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The history of the United States of America in the 1983: Doomsday timeline


Doomsday, Sept. 26, 1983 (SEP 25 1983 - 20:45 PM EDT )[]

The fatal decision to launch the nuclear missiles at the United States is given.

Nearly 1100 Soviet ICBM's in staggered waves are on their way.

20:45 pm: NORAD launch detection satellites report the incoming 1100 ICBM's from the Soviet Union.

It is apparently, to them, a Soviet FIRST-strike and President Reagan is immediately awakened and rushed to "Marine-1", to be evacuated to the Boeing E-4B Nightwatch "National Airborne Command Post" permanently standing by. He arrives 20 minutes later and the aircraft takes off at about 1:09 AM - UTC-21:09 EDT

En route, the President is informed by Secretary of Defense Weinberger and the NORAD generals that the launch is confirmed and that it was total. Reagan gives the launch codes and orders a full retaliatory strike, including "city-buster" missile attacks from the American submarine fleet.

A minute later the first Soviet missile detonates in Beijing, China (killing Weinberger) and another detonates almost simultaneously at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.

Doomsday clock strikes[]

Doomsday. Over a period of two hours, from approximately 1:15 AM until 3:10 AM UTC, over 3,000 nuclear weapons detonate all across the Northern Hemisphere. NATO commanders are ordered to launch tactical Pershing-I missiles at Soviet tank yards, and Warsaw Pact commanders respond with the launch of their Pioneer missiles.

No American citizen was given much warning of the attack. Some cities did receive alerts, and while local mayors and fire chiefs were scrambling to remember where the air-raid siren was, they were either destroyed or missed in the attack.

EMP (electro-magnetic pulses) from airburst weapons destroy some 70% of the electronics across the United States. Radios and televisions are rendered useless.

The final death toll on that first day is 1.53 billion people world-wide.

Aftermath - September 1983-March 1984[]

After a week in the National Airborne Command Post jet, President Reagan is transferred to the still-surviving Mount Weather command bunker. where the bulk of his cabinet had already been evacuated. The Soviets had known for years that Mount Weather was a FEMA facility, but they had not understood its central importance in U.S. plans until recently and had not yet adjusted their attack plans to include it.

Vice-President George Bush is relocated to a bunker below theGreenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. This was to have been the Congressional relocation center, but hardly any members of Congress could be saved in the brief window of time - only the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Senate, who had been evacuees of the highest priority because of their places in the constitutional line of succession to the presidency.

Attempts of co-ordination of remaining police, fire, and especially National Guard units in the United States proved only marginally successful. With the widespread death, starvation, and fall-out, few National Guardsmen report for duty. Most couldn't, but many (with no safe zones for their families) refused. Chaos reigned.

In a few areas of the country, governments were struggling to reassert control at the state and local level. In these areas, from the Rocky Mountains to Texas to the deep South to New England, surviving cities, towns and villages took control of their own survival, taking on responsibilities that would be normally handled by federal and state agencies and joining with neighboring towns to get through the crisis. Communities that managed to get past the end of the year were in a good position to survive for the longer term.

By Christmas, Hawaii had a functioning state government in the islands not hit by missiles, but shortages of food and medicine caused violence between various factions. Hawaii's main union of farm laborers won control through its control of the food and the consent of the now-powerless local officials. The union's leader, Louis Goldblatt, took the title of Governor and imposed strict labor quotas and rations. His restrictions held the conflict in check, but just barely. The remote island state was, however, still completely isolated from the mainland.

Predictions of the results of a nuclear exchange from the late 70s and early 80s prove fairly accurate. In addition to the initial deaths, subsequent deaths due to fall-out, out-of-control fires, starvation, dehydration, disease, etc. adds several more billion.

The predictions of a "nuclear winter" however come up short. Only a 10 F. drop is noted, and as the attack occurs going into the late fall, it isn't a major effect on typical weather patterns. The dust cover does block out the sun for several days, but within a week, it dissipates and cloud patterns return to normal by mid-October.

Vast areas of the United States are uninhabitable. Radiation levels drop with the predicted two week fall-out pattern, but irradiated areas and areas where toxic chemicals have been spilled are deadly to humans contacting them. Several nuclear reactors in the US melt down, releasing further radiation into the water, land, and atmosphere.

1984[]

By March 1984, the population of the United States has dropped to 28 million people, almost 1/10 the pre-Doomsday level.

All over the United States, food shortages are absolute. Cannibalism of the dead is not uncommon, and some roving gangs of former military units even kill people for food.

