World War 3

World War 3 was a conflict that began between China & friends against the United States & friends. It began in 2023 over the signing of the Randomness Declaration, and thus the secession of GDStan from China. It all ended in 2028 when China finally surrendered and gave GDStan independence. It is one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century, with tens of millions killed. Its effects can still be seen today in the form of the Asian Crisis.

History
Tensions between the United States and China have already been rising in the years prior to World War 3, beginning with Chinese attempts to expand their influence into the South China Sea, much to the dismay of other nations in the region. Chinas harsh treatment of Uyghurs also increased tension, due to being seen as effectively a genocide. One of the larger events pushing the world closer to World War 3 was the Chinese crackdown of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, in which the protesters were forcibly silenced by the Peoples Liberation Army with dozens of casualties.

In the early 2020s, GD had the idea to declare independence from China and form GDStan. This was mainly due to the harsh laws on censorship that China was enforcing at the time. In 2023, GD and several of his friends signed the Randomness Declaration, which was essentially a declaration of independence from China. Upon news of it spreading to the rest of China, the Uyghurs and Tibetans were immediately excited, and several politicians from the area urged GD to come there to create GDStan as an actual independent state. It is unknown at the time whether or not they meant this as a joke, and thus the Chinese government ignored it in an effort to seem peaceful. GD agreed to come there anyway, and he was greeted in Lhasa with cheers and celebration, and the Uyghurs and Tibetans acknowledged the legitimacy of the Randomness Declaration as an actual declaration of independence, and GD proclaimed the """Republic""" of GDStan on Xinjiang and Tibet. Upon receiving news of the ceremony, China became furious and demanded that GD backed down and withdrew their declaration, or face PLA intervention. The US and NATO intervened, having recognized the Randomness Declaration as legitimate following the ceremony, and warned China to back down as this would effectively be a declaration of war against a sovereign state that did not want to be part of China. China promptly refused, and sent thousands of PLA troops to the area. GDStan, NATO, and various other nations then declared war on China in response.

Immediately upon the declaration of war, the US moved their aircraft carriers in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan to immediately gain air superiority over Chinese coastal airspace. The first phase of the war would be slow, with PLA troops facing guerrilla warfare against Uyghurs and Tibetans that pledged their allegiance to GDStan, until NATO troops finally landed in China and other allied countries several weeks later. Following the landings, PLA forces immediately withdrew from the area to fight NATO. It would take several more days for Indian forces to fully secure GDStan from any Chinese incursion.

The reason for World War 3's length was the sheer distance and terrain between the two sides of the war. The US and NATO are literally half the world away from China, therefore slowing down troop movements into the front lines. Even though one of the nations at war against China, which was India, as well as GDStan, the main area everyone was fighting over. were literally bordering the country, the Tibetan Plateau and Gobi Desert made it hard for any significant offensives to occur in the area. The only significant fighting during the war was the Second Korean War, a proxy conflict, which resulted in the formation of New Korea. as well as the European Theater, which saw Russia invade Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Middle East to secure its influence over the regions. The European Theater ended in 2026 in a ceasefire between Russia and NATO so that the latter could continue fighting China, and led to the formation of the USSR 2. Nevertheless, a combination of civil unrest and anti-war protests made China gradually weaken, which allowed NATO and GDStan to push slowly into China. By 2027, much of Southern China was occupied, Shanghai was completely surrounded, and Beijing was threatened with being encircled as well. With the loss of the war seemingly inevitable, China was forced to launch a massive nuclear strike against its enemies. The strike mostly failed, failing to hit any major cities due to anti-missile defenses, but several nukes exploded over uninhabited areas. NATO responded with a counter-strike, with much the same result. Fearing mutually assured destruction, China finally agreed to surrender unconditionally, and ended the war.

The peace treaty that followed resulted in the neutering of China, with independence given to GDStan and Manchukuo, as well as the establishment of the Weird Alliance to prevent future Chinese attempts to regain influence.