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This is the simplified and abridged version of the General Timeline for 1983: Doomsday.

For a detailed report of Sept 26, 1983 Doomsday

And this takes you back to Back to Main Page


September 19, 1983 P.O.D.[]

Doomsday Map 1982

The world in January 1983

  • Colonel Gennady Akrimov replaces Col. Stanislav Petrov as watch officer at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow.

Sept. 26, 1983 – 00:40 GMT+3 (Moscow Time)[]

  • Akrimov's bunker's computers mistakenly indicate that US missiles are heading toward the Soviet Union. He does not realize that it is a glitch, and nuclear war erupts between the USSR and USA, quickly spreading to China, NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations - 3,000 nuclear weapons in all.
  • EMPs (electro-magnetic pulses) from airburst weapons destroy some 70% of the electronics across the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Final death toll on the first day: 1.53 billion people.

September 1983-December 1983 : Aftermath[]

General Overview[]

  • Fallout, fires, starvation, dehydration, disease, etc. adds another 700 million to the death toll.
  • No "nuclear winter": cloud patterns return to normal by mid-October.
  • Much of North America, Europe, the Soviet Union, and China are uninhabitable.

North America[]

U.S.[]

  • President Reagan is transferred to the Mount Weather command bunker. Vice-President George Bush is relocated to the Greenbrier Hotel facility.
  • Alaska, the first state hit, struggles with an isolated government in Juneau and occupying Soviet forces in its southwest.
  • Hawaiian government taken over by farm labor union.
  • All over the former US, regional and local governments are in the process of forming provisional governments in the name of their states.

Cuba[]

  • Havana and Santiago hit. Surviving government officials advise migration to Central or South America.

Central America[]

South America[]

  • No direct attacks in South America, but breakdowns in trade and civil unrest have taken their toll. Some fallout along the northern coast.
  • Argentina suspends presidential elections.
  • Some guerrillas in Colombia achieve a stronger position due to the unrest.
  • Almost completely dominated by oil exports to the US, Venezuela's economy collapses.

Oceania[]

  • Australia and New Zealand are still largely intact. Both governments are committed to pursuing World War III against whatever Soviet threat might remain.
  • Governing Committee established for both halves of Samoa.

Asia[]

  • Separatist uprisings shake parts of Indonesia. Suharto regime withdraws from peripheral regions.
  • GAM (Acehnese separatist) commander Hosein di Tiro regroups loyal GAM units in Banda Aceh, where they start to fight for control of the city.

Europe[]

  • In Portugal, a provisional government is established at Punta Delgada in the Azores.
  • 100,000 British refugees flee to Ireland. Parliament takes emergency measures to contain civil disorder. Ireland supports the emergency regional HQ for Northern Ireland but cannot stop violence from breaking out between Catholics and Protestants.
  • 4 weeks after DD, British Privy Councilor Donald Stewart meets with the Irish government, laying the foundations for the future Celtic Alliance.

Soviet Union[]

  • Initial estimates place death toll at 260 million. Very few officials survive, leaving the remaining population in anarchy.
  • People and institutions in Siberia and the Russian Far East have survived Doomsday much better than Europe and Central Asia.

Middle East[]

  • Israel and Jordan are hit yet retain organized government. Syria is hit and descends into anarchy. Egypt is not hit but falls to Islamist revolution.

1984: Desperation[]

  • "Nuclear summer": nitrogen oxides and a reduced ozone layer raise temperatures to an average high of 10-25 F (5-14 C) over normal.

North America[]

US[]

  • March 21: NORAD personnel restore radio communication with the relocated federal personnel in Appalachia.
  • April 23rd: Reagan and Bush leave Appalachia to establish emergency administrations in Hawaii and Colorado. A third administration under Strom Thurmond remains in Charleston, West Virginia.
  • May 5th: Reagan makes it safely to Mexico City before crossing the Pacific.
  • May 6th: Reagan's plane crashes into the South Pacific on the way to Hawaii.
  • May 11th: Bush is sworn in as president in the Lake County courthouse in Leadville, Colorado.
  • May 23: Bush leaves Leadville, arriving in Mexico City.

Canada[]

  • A new government arises in the sparsely hit Atlantic Provinces.

Oceania[]

  • June 1: ANZUS Order 001/1984 (the Gathering Order) summons American and NATO ships to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaiian territory.
  • By November, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA (the ANZUS powers) have aligned and in some cases combined key branches of government.
  • A combined ANZUS task force anchors off Juneau, ready for a spring offensive against occupying Soviet forces in southwestern Alaska.

South America[]

  • Argentina and Uruguay form an alliance to share resources and intelligence: the Bloque Unido Americano (United American Bloc, or BUA).
  • FARC, M-19 and EPL guerrillas reach a ceasefire with the Colombian government.