President Reagan and his staff at Mt. Weather are facing a dire situation. The facility was only established with a limited food supply and it is slowly running out. Abandoned farms and orchards in neighboring Virginia are producing contaminated crops or none at all. Salvage teams from the Secret Service have been sent out to forage but have had little luck as the few surviving locals have picked clean markets, warehouses, restaurants - any place with stored food. Contact with Vice President Bush at The Greenbrier indicates that the same situation is affecting them.

Meanwhile, deep within Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, the staff of the NORAD facility, intended to be the country's emergency nerve center and comms hub, have been working to restore contact. Nuclear blasts had destroyed every trace of the base on the surface, cutting it off from the rest of the country. On March 21, they succeed. Covered in protective gear, a crew of engineers erects a radio tower and sends signals first to Mount Weather, then to Hawaii and any other American facilities that can be reached.

This period of open communication will be brief, but it allows Reagan and the federal administration to craft a new plan on April 23 for preserving the American republic. They decide to abandon the ineffectual bunkers and divide the federal administration. Reagan will go to Hawaii's Big Island with the Secretary of State and other key cabinet officials, where they can count on help from America's ANZUS allies, Australia and New Zealand. Bush will lead a second administration from Leadville, Colorado, not far from NORAD. A third will remain in the Appalachians, but in Charleston, West Virginia. Under the nominal leadership of Strom Thurmond, its main purpose will be to keep some kind of federal presence near the old capital and the original relocation sites. Plans for a fourth administration in the Caribbean are never implemented.

Reagan and Bush leave Appalachia on May 5, 1984. Reagan lands safely at his first stop, Mexico City. But then destiny strikes: Thanks to electromagnetic interference and residual radiation left over from Doomsday, the president's plane becomes unresponsive and is horribly off course a few hours after leaving over the Pacific. Running out of fuel and unable to land, the Boeing E-4 loses altitude and crashes into the South Pacific. Though the President and First Lady survive the crash, the life-raft the couple and their Secret Service team escapes on sinks in a squall a day later.

Nominally, George Bush becomes President on May 6, 1984. Scarecly after landing in Leadville, he is informed that NORAD has lost contact with the NEACP. They wait a few days for any reports, but with none coming, Bush has a local Lake County judge swear him in as President on May 11.But before long, Bush decides that he cannot stay. He hates the idea that the war is still raging in the Pacific while America's President is hiding in the mountains. What's more, the situation there is worse than he had thought. Colorado is blown to bits. Montana isn't much better. Utah is already coming under Church rule. Wyoming is the only functioning state government left, and it's hard to see how either the President or NORAD can help it right now. After some long talks with his aides, and no doubt reflecting on his own experience fighting in the Pacific, Bush decides that he must now go to Hawaii.

Frayed nerves aside, Bush lands safely in Hawaii. He finishes the work begun by Secretary of State George Shultz, who had flown in a separate plane from Reagan. Bush declares the start of the American Provisional Administration in Hilo. His first priority is to gather intelligence on the situation after Doomsday, both in the US and across the world. Bush soon flies to New Zealand and Australia to renew the ANZUS alliance and confirm America's part in it.

Later in the Summer of 1984, predictions of a "nuclear summer" come true, as nitrogen oxides and a reduced ozone layer raise temperatures to an average high 10-25 F. over normal.

The establishment of a U.S. federal administration in the Pacific brings a third partner to this alliance. President Bush and other leaders of the American Provisional Administration spend a good deal of time in New Zealand and Australia coordinating with the stronger powers. They are already allies through the ANZUS defense pact; now, the alliance is modified and extended. The United States contributes the superior technology of its surviving military hardware; Australia has its resources and substantial industrial base; New Zealand has its intact society and harbors.

The strengthened pact is intended to secure supplies of food and medicine as well as provide security for the Pacific region. All American and any NATO Army, Navy and Air Force units that remain are placed under ANZUS command. On June 1, 1984, the ANZUS Order 001/1984 is given by the joint ANZUS Head Command set up in Brisbane.

This order – today famous as the Gathering Order - is to be sent to all U.S. and NATO units capable of hearing and responding to the message. It orders all units to set course for Australian, New Zealand and Hawaiian territory. If this cannot be achieved, all surviving units in a defined geographical area should go to the nearest suitable gathering point to which ANZUS supply convoys will meet them. The responses of American and NATO forces scattered around the globe are sporadic, but steadily increase over the next year. The first units to report are several nuclear submarines. They set course for ports in ANZUS territory. As satellite communication is impossible, word spreads slowly to scattered naval units in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are ordered to assemble at several points considered suitable, mainly intact British, French and U.S. naval bases on remote islands. The bulk of the regrouping flotillas consist of submarines, frigates and destroyers from NATO countries and the remains of American carrier groups. Civilian freighter convoys are also heading to the specified destinations.

