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In 1970, at the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations, tensions between the two led to the very real fear of a nuclear exchange. The government in Beijing built a lot of bomb shelters hardened enough to withstand a nuclear war and support thousands of people in such an event.

Suppose there was a border conflict or something that escalated beyond expectation. Could the situation have become so dire as to have caused a nuclear war? If so, what would the US do about it? China had a much weaker strategic position given its small arsenal and relative lack of delivery systems, and the USSR had enough nukes that it probably could have "won" the exchange with a relatively small portion of its aresenal. Would the Russians be willing to take the risk? Would the Chinese? There's an old line about how if China lost a half a billion people in a nuclear war they could keep going with what was left. What if the leadership seriously believed that?
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