Earth 159

## History of the Collapse

* After a major recession the United States slashes its defense budget decreases the size of its armed forces
* The United Nations becomes bankrupt
* Quebec and Alberta secede from Canada
* Putin is assassinated and Russia erupts into civil war
	+ Natural gas is cut off to Germany and Eastern Europe
* Iran and Saudi Arabia go to war
	+ without a strong American navy to ensure freedom of navigation, oil is cut off from the France, China, and Japan
* The United States tries to intervene to prevent Russia's nuclear arsenal from warlords, this resulted in a war between the United States and the new Russian Confederation .
	+ The US government began relying on mercenaries because the armed forces were too small to maintain order in the US while also fighting a foreign war
* White supremacists rebelled against the United States government in Georgia and Florida
* Neo Marxist groups rebelled in California and Oregon

The Final Blow

* After years of costly war with the New Hegemonic Alliance, the United States government was on the brink of dissolving.
* Nuclear weapons were launched.
	+ Most large military bases were either wiped out, or saved by anti-missile defenses (such as Norfolk)
	+ Many major American cities were hit by nuclear weapons, though only a few were hit by enough warheads to be depopulated
		- New York City and Washington DC were the hardest hit.
	+ Even after the nuclear exchange the central government narrowly managed to hang on
		- The US military continued to wage the dwindling war, and after a few more months the Russian Confederation surrendered and the other New Hegemonic Powers agreed to a ceasefire.
	+ However, the government was not able to govern large swaths of the US.
	+ Mercenary groups keeping the peace throughout the US rebelled and became petty warlords.
	+ The final blow was not a direct result of the war, but a natural occurrence, a new epidemic emerged, killing many Americans and tearing away the central governments control of most territories.
		- At last the already depressed American president was completely demoralized. He dissolves his cabinet and resigned (committing suicide only a few years later). The United States Government was officially no more.

## Post Collapse History

* Warlords emerged throughout the US
* Quebec invaded Ontario and the the North Eastern US. Afterward it was called the Traitor Empire.
* The remnants of the CIA and US navy allied together to form a proto-state in Norfolk and Virginian Peninsula.
* The city states of Dallas and Austin went to war.
* The Traitor Empire attacked the East Coast, beginning the three year Mid-Atlantic war.
	+ The Traitor Empire was resisted by many factions, most notably the 10th Mountain Division led by Major General Alexander Blackwell.
		- The 10th Mountain Division had been sent back to protect the emergency Congressional facility in West Virginia from rioters and mercenaries after the nuclear exchange. Fort Drum (their primary base) had been destroyed in the nuclear exchange.
		- After the US government was dissolved, General Blackwell convinced his troops to remain loyal and oppose the Traitor Empire invaders.
			* Recruiting other ex US-military units and individual veterans, they enacted a successful guerilla campaign in the Appalachian mountains.
			* In the style of Maoist insurgencies, they fought a guerilla war until they were ready to mobilize a conventional army, which they used to force the Traitor Empire to Retreat.
		- The new Republic of Greater Norfolk (the CIA-Navy joint government) also fought against the traitor empire, defending coastal Virginia.
			* The Navy used aircraft carriers (which relied on nuclear reactors instead of fuel) to defend and resupply allied resistance groups.
			* CIA officers convinced some of the Traitor Empire's mercenaries and military commanders to mutiny, ending the invasion of Virginia.
		- Other successful resistances include militia groups in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
* Blackwell's new army, called either Blackwell's Army or the New Federal Army successfully campaigned against Warlords, the Atlanta Confederacy, and the Traitor Empire to develop a territory throughout the Appalachian mountains and parts of Ohio and the Piedmont.
* The Navy abandoned the Greater Norfolk banner, assembling a group of allied polities and militias called the Naval States
* Blackwell's army went to war against the Traitor Empire, but was outnumbered and his invasion failed.
* After another two years of success by the Traitor Empire, Blackwell made an alliance with the Naval States and several large militias.
	+ Together the alliance successfully defeated and decimated the Traitor Empire's Army, and retook the city of Pittsburgh.
		- Over the next several years, Blackwell worked to unite his allies under a common state which became the Heartland Imperium.

## Places

The Providence League

* In General
	+ A group of city states in the north east who have allied together to protect themselves from warlords and from the Traitor Empire.
	+ Founding Members: Providence, Bridgeport, Boston, Riverport
	+ Additional Members: New Haven, Kingsport (New Brooklyn)

The Heartland Imperium

* In General
* Regions
	+ Appalachia, Ohio River, Greater Chesapeake,
* Major Cities
	+ Blackwell
		- Capital of the Imperium
			* Location of Central Military Command
		- Once called Pittsburgh, it was renamed after Alexander Blackwell died.
		- The population of the city more than tripled due to war refugees from Chicago and the East Coast. While the old city is mostly intact, much of what was once the suburbs, is now dominated by concrete ghettos and brutalist architecture.
	+ Norfolk
		- Seat of the Navy
			* Locaiton of Central Chesapeake Command
	+ Cincinnati
	+ Wilmington