Cold War Memories. Nuclear Weapons in the Realities of the Central European Theater of War Operations Cover Image

Reminiscencje zimnej wojny. Broń jądrowa w realiach Środkowoeuropejskiego Teatru Działań Wojennych
Cold War Memories. Nuclear Weapons in the Realities of the Central European Theater of War Operations

Author(s): Włodzimierz Wątor
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, History, Military history, Recent History (1900 till today), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Cold-War History
Published by: Wojskowe Biuro Historyczne im. gen. broni Kazimierza Sosnkowskiego
Keywords: Cold War;Warsaw Pact;nuclear weapons;arms race;nuclear deterrent

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the importance of nuclear weapons in the military doctrines of the Soviet Union. The analysis concerns the preparations conducted by both the Polish military and its society in the event of a nuclear attack within the Central European Theater of War Operations as well as the risk of mutual nuclear strikes by the Warsaw Pact and NATO. Scenarios of potential strikes and estimates of their hypothetical effects, which were discovered in declassified documents from the Cold War period, were compared to the results of contemporary computerized simulations. The article also covers the importance of nuclear weapons with regards to international relations.

  • Issue Year: XXIV/2023
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 204-232
  • Page Count: 29
  • Language: Polish