In the interests of consistency I wrote up a rough draft detailing the timeline preceding the short stories I have written for INTO THE RUINS. If it seems haphazard, it is because it is constantly undergoing revision as ideas occur to me or as I rethink what led up to the events in my stories. Some of it reflects stories that I have written or ones I am contemplating. Thanks for stopping by!
Mid to late 21st century, US is in grip of civil strife and economic collapse. Russia and China are squaring off in the Middle East over the last of the large petroleum deposits. Egypt allies itself with Russia which is occupying Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Jordan. Saudi Arabia is occupied by Chinese troops but has a strong resistance movement. In an effort to weaken Egypt, the Chinese build small temporary dams to divert waters from the Nile.
Two small yield nuclear weapons are detonated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At first Russia blames China even though it is pointed out that radioactive fallout would and does rain out over the Saudi Arabian peninsula. China denies having planted the weapons and accuses Russia of trying to smuggle nuclear weapons into the Mid-East to use against China. Fears that an all-out nuclear exchange is on the verge of occurring, sends ripples of panic throughout both hemispheres. But several Christian fundamentalist terror groups loudly claim responsibility declaring the Second Coming is at hand and all must repent or die. Calls for calm manage to make themselves heard and an effort is made to hunt down the terrorists.
By this time a weaponized version of Ebola has been released among the Chinese troops by Saudi freedom fighters who obtained it from Russian agents. The epidemic quickly spirals out of control spreading into nearby areas of the Middle East as well as northern Africa. In retaliation Chinese troops bombard Mecca with heavy explosives and chemical weapons over a week long period reducing it to rubble, killing nearly all of the residents and destroying the Kaaba. But it’s all for nothing. Their troops decimated by disease and harassed by revenge seeking jihadists, the Chinese finally abandon the Saudi peninsula and return home where civil unrest is spiraling out of control and war lords are making their appearance in the outer provinces.
By the 2080’s Russia has abandoned the Middle East as well, suffering from material and manpower shortages. Many other nations are tottering and struggling to remain intact. The US has long since collapsed into warring micro-states. Diasporas from Caribbean islands which are shrinking or disappearing altogether as the oceans rise send people seeking new homes in the former US. Intense heat waves and desertification also create diasporas from Central America.
The Second Coming fails to materialize. However a Caliphate does arise in the area of Aleppo, founded by a former Al Queda chief, who manages to establish a stable regime. He proceeds to stamp out remaining ISIL cells and espouse a more moderate form of Islam as the fundamentalist sects have become almost completely discredited. By the early 22nd century the Aleppan Caliphate has secured an area covering most of Syria and part of Iraq and is able to maintain peace as many are weary of fighting and some are attempting to implement environmental reforms and adopt a simpler less resource intensive lifestyle.
By the mid-22nd century global populations have begun rapidly plummeting due to food and material shortages as well as persistent land and water pollution, particularly in the form of plastic pollution and radioactive waste, human numbers falling below the 2 billion mark. One final spasm of Islamic fundamentalism begins near the end of the century, lasting into the early 23rd century. Fanatics calling themselves the Burners of Blasphemy begin a pogrom against any scientists and methodically burn books pertaining to science and technology, convinced it is God’s anger against science that is responsible for climatic change and the human suffering it leads to. The Aleppan caliphate is able to fend off their depredations but in other parts of the Middle East and parts of Central Europe and Asia they murder scientists and technicians, destroy many libraries, schools and surviving factories. One inadvertent side effect of this is the loss of even simple technologies such as gunpowder manufacture, small engine and radio making. Another is plunging literacy rates.
Rising ocean levels force many island peoples to leave their homelands. One place of refuge is New Zealand where the Maori, undergoing a small renaissance during the 22nd century, welcome Polynesian refugees, using it as a way to strengthen their hold on the islands. While the New Zealand islands had been briefly occupied by Chinese troops for a few years during the 21st century who used it as a staging area to invade Australia, and caused many Caucasians to flee, the local native populations held their own and simply waited them out. Now reviving their traditional culture and blending it with environmental movements, the Maori consolidate their control of New Zealand which they officially rename Aotearoa and begin the long task as they see it of restoring the earth.
A final desperate attempt made by the crumbling Russian government to repair the Sarcophagus of Chernobyl is marginally successful. However large quantities of waste material have been stored at the long decommissioned power plants and the issue of how to safely ensure it remains there and not released into the environment is never resolved. While the manufacture of plastic has been illegal for nearly a century, there is no way to deal with what has already been released into the environment and remains a source of pollution for centuries to come.
By the end of the 22nd century most world nations have finally fallen apart and are soon joined by the final collapse of the Russian and Chinese governments. Persistent Ebola epidemics, although no longer as virulent as when the engineered virus was first released, still plague parts of the Mid-East and Africa as well as reaching briefly into India.
