TIMELINE : 1970 TO 2000
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TIMELINE : 1970 TO 2000 |
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The World in 2000 | Africa | Central America And The Caribbean | North America | South America | Antarctica
Central Asia | Eastern And South-Eastern Asia | South Asia | Europe | The Middle East | Oceania
Timeline | Differences | Politics | Science and Technology | Society | Notes | Summary | Home
1640 to 1669 | 1670 to 1699 | 1700 to 1729 | 1730 to 1759 | 1760 to 1789 | 1790 to 1819
1820 to 1849 | 1850 to 1879 | 1880 to 1909 | 1910 to 1939 | 1940 to 1969 | 1970 to 2000
In a bloody coup, military forces based in Braseal topple the government of the Portuguese Empire. It is replaced by a new government based on Braseal, and the Portuguese Empire is renamed the Empire of Braseal. The head of state of the new Empire is the former Prince of Brazil, Alphonso of the House of Braganza, who many consider to have been behind the entire coup. He becomes Emperor Alphonso I.
The French defenders of France Antarctique and France Équinoxiale take advantage of the Portuguese Revolution to push back their Brasealean attackers and advance into Brasealean territory.
Also taking advantage of the Portuguese Revolution, after secret negotiations, the Tucumán Pact changes sides and joins Le Pacte d'Amazone as an associate member. As part of the agreement that lets them do this, they return New Fife and Mapuche to the Scottish and French governments respectively.
Construction of a new type of long-range weapon based on advanced form of the magnetic accelerator gun systems first fielded by Bohemia in 1959 begins deep in the desert of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad. This is known as the Âsmân Mosht (Sky Fist).
The Anglo-Danish government uncovers a conspiracy among some of the nobility of the Dominion of Natal who have become very disaffected by the war. They intend to overthrow the Anglo-Danish dominion government and ally Natal with the Mughal Empire, with whom they believe they have more in common. The conspirators are purged by the Anglo-Danish security services, while Natal itself is placed under firmer and more direct control from the central government.
The first concentration camps are established in the Johor Umma to hold enemies of the state.
The cod fisheries in the north Atlantic off Europe collapse, effectively destroying the cod fishing industry in the region.
Saboteurs strike a number of industrial and nuclear power plants across Indian-controlled Marege, causing the chemical and radioactive contamination of significant areas of land, and deaths of tens of thousands of people. Subsequent investigation reveals that this was possible because the local authorities, far from the Long War, believed they would not be affected by such attacks and so left their facilities vulnerable.
The Indian Alliance begins attempting to genetically engineer a disease to attack Russian varieties of wheat, the principal food supply of the Holy Russian Empire, and one which is different to the principal foodstuffs on the Indian Alliance nations.
In northern Peru, sixty-seven thousand people are killed by an earthquake.
Comet Taraki-Mohanty [Bennett] is visible to the naked eye from February until Mid-May. It has two tails, the longest being about twenty degrees long.
Comet Yunupingu [White-Ortiz-Bolelli] is visible from the Southern Hemisphere.
As fishing fleets begin to concentrate on other fish, their stocks also begin to collapse.
A number of minerals necessary for modern industry begin to become increasingly scarce on Earth. Governments begin to search for solutions to this problem.
Surveillance cameras begin to become commonplace in public places, and a surveillance society begins to develop, particularly in the more technologically advanced states, such as the Mughal Empire. Most people accept this, if reluctantly, as the best of a bad situation.
As the new Empire of Braseal attempts to stabilise itself it withdraws from the Long War and declares itself neutral.
French, Scottish and Tucumán Pact forces attack Anglo-Danish Kingsland, taking control of elements of Anglo-Danish territory.
At the same time the forces of the Tucumán Pact attack Braseal, taking advantage of its current disorganised state to gain what territory they can.
With the finances of the Mughal Empire strained by the ongoing Long War, the Sikh Gurdwaras in many areas are becoming unable to cope with the demand placed on them. Not wishing this to occur, the Mughal Durbar decrees, despite protests against the idea, that a portion of the Zakat tax paid by Muslims in the Empire should go to support the Gurdwaras and their good works.
French forces also attack the Anglo-Danish and Brasealean outposts in Antarctica, in Queensland and Terra do Maria respectively.
An attempted coup attempt in the Kingdom of Luba is traced back to agents working for the government of Zanj. The conspirators are purged, and a number of retaliatory strikes launched by Luba into Zanj.
The collapse of agriculture and industry caused by the Johor reign of terror causes famine. Many people die, and many others attempt to flee the island of Samudra [Sumatra]. The Johor Umma summarily executes all of those it captures trying to do so.
As the Long War goes on the government of the Holy Russian Empire starts demanding the impossible of the scientists in the Technical Monasteries, and punishing them when they cannot achieve it.
The rate of defection from the Technical Monasteries, and indeed from the Holy Russian Empire in general to friendlier climes grows.
The Long War drives a number of scientific and technological advances in various fields. The vast majority of these come from the Dharmic side, so that, although the war does get harder and harder to fight with time, and resources decrease, the Mughal side has the technology to allow them to fight more and more effectively with the resources they have, while the Russians simply do not have the ability to match these advances, although they try. In the end this leads to a situation where, although they cannot defeat the Russians, and certainly could not occupy their lands even if they could, the Mughals can hold them off and contain them. This they begin to do.
Rumours begin to spread that the Indian Alliance is covertly using Thuggees in the Long War, against leaders of all kinds among the enemy. This is never confirmed or denied.
As part of the founding of the new Empire of Braseal, slavery is abolished in the Empire and all slaves emancipated.
After a long and bloody struggle, the French are pushed out of Algeria. However, they retain control of Morocco. Milan and Naples manage to retain control of Tunis and Tarabulus.
