Post by vegalyra on Apr 2, 2019 19:46:56 GMT
Tensions were at an all time high between the USA and the Soviet Union in 1983. President Reagan had made his "evil empire" speech and the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) was the new nuclear deterrence policy, and KGB agents that were roaming around Western Europe, specifically London and Washington D.C. had increasingly been informing their superiors in the USSR about USA armament buildups and nuclear drills. Premier Andropov in the USSR meanwhile was sickly and relying on reports from his staff about the US and becoming increasingly paranoid about US and NATO intentions. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was continuing. The downing of a South Korean airline by a Soviet jet fighter increased tensions between the West and the Communist bloc. What do you think would be the outcome if Andropov had ordered a massive conventional strike of Western Europe? How do you think NATO and the USA would have responded? Would China have gotten involved and restarted the Korean war? Would it have gone nuclear?