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The Setting for Twilight 2000.

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The Setting for Twilight 2000

1989
NOVEMBER 9: The Berlin Wall falls.

1990
AUGUST 2: Iraq invades Kuwait, starting the Gulf War.
OCTOBER 3: Germany is reunified.

1991
FEBRUARY 28: The Gulf War ends.

JUNE 12: Boris Yeltsin is elected president of Russia.

JULY 1: The Warsaw Pact is formally dissolved.

AUGUST 19: Tanks rumble through the streets of Moscow in the morning. “The Gang of Eight,” with KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov at the helm, sets their coup in motion. President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest in Crimea and vice president Gennady Yanayev – one of The Eight – is declared the new president of the Soviet Union. The Russian president Boris Yeltsin is arrested at his dacha outside Moscow.
Tens of thousands demonstrate in the streets against the coup, but without a leadership figure to rally behind, the protests are struck down hard. In other parts of the Soviet Union, The Gang of Eight is less successful. In the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Soviet forces occupy TV towers and other strategic buildings, but this sparks violent protests. After many deaths and strong condemnation by the USA, the Soviet forces retreat. The three Baltic states all declare independence shortly thereafter, and immediately apply for NATO membership.

1992
The collapse of the Soviet Union has been halted by The Eight, who spend the next year purging all opposition to their rule inside the Soviet government. The Kremlin initiates a program of strictly controlled economic liberalization which reinvigorates
the Soviet economy, but the freedom of the press and other liberties introduced by Gorbachev are revoked step by step. In the international community, the Soviet Union is seen as severely weakened. In the US, focus shifts to the woeful state of the domestic economy. President George Bush loses the election to the challenger Bill Clinton.

1993
Clinton wants to show solidarity with the countries in the former Warsaw Pact. During a visit to Poland and the Baltic States, he signals that they can count on NATO support and, eventually, membership. The Soviet Union protests but, for now, does little more than saber rattling. Soon after, Gennady Yanayev dies under mysterious
circumstances. KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov is named the new president of the USSR. Rumors spread of another wave of bloody purges in the Kremlin.

1994
Due to a spike in global oil prices and comprehensive economic reforms, the Soviet economy swiftly gets back on its feet. Using this financial windfall, Vladimir Kryuchkov launches a wide-ranging program to reform the decaying Red Army, with many lessons learned from its poor performance in Afghanistan. Over the next few years, training received by soldiers and officers is improved and technology upgraded, significantly reducing the gap to NATO in both troop and hardware quality.

1995
Vladimir Kryuchkov holds a speech about the “illegal” exit from the Soviet Union by the Baltic States, and how this was a CIA plot to weaken the Soviet Union. The Clinton administration views the speech as empty rhetoric and does not react.

1996
At dawn on May 9, Soviet tanks thunder into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in a broad offensive. Vladimir Kryuchkov holds a speech and says that the operation is necessary to protect the Russian minorities in these countries, and to restore the
territorial integrity of the Soviet Union. The US is taken by surprise, and its reaction is tepid. The leaders of the Baltic States beg for help, but Clinton
hesitates. After just a week of military action, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are all again under Soviet rule, but guerrilla warfare continues. Soviet forces mobilize along the borders of Poland and Finland. The Soviet aggression is condemned by the UN, but being a permanent member of the Security Council, Moscow blocks all concrete UN action. The Soviet attack occurs in the middle of the presidential primaries in the US. Harvey West, a former Lieutenant General of the US Marine Corps, unexpectedly defeats Bob Dole in the Republican primaries and challenges Bill Clinton in the
November presidential election. West bases his campaign on blasting Clinton’s weakness against the Soviets and promises a stern hand against Moscow. Harvey West wins the hotly contested race by a narrow margin.

1997
Harvey West is installed as US President, and starts fulfilling his campaign promises right away. The US military presence in Germany is beefed up significantly, including tactical nuclear weapons. The newly commissioned USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier sails into the Baltic Sea, a bold move – called ill-advised by critics – meant to send a strong statement to the Kremlin.

Kryuchkov sees the US advance as an existential threat. He concludes that Poland will soon fall into the US sphere of influence, and be allowed into NATO. To safeguard
the Soviet territorial buffer, Kryuchkov sets his plan in motion. The KGB stages violent pro-Soviet riots in Poland, and the Polish government responds with military force. Kryuchkov then acts to “protect the people of Poland from their oppressive and militaristic government” and orders an immediate invasion. Soviet air and ground forces crossthe Polish border en masse.