In late 1984, ANZUS readies its first major offensive: against Soviet forces occupying Alaska. The Americans have amassed two tank landing ships, an amphibious transport, three destroyers, two frigates, two nuclear attack submarines, and several military and civilian supply and cargo ships with a few hundred Marines. British forces sent HMS Hermes with a mixed US-British air group, a destroyer, and a tanker; while the Australians send a frigate, a minesweeper, and HMAS Jervis Bay with a marine contingent. New Zealand supports the operation with reconnaissance and logistics, as well as by taking charge of oceanic patrols around Australia and the American islands. The French Pacific manages to send a token force. The task force represents the largest conventional operation by a Western power during the late phase of World War III. It anchors off Juneau to support the struggling Alaskan state government and prepares to move in spring.

Vermont Governor George Snelling resumed his duties in January, and on January 25, the state's General Assembly reconvened.

On February 4, a provisional state government for New Hampshire was formed in the city of Manchester.

In Utah, the calling of eight new apostles by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the calling of Bill Orton to serve as Governor pro tempore by Mormon church President Gordon B. Hinckley, was announced in April. The state capital was relocated to FIllmore, the church headquarters to Manti.

On May 19, Robert S. Stowe declared the formation of the Republic of Superior. The constitutional convention was held in Marquette on July 4; the Superior Constitution was, with a few minor changes, an exact copy of the United States Constitution as it existed on September 25, 1983.

On July 24, the constitution for the Republic of Vermont was signed and ratified. Snelling, as Governor, became acting President until the November elections. On July 25, New Hampshire was admitted into Vermont as a county, and the two former state governments formally merged into one Republic.

1985[]

USA(TopographicalMap)

Landscape of the USA 2 years after Doomsday

Throughout the year, city-states throughout the former U.S. established themselves as independent entities, and in some cases began to build alliances that would one day lead to the formation of new nations. These city-states included Asheville, Cape Girardeau, Davenport, Dodge City, Elizabeth City, Hattiesburg, International Falls, Iowa City, Joplin, Lincoln, Missoula, Muncie, Nacogdoches, Scottsbluff and Tyler. Some newly formed nations, such as Kentucky, Virginia and Vermont, were stabilizing their governments and societies and caring for their people the best they could. Some state governments, particularly in Utah and Wyoming, were on their way towards establishing independence.

In the spring, the ANZUS task force launches its major offensive against Soviet forces occupying parts of Alaska. Troops around Prince William sound surrender almost immediately. The Alaska Peninsula is then liberated within two weeks, Kodiak after two weeks more. Outside the Aleutians, the invasion evaporates quickly. In July, ANZUS begins a heavy bombardment of Unalaska and Umnak. These islands hold out longer but are liberated in September. At this point, with Alaskan temperatures dropping far below that of a normal winter, most of the force has to return to Australia and New Zealand. The fighting in the western Aleutians returns to where it had been before the Gathering Order: a series of inconclusive skirmishes.

On November 6th, 1985 the USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) becomes the fifth American nuclear submarine to arrive in ANZUS territory thus far. On November 18th, another relief is felt at the response of the American carrier USS Carl Vinson and a small accompanying fleet from the harbor of Papeete, Tahiti. On December 8th the Vinson group arrives in Brisbane.

1986[]

Both of the surviving federal administrations collapse during 1986, leaving Bush's APA in the Pacific as the sole remaining civil entity representing a continuation of the federal government.

George Bush visits southeastern Alaska and is given a hero's welcome. Fighting continues in the Aleutians, but most of the state is now at peace. The people celebrate the American Provisional Administration for its role in their liberation.

In British Columbia, the Social Survival Party MP from Vancouver Island North submitted a bill to Parliament in March, suggesting that since contact with Canada had still not been established, and progress was being made to make the remnants of British Columbia self-sufficient, the final step of establishing the incorporated territories as an independent nation should be made. The bill was passed on October 2, formally establishing the Republic of Victoria, which incorporated all of the territories of Vancouver Island and the British Columbia coast.

1987[]

After two long years of ineffective skirmishing in the Aleutians, ANZUS finally makes peace with the remnant Soviet regime in Siberia. The Sitka Accords finally put an end to World War III. They establish a DMZ in Alaska between the Siberian-controlled islands and the State of Alaska.

