Those studying the Prophecies of Nostradamus say that he has indicated the possibility of a Third World War. Indeed, in some of his quatrains he mentions terrifying battles and events occurring in and around Europe, Asia and Africa which do not seem to have happened till date. There is, however, a difference of opinion among the experts about the overall sequence of these events and most of all, their timing.
My approach to deciphering the quatrains is based on the assumption that if a world wide war of this magnitude indeed takes place, it must have been mentioned in prophecies written in various religious texts and prophecies of non-religious nature which are part of the folklore of different cultures. I believe that a comparative study of all such prophecies vis-Ã -vis those of Nostradamus, along with insights into the local culture, tradition, history etc. may enable us to construct a more detailed picture of the prophesized events than what is possible by studying an individual prophecy in isolation. Most of these prophecies concentrate on the local perspective of a global war. But by finding out the similarities with other prophecies, we can find the global connection of the local events.
Contrary to what many of us think, prophesized events are neither inevitable nor are their time of occurrence fixed. A prophesized event is the one which is most likely to happen. It is merely one of the several possibilities. Similarly, even if an event takes place, its timing is not fixed. The deciding factor is the human free will. Collective human free will can alter an event, change its timing or even stop it entirely. Some events are hard to change for it requires a collective decision moving away entirely from the "logical" course. Sometimes, even an individual's decision may alter an event having wide implications. Most affected by human free will is the timing of an event. While collective human behavior is hard to change, the time of the event taking place changes according to collective or individual decisions. Some prophecies do indicate a timing of the war, not in terms of the exact date but by mentioning the appearance of certain signs like a specific astrological conjunction or an event preceding the war.
Broadly speaking, the various prophecies indicate that the Third World War will be preceded by an unprecedented increase in large-scale natural calamities all over the world like big earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, famines etc. Localized wars, revolutions, political disturbances and large scale terrorist attacks will increase. Assassinations of high profile leaders will take place and tensions between various countries will rise. The economies of various countries will be severely affected, leading to unemployment or inflation. The actual war would be of a short duration but is said to be several times more destructive in terms of the cost of human lives and property than all the previous world wars taken together.
To summarize what I have analyzed in this site, based on various prophecies, the Third World War would start when Russia suddenly attacks Europe in coalition with certain Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya and probably China (Note that it says "probably;" John completely went against this idea). Prior to the World War III, USA would be severely crippled by terrorist attacks, assassinations, a civil war and an economic collapse. Prior to that, there would be a civil war in Italy, during which the Vatican would be overrun by the mob. The Pope would escape but many of his cardinals would die. The palace and the chapels would be burnt down. While on the run, the Pope would be captured and killed. There would be a schism in the Vatican and three Popes would reign at the same time (Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Catholics believe that the Pope after this one will be the last one?), propped up by competing powers. Supported by US and other catholic countries, the Papacy would be shifted elsewhere and a "true" Pope would be elected there. Europe would be almost overrun by the Russian and eastern forces and many of its cities and also those of USA would be destroyed by conventional weapons as well as weapons of mass destruction like nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Russia would attack from the North as well as from the East of Europe. An Arab / Iranian army would attack from the south. The Pope, and later the British Prime Minister would be forced to flee to the US. Paris would be destroyed by "revolutionaries" within France. The attack on the US would stop the Civil War there. New types of weapons, like Chemical Weapons and particularly what appears to be portable Laser weapons, would be used in the war. At the same time an unprecedented disaster would take place. A comet would suddenly appear over the earth in the peak of the war, would break into several pieces and fall to the earth. Smaller pieces would rain fire on cities and forests all over the world, burning them down. A large piece would fall into the sea creating a Tsunami of Biblical proportions, flooding parts of Europe (including Britain), USA and Africa. One medium sized chunk would fall on land, creating a huge crater, resulting in earthquake and volcano activities all over the world. This event would loosen the grip of the invading army over Europe. A joint coalition of US and European forces under the leadership of a charismatic leader "Chiren" would organize a counter-attack against the invading forces in Europe and elsewhere. The Russian forces in Europe would be almost destroyed by the counter-attack and this would lead to a revolution in Russia and the Russian leader who started the war would be assassinated. Russia, under a new leader would then join the western coalition and fight against its former allies, who would eventually be defeated. The Pope would return to Europe and Chiren would be crowned the Monarch. Peace would return to the world after a loss of almost two-thirds of its population (John says that three billion die from the World War, but I think more will die from other events and the wealth of nations accumulated over millennia. But this would surely not be the end of the world.
It is hard to understand at this stage why Russia would suddenly attack Europe. Yet, most of the prophecies seem to agree on this part. Logically too, it is only Russia which has the capability to take on the might of USA and Europe, even after the break up of its empire. It still has sufficient nuclear weapons, technology and manpower to do so. The overall picture of the events leading to the World War is not clear. What appears from some prophecies is that immediately preceding the war, Russia would have tensions with the west over some Middle Eastern affair. But the actual war would begin after the assassination of a political leader in the Balkan area, who could be the famous "Mabus" often discussed in the context of Nostradamus's prophecies. The Russian attack might be a result of its perception that the assassination, probably in one of its friendly countries, could be a prelude to an western invasion and the best way would be to pre-empt it. A major terrorist attack on the US, assassination of some world leaders and another war in the Middle East may precede the Third World War, apart from numerous natural disasters. Some prophecies say that before the 3rd World War, Israel would grant statehood to Palestine. Then oil would be discovered there and a war would start between Israel and Palestine. It is probable that it is this war that would generate tensions between USA and Russia, since US and Russian fleets are said to confront each other in a tense standoff in the Mediterranean before the war in yet another prophecy. The Bible and the Islamic texts also mention Iraq. It is said that the river Euphrates would dry up and something would be discovered in its dried up riverbed, which would cause much tension among nations. There are also prophecies on the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount in Jerusalem before the war and the death of Saddam Hussein in US custody even before his trial begins.
