Commonwealths may refer to a variety of geographic entities within the Fallout world, including the thirteen commonwealths within the pre-War United States of America. The European Commonwealth was another similar entity, unrelated to the system within the United States.
Commonwealth system
Map of the Commonwealths shown during a TV weather forecast
In 1969, the United States formed the Thirteen Commonwealths, which comprised several existing states. The Massachusetts State House was retired from active use as a result of the formation of the Thirteen Commonwealths.[1]
Known commonwealths include:
- The Southwest Commonwealth, which encompassed the states of Nevada and Southern California.[2] Fallout: New Vegas includes this name on the Nevada state flag, found outside of Doc Mitchell's house,[3] and a marker for the Southwest Commonwealth Conservation Area, which included Red Rock Canyon.[4] Additionally, "Southwest" is written on the license plate on the bumper sword, though without the "Commonwealth" suffix.[5]
- The Great Midwest Commonwealth, which encompassed the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Michigan.[2] Fallout: New Vegas features a license plate on ED-E that reads "Great Midwest" along the top, though without the "Commonwealth" suffix, and "Illinois" on the bottom, in the same vein as the "Southwest" license plate.[6]
- The New England Commonwealth, which encompassed at least the state of Massachusetts. The Fallout: The Roleplaying Game's Core Rulebook mentions this Commonwealth directly when describing Easy City Downs.[Non-game 1]
- An unnamed commonwealth included the city of Watoga, which is itself part of Appalachia and the state of West Virginia, mentioned in Fallout 76.[7]
- A commonwealth that included the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma.[2]
- A commonwealth that included Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.[2]
- A commonwealth that included Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.[2]
- A commonwealth that included Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.[2]
- A commonwealth that included Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida.[2]
- A commonwealth that included Texas and Arkansas.[2]
Appalachia
The special elections poster with the highlighted 6 state background
Appalachia's status within the U.S. commonwealth system is unclear. As previously mentioned, a terminal entry makes reference to Watoga (part of West Virginia in Appalachia) being in an unnamed commonwealth.[7] The region as a whole is referred to by many different names throughout Fallout 76, with multiple variations on a "Territory of Appalachia."[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] A special election poster for "Senator of the Appalachia Territories" has a background featuring six states: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is unknown if this also includes Washington, D.C.[15]
Other uses
The U.S. states of Massachusetts and Virginia are referred to as the "Commonwealth of Massachusetts" and "Commonwealth of Virginia," respectively.[16][17] These formal names were in place before 1969, and have no known connection to the commonwealth system at large.[Non-game 2] After the Great War, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was shortened to the Commonwealth.[16]
Internationally, a group of nation-states operated as the European Commonwealth before the Great War.[18]
Appearances
Commonwealths are mentioned in Fallout, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.
Behind the scenes
Development
- The idea of dividing the United States into thirteen commonwealths originated during Fallout's development (1997). According to Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky did not wish to use the regular 50-star flag and instead used the 13-star design because "it looked cool," and planned to explain it as it being divided into 13 super-states, but the explanation never materialized.[Non-game 3]
- The commonwealths were planned to be expanded on in Van Buren. The tech demo (2003) includes an U.S. soldier serving in a division of the Great Midwest Commonwealth.
From the unofficial J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game
- Following its cancellation, Joshua Sawyer published a breakdown of the commonwealths and their constituent states in his unofficial RPG (2004), explaining that the commonwealths were an intermediate level of government between the state and federal powers created in the early 21st century, the purpose being to help create legislation broad enough to affect states with common concerns, but narrow enough to leave dissimilar states alone.[Non-canon 1] In reality, it created even more strife, as commonwealths typically did everything they could to promote their own interests at the expense of other commonwealths. Two of these commonwealths (Southwest and Great Midwest) later found their way into the canonical Fallout: New Vegas (2010). Sawyer's commonwealths include:
- Columbia - Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia[Non-canon 1]
- East Central – Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee[Non-canon 1]
- Eastern – West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York[Non-canon 1]
- Four States – Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico[Non-canon 1]
- Gulf – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida[Non-canon 1]
- Midwest – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan[Non-canon 1]
- New England – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut[Non-canon 1]
- North – Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota[Non-canon 1]
- Northwest – Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska[Non-canon 1]
- Plains – Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma[Non-canon 1]
- Southeast – Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina[Non-canon 1]
- Southwest – Southern California, Nevada, Hawaii[Non-canon 1]
- Texas – Texas, Arkansas[Non-canon 1]
Sawyer's map was re-used and thus made part of Fallout canon (although without the Commonwealths being named) in "The End", first episode of the Fallout TV series. Upon reflection, Sawyer commented sarcastically:
He has further noted that there are many real-life examples where borders have been drawn in an arbitrary fashion, leading to significant fallout, such as the Sykes-Picot Agreement for the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
Non-canon commonwealths
- A commonwealth labeled as the "Columbia Commonwealth" is mentioned on a promotional item in the Official Bethesda Gear Store.[Non-canon 2]
- In the tech demo for the canceled Van Buren project, a soldier from a "Great Midwest Commonwealth" can be interacted with.[Non-canon 3]
Gallery
References
- ↑ Massachusetts State House plaque: "The 'new' state house was completed in 1798 to house the government of the state of Massachusetts. The land selected was originally John Hancock’s cow pastures. The first dome was constructed of wooden shingles and covered in copper smelted by Paul Revere. The state government used this building continuously until the formation of the Thirteen Commonwealths in 1969."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Fallout TV series: "The End"
- ↑ Nevada state flag in Fallout: New Vegas
- ↑ Red Rock Canyon stone marker
- ↑ Bumper sword's Nevada license plate
- ↑ ED-E's Illinois license plate
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 AMS corporate headquarters terminal entries; security terminal, 10-24-76: Re: Hey Stranger!: "Riley, I had no idea that you were still in the commonwealth, let alone in Watoga!"
- ↑ See Appalachia's regional names section for references.
- ↑ Sam Blackwell: "No" on Measure 6
- ↑ Back off Sam
- ↑ Senate orientation letter
- ↑ War game orders
- ↑ Valid ballot
- ↑ Valid endorsement
- ↑ Special election poster. White silhouettes of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee appear in the background of the poster, presented at an angle.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Fallout 4 loading screens: "Originally 'The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,' the state became known only as the 'The Commonwealth' after the Great War of 2077."
- ↑ Lone Wanderer: "Virginia? Virginia's been gone for 200 years."
Jack Smith: "Not here. Not in Andale, no sir/ma'am. The great Commonwealth of Virginia is alive and well. In fact, we just voted ourselves a new governor!"
(Jack Smith's dialogue) - ↑ Capitol Post terminal entries; Capital Post Top Stories -- July 27, 2052, United Nations Disbanded
Non-game sources
- ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook p. 276: "Once a horse track in the New England Commonwealth, the Easy City Downs are now a raider den. Under the watch of those who occupy a set of ruined bleachers, various robots including Assaultrons, Eyebots, Mister Handys, and Mister Gutsys race for the entertainment of the local raiders as well as associated Triggermen."
- ↑ Virginia and Massachusetts on Wikipedia.
- ↑ Tim Cain in Fallout Bible 8: "Leon said he used that flag because it looked cool and he didn't want to use a standard American flag with 50 stars. Eventually, he planned to make up something about 13 super-states or something, but he never did."
Non-canon sources
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game; Organizations, Commonwealths
- ↑ Promotional item materials from Official Bethesda Gear Store
- ↑ Van Buren tech demo: "You see soldier of the Great Midwest Commonwealth."
(Armstrong dialogue file)