In Hawaii, the assassination of the dictatorial Governor Goldblatt sparks a civil war. Bush returns with ANZUS troops to begi n restoring order.

1988[]

In another blow to what's left of the United States Administration- East, the small group in the Mount Weather bunker splits up. The facility is no longer operable. Former Treasury Secretary Donald Regan, the last high-ranking official with a credible claim to the acting presidency, gives up and abandons the administration. This leaves the former Secretary of Labor, Raymond Donovan, as the last cabinet member trying to assert a place in the line of succession. He and his remaining armed escort establish themselves in tiny Romney, West Virginia, where he will spend the next six years claiming to be the legal head of state.

Australian and Kiwi troops depart Hawaii. Bush sets up an emergency administration and puts the state on the path toward a restored civil government.

1989[]

The military supervised elections in November bring a democratically elected government back to Hawaii, although the strict quotas and rations remained a fact of life.

1990[]

In January, Harry Kim sworn in as Hawaii's new governor.

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). It would be "provisional" because it is so rudimentary; most of the new states can barely support themselves. Nevertheless it represents meaningful progress in a region otherwise marked by setbacks and decline.

1991[]

The USS "Benjamin Franklin" is re-fitted by the Royal Australian Navy and sent on an intelligence gathering mission. Her empty missile silos are filled with food, enough to last 16-to-18 months. Besides, the captain receives full diplomatic mandate to contact any remaining nation-like governments, except “apparent illegitimate dictatorship”. She heads out, returning to Cairns in August 1992.

First destination is the old U.S. from where she confirms the regular reports from Hawaii:

The situation in the continental United States is "medieval". A few towns and villages have formed themselves into barricaded sanctions, fighting off marauding ex-Army and ex-police units, scavenging for food, water and ammunition. The estimated population of the contiguous US is guessed at less than ten million. A Royal Australian Air Force pilot who volunteered to join the "Franklin" crew, found an intact Beechcraft airplane near Tillamook, Oregon and flew several hundred miles inland.

He reported reaching a vast desert as he approached the old Idaho/Nevada border. Radiation levels were minimal, but the area seemed devoid of plant and animal life. He returned and reboarded the "Franklin" as it headed down along the West Coast.

In 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 Provisional USA and the beginning of the country's restoration on the mainland.

1992[]

Elections create a new U.S. Congress in the five participating states. War hero Ray Hunkins overwhelmingly wins elections for the presidency. The new structures of the PUSA begin to operate.

ANZUS establishes an outpost at Crescent City, California, in a new bid to kickstart the reclamation of California and Oregon. The outpost's commander dispatches messages to the new government and a month later receives a reply from President Hunkins - the republic has not yet failed. This causes a brief burst of hope: even though the two administrations cannot yet do anything to support each other, there is now a clear path toward reunification and restoration of the country.

1993[]

The Crescent City Crisis erupts when local gangs kidnap New Zealand scientists in retaliation for some arrests. To shore up the region, President Bush activates the National Guards of both Hawaii and Alaska and requests an ANZUS military mission. Both governors resist. Alaska's McAlpine drags his feet complying with Bush's order, while Hawaii's Kim simply refuses. Australia was also reluctant to help. Its forces are committed in several other places: operations in Indonesia, anti-piracy missions in the South China Sea, patrols in the Alaskan DMZ. When the violence escalates further in the fall, first the Australians leave, and then the entire APA contingent leaves the mainland. The crisis is a massive setback for the APA. It comes just at a time when the Americans are having trouble maintaining their place in the ANZUS Commonwealth.

1994[]

The Commonwealth of Virginia declares on September 6th that it has eliminated its rivals, which it characterizes as outlaw gangs. One of these rivals is former Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, the last holdout from the Reagan administration, who renounced his position in April and acquiesced to the annexation of territory under his control, Hampshire County, WV. The Commonwealth has full control of the mountainous parts of Virginia and West Virginia.

In a second major blow to the American Provisional Administration, the people of Hawaii vote for independence in a referendum in November. The movement for Hawaiian sovereignty had begun as an effort to demilitarize the islands, and it grew in response to inaction by Bush and the disaster in Crescent City. President Bush denounces the vote and asked for help from ANZUS to restore order in Hawaii. But now he does not have their support. They insist instead on a meeting with APA leaders and the heads of Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories. It is time to discuss the future of their mutual relationships. The talks begin in December in Wellington. New Zealand's PM Mike Moore acts as mediator.

