[WHAT IF #3] WHAT IF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS HAD ESCALATED INTO NUCLEAR WAR?

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What would have happened if the US and Soviet Union had started World War III in 1962?

As the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war I think a couple of things would have played out....

1 - The Americans invade Cuba.

2 - The Soviets retaliate by launching a tactical nuke killing tens of thousands of Americans.

3 - America retaliates by striking a Soviet city.

At this point the Soviets realise they are vastly outgunned in terms of nuclear power and try to back of from the nuclear arms and go conventional.

4 - The Soviets invade Germany taking Berlin.


What do you guys think?

So many ifs, buts and maybes.... so over to you... what happens next?
 
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I wouldn't have gone to Vietnam. Instead I would have been fighting in Europe, as in the absence of Nukes, a 'Forever War' would have started.
 
1 - The Americans invade Cuba.
That´s for sure!!!

2 - The Soviets retaliate by launching a tactical nuke killing tens of thousands of Americans.
I wouldn´t think so. I think they had taken Europe first. GDR and the other WARSAW PACT countries had to build the spear head and the Red Army would have followed. After successful finish of that OP they had demanded US to release Cuba from the western grip. If so USA had demanded that Europe would have to be released from the grip of CCCP. The soviets had mentioned that Europe is much bigger (or similar) and made the offer to release something even valued. So all would be "happy" and able to save their faces.
It had the further "advantage" they wouldn´t have been the first using nuclear missiles. It would have meant a political blow if one could force the opponent to do so. USA had lost at least a part of its support by other governments. The remaining countries had further no good reason anymore to hinder soviet military bases in their countries or they would have be seen as supporter of the power who is willingly to errect a new world tyranny. Hitler wasn´t so long gone they hadn´t drawn parallels.

3 - America retaliates by striking a Soviet city.
I think USA would have been the first to do a nuclear strike. As we have seen as it was nearly as Cuba should become the place for soviet rockets. The Falcons in USA demanded a nuclear first strike. But they forgot to mention that the USA had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey as first. And the CCCP reacted with the missiles in Cuba.

4 - The Soviets invade Germany taking Berlin.
Taking Berlin would have been the task for the east german paratroopers and similar forces in combination with russian occupying forces. They were the nearest formations to take West Berlin by surprise. Many of that forces moved nearer to Berlin during the cold war exact for that reason. If the case of emergency would have become true they would have been nearer to the object. First objects would have been the west military bases and power plants etc. All what was important in a military and/or infrastructural meaning. After that or to the same time tank formations and air strikes had started all over West Europe. Russian main forces from the russian motherland had followed so fast as possible.
That all had the advantage to hold the casualties down so much as possible and to the same time weakened all other involved - even the brothers in arms. So the soviets would have killed two birds with one stone.

Greetings :)
 
The shit would have hit the fan and spiraled out of control. I think it's one of those what if's where we all know what would have happened. If you haven't seen the film, suggest watching 'Thirteen Days.' No a fan of Kevin Costner in most cases but was a pretty good political thriller flick.

Also love the pic. Fallout :)
 
The world stood on the brink of annihilation in 1962. I was 10 years old and remember the stupid duck and cover and evacuation drills at school. I think that if either side had launched a nuke, it would have spiralled quicking to general nuclear war and we wouldn't be here discussing it. Invade Cuba? What Cuba? Invade Berlin? What Berlin. General nuclear exchange, nuclear winter, the end of mankind. Sting's song has it right "I can only hope the Russians love their children too..."
 
"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when...."
 
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Bootie check out this what if book,
Apologies for font size.

When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis Hardcover – August 1, 2010

n 1961 at the Bay of Pigs, CIA-trained and -organized Cuban exiles aiming to overthrow Fidel Castro were soundly defeated. Most were taken prisoner by Cuban armed forces. Fearing another U.S. invasion of its new ally, the Soviet Union sneaked into Cuba strategic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads and Soviet troops armed with tactical nuclear weapons. However, a U-2 spy plane flight would soon find the Soviet missile sites, thus sparking the famous missile crisis. For thirteen terrifying days, the world watched nervously as the two superpowers moved toward escalation, holding the world’s fate in their hands. Finally, Nikita Khrushchev blinked. He agreed to withdraw the weapons from Cuba in return for John F. Kennedy’s pledge not to invade the island.

But what if it had not turned out this way? What if the U-2 flight had been delayed? If the confrontation had set off a nuclear war, what would have happened to the United States and Soviet Union in 1962? What kind of account would a historian have written in a world scarred by nuclear war?

Eric G. Swedin draws on research made available after the Soviet Union’s collapse to examine what could have happened. Top U.S. military officers all urged stronger action against Cuba than the naval blockade, including a bombing campaign and even a full-scale invasion. Unknown to the Americans, meanwhile, the Soviet Union had tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba and were prepared to use them.

The 1962 crisis had many possible outcomes. Positing an alternate history helps us better appreciate the dangers of that tense time. Such counterfactual speculation shows what the Cuban missile crisis could have wrought and how it was truly one of the most important moments of the twentieth century.

Here the link to Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597975176/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
 
I grew up in Eastern Germany when every Wednesday at 13:00h was carried out a probe of sirens all over the country. At this time I usually was in school sitting in a silent class room.
Frequently my blood ran cold since I feared the 3rd WW would have started and I would never see my beloved ones again.
Maybe @Sempai can remember this angst-inducing sound too?

 
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Sure! During my school days we had the "luck" to be surrounded by 3 or 4 factories. The school was placed almost in the middle of them with a few apartment buildings between. I don´t know anymore if it was 1300 or another time. But what I remember is that always a second after the first siren started the remaining ones fall in immediately.

Greetings :)
 
Rico said:
I remember from the rules of an old WW3 NATO vs WP board game -it had alternative rules for tactical nukes. Then it followed with "if you want to see what strategic nuclear warfare would be like - just take the map, douset it in lighter fluid and put match to it." Never forgot that.
Click to expand...

That was an SPI tray game called "NATO". I still have it, it's actually a pretty good game. It's not as easy to win as the Warsaw Pact and virtually impossible if France ends up in the conflict.
 
Rico...

What , you didn't like the Maximum attack, Normal Attack, Minimum attack decision AND having your supply units within what was it, 5 hexes? And NATO units got to trace supply to any city or any nationality supply unit. I guess that's why NATO standardized weapon calibers, etc. It was a challenge to win as the WP, for sure...

Barry aka HOA_KSOP aka ksbearski
 
It's very simple gentlemen, the odds are in favor that none of us would have been here today. Radiation is brutal death sentence. Think about it all it would take is 20 or 30 nuke explosions to make most of if not all the world inhabitable and with how dirty the big bombs were back in the 60's.
I was school child in the 60's I remember atomic bomb drills very well.
 
nothing good would have happened, but one can hope that what was left of the world would be something like fallout
 
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