Timeline: Before the War

1/1/2050: The Enclave is formed; it is a secretive political, scientific and militaristic organisation that aims to control the population in the shadows.


4/14/2052: Global resources start to run dry. Due to the increasing prices of oil Europe enters into war with the Middle East in the denominated Resource Wars.  Many smaller European countries go bankrupt.
7/26/2052: The United Nations disband. Tensions and riots grow all across the world.
7/26/2052: The Enclave, knowing of the incoming nuclear apocalypse creates a plan to ensure their own survival. In case the Earth becomes inhabitable they will abandon the planet and settle in some other habitable world; if the planet is habitable enough they plan to become the heirs of the American government.


1/13/2054: Due to the exchange of nuclear attacks between Europe and the Middle East the fear of a nuclear holocaust starts to begin among the American population. Vault-Tec is formed and the company starts building its first underground Vaults.
1/13/2054: Vault-Tec is secretly controlled by the Enclave. Some of the Vaults are designed with experimentation on mind to see how humans react and endure in different environment and situations. This is done to improve their survival chances if they ever decide to settle off-world.


3/14/2060: Fuel becomes too precious to be used by vehicles so alternatives are explored. Electric and Fusion cars begin to be manufactured but factories can only make a limited amount while conserving fuel. The Economy of the United States teeters on bankruptcy.
6/12/2060: The European/Middle Eastern War ends as the oil fields in the Middle East run dry. There is no longer a goal in the conflict and both sides are reduced to almost ruin.
7/23/2060: European countries begin fighting each other over the few precious remaining resources.


8/10/2065: The increasing need for mobility in the United Stated mechanized cavalry leads the military to focus the efforts on developing a man-based tank, which ultimately ends with the creation of the Power/Armor.


3/20/2066: As the oil resources dry up across the globe, China’s fossil fuel dependency causes an energy crisis in the nation. China, bordering on collapse, becomes more aggressive in its trade talks with the United States. The United States’ unwillingness to export to China leads to a breakdown in talks between the two countries.
4/5/2066: A Chinese fishing tugboat accidentally enters American waters. It is quickly informed of the trespassing and ordered to turn around. Several Chinese submarines also contact with the ship and inform it in Mandarin that they have permission from Chairman Cheng to fish in those waters, alleging that they will soon be Chinese waters. Fearing being considered traitors the fishermen obey their government and are promptly shelled by American Torpedos. With this the tension between the two superpowers increases even more.
11/3/2066: Desperate and without any oil field left to exploit China ends invading Alaska, the only place with remaining oil deposits.  The already struggling relationships between Canada and the United States becomes even tougher as increasing tensions arise after Canada proves reluctant of allowing American troops and planes into Canadian soil and airspace. Eventually Canada backs down and U.S. troops pass through Canada.


3/8/2068: China and America travel into the moon in an attempt at mining the Helium-3 that lies in underground deposits. Each nation starts to dig on the lunar surface and several skirmishes erupt regarding territory conflicts. After the battle of the Sea of Tranquillity the two superpowers also build nuclear missile silos to defend their mines and threaten the rest of the world.


1/15/2069: The U.S. starts to draw upon Canadian resources for the war effort. Vast stretches of timberland are destroyed and other resources are gathered upon breaking points. Many Americans start to refer to Canada as Little America. Canadian protests start to erupt all over the country.


6/3/2072: There is an attempt at sabotaging an Alaskan oil pipeline caused by Canadian civilians due to unrest. The military uses this as an excuse to begin the official annexation of Canada.
10/4/2072: Maintaining and refuelling the rockets and mining equipment used on the Moon become too expensive and not rentable enough. China completely abandons the satellite and America leaves only a small skeleton crew of robots to send data and act as a communications relay.
11/12/2072: Vault 207 is finished. It is located in the north part of Oahu; citizens of all across the island are given entrance tickets, either by buying them or winning them in a lottery. The Vault is secretly an experiment to test the effects of timelessness in an extended period of time. There isn’t any clock or light switch in the entire vault and each lamp and light bulb has been reinforced to be pretty much indestructible; the Pip-Boys issued to the Vault-Dwellers inside don’t have a clock function as long as they are inside the Vault. The Vault is set to open 150 years after the closing signal.


5/4/2073: The US Army Engineer Corp finishes building radar dishes array all across the Hawaiian Islands. With its new radar capabilities they detect several Chinese submarines dangerously close to American Waters.


3/21/2075: In an attempt at countering the biological weapons used by the Chinese the scientific company West-Tek develops the FEV, the Forced Evolutionary Virus. The virus aims to improve immunity systems to turn soldiers immune to weaponised viruses. Experimentation with animals proves that not only they become immune to illnesses but also bigger, more muscular, aggressive and intelligent. To further improve the virus several samples are sold and sent all across the United States so different laboratories, both of civilian and military nature can experiment with it.
4/5/2075: A Chinese fishing tugboat accidentally enters American waters. It is quickly informed of the trespassing and ordered to turn around. Several Chinese submarines also contact with the ship and inform it in Mandarin that they have permission from Chairman Cheng to fish in those waters, alleging that they will soon be Chinese waters. Fearing being considered traitors the fishermen obey their government and are promptly shelled by American Howlitzer Guns. With this the tension between the two superpowers increases even more.
9/16/2075: Vault 211 is finished. It is located under the sea and far from any island; an artificial island with a lighthouse and a vacuum elevator for easy access is also built. This Vault is smaller than average and has a way higher entrance fee, becoming only accessible for the richest people. It’s unknown if it was designed with any experiment on mind.


1/13/2076: The United States annexation of Canada is complete. Canadian protesters and rioters are shot on sight.
8/1/2076: Food and energy riots begin in major cities throughout the United States. Military units, including members in Power-Armor, begin to be deployed in cities within the United States to contain rioters. Prisons are filled and many temporally prisons are constructed. A state of emergency is declared and martial law soon follows.
10/12/2076: Seeing the results of the FEV upon animals the United States government secretly signs a law to consider felonious prisoners as noncitizens and thus usable in experimentation with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Prisons all over the country start using humans in testing.