Resource Wars

The Resource Wars is an umbrella term referring to over 25 years of conflicts from the war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East in April 2052 to the Sino-American War and the Great War on October 23, 2077. Some of the conflicts included the annexation of Canada by the United States and the Chinese invasion of Anchorage, Alaska.
==Background==
The roots of the Resource Wars lie in a globally unsustainable economy that heavily relied on petroleum and uranium.Fallout intro: "In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium. For these resources, China would invade Alaska, the US would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering nation-states, bent on controlling the last remaining resources on Earth." The former provided not just fuel for vehicles (gasoline, diesel, and other forms of refined fuel), but also plastics, fertilizers, medicine, and countless other applications. The latter was an essential ingredient for nuclear fission, which provided a substantial amount of electricity worldwide. When demand outstripped supply, the situation started to deteriorate rapidly, leading to a resurgence of nationalism and protectionism. The United Nations soon proved powerless to stop hostilities, as the United States invaded Mexico in 2051, after a string of economic sanctions destabilized the country. Citing political instability and pollution as a threat to national security, the United States' intervention ensured that petroleum would continue making its way north, at Mexico's expense.Fallout Bible 0: "2051 Seeking to protect business interests and their oil supply, the United States begins to exert increasing pressure on Mexico, citing the political instability and pollution stemming from Mexico as a threat to the United States. Various economic sanctions serve to destabilize Mexico, and the United States military enters Mexico to keep the oil refineries running and making sure oil and fuel continue to make their way north across the border... at Mexico's expense."
In hindsight, this was the first in a chain of events that engulfed the world in war. Ironically, it did little to prop up the economy of the United States, with the energy crisis hitting the nation hard, entering the popular consciousness after a television documentary revealed withered husks of Texas oil fields sitting idly, with no oil to pump.Fallout Bible 0: "2052 A television documentary into the withered husk of the Texas oil fields brings the oil shortage into the American households, and reveals how deep the energy crisis runs."
==Conflicts==
===Euro-Middle Eastern War===
The European Commonwealth followed the United States' example when it replied to price hikes by oil exporters in the Middle East with military action. Long dependent on oil imports, European military units deployed to the Middle East in April 2052, starting an almost decade-long war for control over the region's oil deposits. The war caused oil prices to skyrocket, bankrupting many smaller nations, and caused the United Nations to implode just three months after the European Commonwealth declared war on the Middle East.Fallout Bible 0: "2052 April: The Resource Wars begin. Many smaller nations go bankrupt, and Europe, dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, responds to the Middle East's rising oil prices with military action. The long drawn-out war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East begins."Fallout Bible 0: "2052 May–July: The United Nations, already suffering, begins to collapse. In a series of heated debates, many nations withdraw from the organization as the UN tries to keep the peace. At the end of July, the United Nations is disbanded."
The war would rage on for the next years, with nuclear exchanges that occurred in the Middle East after Tel Aviv's destruction in December 2053 provoking a global nuclear scare and raising fears of global thermonuclear war. The United States government initiated Project Safehouse in order to construct great underground Vaults to protect its population, although the project was rife with embezzlement, corruption, and mismanagement, starting with the method of financing them (junk bonds) and ending with the number of Vaults constructed (just 122, capable of protecting less than a tenth of a percent of the United States' government).Fallout Bible 0: "Basically, the Vaults were never intended to save the population of the United States. With a population of almost 400 million by 2077, the U.S. would need nearly 400,000 Vaults the size of Vault 13, and Vault-Tec was commissioned to build only 122 such Vaults. The real reason for these Vaults was to study pre-selected segments of the population to see how they react to the stresses of isolationism and how successfully they re-colonize after the Vault opens."
The War would come to an end in 2060 when the Middle Eastern oil fields ran dry.Fallout Bible 0: "2060: The Euro-Middle Eastern War ends as the oil fields in the Middle East run dry... there is no longer a goal in the conflict, and both sides are reduced almost to ruin." Both sides were reduced to ruin, with the Commonwealth fragmenting into bickering nation-states, fighting over what resources remained within its reach.
=== Escalation ===
The end of the war did little to stabilize the international situation. Gripped by the resource crisis and the New Plague, the United States closed down its borders in 2052 and started taking ever more desperate steps to prop up its economy, as well as pursuing numerous promising technologies that could provide a solution to the problem, including advanced robotics (artificial intelligence such as ZAX, used to crunch numbers and process data by the Department of Energy after it was created by Vault-Tec Corporation),Fallout Bible 0: "2054: ZAX 1.0 goes on-line, developed by Vault-Tec. Initially a prototype of some of the systems designed to govern the vaults, it is given to the government to help the Department of Energy collect resource data. Within a year, it is taken by the military for plague and tactical research; one version, ZAX 1.2 is constructed for West Tek (below)." alternative propulsion systems (with REPCONN Aerospace, Mass Fusion, and Chryslus Motors being three examples), and nuclear fusion.Fallout Bible 0: "2060: Traffic on the streets of the world stops moving. Fuel becomes too precious to waste on automobiles, so alternatives are explored - electric and fusion cars begin to be manufactured, but factories can only make limited amounts. Pressure on fusion research increases."
