- This article is about a hypothetical global nuclear war. The term World War III is sometimes also used to describe either the Cold War or the War on Terrorism.
World War III is the name given to a hypothetical world war, initially supposed to be fought between superpowers with weapons of mass destruction, usually nuclear weapons. Superpower confrontation was deemed to be the major threat in the latter half of the 20th century, where the Cold War saw the capitalist United States face the communist USSR. This conflict was presumed to result in the extermination or technological impoverishment of humanity.
Such a globally destructive war with such pervasive weapons ranks with asteroid impact, a hostile technological singularity, and catastrophic climate change as an "extinction-level event".
Historical scenarios
When asked what kind of weapons World War III would be fought with, Albert Einstein, lamented that "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Effectively civilization would be destroyed.
However, not all scenarios for World War III have begun with the use of nuclear weapons. Operation DROPSHOT, a since-declassified U.S. plan, written in 1947, assumed a long period of conventional war between NATO and the Soviet Union before any nuclear weapons would be employed by both sides. The standard NATO war planning scenario assumed a Soviet attack on West Germany, in which tactical nuclear weapons would be used only if NATO forces were losing. In most war games, NATO forces faced extreme difficulty defending West Germany and used nuclear weapons first.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War, an apocalyptic war between the United States and USSR was considered likely. The Cuban missile crisis in 1962 is generally thought to be the historical point at which the risk of World War III was closest. Other potential starts have included the following (see External links below for further examples):
- November 9, 1979, when the U.S. made emergency retailation preparations after NORAD saw on-screen indications that a full-scale Soviet attack had been launched. No attempt was made to use the "red telephone" hotline to clarify the situation with the USSR and it was not until early-warning radar systems confirmed no such launch had taken place that NORAD realised that a computer system test had caused the display errors. A Senator at NORAD at the time described an atmosphere of absolute panic. A GAO investigation led to the construction of an off-site test facility, to prevent similar mistakes subsequently.
- September 26, 1983, when Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov refused to launch ICBMs, despite computer indications that the U.S. had already launched
- January 25, 1995, when Russia almost launched a nuclear attack after a Norwegian missile launch for scientific research was detected from Spitzbergen and thought to be an attack on Russia, launched five minutes from Moscow. Norway had notified the world that it would be making the launch, but the Russian Defense Ministry had neglected to notify those monitoring Russia's nuclear defense systems.
OPLAN (Operations Plan) 1000 was the standard U.S. military plan for the first hours or days of a national emergency such as World War III. Unclassified annexes included grounding all civil aircraft in the United States and controlling all navigation beacons. In the 1950s and 1960s, this included CONELRAD (Control of Electronic Radiation), in which all radio stations broadcasting in the U.S. would operate on low power on two frequencies — to prevent Russian bombers from using them for navigation. Certain features of OPLAN 1000 were instituted during the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Urban legend also states that the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was specifically designed to contain several sections which were flat and straight, to be used as emergency runways for nuclear bombers. (The American highways are, however, perfectly suited to allowing for rapid transportation of military convoys.) The United States Department of Transportation strongly denies that such a purpose exists in the Interstate highway system. However, several other nations, such as Finland do this, and publically advertise the fact, so it is not outside of the realm of possibility.
Runaway technology
The term Gigadeath War, first used by Hugo De Garis, described a confrontation not between nations or religions but between Terrans and Cosmists, determined respectively to resist or advance artilect ("artificial intelligence" on a godlike scale) evolution beyond humans — a "technological singularity" out of human control.
This is not an isolated concept — apocalypse literature throughout the late 20th century emphasized lack of human control over war machines, e.g. Doctor Strangelove and the Terminator series.
The United Nations University Millennium Project participants, in 2001, ranked technological runaways (gene, prion, virus, robot, software or new molecules acting like any or all) as greater risks to human survival than intentional acts by humans.
Artistic treatments
A vast post-apocalyptic science fiction literature exists describing the likely aftermath of either, describing the impact of weapons of mass destruction. None of it describes a very happy world.
The genre of post-apocalyptic science fiction often uses post-World War III scenarios. However, these stories were found only in Western science fiction publications; Soviet writers were discouraged from writing them.