Suicide attackers from the Holy Russian Empire manage to destroy the Âsmân Mosht (Sky Fist), despite it being sited deep in the desert of the Pudhiya Dakshina Nad.
The Holy Russian Empire begins developing a number of different types of synthetic [plastic]-eating bacteria, with the intention of using them to attack the equipment of their enemies. At the same time they work on making their own equipment immune to such bacteria (though in any case it is less of a problem for them due to the low level of technology of most of their populace).
The city of Managua in Mosquitia [Nicaragua] is almost completely destroyed by an earthquake that kills ten thousand people. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a secret Indian Alliance weapon system.
The North African Uprising finally ends with France grudgingly acknowledging Algeria as a separate Islamic nation, while retaining control of Morocco.
France, the Anglo-Danish Empire, the Tucumán Pact and the new government of Braseal sign the Treaty of Coligny [Rio de Janeiro], formalising the ending of hostilities on the continent of South America. Some of the territory gained and lost in the fighting is returned to its former owners, but other territory is not.
Wanting to end the Long War the Indian Alliance extends a third peace offer to the Holy Russian Empire via the Oikoumene Council. Like the first two such attempts this is refused.
It becomes clear that the Johor Umma is providing assistance and funding to pro-Russian forces across south-east Asia.
In Marege [Australia] reconstruction of the Âsmân Mosht begins.
Comet Samaranch-Martin [Kohoutek] appears in November; it remains visible until January 1974.
With the assistance of Ayutthaya and Sarekat, the Indian Alliance invades the Johor Umma, with the stated aim of restoring just government there.
Sabotage destroys the new Âsmân Mosht and many of its ancillary facilities.
Helped by elements of the Johor Umma military and many of its people, the Indian Alliance quickly takes control of the island of Samudra and captures most of the leadership of the Umma.
The newly independent Algeria renames itself Al-Jazair and allies itself with the Holy Russian Empire, while remaining neutral in the Long War as a whole.
A political movement begins to grow in both the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, out of the general weariness with the war and all of the costs, human and otherwise, that it involves. This promotes the idea of 'Fortress India'. That the Holy Russian Empire can have the rest of the world, but India should only be concerned with itself, and is sufficiently large, self-sufficient, powerful and well-defended to keep itself safe from the Holy Russian Empire.
The first mammal, a mouse, is cloned by a team working in Ling China. [In the real world this was in 1986.] Due to the limitations imposed by the continuing Long War, this does not gain a wide degree of application at this point.
The Indian Alliance becomes aware of the Russian efforts to create plastic-eating bacteria. Efforts to counter them immediately begin.
Using improved anti-debris protection the Dakshina Nad begins carefully re-launching its nuclear thermal rocket fleet. However, they will only be used beyond the most dangerous region of Earth orbit.
The ideas of the Fortress India movement are rejected by the established heads of the Indian governments, and by the military establishments of the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad.
With anti-debris protection now considered more reliable, reusable space vehicles begin to be used more and more.
The Indian Alliance abandons work on the Âsmân Mosht in Marege [Australia], a propaganda victory for the Holy Russian Empire.
As the generation born since the beginning of the Long War begins to come to adulthood and have influence, they have, in general, a much more pragmatic attitude to the war than their parents, never having known anything else. Because of this a gradual swing away from mysticism and back towards rationalism begins.
The discreet attempts by the Russian Mir (Peace) faction to end the Long War fall on deaf ears; the Russian leadership is made up of fanatics who believe that God has specified their path for them, and who do not take common sense, resources and so on into account. And so they Will Not Stop.
The first probe to an asteroid is launched by the Indian Alliance. In addition to its scientific purpose, it is intended to survey the asteroid and assess its suitability for mining.
The last forces of the Johor Umma surrender to the Indian Alliance, and peace is restored to the island of Samudra.
The staff of an entire Technical Monastery in Russian Alyeska defect to the Kingdom of Canada-Louisiana.
A powerful earthquake in Tangshan in the Holy Chinese Empire kills four hundred thousand people. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a secret Indian Alliance weapon system.
Comet Xenopol-Trujilo [West] appears and breaks apart as it grazes the Sun, splitting into four or five pieces. It has a reddish tail some thirty-five degrees long. It is quite bright and is briefly visible during the daytime.
Terrorists intent on restoring the Johor Umma persist for many years. They do not have a great deal of public support, and their numbers wither over the years.
Unfortunately the Indian Alliance asteroid probe discovers that the asteroid is a largely useless mass of rubble. Other probes to other near-Earth asteroids discover them to be the same.
The Indian Alliance attempts to set up a new government in Johor. However, the people are resistant to the idea of a largely unknown member of the nobility ruling them, and no-one can agree on who should rule the country. With other things requiring their military forces, the Indian Alliance places an 'interim' military government in charge of Johor, and most its military leaves.
The Indian Alliance begins expanding its efforts in space. More personnel move into space, and more space facilities begin to be constructed.
The Indian Alliance lands on the Moon, announcing its intention to construct a permanent outpost there.
An earthquake strikes southern and eastern Europe.
What later proves to be Russian-sponsored unrest occurs among elements of the Syrian Orthodox Christian community in the Ottoman Empire. This is harshly suppressed by the Ottoman government.
As part of the restoration of Johor, Ayutthaya returns Pulau Ujong [Singapore] and the parts of the southern Malay Peninsula it took control of in 1968 to Johor. In return they obtain the mineral-rich eastern part of the Mughal territory of Koshiki in Marege.
A military coup in Al-Jazair overthrows the government formed in the wake of the North African Uprising, and replaces it with a more Islamic one which denounces the Holy Russian Empire and joins alliances with the Ottoman and Mughal Empires.
