United States of America

The United States of America, also known as the USA or simply America, was the world's largest superpower. Before the events of Resistance: Fall of Man, the US government, under President Noah Grace and his administration, developed an very isolationist policy, and several campaigns were made to keep America out of foreign affairs. When reports of an 'influenza' outbreak came from Europe, the US government enacted a complete blackout on news coming from Europe, and passed several laws that made radio waves and newspapers state property. This meant that the American public was almost completely oblivious to the Chimeran War.

By the late 1940s, at the time of Britain's invasion, the United States had been primarily funding military research, leading to many developments such as the widely seen VTOL aircraft used to deploy soldiers. Later on, the United States deployed a large task force to help retake Britain. Despite the blow against the Chimera, the United States was invaded in August 14th, 1951 when the Chimera launched Spire missiles on the New England states.

History
Ever since war was averted between the United States and Spain in 1898 when President William McKinley pressured Spain to grant independence to Cuba, America had been slowly growing into an isolationist nation-state, which furthermore result in the failure of President Woodrow Wilson's attempt to convince Congress to declare war on Germany during the Great War in 1917.

In the following post-war era, after President Herbert Hoover vetoed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act on October 1929 (which in avoiding an economic depression), America steadily grew into a more prosperous and stronger nation. During the years of the Roosevelt administration, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved America's infrastructure by building thousands of miles of roads, bridges and buildings. And as well funding other projects including the creation of Nikola Tesla's first patented Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft. By 1937, the administration then began an unprecedented amount of investment in military research and development, which attracted attention from American isolationists. In December 1938, Senator Robert Taft, a staunch isolationist, challenged President Franklin Roosevelt over the navy's build-up of secure shipping lanes across the Atlantic and its relationship with the UED, in which Taft views the administration's policy as a first step towards international political involvement and military endeavor. Taft however, being a lackluster public speaker, failed to inspire a following, except for a young Junior Senator from Montana, Noah Grace. By August 1940, Noah Grace enters the presidential race against Roosevelt. After framing the president as a war monger and imperialist, Grace won the public's support and became the 33rd President of the United States with Harvey McCullen as his Vice President. Following Grace's election, weapons research and development continued despite Grace's sponsorship of isolationism. In June 1944 the United States developed the world's first nuclear weapon, which was first experimentally detonated in Alaska. By August 1948, both Democrats and Republicans alike had failed to pass a constitutional amendment in limiting a president to a maximum of two terms. President Grace was reelected to an unprecedented third term in office with America's lowest turnout of votes in 70 years. During his third term, Grace began a series of radio broadcasts called "Evening Conversations", "In order to better communicate with the American people the manner in which their government works for them."

In April 1949, King Edward VIII visited America on a supposed goodwill tour. During a closed meeting, King Edward revealed information about the Chimera to President Grace. Despite America's isolationist sentiment, Edward urged President Grace to support Europe in any way he can. By May 1949, the isolationist extremist organization, the Alliance for American Autonomy (AAA) was formed to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars, and the group quickly gained thousands of followers.

When the Chimera invaded Europe on December 1949, the U.S. government controlled and censored all media outlet coming from Europe and the outside world, in keeping the American public unaware of the Chimeran threat to avoid mass panic, and even furthering their ignorance by creating false reports of an "influenza outbreak" in Europe; however, the AAA have been able to spy and distribute to the public of evidence in regarding to the American government's secrecy with Project Abraham and the Chimera in Europe in the following months. By January 1950, the government finally agreed to lend support to Europe in the war after analyzing the Chimera's devastation in Warsaw, Poland. Then, in July 1951, the United States sent in a 5,000-man military task forces to liberate Chimera-controlled Britain in exchange for a secret weapon (an Angel) claimed by the British to be used against the Chimera in Operation Deliverance. However, the operation became a dismal defeat for American forces, who were totally unprepared for encountering the Chimera for the first time. But on July 14th, joint American and British forces successfully liberated Britain in the Battle of London by destroying the London Tower, which in turn destroyed the Chimeran tower network throughout Britain, thus eliminating the Chimera in the United Kingdom and becoming a major turning point for humanity.