1995: End of an Era[]

Hawaii takes further steps toward independence. The islands' royal family step suddenly into public view, staging a ceremony with supporters on January 17, the 102nd anniversary of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani. The event looks conspicuously like a coronation and is framed as such in the press. Days later, Governor Kim announces his intention to step down in favor of a provisional government to guide Hawaii to its next phase. Amid such political uncertainty and burgeoning public separatism, the APA pulls out of Hilo. The new federal capital is set up in Juneau, Alaska - the only state that the APA still truly controls.

Backed into a corner, Bush declares the impending end of the Provisional American Administration on May 1st, 1995. Bush, in consultation with his allies, Prime Ministers Moore and Howard, issues a short statement to the American expatriates and American forces in Australia, stating that the ANZUS Commonwealth itself will take up most of the USA's roles and commitments in the Pacific. American military units are already under ANZUS command and will remain so; they will keep their American identity within that structure, even as the administration itself ceases to be. He urges his fellow expatriates to remember their roots while advising that it is best if they "become part of the Australian life and culture."

Bush tries to stress that this action marks the end of a single administration, not the American nation. He signs an act meant to leave the door open to a successor to take up the former superpower's mantle: the declaration dissolving the APA is called the “Continuity Act” and says that the country's sovereignty and Constitution will be “temporarily suspended until a legitimate successor – continuing the US traditions of Freedom and Democracy - is elected by the American people”. Nevertheless, from the perspective of those in the Pacific, this marks the end of the 219-year-long history of the United States of America that started in 1776.

Bush resigns immediately and takes up a position as an adviser to PM John Howard, primarily on development of Australian oil production in Indonesia. He leaves it to his vice president, Robert Nesen, to preside over the details of the end of the administration during the coming year. This includes decisions the status of all the APA's territories, which are all negotiating their future relationship with the two remaining ANZUS powers.

Samoa (including both Western and American Samoa) and the Federated States of Micronesia (which now include the Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands) decide to keep their Associate Member status within the commonwealth. Hawaii's leaders negotiate a status of Free Association with the commonwealth, establishing a precedent that many other island states will follow. In Alaska there is debate over whether to accept a similar status, or to incorporate a new version of the United States to be based in Juneau. In the end, Alaskans decide that this is too great a burden. Its voters approve a status of Free Association in November 1995, though with a clause allowing it to rejoin a restored United States at a future time.

The uninhabited US islands of the Pacific are claimed by both Hawaii and the Commonwealth; their status will take years to sort out fully.

1996[]

The Aircraft carrier USS "Carl Vinson” (CVN-70) is rechristened as the ANZS "Carl Vinson" (ANZS-01) and becomes the new Flagship of the combined ANZC Navy. New principal ANZC naval base is set up in Brisbane.

2000[]

In April 2000 another ANZC recon mission of to the old US (headed by the ANZC flagship “Commonwealth”) is undertaken.

The former US (at least west of the Rocky Mountains) have melted down to a scattered group of heavily fortified villages (less than 50 from Washington State to southern California), with nearly double that number abandoned or burned. Fired upon by some inhabitants, the Australian pilots make safe landings only at two. Once in Bay City, Oregon and another at Crescent City, California.

Both towns are walled and had feudal warlords, one called "the Mayor" in Bay City, the other called "Boss Jones" in Crescent City. Starvation-level food production barely keeps the villagers alive, while the warlords and their guards reap most of the benefits of the food and fresh water. Plagues of typhus, cholera, and diphtheria had depleted their numbers and neither town had a population larger than 1100 people. It is assumed this situation has repeated in much of the old United States.

Fly-overs of the land east of the Rocky Mountains reveal that grass and some trees have started to grow again in much of the formerly desert areas. Nomads are seen scavenging through ruins, but no contact was made with them. Radiation "hot zones" are detected near old nuclear power plants, but generally the radiation has dropped to low levels.

2006[]

The fortified cities along the U.S. Pacific coast, facing desperate food supply and no real perspective for anyone, finally agreed to accept the conditions set up by both the ANZ and SAC for delivering humanitarian aid: the symbolic foundation of the MSP - Municipal States of the Pacific with its main task of coordinating the distribution of the humanitarian aid. The second condition to form a "Pacific Coast Police Unit" unifying the cities' security forces in order to secure the humanitarian transports and infrastructure is fulfilled as well.

The signature of the MSP Contract takes place on July 4th, 2006 at Crescent City. 11 years after the “Continuity Act” former Pres. Bush describes his feelings as: “The seed of the spirit of the United States has survived on U.S. soil. Maybe one day our glorious heritage will be continued..."

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