Timeline (100 Years After The End)

2022

 * 13 Aug: Turkey is kicked out of NATO after reports of a Kurdish genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government surface.

2023

 * 2 Apr: Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE officially become part of NATO, which rechristens themselves as the Global Defense Treaty Organization (GDTO).

2026

 * 20 May: US President Bernie Sanders dies in his second term in office at age 85.

2029

 * 29 Jan: A secret invasion of Ukraine and the Baltic States, Operation Europa, is launched by top Russian millitary officials and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Within 12 hours, the Estonian border city of Narva is captured.
 * 30 Jan: World War III officially begins after the United States, and in extension, GDTO, issues a declaration of war on Russia. China, India, Pakistan, and the Gulf states join the war shortly after.

2033

 * 16 Nov: The End (also known as the Apocalypse, the Exchange, or Armageddon), the single deadliest day in human history, occurs. A computer software bug in a Chinese millitary installation in Fujian province causes what appears to be 34 American nuclear warheads heading for major cities in China, Russia, and Southeast Asia, to appear on the radar. At approximately 8:49 pm Beijing Time (7:49 am EST, 12:49 pm UTC), the order for the firing of Chinese nuclear missiles onto GDTO nations (especially the US, South Korea, Japan, and India) is given, and other Shanghai Pact nations are advised to do the same. 6 minutes later, the American missiles are proven to be false alarms, but it is already too late. GDTO nukes rain down on Shanghai Pact nations. In all, 1,776 nuclear warheads are fired (898 from the GDTO, 878 from the Shanghai Pact), and approximately 4.2 billion people die that day (out of a total population of 9.7 billion), with another 2.5 billion dying over the next 10 years. Many governments collapse, and vast swathes of territory are irradiated, and the sheer damage to the environment causes a mass extinction.