World War III

In the Rinnarverse, **World War III** is a future war waged for dominance between the four (or five) superpowers of Earth: America, China, Russia, and Arabia.

## History

See also: Rinnarverse timeline, World War III (19-canon)

### Prewar history

As America splits into two nations, the mighty nations of China, Russia, and Arabia competed to become its replacement as the global superpower. The five nations try to spread their influence via various means:

* American Federation - destabilising hostile countries for the sake of "democracy and human rights" (governments under its influence), militarism, conservative activist movements and propaganda against the other powers, military bases in foreign lands, Christian evangelism, customers' demands for more "family values" and "Christianity" in all forms of art, become the leader in a new conservative world order guided by Christianity and its own version of democracy (and later White nationalist authoritarianism)
	+ Among its allies include Visegrad, Japan, and some African nations (like Nigeria and Uganda).
	+ With the original homeland torn apart by civil war, some Feddians took control of several governments in South America. Others raided other nations to create their own bases, and still others sought to create an American empire to compete against the other superpowers.
* United States - supporting leftist, atheist, anarchist, and non-heterosexual activist movements instead of military force to bring more countries to submit to its influence; pop culture, entertainment, and its customers' demands for more "diversity" in all forms of art, some times even to poorer countries to spread its values; dislike of police forces; charity aid to poorer nations; attempts to rescue non-heterosexuals from persecution; become the leader in a new leftist world order guided by diversity and socialism
	+ Among its allies include the members of the European Union, Cuba, and some other African nations (like Rwanda and Burkina Faso).
	+ Some radical Ussians wanted to conquer the world, believing that they would achieve world peace with an iron fist. They used various historical atrocities as their reasons why they sought to dominate Earth under a single government.
* China - socialism, technology, foreign investment and projects (such as transport, science and manufacturing), customers' demands for a pro-Chinese viewpoint in nearly all entertainment and news, expansion at neighbours' expense, military expansion, become the leader in a new socialist world order
	+ Among its allies include Cuba, Venezuela, some Central Asian nations, and other Latin American and African nations (like the DPR Congo and Kenya).
* Russia - conservative and nationalist propaganda against the two Americas and Arabia, oil money, military expansion, militarism, become the guide in a new conservative world order under Orthodox Christianity
	+ Among its allies include Kazakhstan and Bulgaria.
* Arabia - Islamic evangelism and aid for poorer people, oil money, become the leader in a new conservative world order guided by a strict form of Islam
	+ Many of its allies include various Muslim nations, although some of its allies switched sides with India, Iran, or China. They include Malaysia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Sudan, Morocco, Bangladesh, and Iraq.

With the discovery of FTL travel, their conflict has spread to Mars and other new colonies throughout the Solar System and beyond. This also led to the Global Court replacing the United Nations as a stronger peacekeeping force, the Deportation Wars that left thousands of poorer people in the colonies of Mars, and the peoples of Earth getting more resources from their new space colonies.

Cloning has also become more popular among the superpowers as a quick way to grow their armies and create new colonies in the Galaxy, many of which reproduced and created their own nations and fleets among the stars. For example, the Nordic State's clones became the warlike fiefs of the West Galactics, while both Americas created their own clone nations that culminated in the racially-diverse American Galactic diaspora (who in turn were divided between the conservative Amecons and the hedonistic Amelios). Although there were many movements that opposed cloning among the Five Powers; Arabia, Visegrad, the EAF, Australia, and many of their allies banned cloning as "abusive" or "blasphemous".

Near the eve of World War III, the United States seized/reclaimed large parts of the American Federation, leading to more people fleeing to Visegrad, Africa, Australia, and the Nordic State.

### Course of the war

World War III broke out over growing tensions between the Five Powers and excessive economic demands between their peoples: as the world grew more unstable, warmongers took over governments to seize resources or punish other nations for historical crimes. The leaders of the Four Powers decided to unify the world under their authority, each believing that the world would be better off with themselves in charge of all humanity, and each being envious of the empires of the Milky Way.

Russia and Arabia sent troops to conquer Central Asia. China managed to take control of eastern Russia and parts of Kazakhstan, but its attempts to conquer Southeast Asia were stopped. Russian troops were supported by the Third Movement Party in their conquest of Alaska.

The United States managed to annex Canada, Mexico, and parts of Western Europe and the Pacific under their control.

The Nordic State waged war against the European Union, Visegrad, and Russia, sparking dozens of battles that tore across the continent.

