Thread: About Cold War and more

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I'd like to know (if anyone here can tell) what the level of "nuclear war hysteria" among Soviet citizens was at the time (the 50s-60s). Were they as concerned as Americans?

I can't tell for sure as I did not witness that, but my impression of the 50s-60s in the USSR was the euphoria of the achievements and an image that the US cannot match the USSR. It was more like: "they won't even dare".

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I can't remember hearing about anything as extreme as American "home-made" bomb shelters, and later, in the 80s the atmosphere was very much relaxed, despite occasional talk about WWIII or American nuclear threat. We studied what we should do during the nuclear strike at school, but no one took it very seriously. The possibility of actual nuclear war seemed very small.

I agree. Also, I remember a joke about those classes was running - what should you do if you see a nuclear explosion? You should wrap yourself in a white bed sheet and start slowly crawl towards a cemetery. In general, people never beleived in the real possibility of the nuclear war.