Despite Britain's liberation, the Chimera remained a worldwide threat. On August 14th, 1951, nearly the entirety of New England came under Spire attacks, becoming America's first Gray Zone and the beginning of America's invasion by the Chimera. The attack on New England, combined with the AAA's newspapers, opened the public's awareness of the Chimera. In response to the August 14th Spire attacks, the Grace administration approved the construction of a American safe zone, the Liberty Defense Perimeter (LDP), should enemy forces invade the U.S. A month later, Chicago and the Upper Midwest later became America's second Gray Zone, and followed within the next year, parts of the American southeast and Northern California, specifically in Orick were later fallen to the Chimera.

The result of the invasion produced thousands of displaced refugees fleeing from the conquered state regions, and further straining food supplies due in part to the Chimera's weather changing technology affecting America's farming regions. On November 15th, 1951, President Grace became worried of the inevitable downfall of his nation, and secretly planned a truce with the Chimera known as Project Omega in allowing the United States to be spare from the Chimera at the expense of the world. But on December 24th, President Grace's attempt in the negotiations was foiled by then 2nd Lt. Nathan Hale, who killed the president. The negotiations and circumstances surrounding Grace's death were quickly covered up by the government; and on December 25th Grace's death was released to the public under the fabrication of a sudden, suspicious illness and leaving Vice-President Harvey McCullen to succeed Grace.

Under Harvey McCullen's presidency, McCullen was able to improved America's war against the Chimera which includes repealing his predecessor's immigration ban to bolster falling troop numbers, initiating "Operation Aloha" to ensure the goal of "preserving the American culture, history and way of life should an unthinkable fate befall the continental U.S." , and ensuring the final construction of the Defense Perimeter to be ensured for every civilians to be admitted in the safe zone.

Ultimately by May 15th, 1953, America was massively invaded by the Chimeran fleet upon its coastlines in which 60% of the US armed forces were killed in the first 73 hours of the assault. Despite the safety of the Defense Perimeter, the Chimera inevitably breached the safe zone on May 28th, causing the deaths of 63-80 million people, including President McCullen and his cabinet. Following the breach, General Douglas MacArthur became temporary leader of the U.S. Government until formal elections could be held; the seat of government and approximately two or three million survivors were relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and approximately seven million other remaining survivors are scattered throughout the United States. By 1957, the United States fell along with the rest of the world to the Chimera after the failure of Operation Black Eden and the apparent teleportation of Earth to another part of space.

Government
The American government is a federal constitutional republic similar to its actual counterpart in real life. However, when Noah Grace became president of the United States, he managed to extend his presidential term by entering his third term in office. Prior to Grace's third presidency, the Democrats in Congress had tried to pass a constitutional amendment limiting a president to a maximum of two terms, but failed to convince the Republicans, who were too (quietly) fearful of Grace's growing power to support their efforts. However, Grace's re-election came with the nation's historic lowest turnout of votes in 70 years. This unusual turnout leaves a hint that the Grace administration may have won by cheating, but it is not entirely given whether this is the case or otherwise, as the administration insisted that the third reelection was legitimate.

It is during Grace's third candidacy that he approved the construction of the Liberty Defense Perimeter (LDP), passing a ban on foreign immigration to the U.S. (due to the "European influenza" epidemic), and broadcasting his "Evening Conversations". It was at the height of the Chimeran invasion of Europe that Grace's administration slowly began controlling the nation's media outlet and allowing the public to becoming unaware of the Chimera. Overall, this action violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, another violation to the Constitution involves the Second Amendment, in which the government's plan to catalog all gun-owners in America, and later during the early Chimeran invasion confiscating the individual's weapon for so-called public safety and security reasons. However, such constitutional violations remained unaffected to the Grace administration as that neither Congress nor anyone (with the exception of some militant groups such as the Alliance for American Autonomy) dare challenged the administration over its violations due to its influential power over the American government.

