World War III

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For other uses, see World War III (disambiguation).

A mushroom cloud, often associated with the nuclear war that would be expected of a third world war

World War III (also WWIII, or the Third World War) denotes a hypothetical successor to World War II (1939–1945), that is often suggested to be nuclear and extremely devastating in nature.
This war is anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities, and explored in fiction in many countries. Concepts range from purely conventional scenarios or a limited use of nuclear weapons to the destruction of the planet.
With the development of the arms race, before the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War, an apocalyptic war between the United States and the Soviet Union was considered plausible, if not likely. The Doomsday Clock has served as a symbol of historic World War III close calls since the Truman Doctrine went into effect in 1947.

Greatest threats

Probable axes of attack of the Warsaw Pact through the Fulda Gap and the North German Plains according to the U.S. Army. Note that the violation of Austrian neutrality by WARPAC was assumed as a given.

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin sent a note to British Prime Minister Anthony Eden warning that "if this war is not stopped it carries the danger of turning into a third world war."^[1]
The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 is generally thought to be the historical point at which the risk of World War III was closest^[2], and Robert McNamara claimed that if it were not for Vasili Arkhipov, who prevented a nuclear launch on the B-59 Soviet submarine during the heat of the crisis, World War III would have broken out, saying at the Cuban Missile Crisis Havana conference, "A guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world."
On 26 September 1983, only 25 days after the Soviets shot down civilian airliner Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Soviet early warning station under the command of Stanislav Petrov falsely detected five inbound intercontinental ballistic missiles. Petrov correctly assessed the situation as a false alarm, and hence did not report his finding to his superiors. Petrov's action likely averted a nuclear conflict, as the Soviet policy at that time was immediate nuclear response upon discovering inbound ballistic missiles.^[3]
During Able Archer 83, a ten-day NATO command post exercise starting on November 2, 1983, the Soviets readied their nuclear forces and placed air units in East Germany and Poland on alert. Some historians believe this exercise was a close call to a start to World War III.^[4]