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World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3 and also commonly referred to as the War To Truly End All Wars, the Great War or Doomsday, was a global conflict that took place mainly in the first two months of 2000. It was fought primarily between the military alliances and the , although other countries also allied themselves with the two blocs. The third world war was the deadliest war in human history, with estimates believing the number of casulties to be at least four hundred million, but many sources believe the number to be even higher. The war was a mixture of traditional conventional warfare and the usage of nuclear weapons, which is what defined the catastrophic nature of the conflict.
It is generally accepted by most historians that the war began as a result of catastrophic computer malfunctions that triggered the launch of nuclear weapons from to the , striking major cities across the west coast such as , and other major cities. As a result, the United States and the NATO alliance declared war on the CSTO and beginning a large-scale war in Europe combined with nuclear strikes. The serious computer bug also triggered 's nuclear arsenal, striking , , and , further escalating the war as and entered the war against their enemies.
Nuclear weapons continued to be launched, as kept going, with CSTO forces falling back due to severe radiation and fallout, allowing NATO forces to overrun the remaining forces on the frontlines, fully capturing Belarusian and Ukrainian territory. However, while the war kept going, chaos ensued in Central and Western Europe, as major cities such as and had been nuked, with the governments either relocating to a smaller and safer town, like , or just collapsing entirely, like and the . Meanwhile, the United States government had relocated its base to Atlanta, but after an unexpected Russian nuclear missile struck the city, and most of the government perished, putting the American government into chaos, with the remaining surviving ministers then deciding to dissolve the United States on 5 January 2000. However, due to lack of proper communication between the American soldiers and the American continent, fighting continued.
, the , had been caught in the blast caused by a nuclear strike on as government forces were departing the city and moving towards , resulting in him having terrible radiation sickness that caused him to die on 10 January, putting the government into terrible chaos, as took full power, establishing a military dictatorship. However, Russia at the same time was also fighting the , in which thanks to the war was going successfully for the rebels. This inspired a bunch of other revolts within Russia, and after Sergeyev died after a nuclear strike on Syktyvkar, resulting in the government ministers who had exited the city just before the strike declaring the Russian Federation dismantled on 16 January, not knowing that the United States had also been dissolved a few days prior.
The war slowly came to a de-facto end in Asia as many revolts and separatist movements took place within the collapsing China, resulting in China signing an armistice with remaining Allied forces and exiting the war. The Indian and Pakistani forces, after hearing the news of their governments also dissolving, agreed to peace on 29 January. Eventually, after fallout and nuclear radiation fully settling in Eastern Europe, the remaining NATO and CSTO forces agreed to an armistice on 2 February, de-facto ending the Third World War, although de-jure the war wouldn't end until the signing of the in 2020, which fully concluded the Third World War.
Historians generally agree that World War III resulted in no victors but only worldwide destruction, with only a few pre-Doomsday nations retaining their governments. The war completely changed the world, bringing Earth into what experts call the "", where many more people would die of untreated diseases and injuries, many criminal gangs fighting in the radioactive streets of the nuked cities, and new nations forming out of the ashes of their predecessors.
==Background and prelude==
===Cold War===
In the aftermath of , the United States and the emerged as geopolitical superpowers, having influence over a new world. With the Soviet Union gaining a large sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, the United States under was worried about the potential expansion of communism, so in 1947 the was adopted, fully beginning the . 
The first large-scale proxy war fought between the two superpowers was in - since 1945, the Korean peninsula had been divided into two occupation zones, and after failed attempts to unite the two zones into a singular nation, two countries emerged - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. In 1950, with Soviet support, North Korea launched an invasion of South Korea, almost unifying the peninsula before U.S. forces arrived and pushed back the invading North Korean forces, until China intervened and pushed back the American troops, before eventually agreeing to a ceasefire that lasted until 2022.
Many proxy wars were fought throughout the Cold War, including the , the and the , as the Soviet Union and the United States fought for geopolitical dominance. From the 1960s to the 1970s, a period of détente took place, as tensions were scaled down between the two powers. However, when the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, tensions rose again, as the United States sent aid to the Afghan mujahideen. Under the leadership of from 1985 to 1991, the Cold War gradually came to an end, as the Eastern bloc replaced their communist governments with democratically elected ones. On 26 December 1991, after the secession of all Soviet republics, the Soviet Union was declared dissolved, with the Russian Federation being recognised as its legal successor.