The military enjoyed extensive funding throughout the period, used as a sword and shield to protect American resources. In 2059, the Anchorage Front Line was established to protect Alaska against foreign invasion, with the blue water port and its surrounding region rightfully expected to become a battlefield in any future conflict, due to its importance in exporting oil.Fallout Bible 0: "2059 The Anchorage Front Line is established, as the United States increases its military presence in Alaska to protect its oil interests. The Anchorage Front Line causes tensions in the United States and Canada, as the United States attempts to pressure Canada into allowing American military units to guard the Alaskan pipeline." The increase in military presence in Alaska caused rising tensions with Canada, with the United States demanding the right to station troops on Canadian soil to provide protection for the Trans-Alaskan pipeline, starting the long erosion of Canadian sovereignty that would lead to its annexation.Capitol Post terminal entries; Capital Post Top Stories -- June 3, 2072, U.S. to Annex Canada! 
By 2060, the situation was dire. Traffic worldwide ground to a halt, with petroleum becoming too precious to waste on personal automobiles. Alternatives such as electric and fission-based cars appear on the market, but in limited amounts due to the ongoing crisis. Fusion research accelerated, though with no apparent solution in sight.Fallout Bible 0: "2060 Traffic on the streets of the world stops moving. Fuel becomes too precious to waste on automobiles, so alternatives are explored - electric and fusion cars begin to be manufactured, but factories can only make limited amounts. Pressure on fusion research increases." The only consolation prize was that by 2063, most vaults would be complete, with drills starting.Fallout Bible 0: "2063 August The construction of most Vaults completed, except for Vault 13, whose construction finally gets off the ground... heralding a development cycle that seems plagued with problems. Drills begin in the other cities with completed Vaults, but the increasing frequency of the drills has a "cry wolf" effect, and the turnouts for drills trickle off as the years go on."
===Sino-American War===
Nuclear fusion would finally appear in 2066, as an offshoot of power armor research projects initiated by the United States military in August 2065. With generous funding and near-limitless resources, the first crude fusion cell would be unveiled to the world shortly after the United States declared that it would not trade fossil fuels with any foreign nation. The great communist power was heavily dependent on fossil fuels and oil exports from America could have alleviated its energy crisis, preventing its collapse.Fallout Bible 0: "2066 Spring: As the oil resources dry up across the globe, China's fossil fuel dependency causes an energy crisis in the nation. China, bordering on collapse, becomes more aggressive in its trade talks with the United States. Unwilling to export oil to China, talks between the United States and China break down."
As the United States began incorporating fusion power into its infrastructure and economy, the desperate Chinese leadership decided to play everything on one card: Instead of accepting collapse, they decided to invade Alaska and seize the United States' oil reserves by force. In December 2066, China invaded Alaska, turning the Anchorage Front Line into a true battleground. Reeling from the blows, the United States was unable to respond in kind. Canadian reluctance to permit U.S. military units to cross its soil and airspace hampered the ability to reinforce their front line units. Canada eventually backed down, setting the stage for its annexation ten years down the road.Fallout Bible 0: "2066 Winter: As a sign of increasing tension between the two countries, Canada proves reluctant to allow American troops on Canadian soil or allow American planes to fly over Canadian airspace. The United States and Canadian tensions rise, but Canada eventually backs down, and US troops pass through Canada. This sets the stage for the Canadian annexation in 2076."
To bolster its units, the military ordered its defense contractors to produce any working power armor. West Tek was the first to achieve success, with the first suit of T-45 power armor deploying to the front in 2067. The stopgap model lacked mobility, but was capable of carrying heavy weapons into combat as small arms, greatly increasing the firepower of a single soldier. China rushed to create its own versions, but was many years behind the United States.Fallout Bible 0: "2067 The first suit of Power Armor is deployed in Alaska. While lacking the full mobility of future versions, this Power Armor is incredibly effective against Chinese tanks and infantry. Its ability to carry heavy ordinance becomes key in various localized conflicts, and it has the power to destroy entire towns without endangering the wearer. China rushes to create its own versions, but they are many years behind the United States."
