War. War never changes.
The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower. But war… never changes.
In the 20th century war was waged over ideology and the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and uranium.
The end of the Cold War had been greeted with a sense of optimism. It was believed that the danger of nuclear conflict had passed, that mankind could look forward to a more peaceful, brighter future. It was not to be.
The world was plagued by an economic recession. In the former communist nations of Eastern Europe ethnic, social and political unrest prevailed, particularly in the Balkans. In Russia extremist and militarist elements seized power in a coup, determined to restore their nation’s greatness. They were particularly paranoid about the rise of China.
In 1997 the storm of world war had come again. What started as a border incident on the Ussuri River quickly spiralled out of control into an epic conflict between Russia and China. It wasn’t long before the rest of the planet was pulled into the fray. The world powers were led by insane or feckless men who led their people to the abyss. The end of the world occurred pretty much as we had predicted. Too many humans, not enough resources, space or tolerance to go around. The final blow came on November 28th , 1997. The question of who fired first is a meaningless detail. In 2 brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders, a great cleansing, an atomic spark struck by human hands.
Chaos, violence and anarchy reigned supreme over the face of the earth. Most national governments dissolved and collapsed, or ruled in name only. In the United States what remained of the government was divided into two feuding factions, the civilian government and the military government, neither of them controlling much of America . China collapsed under the weight of Russian nuclear weapons. Russia was likewise devastated, its vast armies destroyed, decimated, disintegrated or reduced to little more than brigandage. Europe was once again a war-ravaged wasteland with some countries such as France and Switzerland faring better than others, although “better” is a relative concept. India and Pakistan carried out their own nuclear war, with the ensuing consequences. Areas such as Latin America, Africa, Australia and Oceania by and large escaped nuclear destruction with a few exceptions, but they too suffered immensely from the destruction of the global economy. Famine and disease were rampant. By 2000 half the population of Earth had succumbed to the Twilight War and its after-effects.
The Twilight War found its way to Japan as well, despite its pacifist constitution and foreign policy and lack of nuclear weapons. Japan hosted American military bases, and though those bases were among the primary Russian nuclear targets, it wasn’t the only reason. What made Japan a target was its great wealth, born out of the post-war reconstruction years. Its immense economic and industrial capacity would be useful not only to Japan, but to its ally the U.S. as well. Therefore the age-old strategic necessity of “leave nothing of value to the enemy” dictated that Japan’s resources be denied to the enemy, by any means whatsoever. The horror of nuclear war returned to Japan with a vengeance.
War. War never changes.
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(Posted Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:39)
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