"What if the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated into...." Topic

… a full-scale war?.

"Effect: The end of nuclear proliferation… except in the U.S.

Explanation: Though usually considered a branch of science fiction, alternate history stories have their own awards, the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History, which have been presented to some renowned novels, including Harry Turtledove's How Few Remain, mentioned above, and in 1999, Brendan DuBois' Resurrection Day. This envisions a world in which the U.S. military sabotages President Kennedy's attempts to negotiate peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States invades Cuba, making the Crisis escalate into nuclear warfare. The Soviet Union is destroyed, the People's Republic of China collapses, and a fallout cloud over Asia kills millions of others. Meanwhile, the United States loses New York, Washington DC, San Diego, Miami and other cities. However, all surviving nations renounce their possession of nuclear weapons – with the exception of the USA, now under martial law (as the military had planned all along)."

Probably?

Amicalement
Armand

New York gone – not good
D.C. gone – Thank you
San Diego gone – ok
Miami gone – ok too

From what I understand the Russian Cdrs in Cuba had Tac Nucs. And had the launch authority if the US hit the beaches there. So that would be the start of a "cascade" of Nucs from air, sea and land. From a number of sources …

And probably none of us would be having this conversation …

now under martial law (as the military had planned all along)

Yeah, no. The Military really does not want to run the country. And at that time most Generals were WW-II veterans and knew what governing occupied territory was like

Yes, I agree, but sometimes "revisionist" history sneaks in. And maybe some of the "younger" readers don't know any better, IMO. And of course, there is always some bias, etc., against the military and it Gens & Adms, it seems.

I have a copy of DuBois's book at home somewhere.

A very good alternate history on this subject is this book:

link

There's also a great book on planning the invasion and it includes a chapter on how things might not have gone so well.

link

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand

No problem. My dad was a nuclear targeter during the crisis and has some interesting stories. Only time he was truly worried about a nuclear exchange during the Cold War.