Question: Nation's Plans in the event of Post-Nuclear Strikes

[GameBawesome]

When reading Cold War history, I've always seen the two same things in the case of a Nuclear War. Although it varies nation to nation, here is the general plan I've seen

1. Whoever shoots first, strike back.
2. Evacuate important politicians (IE The President or Prime Minister) into underground nuclear bunkers

And sadly, that the extent of my knowledge. But my question is...was would be the aftermath of a nuclear war?

So, what was the plan that nations had for the aftermath of a Nuclear War? How do the surviving Government of the nations rebuild they're nations? And how did they vary during over the decades?

Nations in Questions:

1. USA
2. USSR
3. Britain
4. France
5. China
6. Japan
7. West Germany
8. East Germany
9. Cuba

Sidenote: I hope this doesn't count as a mass-death scenario. I'm just asking what would the survivors do in the aftermath of a nuclear war, and how they'd rebuild. If this does break the mass-death rule, I just wanted to apologize in advance to the moderator who has to lock this, and I understand.)

 

[Father Maryland]

If its a full Scale NATO versus the Warsaw Pact from around 1954-1955 to the Cuban missile crisis then the US maybe eats one or two strikes ( and if its the Cuban missile crisis then the couple soviet IRBMs/ MRBMs in cuba hit Florida few times). The US loses like New York and DC but most US cities are untouched and while the economy will be fucked for a while the US continues to exist with a 20th century lifestyle. Meanwhile US forces abroad and allies in Europe and East Asia are pretty badly destroyed but the population not entirely annihilated. Meanwhile the USSR/ Eastern Europe and China pretty much cease to exist. The USSR had about 3K nukes but far far fewer Intercontinental missiles and bombers and no SSBNs and the US had way more missiles and long ranged bombers. The US had about 25K nukes at the time.

Any time after that and the Soviets had far more bombs and delivery methods.

 

[Captain Homicide]

So, what was the plan that nations had for the aftermath of a Nuclear War?

Read Raven Rock by Garrett Graff. It comprehensively details how the US government planned to survive a nuclear war and rebuild in the aftermath. Here’s a great hypothetical timeline of a 1988 nuclear war and the decades afterwards.

Any major nuclear war after 1965 would mean the parties involved would cease to be functioning nation states and even countries not hit with nuclear weapons would suffer from the resulting global chaos. Humanity would be knocked back several centuries and that’s not factoring in the engineered bioweapons the USSR had a large stockpile of (smallpox, plague, anthrax etc) and planned to use.

 

[Finbarr the Fair]

British "planning", using the term rather loosely, is outlined in Beneath the City Streets by Peter Laurie. Unofficial and probably out of date. Hopefully other posters will know of more detailed and plausible sources.

As the first posters have said, any global nuclear war will see all the states you mentioned devastated and unable to function. Depending on the scenario, some countries in Latin America and Africa may survive.

1962-4 is probably the last period the US could survive relatively undamaged. For Western Europe, it might be 1953? Even 1956 would have been bad for the UK.

 

[pattersonautobody]

It appears the USSR as Russia today kept a lot of old weapons in service, presuming everything good will get wiped out in the nuclear war and anything left would be "good enough" to pick up the scraps.

 

[Resurgam]

Once you reach the 1970s onward, there's not going to be much of anything left to work with in terms of plans. The officials may survive but their authority won't extend much past their bunker - and even that will be limited by the supplies.

This is actually the point behind films like The Day After, Threads, and When the Wind Blows. You can do everything on the checklist and its bailing out the Titanic with a thimble.

 

[CalBear]

Every major country (and likely most mid-tier countries) HAS extensive, exceptionally secret plans for Continuation of Government/Operations (CoG/CoO). They are right up with the nuclear codes in the case of Nuclear armed states, and are AT THE TOP of other countries.

Some elements of previous plans have become known, others are quite intentionally part of open source documents (probably the most famous of these is the U.S. plans for ensuring that their is ALWAYS a civilian in place to act as the National Command Authority (NCA). The one-time supposed location of the disaster successor was "The Mountain" aka SAC/NORAD Headquarters located inside Cheyenne Mountain which was reputedly designed to survive 25mT blasts. That has largely been seen as no longer the case with the far more accurate MIRV warheads with CEP measured in feet and not kilometers (with current tech, a peer enemy could, quite literally, simply sheer away the mountain with repeated strikes, although the current deliverable warhead treaties makes that less of a possibility). Today the actual location of the CoG NCA bunker is unknown (and there is also a strong likelihood that more than a single location exists) thereby ensuring that the #123rd (or #'s 123-133) member in the line of succession survives.