It is known that two Congressional acts allowed Grace and his administration to overrule certain constitutional liberties and rights: the War Powers Act of 1946 which allows the president to control and mobilize the U.S. armed forces without Congress' permission, and the Executive Protection Act of 1950 which also enables the president to personally do anything in his actions to supposedly ensure the safety of America. Also in regarding to the administration's public dissidents, it allowed its own federal agencies such as the Domestic Security Agency (DSA) to scrutinized and silenced the public upbringing under the pretense of upholding the nation's safety. Overall the Grace administration was criticized by some as being "corrupt" and even totalitarian in nature. Following the sudden spire attack on Washington, D.C., the American seat of government was relocated to Denver, Colorado, in which it is within the Liberty Defense Perimeter.

When Vice-president Harvey McCullen succeeded Noah Grace, he reformed all of his predecessor's policies such as repealing Grace's ban on refugee immigration to bolster falling troop numbers, overseeing the final fortification of the Liberty Defense Perimeter and approving "Operation Aloha". After the Chimeran fleet invaded the United States and causing the subsequent fall of the LDP, the remains of the American government was again relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana with General Douglas MacArthur becoming temporary leader of the U.S. following the death of Harvey McCullen.

Statehood
The current number of the states in the United States as of 1953 is 48, since, in real life, Alaska and Hawaii earned their statehood in January 3rd and August 21st, 1959 respectively. Also the "colonization" of Hawaii during Operation Aloha gives further evidence that certain isolationist elements in the political government during 1898 opposed the annexation of Hawaii as a territory, thus the Hawaiian islands never became a military and naval outpost nor became fully populated with civilians.

Military
The U.S. Budget was mostly spent on military research and development. As such, the army had advanced technology such as the VTOL U/AV-17 Hawk. The U.S. military played a reclusive role in world events until the Chimeran invasion of Europe, when the US Rangers were sent in to help the British Army retake Britain during Operation Deliverance. The U.S. Rangers suffered approximately 5,000 casualties during this operation.

The U.S. Military is also highly regarded for its vast array of weaponry, including energy weapons and sophisticated alterations on more human weaponry. Although most of these weapons are reverse-engineered from captured or stolen Chimera weapons.

U.S. Air Force
It is not given as to whether the United States Air Force is a separate military branch or not. In real life the American Air Force was part of the U.S. Army and was becoming an entire independent military branch during World War Two which the aftermath of the conflict eventually gave birth to the Air Force's formation in 1947. However, since World War Two never occurred in the Resistance timeline, it is safe to presume that the Air Force never became a independent military branch and is still part of the United States Army, still known as the U.S. Army Air Corps. Though this is base on speculation.

Among the Air Force's arsenal are the (historical) F-86 Sabre.

SRPA
Sometime after the United States government became aware of the Chimera's presence on Earth, the military organization Special Research Projects Administration (SRPA) was created and tasked with finding ways of combating the Chimera. This ranged from attempting to find a cure for the Chimeran virus through Project Abraham, which resulted in the creation of the Sentinels, to creating new weapons and armor such as the highly enriched nuclear fission bomb used in Operation Black Eden.

Knowledge of the Chimera
When and how the United States Government knew about the presence of the Chimera is unknown. All that is given is that the government's initial awareness of the Chimera may have been known to the predecessor of the Grace administration: Franklin Roosevelt. It is suggested that the Roosevelt administration's unprecedented amount of government spending on weapons development and the establishment of a classified military base in Alaska in 1937, which was the site of the creation of America's first nuclear bomb, were all part of a preparation effort to counter the Chimeran threat. Also, when Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds broadcast struck mass panic across America of a fictionalize alien invasion on October 1938, the government severely reprimanded Welles, which cost his career; furthermore, this hinted that the Roosevelt administration had known first hand of the Chimera and why the government was upset at the 'false alarm' started by Welles.