Film and television
Several notable movies have been made based on World War III, including the following:
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), a black comedy by Stanley Kubrick in which an American general Jack D. Ripper, concerned about fluoridation of drinking water, orders an attack on the Soviet Union. Peter Sellers plays several roles in this film, including the title character, a parody of Wernher von Braun.
- Fail-Safe (1964 and 2000), based on the novel by Eugene Burdick, in which an American bomber group mistakenly receives orders to bomb Moscow.
- The War Game (1965), produced by Peter Watkins and dealing with a fictional nuclear attack on Britain. This film won the Oscar for Best Documentary, but was withheld from broadcast by the BBC for several decades.
- The Bed Sitting Room (1969), a surrealist post-nuclear comedy, adapted from the stage play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus.
- Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), where two (US and USSR) military AIs ally to blackmail humans into assembling more AIs like themselves
- A Boy and His Dog (1975) based on a short story by Harlan Ellison takes place after World War III.
- World War III (miniseries), aired on U.S. network television in 1982. A Soviet invasion of Alaska in order to seize U.S. oilfields escalates to a nuclear exchange.
- The Day After (1983), a mini-series directed by Nicholas Meyer, shown on the ABC television network, portraying a nuclear strike on Lawrence, Kansas.
- WarGames (1983), in which a teenage computer hacker almost causes a nuclear war by accident.
- Red Dawn (1984), with Charlie Sheen. Although it is considered a rather bad movie, it became a symbol of the upcoming World War III in late Cold War with its scene of the Soviet Paratroopers being dropped throughout the USA. Depicts a group of students who organize themselves in a guerilla after a Soviet invasion to the USA.
- Threads (1984), a movie shown on the BBC, dealing with the short- and longer-term consequences of a nuclear attack on the city of Sheffield, England.
- The Terminator series (1984, 1991 and 2003), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Terminator in all movies so far, in which robots destroy a military headquarters complex, thus starting World War III. After the war, the surviving humans engage in a protracted war with robots.
- By Dawn's Early Light (1990), which depicts a post-Cold War explosion instigated by Soviet rebels, which causes a nuclear war to start between the United States and the Soviet Union (in its dying days). The film follows the crew of a B-52 bomber, the U.S. President and AWACS as events unfold.
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996), where the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E and the Borg return to a period of Earth, 10 years after World War III. The Borg planned to attack Earth while it was still crippled after the war.
- Blast from the Past (1999) relates to a World War III that didn't happen, and to the fears of the Cold War.
- The Matrix sequence (2001–3) is set in a post-apocalyptic world, though the war in this backstory was non-nuclear, between humans and AIs.
Novels
Notable novels dealing with World War III include:
- Fail-Safe, as above; ISBN 0070089272.
- On the Beach (1957), by Nevil Shute, was also made into a 1959 movie of the same name; ISBN 1842322761.
- Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, dealt with the survival of the fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida after a Soviet missile strike obliterates most of the United States; ISBN 0060931396.
- The Third World War, August 1985, by General Sir John Hackett, set in a 1980s war based on the NATO scenario; ISBN 0025471600. This same scenario was also used in Harold Coyle's novel, Team Yankee; ISBN 0425110427.
- Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy; ISBN 0006173624.
- The World Aflame, written by Leonard Engel and Emmanuel Piller in 1947 and set amidst a protracted nuclear war from 1950–5.
- Red Army, by Ralph Peters, told from the Soviet perspective; ISBN 0671676695.
Computer games
- Command & Conquer: the Red Alert Series — real-time strategy game where an alternate time-line leads to conflict between the Soviets and other nations, including, naturally, the USA.
- Wasteland — computer role-playing game set in a post-nuclear world after World War III in 1997.
- Fallout — computer role-playing game set in a post-nuclear world with retro-50s style, after World War III in 2077. Said to be the unofficial sequel to Wasteland.
- Superhero League of Hoboken, a tongue-in-cheek lampooning of the genre
Music
- The post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor's work largely deals with apocalyptic destruction and its consequences (see the lyrics to their song "The Dead Flag Blues").
- The satirist Tom Lehrer gained renown for several eschatologically-themed songs, including "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)" and "We Will All Go Together When We Go".