While at the peak of the Cold War, when the U.S & USSR had a combined ~90,000 deliverable warheads of various kinds on numerous sorts of launching platforms, the chances that any nation-state in the Northern Hemisphere (and any of the Industrialized states in the Global South) would have survived in any form beyond war lords wandering the ruins, today's far more limited deliverable stockpiles (the U.S. today has fewer deliverable weapons overall than were once deployed on missile armed submarines) mean that even inside the U.S. and Russian Federation there will be cities that are likely to survive undamaged that would have been charred in the early 1980s. That makes the CoG/CoO plans even more inportant and even more important to keep up to date and as secret as can be maintained.

 

[JohnBull]

Read Raven Rock by Garrett Graff. It comprehensively details how the US government planned to survive a nuclear war and rebuild in the aftermath. Here’s a great hypothetical timeline of a 1988 nuclear war and the decades afterwards.

Any major nuclear war after 1965 would mean the parties involved would cease to be functioning nation states and even countries not hit with nuclear weapons would suffer from the resulting global chaos. Humanity would be knocked back several centuries and that’s not factoring in the engineered bioweapons the USSR had a large stockpile of (smallpox, plague, anthrax etc) and planned to use.

I find those total nuclear scenarios very depressing. It's weird to think humankind could have easily picked this path.

 

[sparky42]

Ireland looks at the potential for a nuclear war... builds a small bunker in the middle of the country that nobody in Government Buildings in Dublin could reach before any bomb hit...

 

[Finbarr the Fair]

Ireland looks at the potential for a nuclear war... builds a small bunker in the middle of the country that nobody in Government Buildings in Dublin could reach before any bomb hit...

Sadly, i suspect that is not a joke.

For that matter, the older granites of SW Ireland would be a better place for such a hypothetical bunker. Say, not far from Killarney? Though I've often thought that town would be improved by a nuclear strike.

Much like Stoke-on-Trent or Blackburn.

ETA the town improvement suggestions are not serious. Well, not very serious.

 

[NHBL]

Some elements of previous plans have become known, others are quite intentionally part of open source documents (probably the most famous of these is the U.S. plans for ensuring that their is ALWAYS a civilian in place to act as the National Command Authority (NCA).

How far down does the succession go? I'm only really aware of it going through the cabinet.
(In one far future/1920's timeline that I might resume, the US had a succession so detailed that, if there only a pair of asteroid mines left, they would know who was in charge, and have legal mechanisms in place to reestablish the country.)

 

[sparky42]

Sadly, i suspect that is not a joke.

For that matter, the older granites of SW Ireland would be a better place for such a hypothetical bunker. Say, not far from Killarney? Though I've often thought that town would be improved by a nuclear strike.

Much like Stoke-on-Trent or Blackburn.

Its not a joke, or well it is a joke but also something that exists.

Custume Barracks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Inside Ireland's secret VIP nuclear bunker

In the 1960s, the Irish government was so concerned about a nuclear attack that it urged householders to stock up on groceries for 14 days - just in case it happened.

www.independent.ie

From some of the clips its not really even deep enough but even without that, back in the day getting from Dublin to Athlone was no quick trip, it probably would have been the local TD ending up in the bunker. To be fair there were other smaller bunkers but not for any continuance of Government or population survival.

Though it seems like the doomsday lads might be thinking about a new bunker:

Inside the luxurious doomsday bunker that could soon land in Ireland

Ireland could soon be host to one of the most plush bunkers built to withstand the apocalypse

www.irishmirror.ie

 

[Captain Homicide]

humankind could have easily picked this path.

Not humankind. A handful of political leaders on either side.

 

[NHBL]

Not humankind. A handful of political leaders on either side.

Or equally easily--probably more likely--a mistake. Sadly, if another nation has the ability to wipe you out, the only way to prevent it is to be ready to do the same.
Are there any post 1945 timelines that include the existence of nuclear weapons, but realistically avoid deploying world-wrecking quantities of nuclear equipment?

