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. 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. 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.

The rise of Jeremy Maxson to the position of High Elder in 2231 represented a change in the Brotherhood's course. Although the NCR tolerated Brotherhood presence as late as 2241, by the late 2250s or early 2260s, military clashes between the Republic and the Brotherhood were already commonplace and consuming lives. The Republic, naturally, refused to accept the policy the Brotherhood attempted to impose on it, which resulted in a military confrontation. Confronted with an expanding nation state, the Brotherhood adopted a reactionary policy, attempting to position itself as a technology police, limiting and controlling access to military technologies throughout the region, particularly energy weapons. The roots of the war lie in the decline of the Brotherhood of Steel between the eldership of Rhombus and the emergence of the New California Republic as the dominant power in New California.

Rise of the brotherhood wow