Cold War Britain

[Tubby Isaacs]

Cold War Britain

Yes, indeed.

I gather this programme was dreadful again tonight, with the narrative of Reagan and Thatcher's heroism.

[Come along, Min]

Cold War Britain

Tubby Isaacs wrote: West Germany was full of troops. That would have been a suicidal invasion.

CND would probably argue that the best way to deal with that Stasi mindset would be to take steps to end the Cold War, by unilaterally starting to disarm, along with diplomatic efforts as well.

In hindsight, we came pretty close to annihilation.

Indeed.

The Russian SS-20's missiles allowed easier tactical nuclear weapon attacks on western European cities. The question is, would the US have risked mutually assured destruction for an attack that wasn't on America itself?. The thought is, the like for like cruise missiles placed in Europe during that time deterred the Soviets from that plan.

Apparently, the expected strategy was that the main Soviet thrust from the massive Group of Soviet Forces in Germany would have come through the northern plain where smaller British & German forces were, rather than the US controlled area of West Germany.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Cold War Britain

I haven't seen any of this latest programme, but I share the view that Sandbrook is awful. His thing on the German car industry was embarrassingly bad, and he is seriously compromised by his involvement in that disgusting Mail piece about Ed Miliband's late father.

[MsD]

Cold War Britain

Luke R wrote:

West Germany was full of troops. That would have been a suicidal invasion.

CND would probably argue that the best way to deal with that Stasi mindset would be to take steps to end the Cold War, by unilaterally starting to disarm, along with diplomatic efforts as well.

In hindsight, we came pretty close to annihilation.

Indeed.

The Russian SS-20's missiles allowed easier tactical nuclear weapon attacks on western European cities. The question is, would the US have risked mutually assured destruction for an attack that wasn't on America itself?. The thought is, the like for like cruise missiles placed in Europe during that time deterred the Soviets from that plan.

Apparently, the expected strategy was that the main Soviet thrust from the massive Group of Soviet Forces in Germany would have come through the northern plain where smaller British & German forces were, rather than the US controlled area of West Germany.

The US military and political hawks had begun to talk about Europe being the likely "theatre of war" and worked with that scenario.

If you looked at the globe from the Soviet perspective, they were encircled by NATO missiles. The Russian people I met in the 80s were terrified by the idea of war, obsessed by peace (the words for peace and world are the same, and were intertwined in emblems everywhere). Much was made in the West of the "chilling" WP Mayday parades, but every day was a parade of sorts amongst the US hawks.

[Come along, Min]

Cold War Britain

Yes. I'm sure the Russians loved there children too and that.

It seems almost miraculous that the military class of both sides werent able to convince the political class to go through with the manoeuvres they planned over those 40 odd years. Despite the many flashpoints.

[My Name Is Ian]

Cold War Britain

I'll return to this subject when I am not full of the non-war type of cold, but for now I'll just leave this here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4FF5F03E7FE6342C

[jeanmid]

Cold War Britain

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: I haven't seen any of this latest programme, but I share the view that Sandbrook is awful. His thing on the German car industry was embarrassingly bad, and he is seriously compromised by his involvement in that disgusting Mail piece about Ed Miliband's late father.

What exactly was Sandbrook's role in the Ralph Milliband affair?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Cold War Britain

Godawful article for the Mail.

[ShortyMedlocke]

Cold War Britain

MsD wrote:

On the topic of the cold war, and from a purely aesthetic point of view. it was good to see this beauty just storming down the runway:

V Bomber in high powered run

That is a gorgeous plane. There certainly are programmes to be made about the aesthetics and art of the Cold War. I started collecting propaganda materials at one point, and love looking at things from the period. In Moscow, I studied and stayed at the old Komsomol camp, which had a concealed entrance, old planes etc., it was great. Like something out of Tintin.

But it's a different thing, and needs to be signposted as such. It's not quite as tainted as "the Art and Design of the Nazis" or anything but needs to be put in context by someone who knows what they're talking about.

You might want to check this out

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m81f5