The aftermath of a 1983 nuclear war

In 1983, nuclear war was narrowly avoided thanks to the actions of Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov, who correctly judged that the nuclear alarms which were going off were nothing but false alarms.

But how would the 1983 nuclear war have impacted human society and politics had it occurred?
 
In 1983, nuclear war was narrowly avoided thanks to the actions of Soviet officer Stanislav Petrov, who correctly judged that the nuclear alarms which were going off were nothing but false alarms.

But how would the 1983 nuclear war have impacted human society and politics had it occurred?

The "Protect and Survive TL's, particularly the early ones on this site, are about this.
 
In addition to that there were several documentaries and TV dramas at the time about it around the time. The best that I remember was a Q.E.D. narrated by Ludovic Kennedy (IIRC) and Threads from 1984. They were the grimmest pieces of television I ever watched. Threads was on Youtube but it seems to have been removed.

The funniest piece about the aftermath of a nuclear war in the early 1980s was Jasper Carrot reading quotes from Protect and Survive, which was in response to a civil defence exercise that was taking place on the same day as the programme.

I haven't seen The Bed Sitting Room all the way through, but I thought one of Frank (Captain Peacock) Thornton's finest hours was him as the last survivor of the BBC reading the news whilst wearing a hollowed out TV set.

BTW I know that film was from the 1960s and therefore not strictly relevant. I tried to find Mr Thornton's scene in the film on Youtube too. However, typing Frank Thornton Bed Sitting Room in the Youtube search engine produces finds Amy Winehouse - In My Bed.
 
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