Watching this closely!
One question though - I find it highly unlikely that the Soviets would ‘play nice’ in a 1950’s world war; considering that they’ve got a disparity in nuclear weapons – and know this - I’d be surprised if some other attempt wasn’t made to redress this strategic imbalance...
I must say that the idea of 'the dog that didn't bark' (ie, a nuclear conflict in Asia whilst Europe remains locked in a cold war) is one that I've not seen before...
I think that the issue with airships is that they’re just outclassed economically by modern technology – that said, future technology could make the difference. If a lighter-than-air solid could be produced then this could potentially change the economics – especially if fuel became an issue...
I also think that you've got to take into account the difference in intention of a nuclear deterrent; the UK arsenal is enough to be able to start a nuclear war – but not enough to fight one in any meaningful sense. As such, all it really does is act as a ‘diplomacy multiplier’ in that it makes...
I suspect that colonization of the sea will always be something that is possible, but probably wont be a goal in & of itself – but if there is an economic reason for a colony then it is much more likely to happen.
Personally I think that surface colonies to manage sea-plantations (growing...
Fun fact: my father in law worked in British Telecom during the 80's when mobile phone technology was moving from 'it works fine in the lab!' to something more commercially applicable.
One thing that stands out in his mind is the fact that the text message feature was a last minute addition...
If the cold war was still 'on' then the star wars prequel films would probably be better, as the Empire would be the coldly efficient super Soviet empire in space as portrayed in the original movies.
So some upside to several more decades of nuclear paranoia...!
I seem to recall that, in its formative years, the western occupation zones of Germany had a worse quality of life in them compared to the Soviet occupation zone. It was only when the Marshal Plan was enacted that Germany (and, in fact, Europe) stabilised enough to fall into the 'western' camp...
Excellent update – suitably harrowing. Keep it coming!
As to the comments made by other posters concerning the use of gas, I’m afraid that I agree with them; its very unlikely that Russia would resort to special weapons at this stage, which is, lets face it, still very early on in Operation...