1983: Doomsday

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

This timeline explores world history after Doomsday - September 26th, 1983.

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

This is a "live" timeline, which means that 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 warmly welcome your additions.

Before making major edits or additions to this ATL, please read the Editorial Guidelines and discuss your ideas on the 1983: Doomsday talk page.

Introduction[]

The World of 1983: Doomsday as of 2023. Suggest changes at the World Map Changelog.

The Point of Divergence of 1983: Doomsday is September 19th, 1983, on which a seemingly unimportant decision to send an ambitious Soviet colonel to a training seminar, taking the place of an indisposed colleague, has global implications.

This decision leads to a different outcome of a well-known, though often underestimated, event that took place in the darkness of the early morning of 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.

In our timeline, since the events of that night have become widely known, the moment has often been considered the closest that the USSR and USA ever came to a nuclear war. Colonel Petrov has been honored as one of the few true "world saviors," and several investigations have proven the great seriousness of this highly dangerous event that may have lead to apocalyptic consequences.

This timeline explores the results after Colonel Petrov was sent to another installation before September 26, 1983. The officer now on duty on September 26th considered the alert to be accurate and immediately contacted his superiors. Within minutes, the leaders ordered a massive retaliatory strike against the West. The Americans naturally reacted by launching a strike of their own, this one all too real. By the time the first alerted missile was proven to be a false alarm, it was too late. Thousands of nuclear warheads soon detonated over targets worldwide. In a preemptive attack, the Soviet Union also launched missiles against the People's Republic of China, which responded as best it could with a counterattack against the USSR.

The results of this total nuclear exchange came close to the predicted worldwide destruction and "nuclear holocaust." Close to a billion people were killed initially, and another billion died in the 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 tried to keep together what is left of human society. They would face challenges that were seemingly impossible.

After suffering some years of absolute horrors following Doomsday, a handful of regions, territories, and countries managed to stabilize and overcome the basic problems of food, clean water, and medical supplies. As time passed and the recovery continued, new (sometimes surprising) alliances formed. A new, fragile world order emerged from the ashes. Initial hopes of some survivors for a united mankind (or at least a permanent end to warfare and destruction) quickly proved false. Indeed, the world is still very far from fulfilling any utopian vision. Famine, disease, and lack of resources continue to spark conflicts in many parts of the world, threatening to wipe out the decades of slow recovery.

Now, 41 years after the devastating "Doomsday" event brought mankind to the edge of total extinction, a few bright moments have spread the hope for a more peaceful future for mankind, such as the foundation of the new "League of Nations" on September 26th, 2008. The world order is dominated by a set of regional blocs - above all a unified Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand and South American Confederation - which have proved able to master the challenges of the era and intervene internationally. Mankind's total extinction, at least, seems to have been avoided.

Nonetheless, new dangers to this fragile world have emerged all around the globe, threatening much of what has been achieved within the last 41 years...

WCRB NewsHour- World Headlines[]

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

September[]

October 1st, 2024: Happy 100th Birthday Jimmy Carter! - PLAINS, GEORGIA, NEONOTIA Outside of 209 Woodland Drive, thousands of locals and visitors alike adorn the streets with cheers and decorations to celebrate the 100th birthday of the last living American President, founder of Neonotia, architect of the Carter Accords that re-united the South, devotee to peace and reconstruction and all-around good man - James Earl Carter II. The 39th President dodged death on Doomsday, narrowly fleeing back from the Atlanta area to his home town thanks to his Secret Service detail. In spite of losing two of his four children and many of his other kin on Doomsday, President Carter persevered through the worst of the crisis and kept swathes of the South together even as the rest of the country collapsed entirely. His daughter Amy and grandson James Earl Carter IV met with the celebratory crowds outside Woodland Drive. Also in attendance was former Texas President George W. Bush, son of George H W Bush, the last president of the 'original' United States. It will likely take some time to clear the bouquets of flowers and redistribute the many cakes and treats left by the residents of Plains. On behalf of the World Census Reclamation Bureau news team, we wish the "President of Peace" a very happy birthday. John Hill, WCRB Alaska, signing off.

September 27–29, 2024: Hurricane Helene devastates the Appalachian Mountains: ASHEVILLE, BLUE RIDGE - Hurricane Helene, a fierce Category 4 Hurricane that originally formed in the Gulf of Mexico, has devastated the Appalachian mountains after "catastrophic flooding" has destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Governor Terry Bellamy issued a state of emergency on September 27th in anticipation of Helene's rapid advance towards the Appalachian Mountains. The capital city of the Provisional Republic, Asheville, issued a curfew for all of its residents soon after, that resulted in panic and looting. During the initial winds caused by Helene, the majority of the country lost power, damaging the government's ability to issue evacuations and recovery operations. In the wake of the hurricane, multiple cities and towns across the country were evacuated, including Lake Lure, of which it's namesake dam was overtopped by water. Multiple villages were partially or completely destroyed by the intense floodwaters, including Chimney Rock. Residents and politicians across the country have criticized the Blue Ridge National Guard's response to the catastrophe, such as a lack of search and rescue operations in the more rural regions of the country. Casualty estimates widely vary, between as low as 50 and as high as 1,000, with the official estimate being around 150.

