The Resource Wars

Events & Timeline · Source: Fallout (1997) intro and codex; Fallout Bible; pre-war terminal entries

Overview

The Resource Wars were the cascading global conflicts over dwindling oil, minerals, and food from 2052 to 2077 that bankrupted the old world and set the stage for the Great War.

History & Background

As fossil fuels ran dry, nations turned on each other. The European Commonwealth invaded the Middle East in 2052 to seize its remaining oil, sparking a decade of war. The United Nations collapsed, and the great powers stockpiled weapons for the wars they knew were coming. America and China's rivalry over resources — especially Alaskan oil and the Pacific trade lanes — grew into the war that would consume the world.

Details & Timeline

2052: the European Commonwealth invades the Middle East. 2053-2055: the Middle Eastern campaign grinds on, with the EC's oil interests failing to secure supply. 2060: the United Nations disbands. 2066: China invades Alaska, beginning the American-Chinese war. 2076: the U.S. annexes Canada to secure its resources and supply lines. October 23, 2077: the Great War erupts, ending the Resource Wars and the world that fought them.

Wasteland Significance

The Resource Wars explain the pre-war world's collapse and the post-war landscape: nations exhausted, populations displaced, and a continent scarred by the resource hunger that doomed it. The wars also seeded the military technology — power armor, energy weapons, vertibirds — that defines the wasteland's factions.

Notable Appearances

Fallout (1997) intro and codex; detailed in the Fallout Bible; referenced in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas terminals and pre-war holotapes, including the annexation of Canada.

Tags: resource-wars, pre-war, oil, european-commonwealth, china, middle-east, canada, annexation, united-states, 2052, great-war, energy