To avoid another age of exploitation and slavery, the nations of Africa desperately formed a federation to defend their continent. The northern part was controlled by the Arabian Empire, the eastern parts were client states of China and Akhand Bharat (such as Tanzania and Madagascar), and Volksland became a part of Visegrad. Due to their stability, many people from all over the world fled to Africa as refugees, triggering more clashes between nationalists and immigrants.

South America was divided between its own socialist alliance, and fragments of Feddian puppet states and colonies. Mexico defended its allies in a Latin American socialist alliance against attempts by the two Americas to subjugate them.

Initially, border clashes broke out between the Russian, Chinese, and Arabian blocs along Central Asia: the Russians and Arabians used militant groups to sabotage and defeat each other. As the war went on, Russia and China worked together to defend themselves from American, Nordic, and Arabian attacks. Although some militants obeyed the Russian authorities to fight alongside the Chinese armies, others turned against the Russian government, accusing them of "treason to China" for suddenly ordering them not to attack Chinese bases.

India and China began battling along the dangerous Himalayan mountains: India sought to reclaim its lost lands or expand to the Himalayas, while China sought to claim the entire Himalayas for itself. To the west, it fended off a joint invasion led by Pakistan and Arabia, and to the east it and Bangladesh tried to prevent tensions from escalating with the Burmese Empire. In the midst of the Chinese civil war, parts of Xinjiang were taken by Arabian and Feddian forces. The annexed parts of Xinjiang were divided between pro-Arabian and pro-American factions: the Pro-Arabian faction sought total assimilation into the Arabian Empire, while the pro-American faction wanted to retain their republic's independence out of spite against their Arabian rulers. Their conservative Muslim culture put them at odds against their American (Feddian) allies, even as they defended against Chinese attempts to retake the region: occasionally this led to protests by the local Uyghurs against both Americans and Arabians, especially against their corporations.

Meanwhile, more Vetarbroitar ships began raiding Earth, bombing and conquering cities. Some Vetarbroitar armies supported several nations - Akhand Bharat, Gotaland, Mexico, and Australia, as they considered those nations to be worthy of their respect for defending the other countries from being conquered by the Four Powers. Many Vetarbroitar supported Akhand Bharat in its wars against China. They wanted to make Akhand Bharat an empire to defeat and destroy the Four Powers, and then unify it and various neopagan rebellions into a single global state ruled by polytheists, with themselves as its masters. Some Bharatian dissidents exposed the Vetarbroitar's actual intentions of global destruction, and they protested against the dictator to convince him to focus on defending Akhand Bharat from the Four Powers.

At the same time, the other powers were aided by their colonies in the Milky Way, preventing the Vetarbroitar or any one of the Four Powers from overrunning the world.

For refusing its demands, the Nordic State bombed London and invaded Gotaland and Visegrad. In turn, its capital at Uppsala was bombed by the United States as a "preventive measure", after the Nordic State bombed New York City with a nuclear bomb.

In the late 27th century, growing tensions between it and the US led to the Third American Civil War. Its defeat allowed the US to seize more territory; but its militants managed to seize control of several districts in the Midwest. It was later divided into three factions: the Midwest Dominion (a Racialist empire), the Southern League (a theocracy), and the Loyalists (the remaining AF). To avoid being dominated by the MD's clone armies, the other two AF factions brought in more immigrants from Europe and Russia to repel the MD's attacks; they eventually were forced to build their own clone armies to outpace the MD, who assembled its clone armies to slaughter its enemies.

During World War III, the three factions of the AF attempted to convince the race-warmongers to join their sides, with the Midwestern Dominion being more successful after annexing Aryanist mobs and being used by the Nordic State as a base of operations. The Loyalists attempted to besiege New York City, but they were stopped by the Nordic State's bombing of the city. Encouraged by the Nordic State's invasion of New York, the Midwestern Dominion sent their armies eastward to seize the irradiated city and welcome their Nordic allies, but they were repelled by the surviving Ussians and their Canadian allies.

Los Angeles was besieged by pro-AF rebels. Several American cities along the west coast and Rocky Mountains were seized by warlords: some imposed right-wing regimes, others wanted to make themselves parts of China or Russia, some established Marxist or anarchist regimes against the US government, and some created racialist armies bent on exterminating anyone around them who refused to submit.

Race wars began to erupt in the two Americas again, as more White, Black, and Latino militants sought revenge over historical atrocities and massacres. To prevent them from spilling over, Mexico and Turtle Island worked together to prevent the militants from killing their citizens.