The Wheat Blight, developed by the Indian Alliance as a weapon against the Holy Russian Empire, is released onto Russian crops.
The Russian wheat harvest fails due to the Wheat Blight. So does that in Europe.
Comet Tompel [Wild 2] is discovered.
The wheat harvests of the nations of North America fail due to the Wheat Blight.
Seeing the Wheat Blight as a Sign from God, members of the Bozhestvennoe Soozhdeniye [Divine Judgement] faction attempt to stage a coup and take over the Holy Russian Empire. However, they have little support, and are apparently relying on God to allow them to win against otherwise overwhelming odds. Thus they are quickly defeated. The survivors are sent to the katorga camps.
The Indian Alliance begins construction of the Qamari Mosht (Lunar Fist), an electromagnetic ring launcher sited on the Moon intended to replace the sabotage-ridden Âsmân Mosht. It is intended that, when completed, it will be able to fling kinetic projectiles at any point on the surface of the Earth.
In response to Ayutthaya's acquisition of territory in Marege from the Mughal Empire, the governments of some of the states that make up Sarekat suggest that Sarekat as a whole should demand the handing over the Mughal Subah of Sawu [the islands of Flores, Sumba and Timor] to their control as payment for their continuing contribution to the war effort. This idea is rejected by the majority of the states of Sarekat, and in particular by the Mataram Sultanate.
As the use of computers spread around the world, a number of governments begin using them to perform statistical analyses of their populations, extracting data which they use to govern and control the populace.
An international project shared between California and Novo Albion begins to sequence the genetic makeup of humanity [this is the equivalent of the Human Genome Project in this world, but some eleven years earlier.]
As time passes the Qamari Mosht project proves to be somewhat more successful than the Âsmân Mosht, the greater security its Lunar location brings making it much more secure (though not entirely so; there are still some instances of sabotage).
As part of the development of the Qamari Mosht, techniques for living, working, mining and building on the Moon are all developed, expanding on the overall theme of a permanent Lunar settlement.
An antibiotic-resistant form of influenza mutates into a virulent plague which first appears in the Bandundu region of the Brasealean Congo in Africa and soon spreads from there around the world. Many die. This disease quickly becomes known as Bandundu Fever.
As wheat harvests around the world succumb to the Wheat Blight, via prolonged negotiations the Oikoumene Council persuades the Indian Alliance releases a Blight-resistant strain of wheat to the world to avoid a world-wide famine.
Despite the increased security measures intended to stop such a thing, the staff of a second entire Technical Monastery in Russian Alyeska defect to the Kingdom of Canada-Louisiana.
A number of Hindus and Buddhists connected with the Fortress India movement immolate themselves in protest at the actions of the Mughal government.
A group of conspirators making up part of the Mir (Peace) faction within the Holy Russian Empire, concluding that Russia will be destroyed by collapse from within unless something is done, make contact with the Indian Alliance to discuss a mutually agreeable end to the Long War.
Police in Nigritia discover that Freetrader organised criminals there are using a very sophisticated hidden form of Lace [internet] to communicate with one another, and with the official Lace. This uses encrypted signals sent between computers over a mixture of telephone, radio and power cables. Interrogation of prisoners reveals little about its workings, but do reveal its name, the Ghost Lace (GL), named because it is, until now, as invisible as them, and investigation reveals that the GLs seem to have been developed by the innovative use of existing technology rather than as something entirely new.
Mughal Emperor Muhammed Jahangir dies of old age. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Emperor Salim Jahangir III .
Five thousand people are killed by an earthquake in the Kingdom of Naples [southern Italy].
The eruption of Mount Fairfax in the New Commonwealth [Mount St. Helens in the USA] kills fifty-seven people.
Russian efforts to create plastic-eating bacteria finally succeed. Covert teams release the bacteria inside the Indian Alliance, from where it spreads around the world. It quickly becomes known as the Synthetic Plague.
Although it does have serious effects, often in highly unexpected places, the Synthetic Plague is not as serious as it might have been, due to efforts by the Indian Alliance to counter it, and it does not seriously disrupt the war effort. In particular new types of synthetic [plastic] and a move to non-synthetic materials such as ceramics and alloys reduce its effectiveness.
Despite this there are still outbreaks of the Synthetic Plague from time to time, and plastics are not used anywhere near as widely as they are in the real world.
As time goes by more and more Ghost Laces are discovered both inside and outside the Anglo-Danish Empire. The simplicity and discretion of the new technology soon means that it is adopted by non-criminals as well as the criminals who invented it, and it spreads more and more widely across the world.
As with the Jalisco Plague in 1957, as Bandundu Fever spreads around the world, the effort expended on the Long War drops as nations do their best to cope with the plague instead.
As part of the attempts by the nations of the world to cope with Bandundu Fever, the Oikoumene Council calls a summit meeting at which it attempts to bring about a negotiated end to the Long War. However, as was the case during the Jalisco Plague, neither side is willing to compromise sufficiently for any agreement to be possible, and again the negotiations fail.
In other negotiations, the Oikoumene Council persuades all of the governments of the world to agree to not use any more biological weapons and abide by the agreement on this made in 1911, an agreement to which nations on both the One Truth and Dharmic sides agree to abide.
In a related sitting of the Oikoumene Council, a coalition of the more minor nations of the world propose that the Council be given more teeth to enforce its rules. This proposal is rejected by the majority of the nations of the world.
Ottoman statistician Eylem Tuncluer develops techniques enabling the use of statistical analyses to 'detect' individuals considered very likely to commit certain crimes, and have those individuals arrested and re-educated even before they break the law. She also suggests that this could be used to channel people into the 'correct' jobs and sometime even towards the 'correct' mates. These techniques become known as Prognosticationism, or 'Statistical Utilitarianism'.