Asia[]

Europe[]

  • Some RAF units return to the UK from the Falkland Islands. They evacuate a few survivors to South Africa.

1985: Puzzling Pieces[]

  • Two years after Doomsday, starvation has killed another 200 million people. Cannibalism, roving gangs, anarchy, clan warfare, and warlordism continue to make efforts at civil government unsuccessful.
  • In a few regions, surviving nations and remaining governing bodies reluctantly start cooperating with neighbours.
  • Radiation has spread to Brazil, southern Africa and northern Australia. These areas suffer little permanent damage, but violent weather and the destruction of trade cause hardship.

Americas[]

  • November: Eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia causes landslides in the near region, which are made worse by the lack of infrastructure.

Europe[]

  • The provincial government of the Spanish Canary Islands, together with the POLISARIO rebels in Western Sahara, form the País del Oro (Golden Land) government, a successor to Spain.
  • The Irish government produces the principal agreements for the Celtic Alliance. The Scottish islands come under further stress due to refugees from the Glasgow area.

Oceania[]

  • The existing ANZUS defence pact between the USA, Australia and New Zealand is modified and extended. All remaining American and NATO forces placed under ANZUS command.
  • An offensive in the spring and summer liberates all of Alaska except the western Aleutian islands. Most ANZUS forces return home before winter hits.
  • The American Provisional Authority and Samoa's Governing Committee agree to share power in American Samoa.

Asia[]

  • GAM gains control over the Banda Aceh.
  • In October, GAM re-establishes a Sultanate Government under Hosein di Tiro and institutes Islamic law.

Africa[]

  • The loss of American, European and Soviet aid has plunged most of the African nations into chaos and starvation.
  • The economy of South Africa collapses. The white minority hoards food and fuel, provoking rioting.
  • August 17th: The ANC rescues Nelson Mandela from prison, but he soon dies in a bombing raid in Pretoria.
  • In Durban, the parliamentary Opposition sets up a rival government under the name "Union of South Africa." Forced to flee to the Transkei and then Port Elizabeth, this group joins up with the exiled Prince Andrew to found a new South African monarchy.

1986[]

  • March 20th: Celtic Alliance formed between Ireland, the Scottish emergency government, and the Western Isles to seek a peaceful solution to the fighting in Northern Ireland. The Alliance has aspirations of restoring civil government to the UK and dependencies.
  • The federal administrations in Colorado and West Virginia both collapse, leaving the APA in Hawaii as the only remnant of the constitutional U.S. government.
  • Election year in Colombia. Virgilio Barco Vargas unseats conservative Belisario Betancur in a landslide. Both candidates share the intention to build a South American economic bloc.
  • New Samoan constitution is ratified. Elections held in May; the United Fono first meets in September.

1987[]

  • The Sitka Accords mark the end of World War III in the Pacific. The Soviets in Siberia retain control of a few islands. A DMZ is established between Soviet and American territory.
  • The APA declares the restoration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Island to coordinate the distribution of aid from the Administration and its allies.
  • In Hawaii, the assassination of Governor Goldblatt sparks a civil war, which is put down by federal troops with Australian support.
  • Failed truce in Costa Rica between Sandinista, Contra, and Limonese (Government) factions.
  • The opposition Union of South Africa government abandons its attempt to reunite the entire country. It adopts the name Dominion of South Africa and drops claims to land outside the eastern Cape.

1988[]

  • The ANZUS powers sign a treaty for a permanent civil union that will oversee and sustain their military alliance: the ANZUS Commonwealth
  • George Bush and ANZUS troops restore order in Hawaii. Power transferred to a military committee answerable to the American Provisional Administration.
  • Former members of Reagan's cabinet abandon Mount Weather for the last time.
  • Egypt attacks Israel. Israel launches the last nuclear attack to date, destroying Egypt's Islamist government.
  • October 5th: Chilean de facto President Augusto Pinochet Ugarte is defeated in a national plebiscite which sought to renew his mandate.
  • With support from Belize, the last few survivors are evacuated from Bermuda. The islands' former Governor John, Viscount Dunrossil remains the head of the refugee community.


1989[]

  • The ANZUS Commission sits for the first time in Wellington.
  • April 2nd: The Italian War of Unification (Guerra d'Unificazione Italiana) ends with the sign of the Treaty of Lucca between the Italian Provisional Government and the Tuscanian Regional Government following the invasion of Tuscany by Italian forces, who by 1989 conquered half of the Italian Peninsula.
  • November 7: The military supervises elections to bring a democratically elected government back to Hawaii.
  • Sandinistas occupying Costa Rica's Central Valley sever ties with the Nicaraguan government.

1990: Out of Chaos Comes Order[]

  • January: Harry Kim is peacefully sworn in as Hawaii's new governor. Food riots in Maui.
  • The Lakotah War over, leaders from the five state governments begin to hold discussions about creating a new federal entity, the Provisional United States of America (PUSA).
  • Samoa joins the ANZUS Commonwealth as an associate member, the same status as British forces in the Pacific.

