- Mariela Castro, leader of the Free American Movement. (2005)
There is, for certainty, no man to bear the full guilt for starting nuclear apocalypse that the world had to suffer in late 1975. But the man who ordered the first strike is known for history due to his own admission of responsibility and several witnesses' testimonies from both his personal bunker. George H.W Bush, President who was never elected, appointed by the never elected President, who was appointed by the never elected President and former US Ambassador to the United Nations was the man at the helms of the nation. Sure, he was a very patriot and very sane person in the world of Cold War madness, assassinations and mass demonstrations. But he was fed by the anti-communist propaganda and false reports, caused by either insane subordinates or computer errors. One of them, caused by the malfunctioned chip in the NORAD computer, sentenced whole world to even greater madness, mass death and sufferring. Tiny piece of faulty electronics, who could be chosen as the TIME's Man of the Century, if TIME existed after the war, changed the world forever.
1975 saw succession of three Presidents in the United States. In the summer of the year, Gerald Ford took a trip to Salzburg, Austria to meet with Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. Steps on the Air Force One would later prove that the trip was a mistake, as Ford, descending from the plane fell from the stairs, unluckly broke his neck and died. His successor, Nelson Rockefeller was shot on September 5 by Lynette Fromme, a member of the cultish Manson family. Bush, nearly shot by another cult member, Sara Jane Moore just two weeks later was announced dead by the major TV stations across the world, leading to even more panic and despair inside American society. All three men that occupied the White House were never elected, yet they were completing a term of disgraced Richard Nixon, who was still alive.To make things worse, Soviet First Secretary, Leonid Brezhnev drank few drinks more than usual, took a car and crashed it on a Moscow streetlamp, rendering him unconscious for the duration of world crisis. His direct successor, Second Secretary Mikhail Suslov was a long-term opponent of detente and decided to make American pay for the worldwide chaos.
Things quickly spiralled out of control. In Kentucky, images of wheelchaired woman, who led a anti-busing demonstration, being beaten to death by policemen was widely publicized by the American conservatives and other, anti-liberal elements of the society. John Lennon, famous singer and long-time opponent of Nixon administration for his stance on the Vietnam War, was deported from the United States in October. Ronald Reagan, former Governor of California shot and killed 20-years' old man holding plastic replica of a gun, sparking yet another costroversy. Portugal fell to the communist forces, Soviet naval commander, captain of the third rank Valery Sabin took a frigate and fled to Sweden which, after quiet encouragement from the CIA, refused to extradite mutineers or return precious (for the Soviet technology) ship resulting in the international scandal in which Soviet Air Forces bombed Swedish port in which the frigate was held. Meanwhile, North Korea invaded again - renewed conflict turned into much nastier place when both sides began to throw a WMDs on each other - Chinese used chemical weapons while Americans started to use tactical nuclear weapons to stave off potential fall on Peninsula to the communist hands. Two nuclear power plants in Eastern Bloc - in Greifenwald and Leningrad either suffered a partial meltdown or lost coolant and produced significant radiation - sparking fears of American sabotage. In the end, just before Armageddon, Berlin was blockaded and civillian airplane with Americans onboard shot down by the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery.
When NORAD officials announced that 1,100 Soviet ICBMs are heading towards the Continental United States, Bush had no other option than to believe them. However, to make things worse for a mental health of the American leadership, shortly after ordering a full second strike, NORAD ceased to show incoming missiles. But it was already too late for any changes. In fact, Soviets were prepared for nuclear war, with evacuation of main cities being started and more ICBMs being rolled for the launchpads. Events were pretty quick - Aerican warheads fell on the Soviet Union, China and their allies. Soviet warheads fell on the United States, China, Great Britain, France, Belgium and other NATO allies and their sympathizers. Most of Chinese warheads fell on the Soviet cities, but some of them were spared for India, Japan and South-East Asia. Britain and France nuked Soviets, which only added misery for the millions of people. In the end, there was no victor.
Mikhail Suslov's bunker was never uncovered - it is currently under the Lake of Moscow. Bush survived the strike and fell into massive depression when he learnt about his mistake. Queen Elizabeth and the British government were obliterated, just like most of the leadership of affected countries. Luckily, Cuba was hit only in Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo with some of high-ranking officials surviving the war. One of them was Mariela Castro, future leader of the Free American Movement - neofeudal, dictatorial state composed from the survivors of high radiation doses received by the local population.