 

[Captain Homicide]

Are there any post 1945 timelines that include the existence of nuclear weapons, but realistically avoid deploying world-wrecking quantities of nuclear equipment?

If you’re asking for 20th century AH timelines that don’t feature total nuclear war then there are countless on this site alone. You just have to look for them in the relevant areas.

if another nation has the ability to wipe you out, the only way to prevent it is to be ready to do the same.

You’re forgetting diplomacy. If your enemy is actually reasonable and offers to decrease their nuclear arsenal if the same is done likewise with inspection of either side to make sure they’re being honest there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t work as long as they were acting in good faith (which wasn’t the case during the Cold War). Contrary to popular belief for the most part political and military leaderships (even of ideological dictatorships) aren’t suicidal maniacs incapable of understanding what mutually assured destruction is.

 

[CalBear]

Its not a joke, or well it is a joke but also something that exists.

Custume Barracks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Inside Ireland's secret VIP nuclear bunker

In the 1960s, the Irish government was so concerned about a nuclear attack that it urged householders to stock up on groceries for 14 days - just in case it happened.

www.independent.ie

From some of the clips its not really even deep enough but even without that, back in the day getting from Dublin to Athlone was no quick trip, it probably would have been the local TD ending up in the bunker. To be fair there were other smaller bunkers but not for any continuance of Government or population survival.

Though it seems like the doomsday lads might be thinking about a new bunker:

Inside the luxurious doomsday bunker that could soon land in Ireland

Ireland could soon be host to one of the most plush bunkers built to withstand the apocalypse

www.irishmirror.ie

That proposal for the new bunker looks a Bond villain's secret lair.

 

[sparky42]

That proposal for the new bunker looks a Bond villain's secret lair.

Pretty much, though its not the first time Ireland has been picked, seems the Swiss were prepared to leg it to West Cork in the event of nukes flying:

Bunker down: Skibb ideal ‘safe haven’ in nuclear war

It’s deemed to be one of the safest places in the world if a nuclear war breaks out.

www.irishexaminer.com

'Threat of nuclear war no joke but offer from Skibbereen will give you a smile'

Joe Carroll has recalled in recent days that Skibb knows how to care for nuclear-threatened folk

www.irishmirror.ie

Where a Swiss spy built the perfect hideout from nuclear war

During the Cold War, West Cork in Ireland was said to be the safest location following a nuclear attack.

www.bbc.com

 

[CalBear]

How far down does the succession go? I'm only really aware of it going through the cabinet.
(In one far future/1920's timeline that I might resume, the US had a succession so detailed that, if there only a pair of asteroid mines left, they would know who was in charge, and have legal mechanisms in place to reestablish the country.)

There are a number of open source references to a restricted/secret succession list that covers, at a minimum, everyone who receives Senate confirmation (e.g. assistant undersecretary of State for commercial relations). There could also be a "black" list that is passed as part of the black budget with the actual list only know to the "Gang of Eight".

Like everything else in CoG, the details are very closely held.

 

[NHBL]

There are a number of open source references to a restricted/secret succession list that covers, at a minimum, everyone who receives Senate confirmation (e.g. assistant undersecretary of State for commercial relations). There could also be a "black" list that is passed as part of the black budget with the actual list only know to the "Gang of Eight".

Like everything else in CoG, the details are very closely held.

Thanks. I don't care what the order is, bu the fact that it's very deep is what I needed. If I ever get back to my time travel tale, only the remotest colonly in the entire solar system survives--not nuclear, but biowar. So they have to turn the government of the colony/base into a nation once again, and maintain continuity. (It's important when the main character goes back in time.)
<By outer reaches of the Solar System, they mean that "Planet IX," if it exists is considered part of the inner system.

 

[Deleted member 169412]

Are there any post 1945 timelines that include the existence of nuclear weapons, but realistically avoid deploying world-wrecking quantities of nuclear equipment?

The Footprint of Mussolini is one. Lots of countries have nukes, and they have been willing to use them pretty liberally at times Israel is one of the most egregious examples but Italy nuking Addis Ababa after an Ethiopian uprising has to be up there, but a full-on nuclear war never broke out.

For All Time also involved a lot of nukes being chucked around, but the world still ended up pretty wrecked albeit for a completely different set of reasons.