Encouraged by the growing global instability, clashes and raids broke out along the eastern Mediterranean between European and Middle Eastern militants, both of which sought revenge against historical atrocities. The dictators of Eastern Europe and Arabia were about to fight at Syria, but they were stopped by protests in the Middle East and Turkish intervention.

The Feddian colonies in South America waged war on China's eastern coast, but they were repelled. They also attempted to invade Japan, the Philippines, and the Ussians' Pacific islands. More Feddians launched invasions on other countries, from isolated settlements in Europe to sparsely-populated areas in Africa, as they attempted to create their own enclaves or build a new American empire to compete against their rivals.

The crusader-state of Joppa received thousands of European soldiers, who then waged war against Palestine and Negev. The Americans repelled the Joppan crusaders, and the overwhelming forces of the Arabian Empire defeated the Joppans and expelled them.

Widespread bombings that killed a third of Earth's population brought the war to an end, leaving the whole planet in great poverty and ruins. In their hatred of Earth and the Four Powers, the Vetarbroitar also took part in the bombings, and many of them were killed in the explosions. These were known as the Days of Fire. Out of the resulting ruin emerged two great civilisations: the coercive and hedonistic Earth Union, and the strict lands of the Great Shields.

### Minor powers

* India - In the years leading to and during World War III, India formed its own bloc of nations around the Indian Ocean to protect them from growing American, Chinese, and Arabian influence. It also provides economic support to these nations to help them withstand the Five Powers. India is also part of an alliance of neutral countries that rejected the offers of the Five Powers, including Mexico, Australia, and the East African Federation: in spite of its supposed power, its refusal to use aggression did not make it a sixth or seventh power.
	+ Before World War III, India is reorganised into the Hindu Republic of Akhand Bharat, making it the only nation on Earth with Hinduism as its official state religion. This led to clashes between it and Pakistan, which attempts to retaliate against India's Hindu nationalism and sectarian clashes within India.
	+ When Akhand Bharat was founded, its leaders condemned the West and Arabia for their ancestors' persecution and conquests of their people. For several decades, they refused to establish diplomatic relations with the West (except Visegrad, Canada, Mexico, and Russia).
	+ Visegrad's leaders supported the reunification of Akhand Bharat, praising it as a "bulwark against Western imperialism". However, both powers later had poorer relations as people from both places condemned each other's religions. It gained an ally in the Nordic State, who welcomed India as a fellow "Paitriki" (worshipper of native gods).
	+ Because of Akhand Bharat's dislike of Abrahamic religions and Western influence, it also attracted neopagans from Europe, especially from religions considered closer to Hinduism, like Rodnovers from Russia and Romuvans from Lithuania. Its resistance against Abrahamic religions and American influence won it the favour and support of the Vetarbroitar, who hailed it as one of three righteous nations.
	+ Formerly, Akhand Bharat was renowned for its religious liberty, as its early leaders were supported by monotheist and atheist officers in their ranks. Near the time of World War III, Akhand Bharat is ruled by fanatical dictators who punished them for their historical crimes, forcing them to flee to other countries.
* Mexico - Economic, diplomatic, liberal. Is part of an alliance of Latin American nations, which have either lapsed into Catholic conservatism, pro-indigenous diversity, or their own form of socialism. While it is part of the same alliance with India and Australia, some socialist presidents instead aligned it with China, to the rejoicing of its South American allies.
	+ Mexico in this timeline has three official languages: Spanish, Nahuatl, and Maya.
* Australia - economic, diplomatic, liberal. Formerly neutral, but became more aligned with India after occasional loyalty to Visegrad.
* Visegrad - Prefers to be neutral, but is also supportive of nationalist and conservative movements around the world as long as they are European and/or Christian. After seeking to win over Mexico and Australia, it became an ally of India, although India's allies objected to Visegrad's membership of its racialist and conservative policies. Many people in Visegrad practice traditionalist and racialist beliefs similar to those of the nationalist AF.
	+ Among Visegrad's allies include Georgia, Armenia (which it protected against Turkish attacks), Moldova, and Ukraine.
* Socialist Europe - allied with the United States.
* Nordic State - Very conservative and nationalistic to a racist extent. Seeks to sway nationalist, conservative, racialist/racist, and the growing neopagan movements to its influence; may start terrorist attacks to intimidate hostile nations.
	+ While other nations used their clones to expand throughout the Galaxy, it created hundreds of clones to expand its influence to the other parts of the Galaxy and to weaken any future attempts by the Five Powers (or the Earth Union) to conquer it.
	+ *Very* hostile against Christianity, Islam, and atheism. Its hatred of these beliefs was why it was more accepting of Akhand Bharat.
* East African Federation - economic, defensive, liberal. Is allied with India, Mexico, and Australia.
* ASEAN - economic, conservative, diplomatic. Is mostly allies with India and Australia, and often tries to broker peace between it, Arabia, and China.
	+ Malaysia is one of its members, but it is also an ally of the Arab League.