The Indian Alliance Mâligai Vânam [Sky Palace] space station is moved to the stable and safe environment of one of the Earth-Moon systems Kannankeril [Lagrange] points.
As time passes a number of nations adopt the use of Prognosticationism. In many of these this is simply a pseudo-scientific method of eliminated undesirables from society, while in others it is a genuine attempt to improve society. It is not adopted in the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire detonates its first nuclear weapon at a test site in the Sahara Desert, becoming the seventh nuclear power.
The Empire of Braseal detonates a nuclear weapon at a test site in its Antarctic territory of Terra do Maria, becoming the eighth nuclear power in the world.
Ash flows from the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico kill nearly nineteen hundred people.
Comet Uskokovic-van Rensburg [1982] is at perihelion until March 1986.
After long campaigning, the Fortress India movement manages to persuade the Mughal government to impose limits on immigration into the Mughal Empire.
With the continuing Long War providing a boost to populations everywhere, the population of the Mughal Empire rises to over one billion people. [This is possible because, without the disruptions of the fall of the Mughal Empire and the European takeover of the sub-continent, the Mughal population has started at a higher level, and with India becoming a centre of industry and advancement, has been able to remain high and grow more quickly than in the real world.]
The disease malaria is declared to have been successfully eradicated from the world.
Comet Ben Joseph [Brorsen-Melcalf] appears, with a green coma and tail. It is only visible in telescopes.
Plotters forming part of the Fortress India movement begin planning to overthrow the Mughal government. However, they have little support and influence, and are soon betrayed to the authorities. They are arrested and the ringleaders executed.
Two powerful earthquakes strike Mexico City, killing more than ten thousand people and devastating a significant part of the city. It is the worst disaster in the history of the city.
Twenty-five thousand people die in mudflows caused by the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in New Granada [Colombia].
Only the limits on immigration they helped to impose remain as a legacy of the Fortress India movement.
Sabotage at the Indian Alliance moonbase, rumoured to be the site at which a new super-weapon is being developed, destroys a large section of it and kills many of the personnel stationed there. The Holy Russian Empire is assumed to be responsible for this.
As both medical science and surveillance technology advance, Hindu political philosopher Balaji Pal Tyagi develops the concept that he names Naya Samnnya Hindutva [New Universal Hinduism]. In it he states that it is only through the use of science and technology that a true Hindu society, ordered and segregated by castes as it should be, can be achieved. Surveillance technology can be used impartially to monitor all citizens and ensure they are behaving as a member of their caste should, while medical science can be used to condition and adjust citizens to ensure that they both adhere to their place in society, and are satisfied or, for preference, happy with it. This includes even non-Hindus, who also have their place in the caste system.
Many of the nations of the world, including the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad, ban cloning and genetic engineering on moral grounds. However, research into these fields continues elsewhere in the world.
Carbon dioxide emission from volcanic Lake Nyos, in Nigritia [Cameroon], kills seventeen hundred people.
Fifteen hundred people are killed by an earthquake in San Salvador, in Mosquitia [El Salvador].
Halley's Comet reappears with a tail twenty degrees long. It is visited by an Indian Alliance space probe.
As the ideas of Naya Samnnya Hindutva spread across the world, many condemn it for the massive degree of intrusion into the lives, bodies and minds of those forced to live under it. Others condemn it as what is clearly a One Truth concept. Even so, as time passes, Naya Samnnya Hindutva gains a small but devoted following among hard-line technologically-aware Hindus.
By this time there is a largely impenetrable net of air defences around the nations of the world, through which only weapons which are largely inert, like the projectiles it is intended the Qamari Mosht will use, can penetrate intact.
New super-high energy density batteries begin to be marketed which make electrically-driven vehicles even more cost effective and efficient. [These are similar to real world supercapacitors.]
The first use of cloning to provide new skin and muscle for those injured during the Long War is carried out in the Anglo-Danish Empire. The technology quickly spreads around the world, despite attempts to ban it by some nations.
The first armed autonomous military robot goes into use with the Sarajevo Pact. In general they are used for border patrol duties and other roles where initiative is not required and friendly fire incidents are unlikely to occur.
After long and very covert negotiations with the Indian Alliance, conspirators making up part of the Mir (Peace) faction within the Holy Russian Empire who see this as the only way to save Russia betray the location of all Russian nuclear weapons and facilities. However, seeing this as going too far, the Mir conspirators are themselves betrayed to the Holy Russian Empire by one of their own number.
The Holy Russian Empire moves to round up all of the conspirators, and indeed all of the Mir faction, while denouncing them as traitors and apostates. In desperation several Russian generals and their staffs martyr themselves to destroy all of the Russian nuclear capability with its own nuclear weapons. This includes destroying both the weapons, their highly centralised control system, and the means to produce more of them. Significant areas of the Holy Russian Empire are contaminated with radioactivity as a result of this.
An earthquake in Armenia in the Holy Russian Empire kills twenty-five thousand people. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a secret Indian Alliance weapon system.
The Holy Russian Empire is still too large and powerful to be invaded or defeated, but with the destruction of its nuclear weapons capability it is at least no longer capable of destroying the world.
The last of the members of the Russian Mir (Peace) faction are rounded up and sent to the katorga prison camps.
The Indian Alliance finally completes the Qamari Mosht (Lunar Fist), an electromagnetic ring launcher. Sited on the Moon in association with a command centre and mining complex, it is able to fling kinetic projectiles at any point on the surface of the Earth. Each ten ton projectile hits with the equivalent force of one hundred and forty five tons of TNT; variants using a larger number of smaller projectiles also exist. It is a direct descendant of the Âsmân Mosht that was cancelled in 1975. [The use of a ring launcher reduces power requirements and accelerations on projectiles, as well as the length of track required.]
