On 21 January 1968, a B-52 would crash near Thule Air Base, Greenland. The plane was on a Cold War “Chrome Dome” alert mission over Baffin Bay carrying four hydrogen bombs when a cabin fire broke out forcing the crew to abandon the plane before it could conduct an emergency landing at Thule Air Base. This crash would set in a chain reaction setting off the nuclear weapon in the craft, decimating the crew.
8:30 UTC[]
Location
Event
NATO, Warsaw Pact
Presuming an attack from the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would organize a counter-force attack, in which 400 out of 25,000~ U.S. atomic weapons would be aimed at prime targets in the Warsaw Pact such as Moscow, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad. This would cause a death toll of millions within hours.
9:00 UTC[]
Location
Event
NATO, Warsaw Pact
With only 20,000 of their nuclear bombs remaining, the Soviet Union would fire 250 at the U.S. at targets such as Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Anchorage, Chicago, Los Angeles, main infrastructure, and military bases.
9:30 UTC[]
Location
Event
NATO, Warsaw Pact
Ground invasions would begin as East German troops take over West Berlin, and the task force would rush towards the west. This task force would include 120,000 men from various nations, mostly East Germany. Enacting the Seven Days to the Rhine plan, Vienna was to be hit by two 500-kiloton bombs, while Vicenza, Verona, Padua, and several bases in Italy were to be hit by single 500-kiloton bombs. Hungary was to capture Vienna. Stuttgart, Munich, and Nuremberg in West Germany were to be destroyed by nuclear weapons and then captured by the Czechoslovaks and Hungarians. Around this time, in the United States, 100 nuclear weapons would be shot down, however, the rest would make their targets.
10:00 UTC[]
Location
Event
NATO, Warsaw Pact, Yugoslavia
Using natural defenses to their advantage, NATO forces would halt Warsaw Pact advances from reaching the French border, and a “phony war” scenario would break out in Germany, with no real advances made on said front. However, in southern Europe, a major front would break out when Yugoslavian troops launch infantry attacks on Greece and naval attacks on Italy. Yugoslav advances would be not much more than for use of propaganda, as Yugoslavia was depriving itself of resources, causing the first seeds of internal strife to be planted. After the first couple of hours, both sides nuclear weaponry had been stunned, so the majority of further attacks was via aerial and infantry means. Major troop movements were recorded in East Germany, in which a mobile task force had rushed the borders and quickly rolled through the unarmed and flat northern areas. West German troops in the south were more easily prepared, and had terrain to their advantage, pushing the rapid East German advances to a stop. The swathes of concentrated East German troops allowed for tactical nuclear strikes to take out the blunt of the troops.
11:00 UTC - 23:59 UTC[]
Location
Event
Global
Riots break out internationally as citizens begin looting shops and defacing property. While officially known as the “Moscow-Washington Conflict”, mass media declares “World War III.” With the main belligerents heavily weakened from nuclear bombardment, Nuclear strikes become less and less often. This provides a turn of events where airborne attacks such as airstrikes become the main medium for war. This does not mean there are no nuclear strikes to come, however.
The total death toll of 21 January 1968 would amount to 50 million worldwide. This includes 28 million deaths among Warsaw Pact and allies, and 22 million among NATO and the UN. In total, 1,000 nuclear weapons had been fired that day.
Denmark would quickly muster a light infantry force, attempting to attack from the North, but this light infantry would be destroyed by nuclear submarines of the coast of East Germany. 50,000 deaths would be reported after the attack on the light infantry, and be a major morale hit for Denmark, which had been struggling to prevent itself from being seized by East Germany.
January 23-24[]
Location
Event
German Democratic Republic, Yugoslavia
After the destruction of masses of troops on both sides, the East German front became mainly a "phony war" type stalemate. This resulted in the naval fronts to be a major aspect in the war, as on 25 January, 75,000 Yugoslav forces would rush through the Alps and Apennines towards major cities such as Venice. Via the Adriatic Sea, Yugoslavia would also hold naval superiority towards eastern Italy. A drafting order would also be in subsequent effect in Yugoslavia. This, however, along with the nuclear strikes, would cause major disarray for Yugoslav internal politics.
A famine in Botswana begins due to nuclear fallout. This heavily harms the economy and causes the deaths of about 10,000. Looting begins in the streets, and the government declares a state of emergency. They become heavily dependent on trade with apartheid states such as Rhodesia, which harms the government's reputation. They create the national diamond mining company after an agreement with De Beers, Debswana.
1969[]
Location
Event
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The British Government evacuates to the Northern Hebrides of Scotland. An emergency powers act gives local leaders control of respective territories, which would eventually lead to the dissolution of the United Kingdom, as the federal government would be unable to keep control of most of their own territory.
1970-1980[]
1980-1990[]
Location
Event
Siberian SFSR
Boris Morozov is born, a fictional person that exists because of the butterfly effect affecting the Morozov family bloodline.
Thule Air Base, Greenland
German Democratic Republic, 
Yugoslavia
Botswana
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Siberian SFSR
Portland
Malta
United States
Switzerland
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