The Collapse of the United States

The Collapse was an event that occurred in the United States of America between the years 1996 and 2008.Countdown to the Dark Future (#128-#134)
==Overview==
Following the Crash of '94, millions of Americans who lived on pensions and investments lost their life savings, becoming homeless or were forced to move in with relatives, with only a lucky few were being able to re-enter the work force.
Many died from either violence or exposure from living on the streets. Sometimes it was treachery from within; Grandma's silver dining set could buy a grandson a lot of chemical excursions from life's pain. Some families pulled together or were forced into clan-like styles of living. Even homeless, some managed to make it, but the death toll was in the millions.
Both the World Bank and Stock Exchange were gone, which meant the United States government had no one from whom to borrow money. Federal bonds were cashed in at a rate so high, the government could barely print money fast enough. This made the dollar plummet in value and accelerated the process.
Assets of the executive branch, especially the military reserves, were committed in growing numbers in a Herculean struggle to control the violence spreading like wildfire across America. However, the struggle was futile as the unrest was not limited to "less fortunate" areas and neighborhoods, and could not be isolated. Let it not be said that the men and women who tried to save America did not fight valiantly. They may have saved millions of lives, but in the end, it just wasn't enough.
By the late 20th century, corporate exploitation and shortsighted policies had degraded environmental conditions within America and the rest of the globe. Acid rain and changing climates made it harder to grow crops, keep soil fertile, and irrigate effectively. These culminated in the 1998 dustbowls of the Midwest destroys a large amount of crops. Many farms go out of business. By 2000, the previously profitable fruit-growing areas of California, Texas, and Florida were economic wastelands.
Additionally in 1997 The Mideast Meltdown occurs - Nuclear exchange renders most of the Middle East inhospitable. Global fuel supplies are cut off.
The 1997 toxic spill wiped out salmon in the Pacific Northwest, crippling the local economy.
==Martial Law==
The military as a whole was not committed until August of '96. In the afternoon of Saturday, August 17, president James Richard Allen was assassinated during a campaign stop in California. Vice President Harold Harrison Hunt subsequently became the next president of the United States, gaining free reign to advance the plans of the Gang of Four.
The Collapse left millions of citizens homeless and caused any government outside of Washington, D.C. to decimate. The United States Military Forces were ordered to return to home soil to maintain order during this chaotic time and establish Martial Law. The Martial Law introduced a shoot-on-sight curfew in many major cities such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and led to an incident known as the "Houston Incident," where over 2,000 citizens were slaughtered by artillery bombardments executed by the military under order of the Gang of Four.
The streets of many cities across the United States were covertly regulated by many federal forces, such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), the Federal Prison system, and paramilitary services secretly provided by several Megacorporations. Unidentifiable due to their lack of uniforms or badges, they contributed heavily to the thought that the United States government had turned into a gang of thugs, causing local governments and their allies to protest, then resist federal invasions with counterattacks that caused State Militias and National Guard details to face the paramilitary groups. The imposed Martial Law would frequently be interrupted due to other major events in the following years.
As the conflict escalated, more and more states began to consider leaving the union. The process began with New York and Texas, which refused to pay taxes to Washington as part of economic strikes. The rebellion then took the form of economic blockades, with the states, protesting against the federal government, blocking the two-way flow of goods at their borders. The impasse was violently broken when a para-militarized police unit, subordinate to Gang of Four, took control of San Francisco, leading to a regular battle in the streets between residents and federal forces. The governor called on the National Guard for help, which sided with the city in the dispute. In response, paramilitary forces, operating under the auspices of the federal government, tried to capture the state capital, Sacramento. California then announced that the Washington administration henceforth no longer had authority over the state and officially withdrew from the union.
The United States Armed Forces, which had long regretted supporting the actions of the Gang of Four, refused to participate in the wars of succession, even as California authorities blew up the passes connecting the state with northern Nevada and Arizona. At this stage, more states rejected the authority of the federal government and declared themselves "Free States." The armed forces also refused the order of taking back the country given by the Gang of Four, causing the Free States to remain free.
The Gang of Four, struggling to maintain popularity with and power over the American people, had settled on a successful war as the best and quickest plan to bolster their sagging control. One January 15th, 2003, the Second Central American War took place. The US invaded Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The conflict was a complete disaster which cost thousands of American lives.
In 2003 WNS Media Tesla Johanneson exposed secret NSA transcripts of the First Central American War revealing "The Gang of Four" involvement. In response to this heavily armed mobs stormed the Capitol, supported by units of the military who had had enough and mercs from both U.S. and EuroTheatre megacorps. Members of "The Gang of Four" fled, but they were hunted down. Some managed to escape but others were killed. Such was the fate of President Hunt, who was run to ground at the edge of the Florida swamps and set afire by a cheering mob. With the Speaker of the House in the hospital and the three nearest in succession refusing the job, the position of President fell to Secretary of Defense, John Seward. The fall of "The Gang of Four" paved the way for the introduction of much-needed reforms.
==The End of the Martial Law==
Tesla Johanneson was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt by NSA operatives in 2004 causing the U.S. to forego a planned return to civilian government and extend martial law for another four years.
Efforts at restoring democratic rule were halted when on November 5, 2005, presidential appointee Henry Jacobi was assassinated. Evidence strongly pointed to Mantoga, Inc. involvement and instigation. On November 17, 2005, the corporation was given four hours to completely leave the United States, and was ultimately destroyed by the United States military in Operation Big Stick after they refused. The event later came to be known as the Mantoga Incident.
The collapse ended for some in 2008 after the first election, but the shock of the global Crash and the rise of corporate power caused global governments and the US government to lose their authority with each passing day. It culminated in the outbreak of the Fourth Corporate War in 2021, after which the Network, the U.S. and Japanese governments and international trade collapsed and the world had to truly rebuild from scratch.
==References==
Category:Cyberpunk setting
fr:L'Effondrement
pl:Krach i Upadek