And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Revelation 9:6
Overview
The Nuclear Crisis, sometimes called the Second World War, the Second Great War, or the Bernard Sea Incident, was a worldwide conflict1 from 2nd November to 30th December 1989. It saw the widespread exchange of nuclear and conventional ordnance between the Rosen Commonwealth and its allies and ICOSGEA (International COalition for Stable Governance in East Aya), composed primarily of the West Ayan countries and the Sayan Union. The 58-day conflict was the single greatest loss of human life in history, killing an estimated 1.3 billion people. The Nuclear Crisis originated from the convergence of several factors. Prolonged international discontent stemming from the collapse of the Rosen Republic, ongoing territorial disputes concerning the Bernard Sea, and persistent ideological tensions between the newly established Rosen Commonwealth and the rapidly deteriorating Sayan Union culminated in an incident involving a command miscommunication that resulted in Sayan destroyers engaging Rosen privateers and fishing vessels in the Bernard Sea. Miscommunications and malfunctions between military forces operated by ICOSGEA led many ICBMs to launch prematurely, catching both sides of the conflict by surprise. The Sayan Union launched the first nuclear weapons. Retaliatory strikes were authorized quickly in the Rosen Commonwealth. The Rosen Commonwealth possessed better Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) systems, losing “only” 102 million people in the conflict. Conventional warfare took place after the initial nuclear exchange; confused, poorly coordinated, and sporadic fighting took place in less affected parts of East and West Aya; and in the Sayan Union, where the Sayan Civil War took place.
Background
Aftermath of the Second Rosen Civil War
The Second Rosen Civil War radically altered the balance of power and influence in East Aya and the world. Many countries (including the Sayan Union, which, during the détente of the Kuligite restoration, had invested heavily in the Rosen economy) had business interests in the Rosen Republic; the turmoil and chaos caused by the war put billions of credits worth of foreign investment at risk. In addition, the Rosen Republic led the São Lola Treaty Organization (SLTO) which effectively dissolved once the Republic collapsed. Many countries in the SLTO felt that the Rosen Republic had failed its partner states, and had disgraced their aims through its socialist revolution. Thus, very few former SLTO member states sided with the new Commonwealth and instead joined ICOSGEA or unofficially fought with it once the Crisis began.
Territorial Disputes over the Bernard Sea
The Rosen Republic had long maintained a strong territorial claim to the Bernard Sea in Northern East Aya. The Bernard Sea, which hosts the largest oil fields in the Southern hemisphere, was exploited for its resources for decades by the Rosen Republic. Extraction operations in the Bernard Sea expanded massively in the 1960s, when the Arawad Wars triggered the 1963 Oil Crisis. The new Commonwealth was economically troubled during its first years and was greatly inclined to continue extracting oil from the Bernard Sea to boost its economy; it commissioned HMPC to resume operations in the region in 1983. However, the Carcatoise People’s Republic, funded by the Sayan Union, contested the Rosen claim to the Sea as the Commonwealth was not internationally recognized. To combat Carcatoise influence in the Bernard Sea, the Rosen Commonwealth began to fund privateers to harass Sayan and Carcatoise ships in the region. Escalation of minor conflict between Rosen privateers and Sayan destroyers and patrol boats led to the first casualties in the Nuclear Crisis and provoked the entire war.
Legacy of the Cold War
While both the Sayan Union and the Rosen Commonwealth considered themselves socialist states, the two countries had significant disputes over the way leftist ideology should be handled. Many in the Socialist Party still held distrust against the Sayan Union, as the Cold War grudges left over from the Rosen Republic period set a less-than-favorable precedent for both countries to follow. Foreign policy experts on both sides failed to make contact or diplomatic overtures that would build a constructive relationship for both countries. The Commonwealth did not attempt to make amends with former SLTO countries, which contributed to its debilitating economic crises and its lack of support on the international stage.
Course of the War
On September 30th, 1989, Carcatoise navy ships departed from Clerris Harbor and traveled north to the Bernard Sea. who cares…
Aftermath
The Nuclear Crisis is widely considered by historians to be one of the most influential, if not the most influential event in human history. An estimated 1.4 billion people, or 27% of the global population at the time2 died in every part of the world. The vast majority of deaths were caused by the “nuclear autumn,” referring to the global drop in temperature following the war and the subsequent breakdown of agriculture and supply chains.
Society
As previously stated, the greatest impact of the
Casualties
The 2021 IU Nuclear Crisis Commission attributed deaths during and following the Nuclear Crisis to three main sources:
- Short and long-term radiation casualties, which refers to those who died as a direct result of the atomic bombs within the first month of the conflict.
- Indirect casualties, which refers to those who died as a result of starvation, debris, infrastructural, governmental, and social failure, or other sicknesses within ten years of the conflict.
- Armed casualties, which refers to those who died as a result of military conflict and anarchy following the Crisis (e.g. the Sayan Civil War). The vast majority of deaths are attributed as indirect casualties. Roughly 1.2 billion people died as a result of the aforementioned infrastructural failure.