In the US, President West reacts immediately. Unwilling to send ground forces into Poland, he orders a broad air bombing campaign against the advancing Soviet forces
with stealth aircraft and cruise missiles. The Kremlin replies with air strikes against US military bases in the United Kingdom, Germany and Turkey, drawing NATO
into the escalating conflict. Meanwhile, the advance into Poland continues and the Soviet forces close in on the Oder river, its border with the reunited Germany. Pressure mounts for President West and his NATO allies, who agree to launch a multinational ground operation in Poland to break the Soviet advance. But West doesn’t
stop there – the Soviet threat needs to be stopped all across Europe, he concludes, and draws a line from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean. US troops are also sent to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, who all happily receive them. The US military activates its reserve components, drawing on Army, Air Force, and Naval Reserves to provide the manpower required.

On June 6, US and Soviet ground forces engage in combat for the first time, west of Poznań in western Poland. Shortly after this clash, Soviet forces cross the borders of
Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, and fighting erupts all along the new frontline through Eastern Europe. The USS Harry S. Truman and its supporting squadrons
spar with the Soviet Baltic Fleet out of Kaliningrad. The US asks Sweden to allow US troops and air defenses on the strategically located island of Gotland in the middle
of the Baltic.

The US demand sparks a violent debate in Sweden. The government finally decides to reject the demand, referring to the Swedish official policy of neutrality. President
West refuses to back down, and sends a naval force led by the USS San Jacinto cruiser to Gotland. The Swedish air force deploys its brand new JAS 39 “Gryphon” jet fighter,
but after just a few days of air combat and a brief naval battle, Sweden agrees to a ceasefire. US troops soon land on Gotland, in Stockholm, and in Gothenburg on the west
coast of Sweden to secure their supply lines. Sweden’s quick ceasefire sparks another furious debate in the country, where the political left accuses
the government of making a secret deal with the US. In Moscow, the Kremlin draws the same conclusion, and now sees Sweden as a de facto NATO member and thus a hostile
country.

Kryuchkov decides to strike before the US can consolidate its gains. Old battle plans are dusted off and put into action. Soviet air forces attack a wide array of US and Swedish targets. Tanks rumble into northern Finland and advance
quickly toward the Swedish border in the far north. A large airborne force parachutes in north of Stockholm, and Arlanda airport quickly falls to Soviet control. Soviet naval ships enter the Stockholm archipelago, where they face both Swedish
and American vessels in combat.

After a few weeks of heavy exchanges, the fighting subsides. American and Swedish forces hold the west coast of Sweden and an enclave in Stockholm, while Soviet
troops have taken control over large swathes of the rest of the country. The USS Harry S. Truman is badly damaged by Soviet submarines and just barely manages to hobble
into port in Stockholm, anchoring off the Old Town. The Baltic Sea is now largely under Soviet control.

The Soviet Northern fleet, based at Severomorsk, sails south to harass US supply lines and to prevent the UK from assisting the US in the Baltic. There are running skirmishes off the British coast as the Royal Navy is kept busy holding off the Soviets.

1998
In the Middle East, the Israel Defense Force retreats from southern Lebanon after over a decade of occupa-tion, under heavy fire from the Hezbollah militia. Next
door, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad perceives Israel as weakened due to the US preoccupation in Europe, and launches a hasty attack against the occupied Golan
Heights. The move backfires when the IDF strikes back hard and pushes into Syrian territory, just a few dozen miles from Damascus. Desperate, al-Assad gives a green light for his military to use its immense stockpiles of chemical weapons against the Israelis. The effects of the Syrian nerve agents are devastating, and the Syrian army pushes back into the Golan and northern Israel, supported by Iranian and Soviet
airstrikes and Soviet warships in the Mediterranean. Israel’s Prime Minister asks the US for immediate help.

President West, under pressure by the situation in Europe, hesitates. Israel draws the conclusion that the US has abandoned them and that the country must rely on itself. Faced with an existential threat, the government orders tactical nuclear strikes on the attacking Syrian forces. Soon, mushroom clouds rise over the Golan, and the Syrian attack is halted.

In Washington, President West activates the Selective Service System and orders a massive draft, with support from Congress. Reaction ranges from patriotic enlistments
to willful disobedience. Hundreds of thousands march against the draft in several major cities, in some cases resulting in violent clashes. Yet, the draft continues, and before the end of the year, it will produce half a million soldiers to reinforce Europe. Shortfalls in weapon and vehicle production will mean that most of them will be light infantry, many armed and equipped from old stocks.

In central Europe, the tide now begins to turn against the Soviets, who find themselves unable to resist the combined might of the NATO ground forces and air superiority. Piece by piece, the Soviet lines crumble and their forces retreat.

Kryuchkov, realizing he has overplayed his hand and overextended his military, plays his final card. Fearing total defeat and claiming justification by the Israeli strikes on the Golan, he green lights the limited use of tactical nuclear strikes against NATO troop concentrations in Europe – first in Poland, later in Sweden and elsewhere.

