It was probably a minor country that initiated a nuclear conflict with one of USA's or China's allies resulting in a nuclear retaliation domino effect.

Like North korea going after South Korea or Isreal attacking a middleastern ally of china...but with the alternate history its hard to say who would be allied with who. BUT in support of my argument things have been pretty polerized for a good deal of time. I still like the minor country triggered idea...

I'd say that the US fired first. If the Chinese were going to fire, why would they send agents to Point Lookout?

I'm gonna say, hmm...... The US launched first. Maybe they thought China was on the verge of launching, so decided to get the first punch in.

no one knows

The AI were the one who done it. Both side of the war does not have the will power to self destruct unless it has been launch already.

I would like to know more about the run up to the war; any situations like Vietnam or Cuba, what were the aims in igniting the war (for example, were China or America stupid enough to assume they could remove problematic targets and rivals?) or was it just part of the Enclave's master plan?

The whole being part of the Enclave master plan makes me lean towards America, but I'm not sure, so not voting.

The US shot first for the same reason Han Solo did - to annoy George Lucas.

But (more) seriously, it's not stated anywhere, in game or in the bibles. The actual conflict may have more to do with the Mariposa Base/FEV incident than with the ongoing theatre conflicts.

probaly China. They problay thought they survive with thier overwhelming population. Also did the chinese have vaults? Well any ways it does matter who start the war. I mean th eEnclave had alot of control back then but still they probaly heisitated.

I think someone just mistook it for a world-wide game of tic-tac-toe.
Actually, it was probably the US. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they contemplated not even telling their citizens about the nukes. The US are real jerks in fallout.

Oh yeah, and Russia was all like, "AAAAHH! Motherland!"

Actually it is; President Richardson says the "Reds" (which was China to the US at the time) launched first, and that's probably true because the US was laying siege to China shortly before the Great War.

But could Richardson really be trusted? He may be lying or misinformed. It suits the character.

Actually Richardson was very honest with the Chosen One, and I highly doubt he was misinformed.

I would say along the line that the pres is letting his ambition blinding his info.

The Enclave may have taught their future generations propaganda. The Enclave weren't big fans of the Chinese, and may just casually blame them for igniting war. There is also the possibility neither side knew who fired first, or one side didn't. That's where the misinformed possibility comes in.

No one knows.

In the west back then, many despise communism more than we see in modern days. China back then was not as friendly as they are now, so Richardson's words saying that China launched the nukes first is no surprise - most international crimes would always be pushed to their political nemesis to carry the responsibilities, like how now terrorism is to be blamed for any international crimes (not that I'm their fan but that's what i see).

Besides, it was after cold war. The East was not China alone, it could be North Korea or Russia too. And to add more, they could have sleeping KGB around in Asia too... Communism was not feared without a reason back then.

Pretty sure this is how it went down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45WkykXOhGs

My money's on China. They'd already infiltrated the U.S. 10 years after Anchorage was lost and the Resource Wars ended. I think they hacked enough U.S. infrastructure to ensure a swift first-strike response. For God's sake, they were the entire workforce at Mama Dolce's before the nuke war. God knows what they were putting into all that processed food. Plus Vault-Tec already screwed with everyone's minds with the "Cry Wolf" plan that had been running before the Resource Wars, to which the U.S. population got burned out on emergency drills and ensured their vaults wouldn't get mobbed when the (expletive) hit the fan for real. If you go by FO1 and 2 canon, it was China, but the Enclave were planning on surviving to create their little technotopia of perfect untanted people. Yet if you played Mothership Zeta, you'll find that this is flushed down the crapper and the aliens were causing chaos and panic on both sides until somebody in China panicked and pushed the button.

LMFAO @ that video link. Was that done by Sasha Baron Cohen, sure sounded like his @ss...

whao, lets back up the gravy train..

it is unknown.. you can think it is china.. but pres richardson saying that it was china doesnt prove anything.. he 1) wasnt there 2) is biased 3) The narrator on all fallout games says no know knows. as a narrator, he is an omniscient figure in the game.. if he says no know knew. then no one knew.. MZ only alludes that the aliens were trying to get codes.. not that they did, or if they did that they were used.


the fact that there were Chinese spies all over kinda shows that they didn't launch though.. what would be the purpose of those spies being there (not just at dulces, but in the hidden locations, as well as PL), if they were just going to nuke the US?

Well, the purpose is the same one we had back during the cold war... you don't know to the hour when the nukes are going to be launched, and you need that intel. Hell, the Chinese could have been watching to see if we evac'ed VIPs top safety and were looking to find where they were going. TBH intelligence agents would be considered expendable and we'd have them in the field when the balloon went up.

ok, so those spies dont neccessarily mean they wouldnt fire.. but i still trust Ron Perlman!

It's not 1812 anymore, the US could overrun Canada easily......if the political will to do so existed, which it doesn't. Canada has quality troops but not very many and currently a large proportion of thier combat-ready troops are outside the country on UN peacekeeping missions or in Afghanistan. Canada has less than half of Vietnam's population, no rival super-power backing them, and no equivalent of North Vietnam off limits to US troops trying to pacify thier new acquisition. The conquest itself would take at most a few weeks...though it would be followed by possibly years of guerilla warfare.

According to the canon the US was winning the war by conventional means...to the point a US Expeditionary Force was threatening Beijing itself...when the exchange began. If this was true there was no reason for the US to initiate a nuclear exchange, it was on the brink of victory. Far more logical that the Chinese leadership, thier final defenses crumbling before their eyes, decided to play the "If I cannot win everyone dies!" card and launched all the nuclear assets they still had at the US. If the PLA was rolling through St. Louis we (well, the Enclave) would have done the same.