Discussion
In September 1983, with the Soviets at launch-at-warning, Stanislav Petrov DIDN'T report an apparent US missile launch. He saved the world.
It was only ONE of the near-misses that year.
This week on Untitled History Pod David from Cold War History and I discuss 1983. The year the world almost ended. #history https://open.spotify.com/episode/02RJgy4JGEhmw6AA3dgWjh?si=DYb9wPqmQUKvds6scA66sA
@garius I’m on the last few minutes of this episode. Really interesting.
@garius I'll check that out. Hearing about these is pretty scary - and then I realise there have to have been so many more we'll never know about and it becomes terrifying!
Something we wanted to get across in this episode was that Petrov's moment didn't happen in isolation.
It was the result of a series of intelligence failures, political posturing and paranoia from both sides.
And that it wasn't even the culmination of the crisis. That didn't happen until Reforger/Able Archer later that year.
Only after that, did the political leadership on both sides realise the world was on the brink and everyone needed to calm the fuck down.
@garius And KAL-007. People know a lot about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but in1983 the world could've gone to hell in a handbasket even more easily.
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