European Commonwealth

The European Commonwealth was a political union of sovereign European states that existed before the Great War.

Overview
The European Commonwealth was a major exporter of arms to the United States of America. Weapons exported included large caliber pistols, automatic submachine guns, and even energy weapons. The finest examples of European military technology came from Germany, in the form of the 4.7mm caseless Vindicator minigun and Gauss weapons: the PPK12 pistol and the M72 rifle. The magnetic coilguns were also exported to the People's Republic of China. The Commonwealth was also a center of research. Apart from perfecting and miniaturizing military grade coilguns, Germany also conducted its own research into directed human evolution.

Economically speaking, Europe was one of the key importers of Middle Eastern crude oil by the mid 21st century. The worsening economic situation in the region caused the oil-rich states to increase prices of oil to a point where Europe could no longer afford it. Facing economic collapse, the Commonwealth declared war and invaded the Middle East in April 2052. The Euro-Middle Eastern War caused the prices of oil to increase even further, triggering a string of bankruptcies among smaller countries. This event marked the beginning of the Resource Wars, which would last for the next quarter century. Limited nuclear exchanges in the Middle East rise global panic levels.

The war lasted eight long years. In 2060, the oil fields the Commonwealth and the Middle East fought over dried up, with the war petering out soon after as its root cause disappears. The war reduced both sides to ruin, with severe consequences. The once prosperous union fell apart almost overnight as the resource-starved European states jumped to each other's throats, fighting over what little resources remained. The European Civil War began, only ending in 2077, when the Great War extinguished civilization in Europe.

European weapon manufacturers

 * Glock, Austria.
 * Fabrique Nationale, Belgium.
 * Rheinmetall AG, Germany.
 * Heckler & Koch, Germany.
 * Beretta, Italy.
 * Franchi, Italy.
 * SIG-Sauer, Switzerland/Germany.
 * The Royal Small Arms Factory, UK.

Beretta

 * 9mm M9FS Beretta (Fallout Tactics, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)
 * Beretta 470 Silverhawk (Fallout Tactics)

Birmingham Small Arms

 * Lewis MKII (Fallout Tactics)

British Royal Armoured Corps

 * Boudicca-78/S (Van Buren)
 * .303 British (Fallout Tactics)

Franchi

 * SPAS-12 (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)

FN

 * FN FAL (Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * FN FAL HPFA (Fallout 2)
 * FN P90c (Fallout Tactics)
 * M249 SAW (Fallout Tactics)

Unspecified German Manufacturer(s)

 * PPK12 Gauss pistol (Fallout 2, Fallout 76 Fallout Tactics)
 * M72 Gauss rifle (Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * 2mm electron charge pack (Fallout 2, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Fallout Tactics)
 * MP38 (Fallout Tactics)

Glock

 * Glock 86 plasma pistol (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * Plasma Defender (Fallout: New Vegas)

H&K

 * H&K MP9 10mm SMG (Fallout, Fallout 2)
 * H&K L30 Gatling Laser (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * H&K CAWS (Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * H&K P90c (Fallout 2)
 * H&K G11 (Fallout 2)
 * H&K G11E (Fallout 2)
 * MP5 H&K (Fallout Tactics)

Mauser

 * 9mm Mauser (Fallout, Fallout 2)

Rheinmetall AG

 * Vindicator minigun (Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * Rheinmetall 9mm machine pistol (Van Buren)

Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield

 * XL70E3 (Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics)
 * Light support weapon (Fallout 2)
 * Bren gun (Fallout Tactics)
 * Sten gun (Fallout Tactics)

Sig Sauer

 * 14mm pistol (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas)
 * P220 Sig Sauer (Fallout Tactics)
 * 14mm armor-piercing bullet (Fallout, Fallout 2)

Behind the scenes

 * The European Commonwealth is the analogue of the European Union, but federalized to a greater degree than the contemporary EU. The origins of the Union lie in the 1947 Western European Union, 1951 European Coal and Steel Community, and the 1957 European Economic Community.

Appearances
The European Commonwealth is mentioned in the Fallout intro, the Fallout Bible and a Capitol Post article in Fallout 3. Products from European manufacturers appear in nearly all Fallout games.

Fallout: Resource Wars set in a collapsing European Commonwealth is one of J.E. Sawyer's games he would like to make.