After tests, the Qamari Mosht is demonstrated by destroying a large Russian army group near Samarkand, after which the Indian Alliance calls on the Holy Russian Empire to surrender or be destroyed.
The Holy Russian Empire rejects the demand to surrender.
Many in the Indian Alliance suggest that rather than simply being used to end the Long War, the Qamari Mosht be used to reduce the Holy Russian Empire back to the stone age so that it will never threaten the world again. However, after long discussions moral considerations, and a desire simply to end the war as quickly as possible preclude this idea from being adopted.
The Indian Alliance begins using the Qamari Mosht to bombard strategic and tactical targets across the Holy Russian Empire, soon ramping up to firing perhaps ten projectiles a day. There is nothing the Holy Russian Empire can do to stop them.
An earthquake in California kills sixty-three people.
Comet Feeney [Okazaki-Levy-Rudenko] appears.
As the effectiveness of the Qamari Mosht becomes obvious, most nations begin moving their militaries to a more mobile footing, and also hiding what they can. For this reason military submarines soon come to be used much more by all nations than was the case in the past.
It begins to become clear to more and more Russians that they are going to lose the Long War, and that the Mir (Peace) faction was right. However, their government, blinded by ideology, does not see this.
The Qamari Mosht [Lunar Fist] is upgraded to fire perhaps twenty projectiles a day. The bombardment of the Holy Russian Empire intensifies. As part of this all of the Korabl Leda [Ice Ships] that the Holy Russian Empire has constructed are destroyed.
The first of numerous attempts to destroy the Qamari Mosht occurs as missiles are launched towards its location on the Moon by an unknown attacker. However, the incoming missiles are intercepted and neutralised while they are still far from the Moon.
Anti-war unrest occurs in several places in the Holy Russian Empire, along with a number of mutinies by the military.
The first asteroid found to be more than a largely useless mass of rubble is discovered by a probe from the Indian Alliance. It becomes named Kure [Forge in Persian].
Anti-war conspirators secretly free the few surviving leaders of the Mir faction from the katorgas [prison camps] where they have been held since 1987.
The Qamari Mosht launcher on the Moon begins to be used to launch metals and other resources into Earth orbit as well as for the bombardment of the Holy Russian Empire.
A powerful earthquake in North-Western Persia [Iran] kills fifty thousand people. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a either secret Indian Alliance weapon system or a secret Russian weapon system.
A coup occurs in the Holy Russian Empire as members of the Mir (Peace) faction, with massive popular support, overthrow the old pro-war government and install themselves as the new leaders of Russia in what becomes known as the Second Russian Revolution. Massive purges of the Russian government and military occur. However, the overall theocratic form of the Russian state does not change, and nor do the Mir faction show any signs of wishing it to change.
Justifying its radical change in policy by the logic that God has obviously punished the former regime for their actions, so it is time for something different, the new Mir government of the Holy Russian Empire approaches the Indian Alliance with an offer of a negotiated peace.
An earthquake in the Philippine Islands kills sixteen hundred people. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a secret Russian weapon system.
Using the new super-high energy density batteries first introduced in 1987 the first ship using a magnetohydrodynamic drive as effective as conventional propeller-based propulsion is launched by the Dakshina Nad.
Comet Feeney II [Austin] appears.
Numerous other attempts to destroy the Qamari Mosht occur after this, but as with the first all such threats are intercepted and neutralised.
As time passes space probes find that several other asteroids are suitable for exploitation.
By this time only the Mughal Empire, Dakshina Nad, Sarajevo Pact and Ling China face the Holy Russian Empire, Bulgaria and the Holy Chinese Empire. All of the other nations involved in the Long War, on both sides, have withdrawn from the War for various reasons.
After a period of negotiations, the Treaty of Agra is signed in that city between the Holy Russian Empire and the Indian Alliance. With this the Long War finally ends, after forty-eight years and some ninety million casualties. Many of the terms of the treaty are deeply dissatisfying to those on one side or the other (or both), to the extent that some begin referring to it as the 'Pyrrhic Treaty', but it is the only set of terms acceptable to both sides. Most international borders are set at their current positions, and despite suggestions that reparations be paid, all combatants end from the war without them.
A number of Holy Russian military units, of varying sizes, refuse to accept the end of the Long War without Russian victory, instead considering it a Satanic Deception. They continue fighting.
The mutinous Russian military units are destroyed by bombardment from the Qamari Mosht.
As the Long War ends there is a massive outpouring of joy and a great release of tension around the world, though often more among the older generation rather than those who have grown up with the War. There is a turning away from war, and a general sense of happiness around the world.
Huge parties, many in the streets, and celebrations both official and unofficial take place for months across those parts of the world that fought up to the end (the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad particularly, and even in the Holy Russian Empire to some extent, although they are much more subdued there due to the Second Russian Revolution taking place at the same time).
The first commercial robotic servant goes on sale in the California. Due to the limitations imposed by the Long War, even if it has now ended, this does not gain a wide degree of application at this point [no such robots exist in the real world as of 2007].
The governments of California and Novo Albion become the first in the world to legalise the use of Ghost Laces [wireless or otherwise hidden internets].
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines kills eight hundred people via roof collapses and disease.
Many other nations soon also legalise the use of Ghost Lace technology, bowing to public pressure (because it is so convenient and widely used compared to the basic government-controlled Laces), and the realisation that banning a technology so discrete and widespread is next to impossible.