Europe[]

  • Cape Verde joins with the Portuguese Interim Government.
  • June: The first small aid convoy arrives at the Azores from Brazil.
  • September 26th: Governments of Iceland and Norway create the Nordic Union comprising Iceland, parts of Norway, Faroe Islands, Svalbard and Bouvet. Swedish and Danish survivors, including some royals, settle in the union.

South America[]

  • The Andean Nations Pact (PAN) becomes the Andean Union (UA), a free market agreement between Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
  • Barco in Colombia is succeeded by Liberal candidate Luis Carlos Galán. Galán easily defeats Patriotic Union candidate Carlos Pizarro and Conservative Rodrigo Lloreda.
  • Mario Vargas Lleras is elected president in Peru, succeeding Alan García.

1991: Voyage of Discovery[]

  • A depleted ozone layer takes its toll. Sunburns begin in southern Australia after only a few minutes' exposure. Sunscreen now is a top priority in the surviving nations.
  • A general rise in temperatures and an increase in UV-radiation also occur.
  • The USS Benjamin Franklin is re-fitted by the Royal Australian Navy and sent on a worldwide intelligence gathering mission, which lasts until August 1992.
    • Along the west coast of the US, the situation is "medieval". Estimated population of the US less than 10 million.
    • Contact made with western US, the Canadian Remnant, the Azores, Pais del Oro, Celtic Alliance, parts of former Italy and the Nordic Union.
    • Global warming is depleting the northern ice cap.
    • China, Japan, and much of Asia are as "medieval" as the United States.
    • India has suffered mass starvation and disintegrated into numerous warlordships.
  • American Football League founded in Pago Pago.
  • June: Delegates meet in Torrington, Wyoming to revise and adopt a new form of the Constitution of the United States. This is considered the foundation of the PUSA.

1992[]

North America[]

  • Elections create a new U.S. Congress in the five participating states of the PUSA. War hero Ray Hunkins overwhelmingly wins elections for the presidency.
  • ANZUS establishes an outpost at Crescent City, California, in a new bid to kickstart the reclamation of California and Oregon. The outpost's commander exchanges messages with President Hunkins.

Northern Atlantic[]

  • January: The Portuguese Interim Government establishes contact with other neighbors in the North Atlantic, beginning a period of renewed cooperation among old NATO members.

Asia[]

  • Aceh claims all of Sumatra. GAM troops and the IIIL army fight to a two-week stalemate. Provisional border between Aceh and IIIL is established.
  • Pakistan invades and assumes control over the formally Indian- and Chinese-administrated areas of Kashmir.

Oceania[]

  • A joint US/Australian team restores the LORAN radio navigation station on Marcus Island.
  • A US military conspiracy to desert and settle the North American coast is foiled in Hawaii.

1993[]

Europe[]

  • September 26: Remnants of Denmark and Sweden join the Nordic Union.

Americas[]

  • The Crescent City Crisis erupts when local gangs kidnap New Zealand scientists in retaliation for some arrests. In the autumn, the outpost is abandoned.
  • Partido Urbano, a left-wing but anti-Sandinista localist movement, gains control over Alajuela, Costa Rica.
  • The Emergency Government of Minnesota becomes the North Star Republic

Oceania[]

  • Canberra Conference: the ANZUS powers agree to transfer some former UK naval units to the Celtic Alliance.
  • The entire surviving population of the Bonin Islands (c. 600 Japanese) is evacuated to Maui.

1994[]

Europe[]

  • September 6: The Commonwealth of Virginia declares that it has pacified its entire region of interest, the mountainous parts of Virginia and West Virginia.
  • November: In a second major blow to the American Provisional Administration, the people of Hawaii vote for independence in a referendum.

1995 - End of an Age[]

US/ Oceania[]

  • May 1: The American Provisional Administration formally ends. Bush encourages American expats to accept Australian citizenship.
  • Summer: The Continuity Act transfers American sovereignty to "a legitimate successor" to be "elected by the American people” in the future.
  • A third and final ANZUS-Treaty integrates "Gathering" forces into the ANZC military.
  • American Samoa, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands vote to join the ANZC; Hawaii and Alaska become associated states.
  • New Hawaiian Constitution restores the old monarchy under King Andrew.

1996[]

  • January 20: Andrew is crowned King of Hawaii and opens first Congress of the Free State.
  • March 30: Samoa and Micronesia are incorporated into the ANZC as Associate Members.
  • April 22: Swains Island, the last territory under the US government, is transferred to Tokelau Islands (ANZC colony).

1997[]

  • The ANZ Parliament meets for the first time.
  • Experimental plant opened on Hawaii's Big Island to convert sugarcane into fuel.