September 25–26, 2024: The 41st year since "Doomsday" observed worldwide EARTH - All around the globe, over a billion souls solemnly observe the forty-first anniversary of the day that brought the human race to the brink of extinction. Along the coasts of Western Europe and North America, the handful of survivor states hold vigils to commemorate the erasure of hundreds of the world's dearest cities and the countless millions who inhabited them. Across Siberia, effigies of the leaders who betrayed humanity - both American and Soviet - are burned by the youth in the fields under moonlit outings. The Outer Lands town of Plymouth hold to observe the day to complete and total silence, violated by none but children and the senile. In Cape Town, Mayor Pumla Gobodo-Madikeza marked to WCRB that 'brutality and hatred are learned behaviours. It is the responsibility for all alive today to build a world that renounces the fear and ignorance that allowed such petty misunderstandings to destroy billions. We are what we teach our children, and our children are a reflection of our very own souls and the scars they have weathered. May we continue to shape with courage a better world for our children, and may the cycle of violence be buried with our generation."

September 6, 2024: North American Union completes dredging of North Bay Area: SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC, NORTH AMERICAN UNION - For the first time in over 2 years, the shores of San Rafael are quiet as over 12,000 workers, sailors and NAU Federal Police prepare to head home. NAU President Johnathan Nez appeared at a Press Conference announcing the cearly completion of the Northern half of the Bay Area Restoration Project. Also speaking at the conference was the Chairman of the NAU Port Authority and a delegation from the National Nuclear Commission for Safety and Safeguards of Mexico, who provided assistance in decontaminating the shoreline of the North Bay Area. With the Mexican and Texan governments also investing in the project in exchange for allotted access alongside private backers from across the Oceanic Organisation, the project was finished 15 months ahead of schedule after the Bay Area swelled with good-paying labor. It is suspected that many of the remaining camps of workers dotted across the Marin Headlands will remain in what local pundits have called the "first boom town after the boom", with one particular campsite at the old Fort Barry petitioning district authorities for incorporation.

July[]

July 10, 2024: Olympic Torch Relay Reaches Nigeria: Calabar, Nigeria - The people of Nigeria have welcomed the Olympic Torch touching down in the port city of Calabar. The torch, which has navigated around the continent of Africa the past few weeks will now go on a two week tour of the host nation. There is much excitement abound as the Olympic festival in Lagos gets underway and athletes from across the world travel to Nigeria. This will make the first ever Olympic Games to be held on the African continent.

June[]

June 6, 2024: Trabzonian leader Altan Sahin dead at 89: TRABZON, Empire of Trabzon - Trabzon's self-styled emperor and long term military dictator, Altan Sahin, has died of an unspecified illness. He was 89. In a special and apparently unscheduled broadcast from the capital, Radio Trabzon reported that Sahin had died early Thursday morning at a private health clinic, where he had been sequestered following an abortive coup in 2023. Sahin was maligned by his external critics as a saber-rattling autocrat responsible for a cult of personality at home and futile military adventures abroad. In Trabzon, he remains a divisive figure, respected for restoring order to the region after Doomsday and cultivating a sense of homegrown nationalism among the Trabzonian people. The government has declared seven days of official mourning, and all cultural and entertainment events have been canceled. As Sahin did not name a successor, the title of emperor will not be passed on and executive duties have formally passed to a military administrative council. Sahin will retain the ceremonial title of head of state posthumously, making Trabzon the world's only current necrocracy.

June 5. 2024 - Results of Reading-Susquehanna Unification Referendum - READING, Reading and BLOOMSBURG, Susquehanna
Final results of the March unification referendum were released today, with the pro-unification winning at a 72% in favor and 28% opposed. The General Assembly of Susquehanna will meet in July to ratify the referendum results and begin the process of accession with the Provisional Pennsylvania Government in Reading. Reading officials announced that they were excited about the results, with Governor Gary Day releasing a statement celebrating the outcome and welcoming the people of the Commonwealth of Susquehanna into the nation.

Recent additions[]

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Contributors[]

This ATL is maintained and coordinated by the different branches of the WCRB - World Census and Reclamation Bureau

Because of the excellent regional articles, and to honour the large amount of work done for those articles, each registered user taking care of a special region will be awarded a WCRB identity/command post/character if they want one.

Current list of active contributors[]

Current active editors are:

Would-Be Contributors[]

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First read the Editorial Guidelines. They explain the rules for adding to the timeline.
If you have questions, ask an active contributor; see the above list. If you're on Alternate History Wiki's Discord, you can find us on #1983-Doomsday.
Introduce yourself on the 1983: Doomsday Talk Page and explain any new proposals you have.
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