So, you clicked on this thinking that this was about the Cuban Missile crisis, and, if so, good try, but no. This essay will be the first of a two part essay series that is about the Cold War crisis of the early 1980’s, where the Americans initiated military buildup, the Soviets placed missiles in Eastern Europe, both sides readied their nukes, and, it seemed like all hell was about to break loose.

And for a brief moment in September 1983, it almost did.

So buckle up, for this is going to be a absolutely wild ride!

By the year 1980, the Cold War had been going on for 35 years, and it didn’t seem like it was going to end soon, as the Soviet Union and the United States were still the only world powers. However, the Cold War had de-escalated since it’s peak in the 1960’s with the Cuban Missile Crisis, as sides weren’t as focused on making bigger nukes, but just more nukes, with longer ranges. However, this was all about to change…

In December 1979, 80,000 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, in the largest Soviet military operation since World War 2, after sending paratroopers to secure the capital, Kabul, in order to support the communist government there. However, their military operation wasn’t as short as they thought it was, and that was the beginning of 9 long years in what would become the Soviet Afghan War. In it, the Soviet’s would face resistance from various muhadajeen groups, which would prove to be tough to fight in the rugged hills of Afghanistan(Foreshadowing…). Meanwhile, the western powers strongly condemned the invasion, and American President Jimmy Carter declared a boycott of the 1980 Olympics, which were to be held in Moscow. In retalliation, the Soviet’s boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angles.

Meanwhile, it was election season in the US, and, most nearly all all Americans were sick and tired of Jimmy Carter. From wrecking the economy, to poor handling of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and other policy failures, America was ready for a new leader. So, when they went to the polling booths in the 1980 Election, they voted for Ronald Regan, the former governor of California and also a movie star, to be the new president. Now, Regan decided to implement a peace through strength policy, and was thus much tougher on the USSR then his predecessor.

Almost immediately, President Regan initiated a massive rearmament plan, which came to be known as “We win, they lose.” It included military buildup’s, development of new technolagy, rearmed the nukes, and ballooned the US Military budget to $1.5 trillion(Kinda makes ours look small). There was even the plan to build lasers in space to eliminate the Soviet Union from the sky if war began, which was known as the Space Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars”. However, it was to expensive and unrealistic. Also, Regan ordered an assessment on whether the US could win a nuclear war, which was up to that point thought to be unwinnable.

But why do the military buildup now? Well, because the Soviet economy was weaker than the Americans, and both sides needed to keep up in the arms race to prevent themselves from being destroyed, the Soviet’s would have to keep up. However, Regan’s plan was to make the Soviet Union bleed it’s coffers dry while trying to keep up with the American’s arm surge, which would make the Soviet’s go broke. When a nation is bankrupt, they can’t last long before a general uprising, as was shown when the Soviet Union formed during the Russian Revolution. Thus, the United States would have single handedly gained victory in the Cold War without firing a shot.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union also began deploying medium to long range missiles in Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSR’s. In response to this, NATO introduces the Double Track position, which deployed similar missiles in West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and other locations in Western Europe

By this time, it’s late 1982, and the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, was growing old, and in November, he died. His successor was the Chairman of the KGB, Yuri Andropov, who took a much harsher stance against the United States compared to his predecessor, and was paranoid that the US was planning a nuclear strike on the USSR.

By this point, Yuri Andrapov had a reputation. Because he was Soviet Ambassador to Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and he saw how quickly the communist regime fell, he became extremely paranoid to any form of opposition to the Soviet Union. Being head of the KGB probably didn’t help, and in 1981, in a closed door meeting with Brezhnev, he declared that the US was preparing to attack the Soviet Union. Now, he was in charge of the Soviet Union.

Due to the ongoing American military buildup, Andropov suspected that the United States was planning a preventive nuclear surprise attack on the Soviet Union. So, to catch it early, he ordered the KGB to initiate Operation RYAN, which was the largest Soviet intelligence operation in history. The Operation was to see any sign of a looming nuclear strike, including increases of blood donations and official political visits.

By 1983, the KGB found out about Able Archer 83. Able Archer was a annual NATO war game in Europe. However, Able Archer 83 was different, as it was to simulate a Nuclear War at the highest level, and also included prolonged radio sciences, and participation of heads of government. The exercise would also have hundreds of thousands of troops deployed to Europe to participate. This also was happening soon after FleetEx 83-1, a massive naval exercise in the South Pacific. So, paranoid as ever Andropov assumed that this was a smoke screen for a real nuclear attack.

Within only three years, the Cold War had escalated to an unprecedented high, and people all across America were engaged, which lead to the Nuclear Freeze protests of 1983, where protesters all across America and the world protested against the Nuclear Arms race in some of the largest protests in History.

In the spring of 1983, Ronald Regan gave a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, where he stated that the continued arms race was a struggle between good and evil, and said that the Soviet Union was an “Evil Empire”. This was not well received in Moscow, who said that America was the evil empire.

Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the Earth-they are the focus of evil in the modern world.

-Ronald Regan, 1983

With this, tensions were spiraling out of control, and all diplomacy but collapsed between the superpowers. Fear of nuclear war was growing by the day, and it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse.

And then, it did!

On September 1st, 1983, KAL 007, a Korean Airlines Boeing 747-200 was flying from New York to Seoul, with a stopover in Anchorage. It is now flying towards Seoul, carrying 269 people, including 61 Americans and a sitting US Congressman, Larry McDonald. The flight was going well, even if it was a little crowded. However, the autopilot was programmed incorrectly, and the plane was flying right over Soviet Airspace. In this tense time, the Soviets suspected the Americans were doing espionage, so they sent Sukhoi Su 15 fighters to intercept the “Spy Plane.” One of the pilots saw a large passenger plane with navigation lights clearly visible. He decided to radio his report to Moscow, saying he didn’t think it was espionage, and, after a back and forth with Moscow, he was ordered to shoot down the aircraft. First, he fired a warning shot. No reaction. With that, the Sukhoi shoots down Flight 007.

All 269 people were killed in the deadliest disaster in the history of Korean Air. Initially, the Soviet Union denied responsibility, but 5 days later, admitted the shoot down, stating they really thought it was a spy plane.

With this tragedy, the entire world held it’s breath, as tensions between America and the Soviet Union had never been higher, especially with KAL 007, so most of the country was united wanting vengeance. Meanwhile, constant coverage of the crash continued to enrage the American public. Meanwhile, Yuri Andopov was more convinced then ever of an American attack. Everyone braced for World War 3.

On the evening of September 25, 1983, Stanislov Petrov, a Soviet engineer, hops on a bus to work, to fill in for a colleague at the Serpukhov base. The Serpukhov base is a facility that monitors American nuclear missile launches, using the Oko(eye) satellite system. At this point, tensions had never been higher, and Stanislov Petrov definitely has this on his mind as he stirs his coffee with a teaspoon. For four uneventful hours, everyone sits in the bunker, when, suddenly, the alarm suddenly blared shrilly. America has launched a nuclear bomb. Stanislov Petrov has to warn the Kremlin to launch a counterattack. World War 3 is about to begin…

To be continued…