Propaganda
Following the outbreak of the Chimeran invasion in Europe, in order to prevent mass panic among the American public, Noah Grace and his administration took control of the American media and news outlet by creating the office of Perception Protection and Guidance to produce a series of programs for television and radio that spoke of an "influenza epidemic" in Europe. This explanation quickly raised public support for the increased border protection (and subsequently the passing of an immigration ban). Slowly, all independent broadcasting was replaced with government propaganda as President Grace's Evening Conversation radio program becomes an even greater national comfort and refuge from the flood of news on the airwaves. This deliberate misinformation and censorship, however, proved its undoing for the American military when it first intervened in the liberation of Britain, as the lower ranking soldiers that were arriving to Britain had absolutely no idea of what they would be fighting against, which lead to the catastrophic outcome of Operation Deliverance. Despite the censorship, the Alliance for American Autonomy (AAA) covertly spied on their government and published in its newspaper (America First - America Only) the truth, concerning Project Abraham and the Fall of Europe. This lasted until the AAA's newspaper offices were raided in December 15, 1950, in ensuring the public's ignorance and "safety".

American censorship continued to covered up information of the Chimera and hosting false reports of the so-called "European Influenza" until the Chimeran spire attack in the state of New York (initially covered up as a plague outbreak). It was inevitable that shortly after the spire attack in New York that the public became increasingly aware of the Chimera. By late 1951, American propaganda and censorship were made useless in containing the truth of the Chimeran threat, but later refocuses its effort in providing confidence in American morale in the nation's resistance against the Chimera. Containing in these government censored reports includes providing make-believe fabrications of so-called American victories. But many of the public, especially survivors from gray territories, remained scornful and skeptical of these made-up news. Furthermore, the censorship did not completely revealed the Chimeran conversion process, and supplemented that spire attacks only releases spinners and crawlers to lay eggs inside their human victims.

Timeline
1898: Spain reluctantly granted Cuba's independence. Thus war between Spain and America was avoided.

March, 1917: Due to the German Navy's unrestricted submarine warfare, President Woodrow Wilson requests declaration of war against Germany but Congress, led by strong isolationist Henry Cabot Lodge, refuses, making declaration of war impossible without an overt threat to the US.

October, 1929: President Herbert Hoover gives a radio address promising to veto the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act to spare global trade from crippling taxation. Hoover's act prevents a economic depression in America. By the end of the next trading day, the Dow Jones has recovered its losses.

1935: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Work Progress Administration (WPA) to bolster the economy. Over the next ten years, the WPA builds 650,000 miles of roads, 78,000 bridges, and 125,000 buildings. The WPA demand for a nimble aircraft with high payloads leads to the pursuit of Tesla's VTOL concept. The result is the UH-17 Atlas VTOL. The UH-17 proves exceedingly capable, but acquires a reputation as difficult to fly as several flip during flight. The crashes are blamed on poorly balanced loads.

October, 1938: Orson Welles' infamous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast touches widespread panic, provoking a harsh response from the White House. The public upbraiding proves devastating and Orson Welles' career is ruined. Following Welles' broadcast, the head of the Domestic Security Agency (DSA), Raymond Tharp, briefs the US government on the potential repercussions of the public's possible reactions of an actual invasion.

December, 1938: The U.S. Navy is spending more money in securing shipping lanes across the North Atlantic. This is in response to increased trade trade between the United States and the UED. However this also lead to President Roosevelt being challenged by Senator Taft, who is a staunch isolationist. He views the naval build-up as the first step to towards international political and military involvements. But being as a terrible public speaker, he is unable to inspire anyone for his support against Roosevelt; however, he manages to inspire a young Junior Senator from Montana by the name of Noah Grace.

August, 1940: Noah Grace calls President Roosevelt an imperialist and a warmonger, and later defeats him in the 1940 elections with Harvey McCullen as running mate.

June, 1944: First nuclear weapon tested in Alaska. President Grace gives a speech confirming the development of the nuclear bomb and refers to the tests as a clear message of national pride.

February, 1947: In the United States, the Democrats propose a new Constitution Amendment limiting a President to a maximum of two terms in office. The Republicans however, despite being quietly fearful of President Grace's growing power, did not join the proposal.

November, 1948: President Grace is re-elected for a unprecedented third straight term, but with America's lowest turnout of votes ever in 70 years.

1949
April: King Edward VIII visits America on a goodwill tour bringing knowledge of what is happening in Russia, but leaves with more questions than answers.

