1. Spock says that the 1990's was the era of the last world war, i.e. Eugenics Wars. 2. Spock identifies the last world war as occuring from 1992 to 1996.
If 1 is the statement with the most weight, then this war in the revised timeline had to come at or after the era of World War 3.
If 2 is the statement with the most weight, then this war in the revised timeline had to come in the 1990's.
For me, I accept one and this is the crux of my dispute with just everyone else on this board. I don't look at dates; I look at context.
The original series established to my satisfication that in the same era that saw the last world war, humans were building warp capable space craft. This is proved from comparing the dates given in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Corbomite Manuever", "Space Seed", and "Metamorphosis".
In the revised timeline, humans were building warp capable space craft in the late 21st century. And, according to the opinion of Deanna Troi, Earth would be peaceful in the early 22nd century. This gives us a fifty year time period to have the last world war, a war that took place in 40 nations in the old world.
posted
I think that the Eugenics Wars were sort of like a catalyst for WWIII. You know, it was a conflict that was resolved by overthrowing the supermen, with Khan fleeing Earth, but it sort of left the world in chaos afterwards, and things sort of bleed into the start of WWIII. We know that WWIII ended circa 2053, so it was an extended period of conflict.
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Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I say the calendar was screwed up. See the thread in the Enterprise forum. I THINK I've handled the contradictions.
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Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Why does no-one ever realize that Spock wasn't an expert in Earth history? Maybe he thought the Eugenics Wars were the same as WW3, so he said what he did.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Given all this inconsistency, can't we just hand the Eugenics War a write-off slip, just like we handed the Universal Translator and the Klingon foreheads?
Or would people lose sleep?
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
posted
The problem is folks, that the Eugenics Wars were not the same thing as World War 3. Riker talked about WW3 in First Contact, and IIRC, placed it's occurance after the turn of the century.
Thta's just what I remember, it may not be right. But I've always assumed that these were two separate conflicts.
posted
Mr. Spock had been researching the data files of the Enterprise before the scene in question-'last of the so-called world wars'. If he was wrong, then the data banks of the Enterprise are wrong.
In "Bread and Circuses", Mr. Spock says "...the first three world wars...". This statement may help to clarify the thinking of the writers.
The Eugenics War, the last world war, were never given a number, ex. 4 or 8.
With the two paragraphs above, we know that there were more than three world wars. The word "first" could imply a half, a 1/3, or a quarter. In the original history of the first series, there were 30 years after the moon launch.
Half-There could have been four world wars. One of the four is the Third World War. This leaves us with three world wars. The Eugenics War is the last world war, or World War 6. The length of the three known world wars are 4 years (World War I), 6 years (World War II), and 4 years (World War 6, aka Eugenics War, E.W.). So, in thirty years, I suppose that there is a remote possiblity of the world suffering four major upheavals and surviving.
1/3-There is the Third World War and a second World War and a mini World War.
A quarter (1/4)-There is the Third World War and a second World War and several smaller mini World Wars.
The last two scenarios say that the Eugenics War could be World War 4.
Our facts about the Third World War are sparse. The war used nuclear weapons and killed 600 million. Many governments were crippled or destroyed. One of the leaders of this war was Colonel Green. Col. Green was remembered by later generations as committing mass genocide.
The last world war, the Eugenics War, are a little better understood. This war occured in the era of warp capable ships, like the SS Valiant. In the first year of this conflict, Khan gain governing powers in over 40 countries in Asia and Asia Minor. Within a year, he was fighting to keep control of his territory. Three years later, Khan, the last leader of the 'superhumans', was forced to leave with 90 of his followers.
posted
OK, basically, we can boil this whole thing down to three possibilities.
A) The Eugenics Wars took place after WW3, and therefore took place after the mid-twentyfirst century.
B) The Eugenics Wars WERE WW3, and therefore took place in the mid-twentyfirst century.
C) The Enterprise database was incorrect, as well as Spock's memory (which may have been based on the Enterprise database), either as to the date of the wars, or as to their status as the final World War.
If A or B, then the statement that the wars took place in the late twentieth century is left unexplained. A change in the year numbering scheme is the only logical explaination I can think of.
If C, then we must think of some reason why Kirk et al. would continually say that Kahn had been asleep for only 200 years. Also, we'd need some explaination for why Kirk told Gillian that he was from the late 23rd century by her calendar. No explaination is forthcoming.
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