NCR-Brotherhood War (jan 1, 2255 – jan 1, 2282)

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The rise of Jeremy Maxson to the position of High Elder in 2231 represented a change in the Brotherhood's course. As his term continued, Maxson gradually adopted a more direct, confrontational policy of wrestling technology from the hands of wastelanders (the "lesser people"), in a bid to restore the Brotherhood's privileged position in the wasteland.[11] The deterioration in relations between the Brotherhood and the Republic was gradual, but it eventually devolved into war and by the late 2250s/early 2260s the Brotherhood clashed with the Republic over technology.[1]

This gave way to a long and bloody war that took a considerable toll on the Republican Army and the Republic itself as well as the Brotherhood. During the early years of the war the Brotherhood was able to inflict tremendous losses on the NCR, almost winning the war and avoiding a protracted conflict altogether. However, despite enjoying a huge advantage in individual training and equipment, the Brotherhood was unable to match the New California Republic's manpower and ability to replace losses, and the tactical and strategic flexibility it provided. Eventually, the Brotherhood was forced into retreat and hiding.[3] At least six chapter bunkers were wiped out by the Republic, four destroyed by the Brotherhood in a last-ditch attempt to deny them to the NCR.

The Republic suffered primarily on the economic front. When the Brotherhood could not counter the Republic's military advantage, it attacked the gold reserves that backed the New Californian dollar. As the raids intensified and gold became unavailable, destroyed or rendered useless by Brotherhood operations, NCR citizens panicked and rushed to reclaim the listed face value of currency from NCR's remaining gold reserves. Since the NCR was unable to realize these withdrawals, particularly towards the frontier, faith in their currency considerably dropped. To protect against actual economic collapse, the NCR government abandoned the gold standard and established fiat currency, not payable in specie. Since then many wastelanders lost faith in it as a medium of worth, both as a result of it not being backed by anything but the government's word and the inevitable inflation. In response to the loss of faith, merchant consortiums of the Hub established their own currency, the veritable bottle cap, backing it with water (exchanging a standardized measure of water for caps). The merchants conspired to reintroduce the bottle cap as a currency out of frustration stemming from NCR's ineptitude in handling the currency crisis.

Although hostilities continued in New California,[16] the Republic recovered and focused its efforts on expanding eastwards, into the Mojave Wasteland and Hoover Dam. Unexpectedly, the occupation of the Dam in 2273 brought it in conflict with the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood, which operated unrestricted in the region for years. After two years of guerrilla skirmishes instigated by the Brotherhood, the Republic launched Operation Sunburst to neutralize the chapter in a single, pitched battle at Helios One. The indefensible nature of the solar power plant, limited manpower, and poor tactical decisions made by Elder Elijah were ruthlessly exploited by the Republic and its commanders. Concentrating a force that outnumbered the Brotherhood defense by a factor of between 15[17] and 20 to 1,[18] the Operation was a tremendous success. The Brotherhood was routed, losing half its manpower, including over a half of its veteran Knights and Paladins. The survivors retreated to Hidden Valley through the McCullough Mountains and enacted a strict lockdown.[19] And as they hid, the Republic increased its military presence in the Mojave fivefold.[20]

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