The Crisis of 1991 was a major political and military crisis that lasted from 4 - 14 June that is considered the closest the world has ever approached nuclear war, at the height of the Dual Powers Conflict
Background[]
After the Scottish-Quebec Missile Crisis of 1960, a relaxation of tensions between the Sorelist France, their allies Japan and the French dominated European Defensive Alliance, with the democratic Juneau Pact lead by Russia and the United States and the nations aligned with Brazil was slowly achieved. Despite these diplomatic efforts on all three sides of the Tri-Power Conflict, behind the scenes tensions continued to mount. American discovery of French and Japanese support for the California Liberation Movement that rocked the western occupied territory of the US, resulted in demands for compensation, but no deal was ever worked out. The establishment of Brazil as a dictatorship under President Emílio Garrastazu Médici in 1957 and his anti-American and anti-Sorelist rhetoric lead to a cooling of relations with the "Three Atlantic" Great Powers, and the detonation of a Brazilian nuclear weapon in 1962, which was found to have been a result of espionage on the American program, dropped Brazilian-American relations lower than ever before.
The Space Race in the 1960s and 70s, as well as the proxy war between French allied Turkey, Arabia and Egypt with the Juneau Pact members Palestine and Persia in the First Middle East War also lead to increasing tensions between the Great Powers. The aborted 1973 Revolution in France, and the harsh measures taken by France to suppress the revolt efforts cooled realtions with Russia and America as well. With the election of President Edward Kennedy in 1976 and with Jaques Chirac becoming the Premier of France in 1979, both France and America, an in return their allies Japan and Russia, eased tensions in what has been called "detente." The end of the Venezuelan War when Venezuelan freedom fighters managed to liberate their country from Brazil and Colombia, and the collapse of the the Brazilian Bloc, and Tri-Power Conflict turned into the Dual-Power Conflict.
At the same time, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Arabia, sparked by the coup of Colonel Osama bin Laden, lead to the siege of the US Embassy there, and the partially successful rescue of Ambassador Charlton Heston and half of the staff by Persia and Palestine. However, France took this opportunity to secure a reliable oil source, and through political maneuvering in the Organization of Sovereign Nations gave them Carte Blanche the invade Arabia. Operation Crusader is a stunning success, overthrowing bin Laden and securing Arabian oil for France. This led both Russia and America to denounce France for their "naked power grab."
The election of Barry Sadler in 1988, however, lead to a remarkable drop in relations, as Salder pushed to "win" the Dual Powers Conflict, which lead to a rise of secret operations in Africa and Asia against Sorelist dominated governments, which in turn pushed Chirac into a more Hawkish position, and actively worked to get both Poland and Greece, longtime American and Russian allies to become Sorelist and prevent American influence in Europe from being used to attack France.
Crisis[]
Starting with the defection of French General François Mitterrand to Russia from his post in Czechoslovakia, revealing information that France was seeking to overthrow the Juneau Pact members of Poland and Greece. The crisis quickly escalated, as an unprovoked French attack on an American carrier battle group, border clashes between Russia and Japanese dominated Manchukuo, both the North Confederacy and the South Confederacy, as well as the borders of Poland and Greece, all lead to panic and fear in all nations involved. The OSN tried to resolve the crisis, but problems with communication and if the representatives had the right to negotiate for their country lead to nothing being accomplished.
The escalation took place when Japan raised their nuclear forces to the highest state of readiness short of war on June 11, which sparked the other nations to raise their levels, including DEFCON 2 in the US ordered by President Salder. TV stations accidentally broadcast an EBAS Alert Message in some parts of the US and the CSA, which sparked further fear across the US, and made the French afraid the US was preparing to launch. At this point, President Salder suffered a mental collapse, contemplating suicide than surviving a nuclear war he might have started.
A computer glitch on June 12 in Russia which claimed nuclear missiles from France and Japan were inbound was correctly identified, and from this high point, the OSN ambassadors of France and America were ordered to seek a meeting to relay their intent to back down on June 13. Within hours, DEFCON 3 was reinstated, and the crisis was over.
Aftermath[]
Days after the crisis ended, the full story of what happened in Russia on June 12 was released to the media, and showed how close the world had come to the nuclear abyss. A month later, President Salder made the surprising announcement that he would not seek re-election, which he said was due to his handling, and mental breakdown, during the crisis. The Nationalist Party struggled to find a replacement for the popular Salder, and settled on businessman Ross Perot, who won the election of 1992.
In France, a military coup by Field Marshall Édouard Balladur overthrew Chirac, who was sent to exile in Algeria. His replacement, suggested by Balladur, was Nicholas Sarkozy, which Emperor Louis II accepted. Together, Perot and Sarkozy, as well as President Gorbachev of Russia and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone of Japan (the later two who had served through the crisis, but kept their positions) negotiated the Nuclear Exchange Weapons Demobilization Treaty (NEWDT), which was signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993.