Although the scenario made use of nuclear weapons, they were not expected to play a decisive role.Īt the time the US nuclear arsenal was limited in size, based mostly in the United States, and depended on bombers for delivery. "Operation Dropshot" was the 1950s United States contingency plan for a possible nuclear and conventional war with the Soviet Union in the Western European and Asian theaters. Some of those plans are now out of date and have been partially or fully declassified. Military planners have been war gaming various scenarios, preparing for the worst, since the early days of the Cold War. ( Time persists in using this term, for example, in a 2015 book review entitled "This Is What World War III Will Look Like". whether to plant the seeds of World War III." Time continued to entitle with or mention in stories the term "World War III" for the rest of the decade (and onwards): 1944, 1945, 1946 ("bacterial warfare"), 1947, and 1948. Wallace: "We shall decide some time in 1943 or 1944. In its 22 March 1943, issue under its "Foreign News" section, Time reused the same title "World War III?" with regard to statements by then- U.S. Hermann Rauschning, who had just arrived in the United States. The first usage appears in its 3 November 1941 issue (preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941) under its "National Affairs" section and entitled "World War III?" about Nazi refugee Dr. Time magazine was an early adopter, if not originator, of the term "World War III". 5.3 Multiple small wars as a "third war".4.1 Russian invasion of Ukraine: 24 February 2022 – present.3.11 Assassination of Qasem Soleimani: 3 January 2020.3.10 Incident at Pristina airport: 12 June 1999.3.9 Norwegian rocket incident: 25 January 1995.3.8 Able Archer escalations: 2–11 November 1983.3.7 "Petrov save" incident: 26 September 1983.3.6 NORAD computer error of 1979: 9 November 1979.3.5 Yom Kippur War super-power tensions: 6–25 October 1973.3.4 Sino-Soviet border conflicts: 2 March – 11 September 1969.3.3 Cuban Missile Crisis: 15–29 October 1962.3.2 Berlin Crisis: 4 June – 9 November 1961.2.3 Exercises Grand Slam, Longstep, and Mainbrace.The absolute potential destruction of the human race may have contributed to the ability of both American and Soviet leaders to avoid such a scenario. At the height of the Cold War, the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD), which determined that an all-out nuclear confrontation would destroy all of the states involved in the conflict, had been developed. Scenarios ranged from conventional warfare to limited or total nuclear warfare. During the Cold War years, the possibility of a third world war was anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities in many countries. With the advent of the Cold War in 1945 and with the spread of nuclear weapons technology to the Soviet Union, the possibility of a third global conflict became more plausible. The outbreak of World War II disproved the hope that humanity might have "outgrown" the need for widespread global wars. During the interwar period, World War I was typically referred to simply as "The Great War".
Large-scale apocalyptic events like these, caused by advanced technology used for destruction, could render Earth's surface uninhabitable.īefore the beginning of World War II in 1939, World War I (1914–1918) was believed to have been " the war to end wars." It was popularly believed that never again could there possibly be a global conflict of such magnitude. It could happen intentionally or inadvertently, by an accidental release of a biological agent, the unexpected mutation of an agent, or its adaptation to other species after use. Another primary concern is that biological warfare could cause many casualties. ĭue to the development and use of nuclear weapons near the end of World War II and their subsequent acquisition and deployment by many countries, the potential risk of a nuclear apocalypse causing widespread destruction of Earth's civilization and life is a common theme in speculations about a third world war. In contrast, others assume that such a conflict would surpass prior world wars in both scope and destructive impact. Some apply it loosely to limited or more minor conflicts such as the Cold War or the war on terror. The term has been in use since at least as early as 1941. World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical third worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. Such a conflict has been hypothesized to result in human extinction. Nuclear warfare is a common theme of World War III scenarios.