1983: Doomsday

**1983: Doomsday** is a featured alternate history, which means it has been identified as one of the best alternate histories produced by the Alternative History Community. If you see a way this alternate history can be updated or improved without compromising previous work, please say so on this page's talkpage.

Welcome to the Portal Page for the **1983: Doomsday** ATL.

 File:1983ddworldmap.png
This timeline explores world history after **Doomsday** - *September 26th, 1983*.

A worldwide nuclear exchange caused by a minor incident obliterates much of human civilization. This ATL covers everything from the direct aftermath up to the present worldwide situation.

This is a "live" timeline - its story continues to unfold **NOW**, in real time. See the Live Content section for the latest news and updates.

This is also a collaborative timeline, produced by a team of contributors. If you want to join us in developing this world, we welcome your additions.

**Before making major edits to the articles within this ATL, please take some time to read the Editorial Guidelines**

## Introduction

The Point of Divergence of the 1983: Doomsday timeline is September 19th, 1983, on which a seemingly unimportant decision to send an ambitious Colonel of the USSR to a training seminar (taking the place of an ill-plagued colleague), has global implications.

This decision leads to a different outcome of a well-known, though often underestimated, event that took place on September 26, 1983.

In our timeline, Colonel Stanislav Petrov was the watch officer on duty that day at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow, monitoring for a US missile attack on the Soviet Union.

Suddenly, the computer-based warning systems reported several US nuclear missiles approaching Soviet territory. In our timeline, Colonel Petrov believed the information to be false and did not alert the Kremlin to the data he was receiving. Given Cold War tensions at the time, such information would likely have convinced the Soviets that the US had launched a first strike in an attempt to "cut off the head," and they would have been forced to launch their nuclear weapons in the false belief that it was a counterstrike.

Consequently, since in our timeline the world now knows about this event, it is now often considered to have been the moment closest to a nuclear war between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. Colonel Petrov has been honored as one of the few true "world saviors," and several investigations have proven the seriousness of this event.

This timeline postulates the results after Colonel Petrov was sent to another installation before September 26th, 1983. The officer now on duty on September 26th considers the alert to be accurate and immediately contacts his superiors. Within minutes, the leaders decide to launch the whole Soviet nuclear arsenal. Logically, the Americans react by launching as well. By the time the first alerted missile is proven to be a false alarm, it is too late. Thousands of nuclear warheads subsequently detonate over targets worldwide. Surprisingly, the People's Republic of China was attacked by Soviet nuclear missiles as well, and part of their arsenal is launched in response at the USSR.

The results of this total nuclear exchange are close to the forecasts of almost complete worldwide destruction and the "nuclear holocaust" as predicted by many scientists of this time. This results in as many as a billion people killed initially, and another billion in the subsequent environmental disaster that followed shortly thereafter.

With the world largely devastated, and most of the Northern and parts of the Southern Hemisphere in ruins, the estimated 800 million survivors in these areas desperately try to keep together what is left of human society. They are facing challenges that are seemingly impossible.

After an incredibly horrifying first few years post-Doomsday, a handful of regions, territories, and countries stabilize and master basic problems such as food and medical supplies. As time passes and the recovery continues, new (sometimes surprising) alliances are formed. A new, fragile world order emerges from the ashes. Initial hopes of some survivors for a united mankind (or at least warfare and destruction being ended forever) quickly prove false. Indeed, the world is light-years away from any Utopian imaginations. Famine, disease, and lack of resources provoke conflicts and wars in large parts of the world, thus devastating all the carefully achieved recovery.

As some surviving and newly formed nations (particularly a unified Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand and a South American Confederation) prove able to master the problems and even intervene internationally, mankind's extinction finally seems to have been avoided.

Now, 30 years after the devastating "Doomsday" brought mankind to the edge of total extinction, a few moving moments have spread the hope for a more peaceful future for mankind, such as the foundation of the new "League of Nations" September 26th, 2008.

Nonetheless, new dangers to this fragile world have emerged all around the globe, threatening much of what has been achieved within the last 30 years...

## **WCRB NewsHour- World Headlines**

***For all news, please refer to our WCRB Newshour Main Page.***

**October 1st, 2015: Reunification talks between North Pennsylvania and State College begin** File:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg FRANKLIN, North Pennsylvania - Following mutual popular sentiment between the populace of the two North American survivor states being acknowledged by their respective governments, Governor Young invited delegates from the Provisional Government of Pennsylvania at State College to begin discussing the feasibility and fine points of arranging such a union. This comes with staunch protesting by the rural Amish population, many of whom believe the destruction of the United States was an act of God, and that no unification to further reconstitute its former member states should be undertaken. It is unknown to what degree this would coincide with a planned economic union bringing much of Northeastern North America into an economic and military alliance.

**October 1st, 2015: Buffalo Ward achieves full self-governance** File:83DD-NiagaraFallsFlag2.png BUFFALO, Niagara Falls - Residents of the Buffalo Settlement celebrated today as the Transitional Government officially handed over power to the newly elected officials. The city, which was struck by a nuclear missile on Doomsday and largely destroyed, is the first to have been rebuilt under the United Communities' Restoration Committee. Initially re-populated by 1500 former residents and their descendants, the city has grown to a population of about 5000 in the past two years, as more former residents and re-settlement enthusiasts have taken up the offer of affordable residency in the Settlement Limits. Buffalo has opted to remain in Niagara Falls for the time being, becoming the Falls' 10th Ward.

**June 2nd, 2015: Elections in Susquehanna** File:Commonwealth of Susquehanna Flag.png BLOOMSBURG, Susquehanna - The citizens around the Commonwealth of Susquehanna went to the voting booths today to choose the national leaders who will decide the next five years of the nation's history. The Press Enterprise and Susquehanna Broadcasting Company covered the elections live from the General Assembly Building in Bloomsburg. Officials from the United Communities were in Bloomsburg, Danville and Hazleton to oversee the elections and prevent voter fraud. The Republican Party was expected to win, which they did, capturing the Governorship by 4%, and 2350 votes. In a surprise turn of events, the Libertarian Party did fairly well, winning 14% (8225) votes, and Schuylkill County. Lou Barletta was reelected governor of the Commonwealth of Susquehanna. Overall, for the Senate and House elections, the Republican Party lost a single seat in the House, the Democrats lost a seat in the Senate, but picked one up in the House, and the Libertarians gained a seat in the Senate.

**January 1st, 2015: Accession to the United Communities** File:Commonwealth of Susquehanna Flag.png File:83DD-NiagaraFallsFlag2.png NAVY ISLAND, Niagara Falls- At midnight, Susquehanna officially gained an honorary member seat in the United Communities. Governor Lou Barletta championed this as "The first step in regaining our position on the International stage." Canada had supported the nation's admission, as has the other Pennsylvanian survivor states, eager to gain another allied vote. Saeguney opposed it, pointing to Susquehanna's hostility to the nation.

**January 1, 2015: Happy New Year!** - From the depths of the Amazon to the icy north, and from the land down under to the empty quarter, fireworks go off around the globe early this morning as a new year is marked.

## Recent additions

**To spread the word of the ongoing discussions and the content being established the additions can be marked here as "Proposal" or Confirmed/Canonized Content. Take part in the discussion on the talk page of the timeline!!!**

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* Zimbabwe
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## Contributors

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