1998[]

1999[]

  • The military dictatorship in the North Star Republic is overthrown and elections are held for the first time since doomsday.

2000[]

  • The new Millennium begins without much fanfare.
  • April: Another ANZC Commonwealth recon mission of the world. Surveys made of the west coast of the United States, surviving European territories, Japan, and China.
    • Western US found to consist of scattered group of heavily fortified villages. Plant life is appearing in former desert areas. Radiation has dropped to low levels.

2001[]

  • After a decade of work by Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, the Panama Canal is opened to commercial traffic.
  • A joint European-South American team launches a new Odessey-class rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kouru, French Guiana.
  • September 20th: The Italian Government begin military operations in Tripolitania, under the pretex of fighting piracy in the Mediterranean Sea. The operations wold officially end by December of the same year.

2002[]

2003[]

  • 20 years after the war, some improvements in the climate and environment are noted. CO2 levels and accompanying temperatures have dropped. Ozone levels beginning to recover over the Antarctic, but are still dangerously low.

Asia/Oceania:[]

  • India: In a short cease fire, warlords establish the Union Constitutional Council. Fighting starts again within weeks.
  • Bougainville invades and occupies the Solomon Islands.
  • April 4th: Papua (Papua New Guinea and the western Papuan Provinces of Indonesia) become an associated territory of the ANZC.

2004[]

South America[]

Asia[]

  • Japan ends its policy of sakoku and opens up to the world.

Oceania[]

  • Prime Minister Paul Keating and the ANZC Parliament create a "World Census and Reclamation Bureau". Numerous missions are conducted to tally the population of the world. Temporary bases are established in many countries in the process.
  • Their findings:
    • Total World Population: 800 million, primarily in the Southern Hemisphere.
    • Chief causes of death: communicable disease, cancer, and starvation.
    • Infant mortality rate: 40%
    • 60% or three out of five children die before reaching age five.
    • Average life-span: 40 years.
    • Literacy rates for those under 20 years of age: 2% (outside of civilized nations).

2005[]

  • Hawaii and the ANZC finally agree on how to divide the former American islands of the Pacific.

2006[]

U.S.[]

South America[]

  • The SAC now consists of eight South American States. A new policy requires its members to have democratic governments, although this is interpreted very broadly.

Africa[]

  • Conditions are mostly horrifying.
  • A joint ANZ-SAC force establishes a South African Provisional Government (the RZA) at Cape Town.

2007[]

  • The ANZC Prime Minister initiates secret talks about re-establishing a League of Nations. Portuguese mediation is key to achieving South American cooperation. An acceptable plan is found by May 2007.

Africa[]

  • The twin cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville in former Zaire form a “Self–Defense Council”.

Asia/Oceania[]

Europe and North America[]

2008 – Dawn of a New Hope and a new threat in Europe[]

  • ANZ PM Keating and other world leaders reveal their plans for a new UN-like organization in their New Year's Day addresses.
  • On September 26th: exactly 25 years Doomsday, representatives of most acknowledged nations meet at Canberra to sign the Foundation Charter of the League of Nations.
  • November 8th: The expanding Mafia state of Sicily officially declares the long-awaited blockade of all Mediterranean Sea territories under its control.
  • ADC, LoN, Aegean Federation and Suez Channel Zone troops are sent to the Sicily region.
  • November 11th: League of Nations SECGen orders an immediate emergency session to resolve the conflict.
  • December 9th with now sign of a back down the LoN asks the Celtic Alliance to intervene and the C.A.N. Scimitar is dispatched to the region followed by the helicopter carrier C.A.N. Leeming.

2009 - Troubles Multiply[]

  • The League of Nations continues to expand its scope. In January, it takes over the Guiana Space Centre. In March, the new Red Cross is founded in Geneva.

North America[]

  • Australian aircraft cease to report after flying over the east coast of the old United States.
  • Mexico's Good Friday Riots bring two new parties, the PAN and the PRD, to power. The parties change their names to the Partido Conservatívo and the Partido Democrático, respectively.

Southeast Asia[]

  • In March, Indonesians adopt a new constitution.

Oceania[]

  • On February 12, Hawaii's Governor Lingle resigns due to skin cancer.

Africa[]

  • The Dominion of South Africa proposes an African Economic Community to engender wealth production in all of Southern Africa.

2010 - Picking Up the Pieces and a New America[]

World map feb 10

The world late in 2010

South America[]

  • February 27th: An 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurs in Chile, triggering a tsunami over the Pacific and killing 497. The earthquake is one of the largest in recorded history.
  • Brazilian presidential candidate José Serra (PSDB) is assassinated.

Central America[]

  • An earthquake in Haiti kills well over 200,000 people, leaving more than one million people homeless.

Europe[]

North America[]

Asia[]

Africa[]

2011[]

2012[]

2013[]

2014[]

2015[]

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