### Smaller nations

* Britain - neutral, nationalist, liberal. Later aligned with Australia until it became an ally of India, and then it reluctantly joined India's side.
* Japan - sometimes aligned with the American Federation or the United States, sometimes neutral. A technological hub.
* Korea - liberal, later conservative, aligned with the American Federation.
* Joseon (formerly North Korea) conservative, socialist; aligned with China.
* Turkey - remained neutral, but became nationalist, forming its own bloc with its fellow nations at Central Asia including Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. During its neutrality, some people even referred Turkey as "the new Switzerland" or "the Muslim Switzerland".
	+ At a certain point in the years before World War III, a certain leader of Turkey sent an army to conquer Armenia. His forces were stopped and defeated by troops sent from Visegrad.
	+ Competing against the Arabian Empire's attempts to spread north, Turkey and its Central Asian allies formed a barrier against the advancing Arabian forces. Even though it competed against Iran to be the mightiest nation in the Middle East, the two countries nonetheless worked together to stop Arabia from becoming too powerful.
* Iran - although it remained neutral, some of its leaders want it to become the leader of the Middle East.
	+ Cuba was one of its closest allies, for withstanding a past American blockade that was broken by the US and its allies in South America. It originally considered taking the Russians' and the US's side, but it refused as Russia was devoutly Christian and the US supported homosexuals, two things that Iran's leaders rejected.
	+ Another of its allies was Afghanistan.
* Cuba - aligned with the United States, socialist. Strengthened by the end of the USA blockade, its rapid economic growth caused some people to refer it as "Little Vietnam" or "the Vietnam of the West".
	+ It is also a popular vacation site among Latin Americans and Marxist Americans.
* Myanmar - nationalist, conservative.
	+ Troubled by foreign politicians' attempts to subjugate the country, many people in Myanmar supported a dictatorship, claiming it will protect them and help them have their revenge against the West and Muslim extremism. In the years leading to World War III, the dictator of Myanmar wanted his country to be as great as Akhand Bharat in the west, so he invaded eastern India and Bangladesh to recreate the Burmese Empire. His son, who was crowned as Dharmaraja, was later overthrown by another official who made society less militaristic and attempted peace between the local tribes.
	+ In spite of attempts between both leaders of Bangladesh and Myanmar to attack each others' countries, sometimes both countries reconciled to improve each others' infrastructure: Akhand Bharat encouraged both of them to cooperate as all three nations became less reliant and more distrustful of the West. Nonetheless, people in both countries are suspicious of each other.
	+ Although missionaries are banned from Myanmar, the government supports sending Buddhist missionaries to Western countries as "payback" to Christian missionaries in the country.

## In the Rabydosverse

See also: Post-Gauvajut timeline, World War III (Rabydosverse)

"World War III" was one of several global wars: after the Tuksharan Conquests and the Ardeschi War, this was the third world war of the Sixteenth Age or the Age of Herimann. The next great wars to follow this war were the Decaying Peace (between the Denlotia and its enemies), the Kleshan War, and the Reorganisation Wars, which would be considered as World War IV, World War V, and World War VI.

Later historians corrected this as "World War IV", because the Ardeschen Empires and Red Ardesch's wars were regarded as two separate world wars, and with Directorist Ardesch as the direct continuation of the Ardeschen Empire.

## In the Collectionverse

World War III is referenced as a planetary conflict in the backstory of 2010 Reltak in the Collectionverse. Among the participants in the war include the Consordium (the corporation that built East Atlantis) and the Global Order (a decaying world organisation that funded humanity's explorations in space).

During the course of the war, refugees from all over the world migrated to East Atlantis, and hundreds died in the dangerous journeys. Rebelling against the local authorities, the refugees rallied under ten warlords who waged war against each other. An eleventh warlord united the islands under a republic, as he wanted to make sure the warring empires of World War III will not enslave his peoples. Even though he occasionally fought against revolts that objected to his diversity and his lack of authoritarian methods, he fortified his homeland and other artificial islands, forming the alliance known as Poseidon's Sons.

## See also

* The Internet Age
* Age of the Six Powers
* Galactics, for views of the five powers by future peoples of the Galaxy.