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Living in Middle Europe was not less surreal at all in this times. While the US people thought, that their Minuteman, other missiles and strategic bombers would
by PythonicAlpha 12y ago
Living in Middle Europe was not less surreal at all in this times. While the US people thought, that their Minuteman, other missiles and strategic bombers would give some protection, in Germany many people knew, that a third world war could not only start there, but also be the main place where it would be fought.
When in some era (I think, it was in Reagan's era, maybe a little later), the Generals where thinking, that a third world war could be limited to some territory (meaning: Middle Europe/Germany) and thus would not be the end of the world -- it was a void feeling for many people, that knew, what that could mean for Germany -- to be the designated place of nuclear destruction for the bigger nations.
In deed, it was a surreal time for the whole world it was. That is also one reason, that many in the 90s believed now humanity would rest in peace ....
- arethuza 12y agoSame for the UK - optimistic estimates for the impact of a nuclear attack on the UK had under 5% of the population surviving in the long term (NB Threads was very optimistic!).
- pmoriarty 12y agoThreads is probably the most chilling nuclear holocaust movie I've ever seen. Highly recommended (if you can find a good copy).
- arethuza 12y agoActually, the BBC did one documentary that was in some ways even scarier than Threads: Q.E.D. - A Guide To Armageddon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJttnC8PoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJttnC8PoA It goes through the details of what would happen if a 1MT bomb exploded the center London - which is, of course, completely catastrophic. Then it calmly mentions that London would have probably been hit by at least 30 bombs...
- RobertKerans 12y ago...and there's Peter Watkins' The War Game (BBC again), still an incredibly powerful and disturbing piece of filmmaking. Wiki: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game Clip here (first airburst over Kent): http://youtu.be/WcmZ1vhoqkY http://youtu.be/WcmZ1vhoqkY
- bdunbar 12y ago> While the US people thought, that their Minuteman, other missiles and strategic bombers would give some protection, Well .. _I_ never thought that. MAD is great theory, but it's got some some really bad failure modes.