With the end of the Long War the Holy Russian Empire has lost significant territory on its western frontier with Europe, and from Alyeska in North America. It has gained some territory in Persian and Central Asia. The Mughal Empire has also gained some territory in the same areas. The borders between the two Chinas has also changed significantly. There have been minor border adjustments in other parts of the world.
The heartlands of the Indian Alliance have survived the Long War relatively untouched, as have East Africa, most of North America, Marege and Oceania. The rest of the world has suffered varying degrees of damage from the war, with Central Asia, Persia and the Sarajevo Pact having suffered some of the worst.
The population of most nations are now higher than they were before the war began, due to both natural population growth outstripping losses in the war, and an effect not unlike that of the baby boom of the real world. Only in some parts of the world, again confined largely to Central Asia, Persia and parts of the Sarajevo Pact, have populations declined over the course of the war.
With the end of the Long War, many nations begin building up space-based observation networks to detect and hopefully allow the defeat of projectiles from the Qamari Mosht. Because of this Cislunar space quickly becomes heavily observed by radar and other sensors.
This leads to observations of and several missions to near-Earth asteroids, as well as two incidents of ones that potentially threatened the Earth being shattered by projectiles from the Qamari Mosht.
With the end of the Long War the Russians also stop maintaining their orbit-denial weapons. Those in low orbits begin to burn up in the atmosphere, depleting their numbers, but space near the Earth and in geosynchronous orbit remain very dangerous.
Another side effect of the end of the Long War is that a great deal of manufacturing capacity, formerly used for making military supplies, becomes free as the nations of the world slip out of their permanent arms economy. Seeking ways to make money from this capacity, companies everywhere turn to the making of many different types of consumer goods, which soon begin to flood the markets of the world, driving the beginnings of an economic boom.
In addition investment in the rebuilding of the parts of the world damaged in the war, in particular the Sarajevo Pact, helps to drive this boom.
With the Russian space debris still a massive hazard to navigation in space around the Earth, many nations, on both sides of the Long War, begin working on ways to defeat it. These are hindered by the fact that the debris is designed to be as hard to detect as possible, so it is, as much as is possible, black and of materials that give a small radar return.
Society begins to adjust itself to the end of the war and the return of so many soldiers from the military into civilian life. This is not without its problems, for example in finding employment and housing for all of the demobilised soldiers. Many nations suffer unrest and social disruption before these problems are entirely solved.
At the end of the Long War, with the return of so many troops from the war, the Office of Assessment in the Holy Russian Empire returns to full strength and begins working actively and with strict adherence to its rules.
As part of the Treaty of Agra, the various Central Asian Khanates that have been fought back and forth over during the course of the Long War are re-established, and become independent nations once again, retaking their role as buffer states between the Mughal and Holy Russian Empires. Large loans are extended to them to help them rebuild.
With the restoration of the Central Asian Khanates, the Uzbek people attempt to carve out a state for themselves. However, none of the Khanates are willing to cede any land to them.
Both Russian and Indian Alliance forces withdraw from devastated Persia after installing a new imperial government based on the reinstatement of the old Foroutan dynasty.
The Anglo-Danish Empire signs a number of agreements with the Holy Russian Empire to help it rebuild after the devastation of the Long War. In particular the Muscovy Company benefits from these agreements.
Comet Judev [Swift-Tuttle] appears.
An earthquake in Russian Anatolia [Eastern Turkey] kills more than five hundred people.
With the Long War over, the Treaty of Melakka is no longer required, and the Indian Alliance is dissolved.
However, the long period of Mughal Empire-Dakshina Nad cooperation the Indian Alliance engendered lives on in continuing Mughal Empire-Dakshina Nad cooperation in many areas, particularly space travel. Also, the values of the Mughal and Dakshina Nad rupees remain fixed relative to one another. Despite this, as the time since the end of the Long War increases, differences between the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad begin to show. [This is roughly analogous to the differences between the USA and Europe that have occurring since the end of the Cold War in the real world.]
The Sangh [Union] movement in the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad gradually fades away during this time.
The reinstated Persian military, who are actually largely formed from elements of the Persian resistance movements that built up during the Long War, are soon deeply dissatisfied with the rule of the newly reinstated Foroutan Dynasty.
With the end of the Long War the Qamari Mosht continues to be maintained and upgraded by the Indian Alliance governments because it still has great power as a deterrent. However, in order to defray some of the enormous costs of running it, investment is also made in other facilities on the Moon using the Qamari Mosht to facilitate their work, for example launching Moon-built satellites and space probes into Earth orbit or to elsewhere. Launching Lunar resources to Earth or into Earth orbit is also done, as the factories set up on the moon to make components for the Qamari Mosht still exist, and operate using free solar energy, and so can be run very cheaply, thus making Lunar materials delivered to Earth orbit relatively inexpensive. The Qamari Mosht is also used to carry out commercial space launches, and also to launch space probes for other nations, although all such launches are heavily scrutinised so as to avoid attempts at espionage or sabotage.
As another part of this the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad begin licensing out the building and use of some of the space-based technologies that they have developed over time. In particular long-term life-support systems designed for use in space find application in the much less hostile environment of Earth. As time goes on these allow the beginnings of large-scale permanent colonisation of the more hostile areas of the Earth, such as Antarctica and the deserts of Marege.
With the cooling of tensions following the end of the Long War, the intelligence services of the Dharmic nations have generally been reduced in power, but many people within them continue to attempt to retain the power they gathered during the war, by any means they can.
Central Asia begins to be plagued by Uzbek terrorism as some of the Uzbek people seek a homeland for themselves.
Other terrorist groups previously funded by one side or the other in the Long War also now go their own way.
