Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Asia to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia.
Europe is the primary battleground during the events of Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance: Retribution. Many countries in Europe were part of the United European Defence and the European Trade Organization. Despite Europe's military unity, the continent quickly fell to the Chimera during the outbreak of the Chimeran War.
History[]
Europe was devastated by the Great War that lasted from 1914 to 1918 which saw the collapse of the German Empire and Russia losing its territories in Eastern Europe and falling into civil unrest. Despite the devastation, the Treaty of Versailles created the European Trade Organization in July 1919 with the purpose to encourage political and economic cooperation between the European nations to establish lasting peace.[1] Within more than a decade, the ETO helped to restore war-torn nations such as Germany and allowed them to become full ETO members. Due to the economic stability provided by the ETO, political extremisms such as fascism diminished while liberal democracies such as the German Weimar Republic remained in power.[1] As a result, Europe embraced an era of advanced economic development and progress.
Russia, having been a member of the Allies during the Great War, did not join the ETO and was shunned by the Western European nations for its oppressive rule towards its subjects. Relations between Russia and the West exacerbated in 1921 when Russian authorities executed twelve French agents without trial for allegedly encouraging insurrection against the Russian government.[1] Shortly after the executions, Russia sealed its borders and cut off all communications with the outside world by constructing a massive barrier along the Russian/European border.[1][2] A tense cold war soon followed between Western Europe and Russia, as the European nations formed an international military alliance, the United European Defence, to oppose Russian aggression.
While Russia languished in isolationism Europe enjoyed a lasting era of peace and prosperity through the 1920s and 1930s, with Germany hosting the Olympic Games in August 1936.[1] By the late 1930s and 1940s, the European public noticed strange and unexplained occurrences from Russia: an unnaturally cold weather that caused 138 people and many animals to freeze to death in Sweden; a mysterious slick containing exaggerating quantities of radon coming from Russia's Volga River that flowed into the Sea of Azov, causing the deaths of all the sea's marine life and several villagers; and Russian towns and cities along the Russian border that were completely depopulated with no signs of violence, which led European intelligence to believe that chemical and biological weapons had been involved.[1] Due to the latter, the UED members feared the possibility of an inevitable war with Russia and made preparations along the Russian borders.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, the relationship between Europe and the United States was fairly cooperative in its cross Atlantic trade, despite being strongly opposed by American isolationist elements. However, in November 1940, following the American presidential election of Noah Grace, he firmly reestablished America's isolationism and cut off "political and military endeavors" with Europe.[1]
The Chimeran hordes marches through the streets of Paris, France.
Ultimately in December 1949, the Chimera breached the Red Curtain and invaded Europe, leading to millions of people being either killed or infected within three months time. Italy became the last nation on the mainland to fall, leaving the United Kingdom to outlast the Chimeran siege behind the English Channel before its downfall in November 1950.[1] The few European survivors who escaped and hid from the Chimeran onslaught in the mainland joined an underground resistance movement, the Maquis.
It was not until the liberation of Britain in Operation Morning Star in July 1951 that British military forces and the Maquis later launched an ambitious operation to free the mainland from the Chimera in Operation Overstrike. Learning from the importance and weakness of the Chimeran towers, British and Maquis forces succeeded in destroying the Chimeran hub tower in Paris, France which in turn destroyed the tower network in Western Europe and causing the en masse deaths of nearly all Chimeran forces in those regions.[3] By 1952 British and Maquis forces had been fighting on multiple fronts in Europe including the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Spain. In December 1952 the Chimera attempted to stop the human advance by launching another invasion into Britain in order to divert British forces. However their strategy failed due to the actions of Specter Team which they eliminated many Chimeran command units and thereby leaving the Chimeran towers on the mainland poorly defended, leading them to be captured by human forces.[4] By January 1953, European forces had steadily retaken control of the continent and were planning a dangerous assault into Russia.[5]
However, following the fall of the United States in 1953, the Chimera regained the momentum, pushing the Maquis and British back, and by 1957 the front line had moved to Glamorgan, Wales.[6]
Politics[]
European integration was realized in the immediate aftermath of the Great War than in real-life with the founding of the European Trade Organization. This European unity was further emboldened by threats of Russian aggression, leading to the establishment of the UED alliance.
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Timeline retrieved from the official Resistance website.
- ^ Vore, Bryan (October 15, 2010). "The Official Resistance Series Timeline". Game Informer
- ^ Resistance: Retribution
- ^ Mission Status Report 2 (Axbridge)
- ^ Resistance 2, Intel 7
- ^ Resistance 3