===Post-Soviet conflicts and the Russo-Ukrainian War===
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many disputes that had existed since the late 1980s escalated into all-out conflict. The in escalated into war as Russia sent troops to assist Transnistria against , which resulted in Transnistria gaining de-facto independence from Moldova. 
Separatist movements also broke out in , with and proclaimed independence from the nation. After brief conflicts in 1992, no major fighting took place between 1992 and 2008, when Russia broke off diplomatic relations with Georgia and , resulting in the full de-facto independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. between and over the disputed region of has also been ongoing since the late 1980s.
In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a growing desire for sovereignty emerged in Chechnya, which resulted in the proclamation of the independent Chechen Republic, triggering the began as Russia launched a military intervention to suppress the rebelling republic. The war resulted in significant casualties and destruction, with both sides engaging in intense combat and human rights abuses. Following a brief period of de-facto independence, the erupted when Chechen militants launched incursions into neighboring regions. The conflict was marked by brutal urban warfare, terrorist attacks, and widespread human rights violations. By the outbreak of the Third World War, Russian and Chechen forces were still fighting each other.
==Course of the war==
===First nuclear strikes===
In numerous Pacific countries, a widespread computer bug wreaked havoc on the electricity and technological infrastructure, presumably stemming from the transition from 1999 to the new year, 2000. This glitch had far-reaching consequences, leading to a near-total collapse of the economies in these nations. As the bug infiltrated critical systems, transactions became impossible to conduct, and banks, heavily reliant on computer systems, found themselves on the verge of collapse.
Simultaneously, an alarming incident unfolded in the remote city of , located in Russia's Far East. Unbeknownst to the world, a series of nuclear missiles were launched from this military installation, taking aim at major cities along the west coast of the United States at around 8:30 am (UTC-8), including Los Angeles, Seattle and other cities in the west coast. Around two million of people were killed in the initial blasts, with millions more suffering severe injuries and dying from fallout and nuclear radiation surrounding the cities.
Around 8:10 am (UTC-8), twenty minutes prior to the landing of the missiles, the US military emergency alarms went off, resulting in the Armed Forces positioning its readiness at DEFCON 2, awaiting a response from Bill Clinton. The President was immediately rushed to the upon hearing of the incoming strikes on the west coast, and had a conversation with his advisers and ministers in the Situation Room. After having heard news of Pacific nations suffering major blackouts and system failures, both Clinton and his cabinet came to a conclusion that it was part of Russia's plan for war, and consequently justified a response. Clinton authorised nuclear retaliation, resulting in the military launching 50 nuclear missiles towards eastern Russia to decimate its military capabilities while Clinton contacted , and other NATO member leaders, warning them that war with Russia and the CSTO had begun. All member states within an hour of the attacks declared war on the CSTO, properly beginning the Third World War.
===First two weeks of the European Front===
Russian president Vladimir Putin, having heard of the crisis and subsequent declarations of war by NATO, immediately authorised the further use of nuclear strikes on major NATO cities while preparing the CSTO Armed Forces for a potential attack by NATO troops. Minutes later, Putin made a speech to the nation, blaming the United States for starting the conflict in the first place by allegedly causing a technological crisis in the Pacific nations and hacking Russian computers to strike the western US as justification for "American colonisation of Russia", and that Russia and its allies must ultimately "halt the American war machine from creating an empire of its own". , considering itself a Russian ally, declared war on NATO, placing itself as an enemy nation of the United States and the military alliance.
After being placed on high alert an hour prior, a massive offensive was launched by NATO forces, immediately taking large swaths of Belarusian and Ukrainian territory due to their militaries not being prepared for such a conflict. However, at the same time, following Putin's orders, missiles from western Russia and Belarus started striking major cities in NATO, including , Paris, Berlin, and . Tens of millions were killed in total just by the blasts of the nuclear attacks, with further chaos taking place. The British and French governments immediately collapsed following the attacks on their capitals, with their main ministers being unable to properly evacuate the cities.
===Beginning of the Asian war===
==Aftermath==
 
Category:World War III
Category:2000: Y2K