| abstract | - The world of Resistance diverged from the real world during the Spanish-American War. The United States was on the brink of war with Spain following reports of Spanish atrocities in Cuba and the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. American President William McKinley, a pacifist who was reluctant to get involved and eager to save face, sent an ultimatum to Spain to grant Cuba's independence or face U.S. military action in all Spanish territories. Spain accepted the terms in order to retain what is left of its world empire, and to avoid war with the U.S. This set the course for the United States' favoritism towards isolationism for the next half-century. In 1908, an unknown celestial object penetrated Earth's atmosphere and landed in the Tunguska region in Siberia. This became known as the Tunguska Event. The alien parasitic race known as the Chimera originated from this impact, in that the viral strain that creates the Chimera was somehow transported by the object. While the locals were well aware of the impact, the Russian government did not take any interest into the site of the crash until the 1920s. By 1914, the Great War was initiated when British and French forces invaded the German colony of Togoland. The United States did not participate in the conflict despite President Woodrow Wilson's request for a declaration of war against Germany. There was a growing consensus in America that direct involvment was appropriate in response to Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, but isolationist sentiment in Congress prevailed. In October 1917, the Russian Revolution was brutally crushed by forces led by Tsar Mikhail, the brother of his predecessor Nicholas II following his abdication, resulting in Russia maintaining its autocratic state and continuing its involvement in the Great War; however, Russia was summarily defeated by Germany and forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and relinquished all claims to several territories to Eastern Europe. As a result of Russia losing its territories and breaking up its empire, this subsequently sow further unrest in Russia in the years to follow. The Great War ended with a German armistice and an Allied victory was set by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. A key point in the Treaty of Versailles called for the formation of the European Trade Organization (ETO), in which this organization was dedicated to encourage all European nations to work together to establish peace and economic stability followng the war. Russia, however, did not agree with the established policies of the Treaty of Versailles and was becoming extremely cautious over the growing face of European anti-imperialist propaganda. Relationships between Russia and Western Europe exacerbated after twelve French spies in Russia were caught in Russia and hastily executed for allegedly encouraging insurrection. This culminated in Russia isolating itself from the outside world and sealing its borders behind the Russian Wall, a large fortified military barrier, which was constructed along the Russian/European border.
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