In both games and series, the Fallout franchise takes place between the 21st and 23rd centuries, following a terrible nuclear conflict that put an end to human society as we know it. The story takes place in an alternative version of our world, where the future resembles the one imagined by scientists in the 1950s. This is also why, despite its futuristic dimension, the universe sports a retro aesthetic. This delay in the evolution of technologies and electronics – but especially their miniaturization – will play a key role among many other factors in the organization of thermonuclear war. In the world of Fallout, the end of the world with its neo-Cold War feel has its origins in the control of the last sources of fossil fuels.
When fossil energy gives way to nuclear power
By evolving without renewable energy, the world of Fallout quickly approached a scarcity of fossil fuels around the 2050s. This crisis gave rise to the first tensions between Europe and the Middle East in 2052. A massive nuclear attack resulted in the annihilation of Tel Aviv in December 2053, and would be followed by a few limited nuclear exchanges in 2054. This was the first use of such weapons since World War II: a turning point that would mark the rest of the events.
While the maintenance of world peace was increasingly looming complex, the United States and China end up entering into conflict in turn. The Chinese army then invades Alaska in 2066 in an attempt to control the world's last oil reserves. The nuclear technologies developed by the Americans to make everyday life easier for citizens in the absence of fuel will end up being applied to new weapons technologies. It is with the help of the famous T-60 armor - which we find in the series - that the United States will manage to invade China in turn in 2074 to force the withdrawal of forces in Alaska.
While victory seemed assured in January 2077, everything will change a few months later, on October 23, 2077. The advent of nuclear power will not only have served to offer flying cars among other innovations to society, but will also seal the fate of humanity. In the middle of the night, the American army detects the deployment of Chinese submarines: thus begins The Great War, a conflict as destructive as it is short.
The end of the world in just two hours
Until then, the clues left by Fallout led us to believe that China had launched hostilities, but was this really the case? The fact remains that the first suspicions of an attack were enough to lead to an inevitable nuclear holocaust. Following the alerts that occurred during the night, the United States nuclear detection system confirmed the presence of missiles in the airspace around 9 a.m. The response plan was organized, while the countdown to the end of the world began. The first strikes finally took place at 9:42 a.m. in New York and Pennsylvania. A few minutes later, Boston and Washington fell under Chinese warheads. With the US president authorizing the deployment of all of the country’s nuclear weapons, total annihilation is now the only option. The various story elements accessible in the games indicate that the bomb exchanges only lasted two hours.
The total chaos will have pushed the other nuclear forces of the globe to react, propelling the entire world to its doom. All water sources end up contaminated by radiation, while the dust, ash and energy generated by the explosions cause a massive climate disruption. The sudden arrival of this catastrophe will not have allowed the population to take refuge, some even believing it to be a false alarm. Even the majority of those who had secured a place in the Vault-Tec shelters will not have been able to protect themselves in time. Finally, the survivors on the surface - humans and animals - will end up suffering 200 years of genetic mutations and other natural disasters before arriving at the key moment of the Fallout series. No wonder young Lucy finds herself helpless once she climbs to the surface...
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