World War III (PresidentOfYes12)

World War III was an international military conflict that took place in every continent in the world, with the exception of Oceania. The conflict featured the first usage of nuclear warfare between various nations possessing nuclear weapons, and the second usage of nuclear weapons in warfare, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With an estimated death toll of about 24 million, with an undetermined amount of injuries (almost definitely above 100 million), it is regarded as one of the deadliest wars in human history, deadlier then World War I, but less deadly then World War II.
Tensions prior to the outbreak of armed conflict had existed for nearly 2 decades. The main issue that led to tensions was the expansion of NATO throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, to include various Central and Eastern European nations, many former Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact communist member states. The Russian Federation, the main successor state to the Soviet Union, and its leader, Vladimir Putin, was adamantly opposed to the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), despite NATO showing no interest in being a rival of Russia. Russia was so opposed to NATO's expansion that it invaded two neighboring countries that intended to join- Georgia, in 2008, and Ukraine, from 2014 to 2023. Contrary to Russia's intentions, its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine made nations like Finland (which bordered Russia) and Sweden more eager to join NATO. Russia's invasion of Ukraine ended in a stalemate in 2023, although, at the time of the conflicts end, Ukraine was pushing Russia back (albeit slowly). As NATO began to enlarge even further, Russia and NATO were locked in a proxy conflict, in which, in 2025, Russia joined forces with China to merge the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to form the Eurasian Cooperation Organization (ECO), an economic-military alliance consisting of Russia and China's allies. NATO attempted no options to merge its alliance with other alliances, but rather began a process of setting up other pro-NATO alliances across Africa, the America's, and the Middle East. The launch of two medium class rockets, from North Korea, in December 2025 and January 2026, and China launching a similar rocket in February 2026, led to a buildup in tensions between the two rivals.
Generally considered to be the beginning of the war was the 2027 New Year's offensive against Taiwan, a PATO (PAcific Treaty Organization) member. The offensive was launched by the PLA (People's Liberation Army) and various KPA (Chinese Peoples Army) divisions that were arrayed against PATO in the southwestern part of the People's Republic of China. The entirety of PATO declared war on China, while other Western nations made efforts (in vain) to keep the war limited to Asia. However, continued attacks on non-PATO members, in particular the Chinese aerial assault on Guam, resulted in the introduction of the United States to the war in East Asia. The invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and the invocation of Article 4 of the Treaty on the Establishment of ECO, would result in the expansion of the war from East Asia to all of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Taiwan would fall after a harsh 9 months of fighting in September of 2027, although intense holdouts of guerrilla resistance would continue throughout Chinese occupation. Along the front of the Indian subcontinent, China would be unable to capitulate India, only occupying the northern and northwestern portions of the country. Myanmar would see continued democratic resistance to its military junta escalate into a new theater of the war, as democratic resistance pledged allegiance to, and obtained assistance from, western-aligned organizations such as NATO and PATO. By 2028, ECO forces had made the most progress in Indochina, were doing moderately well in other portions of Asia, were experiencing a deadly stalemate in the Middle East, and were failing in Europe and Africa.
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