However, the power armor did not become the trump card the U.S. hoped for, and the war would degenerate into a decade-long war of attrition, plagued by inclement warfare, trench warfare, and countless atrocities on both sides of the conflict, up to and including the use of biological weapons.Fallout Bible 0: "2073 Sept 15: As China becomes increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project (PVP) is officially formed and plans are made to begin experiments at the West Tek research facility in Southern California."Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.43:"A combination of inclement weather, constant American bombardment and trench warfare, and U.S. powered armor unit attacks sweeping through mainline China, the Chinese supply lines weakened and finally broke down completely. By the beginning of 2077, the city of Anchorage was finally liberated, the Chinese invaders eradicated, and the operation had been deemed a success."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles) Others became collateral damage in the titanic struggle, especially Canada: By 2069, it became Little America to many U.S. citizens, with its natural resources liberally exploited for the war effort with no compensation provided and protests going unheard.Fallout Bible 0: "2069 Canada begins to feel the pressure from the United States military as the US draws upon Canadian resources for the war effort. Vast stretches of timberland are destroyed, and other resources in Canada are stretched to the breaking point. Many Americans refer to Canada as Little America, and Canadian protests are unheard."
===Annexation===
Reduced to a colony of the American empire, Canada attempted to resist. By 2072, the rampant devastation of Canadian ecosystems culminated in rioting across Canada and attempted sabotage of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. The United States swiftly responded with military action, setting in motion the annexation of Canada. Over the next five years, Canada would become an occupied territory under military government, exploited for its resources and strategic location.
The aggressive use of biological weapons by China would also prompt a response from the United States, taking the form of the Pan-Immunity Virion project in 2073, meant to create a general immunizing agent against enemy biological weapons. The project would eventually lead to the creation of the Forced Evolutionary Virus, one of the most important mutagenic factors in the history of the world.
However, the most important element of the escalation came in 2074, when the United States invaded China, hoping to destabilize its war effort by opening a second front in Asia. However, long supply lines and adverse conditions on the mainland quickly end the hopes of American commanders of forcing a swift resolution to the conflict. Fighting in Alaska and Asia would bring no conclusion beyond mounting casualties for the next two years. The situation would steadily degenerate on fronts domestic and foreign, with civil rights eroding in the face of seemingly endless war. In 2076, the annexation of Canada would culminate in the total occupation of Canadian territories and open violence perpetrated against protestors and resistance fighters as American units swarmed across the nation.
The completion of the T-51 power armor that same year helped turn the tide of the war, with its superior performance and combat efficiency putting immense pressure on the Chinese forces, causing it to crumble on all fronts, with resources and supply lines from annexed nations stretched beyond the breaking point. However, the United States suffered from a deteriorating domestic situation, with food shortages leading to riots across the nation in August. The situation was further aggravated by the deteriorating labor situation, especially in Appalachia, where automation displaced thousands of workers, leaving them unable to support their families. The government and the military retaliated by declaring a state of martial law, turning the United States into a de facto dictatorship.
===Great War ===
The path to the Great War started in January 2077, with the completion of the Anchorage Reclamation on January 28. Troops were swiftly redeployed to China and across the nation to contain the riots and enforce the order. In other words, veterans of Alaska were sent into the fray once more or turned on the very citizens they were supposed to protect. Suffering from depleted manpower, the United States was forced to shutter many of its mainland bases, turning them into automated defense forts and sending their garrisons into the meat grinder in Asia. Desertions also mounted, particularly among troops sent to contain the riots. By March, the last President of the United States retreated from the White House, along with dozens of other future members, to a Poseidon Energy oil rig near San Francisco in order to prepare for the impending doom, and to create what would become known as the Enclave.Boston Bugle building terminal entries; Boston Bugle article terminal, Article 4
The society unraveled steadily, aided by the greed of the military-industrial complex. In Appalachia, already reeling from the widespread automation enforced by local companies, the heavy-handed behavior of Atomic Mining Services and Poseidon Energy led to violence between workers, corporate enforcers, and the National Guard. The Automation riots that engulfed much of West Virginia demanded the opportunity to work and were mercilessly crushed by a combination of National Guardsmen and private security, in a dark echo of the Coal Wars more than 150 years earlier. In Massachusetts, martial law,Massachusetts State House terminal entries; Terminal, Public Order food riots,Boston Bugle building terminal entries; Boston Bugle article terminal, Article 3 and paranoia plagued the area. The area around Washington, D.C. fared better, only having food riots to worry about.Capitol Post terminal entries; Capital Post Top Stories -- January 11, 2077, Food Riots Rile Feds
Finally, by October, it seemed to many that the United States had entered a war it could not win, with the Boston Bugle deeming the situation the "Atomic Ultimatum," citing that billions of dollars, millions of lives, and countless resources had not only been used but wasted, over the course of the last decade.Boston Bugle building terminal entries; Boston Bugle article terminal, Article 2 The riots coincided with the final offensive of the United States against China, which brought upon an end of the Resource Wars by way of total nuclear war.
==References==
Non-game
Category:Resource Wars conflicts
Category:United States Armed Forces conflicts
Category:People's Liberation Army conflicts
es:Guerras de Recursos
fr:Guerre des Ressources
pl:Wojny o surowce
pt:Resource Wars
ru:Войны за ресурсы
uk:Війни за ресурси
zh:資源戰爭