The Russian Office of Assessment begins to become stronger and less corrupt again, with a more traditional, 'proper' lifestyle being enforced for everyone.
With the revitalisation of the Office of Assessment the following the end of the Long War the smuggling of forbidden high-technology items and conveniences into the Holy Russian Empire is greatly curtailed.
Investigations by new and returned members of the Russian Office of Assessment find corruption and laxity throughout the Office. Many of its old members are relieved of their positions, and some are sent to penal servitude in the Katorga system.
As they rebuild, a number of border skirmishes occur between the Great Khanate and the Khanate of Luntai due to disagreements on the original position of their joint border. With the assistance of the Oikoumene Council this dispute is resolved without either side resorting to war.
With the Long War over, the Indian Alliance returns New Shetland [Kerguelen] to Scottish control.
The Anglo-Danish Empire and other One Truth states begin to field a number of orbital weapons systems designed to intercept, deflect or otherwise remove the threat of projectiles from the Qamari Mosht launcher, or to attack the launcher itself in the event of another war. So far these have not been deployed, and what they are and how they work are unknown to the general public.
In Persia, a military coup overthrows the newly reinstated Foroutan Dynasty and the Persian imperial government, and installs a new non-Imperial government based on a Military Council formed from the heads of the old Persian resistance movements that operated during the Long War; this is effectively a military dictatorship. Many of the Imperial family flee Persia once again. Those who remain are executed by the new government for their crimes against the state, as are numerous other people who the new government consider to be enemies of the state.
Nearly ten thousand people are killed by an earthquake in the Maratha Kingdom [Maharashtra], India. Rumours circulate that this was the result of a secret Russian weapon system, but in the new atmosphere of peace these are strongly denied.
Comet Vereshchagin [Shoemaker-Levy] is discovered, and is found to be on a collision course with Jupiter.
The new Persian government quickly develops into a strongly nationalistic military dictatorship, devoted to rebuilding the country and restoring it to its 'rightful' place in the world. This rebuilding is helped by numbers of Persian refugees returning to their now-peaceful homeland. The new regime also begins building up the Persian armed forces more than is needed for defence alone. For this reason, although none of its neighbours intervene in Persia, all begin keeping a close eye on its activities.
Border skirmishes occur between the Great Horde of Kazakhs and the Khanates of Tobyl and Irtysh as each side attempts to 'adjust' their joint borders to greatest advantage. Again the Oikoumene Council is able to resolve this dispute with minimal bloodshed.
The Dakshina Nad government suggests rebuilding the Âsmân Mosht (Sky Fist) system in the desert of Marege, as an Earth-to-Space launch system. However, the funds to do so are not currently available.
With the 'interim' military junta showing no sign of relinquishing control of the nation of Johor, calls for it to be replaced by some other form of non-military government begin, and grow.
A very cold winter strikes the northern Pacific Ocean.
An earthquake in the San Fernando Valley, near Los Angeles, California, kills fifty-seven people and is the most financially damaging earthquake in Californian history.
Comet Vereshchagin [Shoemaker-Levy] approaches Jupiter. As it approaches the planet it breaks apart into a line of small comets, nicknamed 'the string of pearls', before each one impacts Jupiter in turn.
By the present day the money to rebuild the Âsmân Mosht has still not become available.
With its own house in order, the Russian Office of Assessment begins working to bring the rest of the Holy Russian Empire back into line with doctrine. It is quickly found that many of the Technical and Industrial Monasteries are conducting numerous illegal activities, including the use of foreign and/or illegal technology, the receiving of foreign (and thus prohibited) television broadcasts and so on. A full-scale purge of the Technical and Industrial Monasteries begins, with many monastery staff, even to the highest level, vanishing into the Katorga system.
The Holy Russian Empire demands the return of their Alyeskan territories taken by the New Commonwealth and Canada-Louisiana in 1961. These demands are refused.
A very cold winter strikes North America.
The Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad begin selling leases to parts of the Moon to others who wish to settle or exploit it.
The joint California-Novo Albion project to map the genetic makeup of humanity completes its work with the publication of their results to the world. [This occurred in 2003 in the real world.]
The Great Hanshin earthquake strikes Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto in Yapon [Japan]. More than five thousand people are killed and two hundred and seventy five thousand left homeless.
An earthquake at Neftegorsk, in the Holy Russian Empire, kills some two thousand people, roughly two thirds of the town's population.
By the present day France, the Sarajevo Pact and Ling China have all leased areas of the Moon from the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad.
As the purge of the Technical and Industrial Monasteries continues in the Holy Russian Empire, numerous members of these monasteries attempt to defect out of the Holy Russian Empire to nations of both the One Truth and Dharmic blocs. Many are captured, but many also succeed. In two particularly publicised instances, the entire staffs of the Technical Monasteries of Archangel and Edo [Tokyo] defect to Sweden and Ling China respectively.
Rumours begun to surface that some of the small African states are under the covert control of the Freetraders or other organised crime groups. However, no solid evidence for this has, as yet, been uncovered.
Striking over the North Pole and across the Bering Strait, the Russians land forces in Alyeska and begin to advance into territory held by the New Commonwealth and Canada-Louisiana from both the east and west. What becomes known as the Alyeskan War or the Third War of Reclamation begins. This is the first major war since the end of the Long War.
Although putting up a brave resistance, the forces of the New Commonwealth do not have the resources or the manpower to resist the full might of the Russian military, and are forced to withdraw on all fronts.
An unarmed experimental warship carrying the entire staff of a Technical Monastery located near Kamchatskygrad [Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky] and pirated by them from the naval base there is sunk by the Russian Air Force while apparently on its way to defect to Novo Albion. All aboard are lost, including the wives and children of many of the monastery staff.
