This
article is about a hypothetical global
nuclear war. The term World War III is sometimes also used to describe
the Cold War of the 20th Century.
World War III is
the name given to a hypothetical world war, initially
supposed to be fought between superpowers with weapons of mass
destruction, usually nuclear
weapons. Superpower confrontation was
deemed to be the major threat in the latter half of the 20th century,
where the Cold War saw the capitalist United States face the communist
USSR. This conflict was presumed to result in the extermination or
technological impoverishment of humanity.
Such a globally
destructive war with such pervasive weapons ranks with
asteroid impact, a hostile technological singularity, and catastrophic
climate change as an"extinction-level
event".
Historical
scenarios
When asked
what kind of weapons World War III
would be fought with,
Albert Einstein replied: "I know not with
what weapons World War III will be fought, but World
War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
Not all scenarios
for World War III have begun with the use of nuclear
weapons. Operation DROPSHOT, a since-declassified US plan, written in
1947, assumed a long period of conventional war between NATO and the
Soviet Union before any nuclear weapons would be employed by both
sides. The standard NATO war planning scenario assumed a Soviet attack
on West Germany, in which tactical nuclear weapons would be used only
if NATO forces were losing. In most war games, NATO forces faced
extreme difficulty defending West Germany and used nuclear weapons
first. Deathlands, a science fiction series by James Axler written in
the 80s, is set in the United States a hundred years in the future
after a nuclear war between the USA and the USSR in 2001 totally wipes
out civilization as we know it. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union
and end of the Cold War, an apocalyptic war between the United States
and USSR was considered likely. The Cuban missile crisis in 1962 is
generally thought to be the historical point at which the risk of World
War III was closest.
November 9,
1979, when the US made emergency retaliation preparations
after NORAD saw on-screen indications that a full-scale Soviet attack
had been launched. No attempt was made to use the "red telephone"
hotline to clarify the situation with the USSR and it was not until
early-warning radar systems confirmed no such launch had taken place
that NORAD realised that a computer system test had caused the display
errors. A Senator at NORAD at the time described an atmosphere of
absolute panic. A GAO investigation led to the construction of an
off-site test facility, to prevent similar mistakes subsequently.
September 26,
1983, when Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov
refused to launch ICBMs, despite computer indications that the US had
already launched
January 25,
1995, when Russia almost launched a nuclear attack after a
Norwegian missile launch for scientific research was detected from
Spitzbergen and thought to be an attack on Russia, launched five
minutes from Moscow. Norway had notified the world that it would be
making the launch, but the Russian Defense Ministry had neglected to
notify those monitoring Russia's nuclear defense systems.
OPLAN (Operations
Plan) 1000 was the standard US military plan for the
first hours or days of a national emergency such as World War III.
Unclassified annexes included grounding all civil aircraft in the
United States and controlling all navigation beacons. In the 1950s and
1960s, this included CONELRAD (Control of Electronic Radiation), in
which all radio stations broadcasting in the US would operate on low
power on two frequencies — to prevent Russian bombers from using them
for navigation. Certain features of OPLAN 1000 were instituted during
the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. The
actual US nuclear response was detailed in numerous Single Integrated
Operational Plans from 1960 to the present day.
Certain
sources also state that the Eisenhower
Interstate Highway
System was specifically designed to contain several sections which were
flat and straight, to be used as emergency runways for nuclear bombers.
This, however, is an urban legend. The United States Department of
Transportation strongly denies that such a purpose exists in the
Interstate highway system. However, several other nations, such as
Finland and Taiwan have done so.
Use of the term
During a
press conference soon after
the start of the 1991 Gulf War
King Hussein of Jordan directly referred to the conflict between the
United States and its coalition of allies against Iraq as "the Third
World War" but there is no indication of any other world leaders
accepting the definition.
Some historians
have suggested that the War on Terrorism, sparked by
the September 11 attacks, may become known as the Third World War by
future generations due to its world-wide scope.
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