alternatehistory.com

In 1983, at a time of high Cold War tensions, NATO engaged in a military exercise called Able Archer, which simulated the lead-up to a nuclear strike on the USSR. Soviet intelligence seems to have mistakenly interpreted these exercises as a cover for an actual nuclear strike and made preparations to pre-empt NATO, readying their own nuclear arsenal.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

Could this event have resulted in an accidental nuclear war?
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