The first successful human head transplant takes place in the Anglo-Danish Empire, transferring the head of the aged but immensely rich Richard Lundvisk, a major shareholder in the Royal Universal Company, onto the young and healthy body of a condemned criminal, and using the latest techniques to re-grow the nervous system connections between the head and body.
With the reinvigoration of the Office of Assessment at the end of the Long War, and the defection or arrest of large numbers of scientists and technologists from the Technical and Industrial Monasteries, the Holy Russian Empire loses a significant part of its scientific and technological brainpower. As this proceeds there is some speculation among observers of the Holy Russian Empire that if this proceeds much further then they will become more and more at a disadvantage compared to the other nations of the world, and potentially face a Second War of Russian Humiliation.
The New Commonwealth asks the Mughal Empire, who formerly supported their efforts against the Russians, for assistance against the invasion by the Holy Russian Empire. The Mughal Empire, not wishing to threaten the new peace, refuses this request.
In a massive but peaceful revolution the Johor military junta is toppled, and a Constitutional Conference to decide the future direction of the country called.
The first primitive quantum computer, a large, massive and complex machine, begins operation in the Mughal Empire.
A powerful earthquake in northern Persia kills some four thousand people.
Other nations also refuse the increasingly-desperate requests for assistance from the New Commonwealth.
Russian forces push the forces of the New Commonwealth back beyond their original borders and strike deep into the New Commonwealth, taking control of large areas of the country.
Desperate, the New Commonwealth offers surrender terms to the Russian. After some negotiations, these are accepted, although with further provisions. In additions to its holdings in the Holy Russian Empire the New Commonwealth loses approximately forty percent of its original land area, and has to disarm and pay reparations to Russia. With little choice in the matter, the New Commonwealth accedes to these demands, but unrest there continues to simmer. The New Commonwealth is now also opposed to the Mughals, who, as they see it, abandoned them to the Russians.
After long deliberations and negotiations the Johor Constitutional Conference agrees that Johor will become a representative democracy. This is partly because the people do not want royalty any more, and partly because they do not want a Mughal or Dakshina Nad-style system. As part of this, and to show that the new regime is a break from the past, the nation is renamed to the Republic of Samudra. It is one of the few nations on Earth to not have a royal family, a monarchy or a nobility. Another part of the new constitution, based on events during the period between the two Revolutions, mandates the separation of state and religions, with the intention of avoiding the issues that caused those revolutions. Thus the Republic is set up to be a moderate Freethinker state.
A very cold winter strikes Europe. In England the River Thames freezes over, leading to an impromptu Frost Fair on the ice.
An earthquake at Takhar in the Afghan Subah of the Mughal Empire [Afghanistan] kills more than two thousand people.
A joint Mughal-Dakshina Nad mission leaves Earth orbit on its way to the planet Mars. They are travelling there in a vessel propelled by a powerful and advanced nuclear-powered ion drive design combined with re-supply via cargo containers launched from the Qamari Mosht. As this mission departs there is a great deal of speculation that the Indian Alliance will lay claim to the entire planet, much as the Dakshina Nad laid claim to the entire Moon when it landed there in 1944. Outside of the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad themselves there is significant hostility to this idea.
Another earthquake in the Afghan Subah of the Mughal Empire [Afghanistan] kills nearly five thousand people.
Scientists begin to speculate that the recent spate of cold winters are a side-effect of the dust put into the atmosphere by the projectiles used to bombard the Holy Russian Empire at the end of the Long War. [This is also a result of less global warming in this world.]
With the defeat of the New Commonwealth, Russian forces begin to advance into the areas of Russian Alyeska held by Canada-Louisiana. Not wishing to suffer the fate of the New Commonwealth, they negotiate a peace settlement with the Russians, paying some reparations and returning most (but not all) of the occupied territories to them. Although neither side is entirely satisfied with this outcome, both sides accept the peace settlement, and the Third War of Reclamation ends.
The first mining facilities are established on the asteroid Kure [Forge] by the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad.
A joint Mughal-Dakshina Nad mission becomes the first humans to land on the planet Mars. Bowing to international pressure on Earth, the Mughal Empire and Dakshina Nad do not lay claim to the entire planet Mars. Instead they claim a large circle of territory centred on the point where they land, and Eris and Kydoimos, the two small moons of Mars [Phobos and Deimos], leaving the rest of the planet open to colonisation and claiming by other powers, should they reach there.
The government of the Nayakkanate of Thanjavur begins considering the introduction of the ideas of Naya Samnnya Hindutva into law. Almost immediately so much opposition to the idea occurs among the people of Thanjavur that the idea is quietly dropped.
An earthquake in Russian Anatolia [Turkey] kills fifteen thousand people.
Two and a half thousand people are killed by an earthquake in Formosa [Taiwan] in Ling China.
A number of other mining facilities are established on other resource-rich asteroids.
The first mineral resources from the asteroid Kure [Forge] begin arriving in Earth orbit.
The Dakshina Nad begins experiments to develop space facilities and other structures supported on a stream of massive pellets, allowing towers and stations to be held up against gravity. [This is the Space Fountain concept.]
Four hundred people are killed by an earthquake in Mosquitia [El Salvador].
1640 to 1669 | 1670 to 1699 | 1700 to 1729 | 1730 to 1759 | 1760 to 1789 | 1790 to 1819
1820 to 1849 | 1850 to 1879 | 1880 to 1909 | 1910 to 1939 | 1940 to 1969 | 1970 to 2000
The World in 2000 | Africa | Central America And The Caribbean | North America | South America | Antarctica
Central Asia | Eastern And South-Eastern Asia | South Asia | Europe | The Middle East | Oceania
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Copyright © Tony Jones, 2007.
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