New United Nations had ceased to exist , one such culture reverted to a state of near - barbarism that followed the credo " [ Kill ] all the lawyers , " and " [ Guilty ] until proven innocent " and martial law was still in effect in some areas of the world . ( ) 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 . ( ) Eventually , motivated by the new interstellar reality beginning with the first contact , by the early 2100s – less than two generations of 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 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 2151 Earth ' s last holdouts agreed to join United Earth paving the way later for the United Federation of Planets . In 2364 , Q showed the crew of the a barbaric court of the year 2079 , complete with drugged soldiers , a crowd of rag - tag mutant s and harsh judge s handing down summary execution s . ( ) Q returned Captain Picard to the court seven years later after the Q Continuum again tested Humanity with the threat of complete annihilation from an anti - time eruption . ( )