The Fourth Reich of Germany, established as a result of a military coup in the mid-21st century, collapses in the mid-22nd century. The Fifth Reich, composed of a confederation of German territories, succeeds it at the end of the century ruled over by a small but strong oligarchy. It serves as a bulwark against resource raids from the east and quietly begins a concerted effort to preserve the huge body of knowledge built up in previous centuries. The Essene sect formerly a fringe movement begins maturing and becoming more mainstream. Two branches are established; one monastic in nature devoted to spiritual practices similar to Buddhism, the other more worldly, taking over the practice of medicine. The Order dedicates itself to preserving medical knowledge and unites it with a philosophy emphasizing a spiritual link between humans and the earth.
By the early decades of the 23rd century, a small cultural revival occurs among the remnants of the Kazakhs who fled the ruins of their land into the area around the Caspian Sea. They have been joined by refugees from Mongolia who are led by a self-styled khan who, inspired by visions, is taking them to what he claims will be a new promised land. Although quirky he is charismatic and an able organizer, and quickly attracts other related ethnic groups as well as remnant groups of refugees from various parts of the Middle East and welds them with the Kazakhs creating the New Zhuz or New Horde (in later centuries calling themselves the Great Horde). They then begin a mass migration into the former Ukraine and Russian territories. With many areas already depopulated, they encounter only feeble resistance and quickly establish themselves as a powerful presence, often engaging in raids on the moribund west European countries.
The former Slavic nations such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, have all collapsed into small warring tribes that constantly feud with each other, as well as the Kazakhs and conduct their own raids into the west. They also engage in piracy and slave raiding in the Adriatic and remain a severe problem for many centuries.
At the beginning of the 24th century, global human populations have bottomed out at 70 million and remain stagnant at that number until the mid-27th century, when they very slowly begin to rise until by the 31st Century is just under 100 million.
The Catholic Church has dwindled to a largely decentralized regional church that has semi-independent branches throughout West Europe. There is no longer a pope rather the Curia runs church affairs. Parish priests are now allowed to marry though if any priest wishes to rise in the hierarchy he must take an oath of celibacy and not marry. Widowers can move up in the ranks as long as they take the oath. The Vatican is forced to move from Rome to Avignon as refugees from northern Africa have established small colonies on Sicily and southern Italy and are battling with locals as well as conducting raids to the north. Recalling the church’s role in preserving old manuscripts the Curia establishes a branch firmly dedicated to trying to preserve what is left. They work in tandem with the Fifth Reich though over the centuries the relationship becomes strained by the Reich’s growing tendency to hoard their books and control the flow of knowledge.
One significant problem is lingering pollution. The Church begins a project in the 27th Century to map known areas containing radioactive or chemical waste. With a high rate of illiteracy, many people are no longer aware of the dangers of pollution and will sometimes try to farm or dig wells in contaminated areas. With the assistance of the Essene order they begin an educational effort to teach people how to detect and avoid trouble areas. A growing interest in the sciences begins to appear, though it is largely confined to the equivalent of ‘natural philosophers’ and there is frequently confusion with older pseudo-sciences such as astrology and alchemy.
The Aleppan caliphate collapses in the 28th century but under its aegis, both Sufi mysticism and the Baha’i sect prospered, strongly influencing Islam in the region. Many areas are still plagued by illiteracy thanks in part to the destruction wrought by the Burners of Blasphemy as well as problems with epidemics and resource shortages. Itinerate preachers, both Sufi and Baha’i, go about teaching in an effort to keep Islam from dying out completely. Sufi preachers venturing into Egypt have a strong influence and help strengthen the remnants of Islam in the river valley. (Imam Zara has a strong Sufi background as a result)
In the mid-29th century an unusual figure appears in the Iranian region, a man who people come to call the Wandering Prophet, preaching a religion that’s a syncretism of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. He is clearly well educated but his origins are unknown though some scholars believe he has a Baha’i background. He attracts a significant following and journeys about teaching throughout the area formerly governed by the Aleppan caliphate, and up into Eastern Europe where he converts the Kazakhs. Later legends have him going as far as India and Western China, though it is suspected these are stories about disciples spreading his teachings. He preaches for many decades and finally in his late eighties settles in the former city of Tehran (now only a modest sized town) where he eventually dies at the age of ninety five, greatly beloved by all. He is deeply mourned and his tomb attracts many pilgrims which begins transforming Tehran into a nascent holy city.
While slave raids still plague parts of Greece and the east Italian coast, by the late 30th century, the booty raids by the Kazakhs into Western Europe have begun declining as they turn their focus towards the nuisance raiders from the south and develop a growing desire to begin building more sedentary towns and cities. The ascension to the Khanate of Arystanbek signals this shift. Scholars following the teachings of the Wandering Prophet who encouraged education for all, begin establishing schools and sending out feelers to the West as they search for old books and manuscripts. While the Fifth Reich initially holds aloof from them, the Catholic Church establishes contact with them, though because of old fears about the eastern ‘barbarians’, they keep the exchanges of knowledge very quiet and low-key. Matteo DiPietro becomes fluent in the Kazakh language and culture thanks to this.
Last revised May 26, 2018