Tag: Soviet Union

• Podcast

9th November 1979: A computer error at NORAD reports that the USSR had fired hundreds of nuclear missiles at the USA

• 9th November 2023
• Tagged as: America, Atomic Bomb, Cold War, Missile, NORAD, Nuclear, Soviet Union, United States, USA, USSR

When news of the incident reached the Soviet Union, party leader Leonid Brezhnev wrote to Carter condemning the ‘tremendous danger’ caused by the error.

• Podcast

26th September 1983: Nuclear war avoided after Soviet detection system wrongly identifies incoming ballistic missile

• 26th September 2023
• Tagged as: Atomic Bomb, Cold War, Nuclear, Nuclear War, Satellite, Soviet Union, Technology, United States, USA, USSR, War

Nuclear war was avoided when Russian officer Stanislav Petrov rejected early warning system reports of incoming ballistic missiles as a false alarm.

• Podcast

30th August 1963: The Moscow-Washington hotline enters operation

• 30th August 2023
• Tagged as: Capitalism, Cold War, Communism, Kremlin, Moscow, Pentagon, Soviet Union, United States, USA, USSR, Washington

The Moscow–Washington hotline entered operation, providing a direct link between the Kremlin and the Pentagon.

• Podcast

29th August 1949: USSR successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, codenamed RDS-1 and nicknamed First Lightning

• 29th August 2023
• Tagged as: America, Atomic Bomb, Cold War, Communism, Manhattan Project, Nuclear, Science, Soviet Union, Technology, USA, USSR, War

The explosion had the power of 22 kilotons of TNT, and was 50% more destructive than its designers had expected.

• Podcast

15th July 1975: The Apollo Soyuz Test Project lifted off

• 15th July 2023
• Tagged as: Science, Soviet Union, Space, Space Race, Technology, United States, USA, USSR

The two rockets of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project launched from the USA and the USSR in the first international collaborative space mission.

• Podcast

12th May 1949: The Soviet Union ends its blockade of West Berlin

• 12th May 2023
• Tagged as: Airlift, America, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Blockade, Cold War, East Germany, Germany, Soviet Union, United States, USA, USSR, West Berlin, West Germany

Instigated on 24 June the previous year, the Soviet blockade prevented all rail, road, and water transport between Berlin and the West of the Germany.

• Podcast

2nd May 1945: The Battle of Berlin ends with the German surrender to the USSR

• 2nd May 2023
• Tagged as: Berlin, Communism, Fascism, Germany, Hitler, Nazi, Second World War, Soviet Union, Stalin, USSR

The Battle of Berlin ended after German General Helmuth Weidling surrendered to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.

• Podcast

21st March 1921: The New Economic Policy introduced to the USSR by Vladimir Lenin

• 21st March 2023
• Tagged as: Communism, Economics, Lenin, New Economic Policy, Russian Civil War, Soviet Union, USSR

Vladimir Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy at the 10th Communist Party Congress.

• Podcast

26th February 1935: Hitler formally establishes the Luftwaffe in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles

• 26th February 2023
• Tagged as: Aircraft, Germany, Goering, Hitler, Luftwaffe, Nazi, Soviet Union, Spanish Civil War, Treaty of Versailles, USSR

The German Empire established its first air force, the Fliegertruppe, in 1910 which saw extensive action in the First World War.

• Podcast

30th December 1922: Foundation of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

• 30th December 2022
• Tagged as: Bolshevik, Communism, Lenin, Russia, Soviet Union, Stalin, Ukraine, USSR

In 1922 the USSR consisted of just four Soviet republics – the Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SFSR.