1950
January: The US Congress agrees to the wishes of an unknown individual who wants to offer military support to the UED. Congress signs an act allowing this to go ahead; the act is to be renewed every ninety days as advised by the Department of War.

May: Rumors of supernatural creatures in Europe cause panic across America, so in order to "better serve the public's awareness," the office of Perception Protection and Guidance begins producing programs for television and radio that speak of an influenza epidemic in Europe. This explanation quickly raises public support for the increased border protection. Slowly, all independent broadcasting is replaced with government propaganda as President Grace's Evening Conversation radio program becomes an even greater national comfort and refuge from the flood of news on the airwaves.

1951
August 14th: The Chimera attack New York with spires, becoming America's first gray territory.

 September: In response to the spire attack in New York, President Grace approves the construction of the Liberty Defense Towers.

October: President Grace calls for an immediate evacuation of Chicago. The evacuation comes too late as the city is attacked by Chimeran spires, infecting many of Chicago's population.

November 27th: Washington D.C. came under attack by a Chimeran spire attack, shortly after President Grace makes a public news conference in front of the refurbished Lincoln Memorial. The threat is quickly contained by the military. The attack on Washington forces the American government to be relocated to Denver, Colorado, that is within the Liberty Defense Perimeter.

December 24th: In Sheridan, Wyoming, Noah Grace attempts to negotiate with Daedalus about settling a truce between the United States and the Chimera, which includes withdrawing Chimeran forces from the United States and allowing the Chimera to conquer the rest of the world unopposed. Nathan Hale immediately kills Grace for treason, and Daedalus escapes from his confines, allowing a Chimeran warship to destroy Sheridan in retaliation for his imprisonment.

December 25th: The U.S. government releases a fabricated report of American President Noah Grace's death from a "suspicious and sudden illness" to the public, and Vice-president Harvey McCullen is succeeded as president.

1952
April 23rd: President McCullen repeals former president Grace's long-standing ban on all immigration into the United States.

April 28th: President McCullen has announced a new executive initiative in which 150,000 selected citizens be transported to the Hawaiian islands where they will continue to live indefinitely, that some reporters have dubbed "Operation Aloha."

April 30th: President McCullen issues evacuation orders to all major cities in the United States.

May 15th: Proposal date of American citizens receiving authorization papers for evacuation to the Liberty Defense Perimeter based on lottery.

July: Final fortification of the Liberty Defense Perimeter is finally complete.

July 23rd: A surprise Chimeran aerial attack hit Orick, California catching American military forces off guard. On the same day, massive spire attacks hit Florida and Georgia prompting President McCullen to declare the entire southeast coast a gray zone.

August 9th: American reconnaissance teams spot two very large Chimeran aerial battleships approximately three miles off the coast of San Francisco. The vessels did not attempt to engage or further approach the city. It is suspected that the Chimera have may have been testing the range of San Francisco's anti-aircraft batteries. This marks the fifth sighting of these aerial vessels.

1953
January 2nd: In Hawaii, multiple eyewitnesses saw a strange, astronomical phenomenon in the sky, in which they claimed to see a glowing fissure appearing in the sky, under which there appeared to be a "second sky".

May 15th: The Chimera launched a full scale invasion on both the east and west coasts of the United States.

May 28th: The Chimera breached the Liberty Defense Perimeter. Within hours, 63-80 million people including President McCullen and his cabinet are either killed or infected, leaving about 7 million survivors scattered throughout the United States.

June 2nd: Douglas MacArthur is sworn in as temporary leader of the United States.

June 14th: The crew of the USS Providence, which had been sent to resupply the Hawaii colony, reported that all 172,000 civilians and the crews of the battleships surrounding the islands had disappeared without a trace.

Trivia

 * In the San Francisco level, there is a flag that has 50 states. However, Alaska and Hawaii were just territories at the time.


 * In one of President McCullen's speeches he says there are 130 million Americans, but at most only 80 million were killed during the fall of the LDP leaving a 50 million person gap. But it is possible that some 50 million people were killed during the Chimera's attack on the nation's coastlines or on a minor reason that some were part of Freedom First who didn't register because they thought that the government were trying to take away their identities.