Cold War

Cold War
Major North American territories during the Cold War, c. Mid 2021
Date	January 2021 - Present
Location	North America (other effects worldwide)
Result	FIRST PHASE: -- Fall of the United States -- Dissolution of the NAP -- SECOND PHASE: -- Increased relations between USA and Quebec -- THIRD PHASE: -- Increased hostilities between USA and Quebec --
Territorial changes	FIRST PHASE: Expansion of the NAP Expansion of the USA SECOND PHASE: Expansion of Albany Theoretical creation of Burlington THIRD PHASE: Expansion of Albany Creation of Harlem claimblock town --

The Cold War is a period of geopolitical tension in North America, between Quebec and the USA (formerly between the NAP and the USA). The war is fought primarily with land claims and intelligence warfare, rather than direct armed conflict. The period brought massive cultural and societal change to North America. It is one of the longest conflicts in EarthMC history.

Most people generally agree the starting point of the Cold War was January, 2021. It reached its height in March-April, when the United States was under the command of New York leader Lucas2011. Following the Rawhide incident and the counter-intelligence operations conducted by AdrianHES in favor of the NAP, the United States fell in June, 2021. The fall of the United States is considered to be the end of the first stage of the Cold War. Later, the NAP was dissolved, as well.

The United States was soon revived in July and August 2021, with increased diplomacy occurring between newly elected Quebec Prime Minister AdrianHES and Wishful, a proxy for New York and the USA. Good progress was made through the Burlington Project, until the Formidable - Albany Claim War occurred, and other harassment from Coblobster and Lucas forced Quebec to retract their stance and begin the third phase of the war.

The Rawhide Leak claims an unnamed cabal of elites are orchestrating the war.

Stages & Classifications

According to Adrian Volkov II, the Cold War is currently broken into 3 stages:

• The First Phase
• The Second Phase (The Detente)
• The Third Phase

The First Phase (January 2021 - July 2021)

The Cold War generally began around January 2021, as the USA became more isolationist. A hallmark of this period was increased infighting in the United States, mainly on foreign policy, transit ideas and whether war with the NAP was a good option or not. This period was marked with light intelligence warfare and clandestine political operations.

The Cold War was confirmed in March 2021, with Lucas2011's regime in the USA. With this came a declaration of war against the NAP and claimblocks against the USA becoming ever increasing. Among these was the blockade of Albany by Illinois, which contributed to AdrianHES' anti-USA sentiments. In later leaks, it was confirmed that he orchestrated the purchasing of false votes for Lucas2011's presidential campaign in February, who eventually became president and led to a hotter war with the NAP.

In April, a leak of secret NAP Discord chats prompted anti-USA terrorists to bomb houses in Newark and Philadelphia. Around this time, presidential candidate AdrianHES also leaked important information under the moniker "Rawhide", detailing corruption within the USA. At this time, the USA's fate was sealed.

In May, the USA began to collapse. Citizens left the country in droves, and in June, the nation collapsed, briefly reforming into the Islamic Republic of New Jersey. It was around this time that most people agree the first phase of the Cold War ended.

The Second Phase (July 2021 - January 2022)

The Second Phase, also known as the Detente, was a period of relaxation and eased tensions that occurred around the fall of the USA and the rise to power of AdrianHES in Quebec around September, and lasted until early January 2022. In this period, tensions between the USA and Quebec were eased when Prime Minister AdrianHES worked with New York on infrastructure projects, primarily through co-leader proxy Wishful. The hallmark of this movement was the Burlington Project - a theoretical town east of Albany designed to be a staple of peace and prosperity between the USA and Quebec.

However, when the Formidable - Albany Claim War took place, sentiments for Adrian in the USA community began to grow cold, and toxicity and harassment from the USA increased towards Quebec members. When it was revealed that Lucas2011 had perverted the Burlington Project and replaced it with Harlem - an obvious tactical claimblock - Adrian responded with Hodin's policy of reactionary politics, and countered the USA's creation of Harlem by opening a claim ticket and disputing its existence with Wishful. After further harassment from Lucas2011, peaking at the destruction of AdrianHES' historic Madison Ave. house built in January 2021, Adrian quickly fought back against Lucas and Wishful, essentially reverting any progress that had been made towards peace.

The Detente ended in the second week of January 2022, following more back-and-forth bickering. The relationship between Quebec and the USA went cold again, with both sides becoming far more nationalist and defensive. Adrian's decisions were favored by the imperials of Quebec.

The Third Phase (January 2022 - Present)

The Third Phase of the Cold War began following the repeated escalations of hostilities between Quebec and the USA, first started by Coblobster's breach of Quebec's de jure claims, followed by Lucas2011's perversion of the Burlington Project and the subsequent claimblock of Albany, and then by toxic harassment from members of the USA.

The Third Phase is still ongoing.

"Tank Man" Incident

On January 20th 2022, New York rolled an assault tank to the border of Albany, and proxy-griefed the town with New York flags. When New York councillor Bob Denim trespassed onto Albany to send toxic DMs to residents, he was soon attacked with an iron sword and killed, but came back to Albany. He stood atop a tank pointed at Albany councillor and non-combatant XJ12. The famous photograph and press poster from the incident went on to become known as Tank Man.

"Tank Man" photo, c. January 2022