More than a hundred years before the start of the series, an energy crisis emerged as a result of oil depletion, leading to a period called the "Resource Wars" starting in April 2052 – a series of events caused by global resource scarcity which included a war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle Eastern states which led to the collapse of both regions, the disbanding of the United Nations, the U.S. invasion of Mexico and hostile annexation of Canada, and a Chinese invasion and subsequent military occupation of Alaska in 2066 leading to the decade-long "Sino-American War" between China and the U.S. coupled with the emergence of a disease known as the "New Plague" that devastated the American mainland. As global situations worsened, the American government became increasingly jingoistic and authoritarian, going as far as having political dissidents and Chinese-American citizens arrested and sent off to re-education camps where they were abused and even experimented on. By 2077 the tension between the United States and China had grown to critical levels as the U.S. retook Alaska and invaded mainland China, eventually culminating in the "Great War" on the morning of October 23, 2077, eastern daylight time, a two-hour long global nuclear exchange on an apocalyptic scale, which subsequently created the post-apocalyptic United States, the setting of the Fallout world.
More than a hundred years before the start of the series an energy crisis emerged as a result of oil depletion leading to a period called the "Resource Wars" starting in April 2052 – a series of events caused by global resource scarcity which included a war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle Eastern states which led to the collapse of both regions the disbanding of the United Nations the US invasion of Mexico and hostile annexation of Canada and a Chinese invasion and subsequent military occupation of Alaska in 2066 leading to the decade-long "Sino-American War" between China and the US coupled with the emergence of a disease known as the "New Plague" that devastated the American mainland As global situations worsened the American government became increasingly jingoistic and authoritarian going as far as having political dissidents and Chinese-American citizens arrested and sent off to re-education camps where they were abused and even experimented on By 2077 the tension between the United States and China had grown to critical levels as the US retook Alaska and invaded mainland China eventually culminating in the "Great War" on the morning of October 23 2077 eastern daylight time a two-hour long global nuclear exchange on an apocalyptic scale which subsequently created the post-apocalyptic United States the setting of the Fallout world