These attacks devastate the NATO forces. After the initial shock, the alliance responds in kind. Both sides at first only attack military and command and control targets. Step by step the nuclear duel escalates, and soon industrial centers and other civilian targets are annihilated – not only in continental Europe, but also in the United Kingdom, and soon ICBMs fall in the US and Russian heartlands. Both
sides show just enough restraint to avoid total nuclear annihilation – for now – but the electromagnetic pulses knock out most electronic communication, and civil order
in the affected countries starts to break down.

In the US, the nuclear exchanges trigger massive civil unrest. Street fights break out in several cities, with armed militias moving in as the rule of law starts to break down. Some particularly hard-hit US coastal states openly denounce the President’s rule. Rogue elements within some federal agencies, including the State Department and the CIA, are rumored to be secretly helping the seceding states.

The Kremlin views the US as weakened, and renews its offensive to end the war once and for all. Instead of hitting NATO forces in Poland directly, the Red Army tanks
rumble into the Czech Republic and Austria, then into southern Germany. They quickly take Dresden, Leipzig, and Nuremberg, before another wave of tactical nuclear strikes halts their advance.

Toward the end of the year, President West’s reinforcements, hundreds of thousands of recruits, are finally deploying. The military uses its full transport capacity to fly and ship the soldiers to Europe. The Soviet leadership orders the navy and air force to attack the transports, and a bloody war at sea and in the air rages on for weeks. When the smoke clears, the US has obliterated the Soviet navy, but suffered huge losses in the process.

President West has lost his capacity to ship more troops and equipment to Europe – as well as the ability to bring the forces already there back home. This, combined with the effects of nuclear strikes on most electronic communication, means that the US forces in Europe are stranded there for the foreseeable future.

1999
The winter of ‘98–’99 is the coldest in living memory in Europe. By New Year’s Eve, civilian losses pass 15 percent in most cities on the continent. But the worst is yet to come. As a result of the fighting and the EMP from nuclear strikes, communication networks and transportation routes break down. The food supply chain collapses, and Europe experiences a famine impossible to imagine only a year earlier.

Africa and South America, largely spared from the war itself, are hit hard when world trade collapses. International shipping comes to a standstill and fuel prices
skyrocket, when any can be found at all. The cold winter in Europe delays the spread of disease, but with Spring comes the full force of virulent epidemics. Typhoid fever, cholera, bubonic plague, and a host of other diseases sweep across the continent, and the world.

Before the end of the year, the world population is nearly halved.

On the battlefields of Europe, soldiers now fight to survive, not to conquer. The front lines have largely disappeared, replaced by large occupied zones. Tanks begin breaking down and the supply of spare parts gradually dwindles to zero. The sophisticated artillery weapons have used up all of their ammo, and no one is capable of producing any more. Divisions that started with 20,000 men are lucky to put a few thousand in the field. The military supply lines have generally ceased to function on both sides, and the troops are forced to live off the land to survive, often sparking conflicts with the local population.

As the front lines crumble, local militias are formed by the remains of the national military forces and civilians. Some of these cooperate with the American forces, others with the Soviets, and some fight all foreign troops with equal fervor. The most organized of these militias are called the Red Brigades, taking orders directly from
the Soviet military command.

In the US, the escalating conflict both at home and overseas erodes the authority of the federal government. Finally, several states officially declare independence, and even states making no such official declaration simply choose to ignore Washington from this point on.

2000
At the start of the new millennium, civil rule has ceased to exist in most of Europe. Many military units remain, mostly because they have the capacity to defend themselves and to survive in the harsh conditions. Many units recruit civilians into their ranks.

In early April, word suddenly starts to trickle down the wire to the American troops in northern Europe about Operation Reset – the first major offensive to be launched
by the US military in over a year. The plan is to link up the scattered remains of NATO troops in Sweden and in Poland and make a massive push to seize the besieged capitals of Warsaw and Stockholm.

It starts out well for the US-led forces, taking the Soviets by surprise and advancing with lightning speed. But it is not to last. After a triumphant week of NATO gains, the Soviet military, despite severely degraded command and supply lines back to Moscow, reacts and strikes back hard. Coordinated assaults of armor and artillery pound the NATO forces, and the offensive grinds to a halt on both sides of the Baltic.
The US-led forces fight desperately against the more numerous Soviets, leaving both sides severely battered in a bloody stalemate.

In Poland, the US 5th Infantry Division is pushed back and then crushed at Kalisz, the survivors fleeing into the woods. The final order from HQ is short and to the
point: “Good luck. You’re on your own now.”
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