Earth's modern history begins with World War III (or the Third World War), a global conflict on the planet Earth in the mid-21st century, fought mainly with atomic rockets fired at major population centres and military targets.
For several decades, tensions had been rising between the major powers of the west (North-America and Europe) and the nations of the Near- and Far East, united in the Eastern Coalition. The conflict soon escalated into a nuclear holocaust that engulfed much of the world, nearly returning human civilization to that of Earth's Dark Ages. The subsequent collapse of the global economy and the drastic environmental effects of the war devastated those nations which had escaped direct nuclear attack. The entire world was soon to descend into anarchy.
In the aftermath of the war, Earth recovered slowly from the war. In this post-atomic period, the legal system is mainly based on the principle "guilty until proven innocent". With most major cities at the North-American east coast destroyed by nuclear attack, the authorities moved the American capital to San Fransisco.