r/coldwar 3h ago

Prague residents, carrying a Czechoslovakian flag and throwing Molotov cocktails in an attempt to stop a Soviet tank in downtown Prague on August 21, 1968.

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59 Upvotes

r/coldwar 1d ago

Four “Ranch Hand” C-123 aircraft spray liquid defoliant (AKA Agent Orange) on a suspected Viet Cong position in South Vietnam in September of 1965. The four specially equipped planes covered a 1,000-foot-wide swath in each pass over the dense vegetation.

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174 Upvotes

r/coldwar 2d ago

Klaus Fuchs, an atomic spy who supplied information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly after World War II. After his conviction in 1950, he served nine years in prison in the United Kingdom, then migrated to East Germany.

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181 Upvotes

r/coldwar 3d ago

Berlin before the wall, 1959.

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67 Upvotes

r/coldwar 3d ago

Dogtag supplied by my elementary school during Cuban missile crisis. Name, DOB, address, parents name and religious affiliation. We had no idea why we had to wear them during "emergency drills".

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185 Upvotes

During drills we were told to retrieve our tags from a peg board and then crouch under our desks. Our city was within striking range from Cuba.


r/coldwar 3d ago

Help me find an anti-nuclear war animation about ostriches

3 Upvotes

In a college environmental studies class, my professor had a huge anti-nuclear war day and played a video for us with brightly colored animations, calling people ostriches for ignoring the problem. I believe it started with a little girl realizing there was a nuclear missile silo on her grandfather’s farm. I have looked everywhere for this and cannot find anything! It was very impactful.


r/coldwar 4d ago

Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut who was in space during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, as a result, was effectively stranded in orbit for over 300 days, twice as long as planned.

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373 Upvotes

He is also known as the last Soviet citizen, and the only person to be launched from one country and landed in another.


r/coldwar 4d ago

Why is the logo for this sub a hammer and sickle?

0 Upvotes

Isn’t that like having a civil war sub with a confederate flag logo?


r/coldwar 5d ago

Egypt, USA and East Germany in one stamps card !

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21 Upvotes

This Egyptian historical piece, dating back to the early 1960s and specifically to the era of the United Arab Republic, is a pictorial record of the non-alignment policy adopted by President Gamal Abdel Nasser during that turbulent period of the Cold War.

Above the Arabic text on this card is an illustration of one of the most prominent and famous architectural landmarks in East Germany.

It includes seven original postage stamps. We find a stamp of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, alongside a stamp of the unity flag between Egypt and Syria issued in 1958, which symbolizes the peak of Arab nationalism. Next to these two Egyptian stamps, we find five classic American stamps bearing the images of historic US presidents and figures, most notably Thomas Jefferson, Eisenhower, George C. Marshall, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Wright Brothers.

The explanation for this apparent contradiction lies in the pragmatism of the collectors' market itself. US president stamps were among the most popular and valuable stamps among collectors worldwide.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian stamps and the mention of East Germany carried the intended political message: that Egypt under Nasser was a state that extended its hand to both East and West alike, and had close diplomatic relations with East Germany, which was among the first countries recognized by Cairo in response to Western support for Israel.

This card gains its immense historical value because it documents a precise and sensitive time period, the years preceding the 1967 war, before Egyptian-American relations deteriorated sharply under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The text in Arabic in the right reads as follows:

"The beautiful postage stamps from the German Democratic Republic, which are wished by everyone in various parts of the world.

With the regards of the staff in 'Al-Majalla' (The Magazine).

Ask your local stamp sellers for it."


r/coldwar 5d ago

West Berliners at the wall, 1962.

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196 Upvotes

r/coldwar 6d ago

On March 29, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of selling US atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs were sent to the electric chair in 1953.

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1.9k Upvotes

r/coldwar 7d ago

Children practicing the "Duck and Cover" protection method with a real atomic bomb explosion in the background. The photo was taken in Nevada, 40 km from the epicenter of the blast in 1952.

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629 Upvotes

r/coldwar 9d ago

NWC INS Lecture Series -- Lecture 3: "Why Russia Lost the Cold War," Sept. 29, 2020.

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2 Upvotes

r/coldwar 9d ago

Nov. 11 1989: Crowds gather as East German border guards demolish a section of the Berlin Wall.

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674 Upvotes

r/coldwar 11d ago

Bundeswehr Leopard 1A1A3 MBT in 1980s

5 Upvotes

r/coldwar 11d ago

Four-Year-Old Michael Finder of East Germany Is Tossed by His Father into a Net Held by Firemen Across the Border in West Berlin, 1961

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298 Upvotes

r/coldwar 17d ago

TAF M48A1 tank

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6 Upvotes

Turkish Land Force M48A1 tank.


r/coldwar 17d ago

Memborbillia

2 Upvotes

Hello, I've been trying to find information about the Alert America convoy/exhibit, civil defense, and Bert the Turtle. I'm looking for newspaper serializations, pamphlets that would've been given out to people, educators, etc. I have seen the film and heard the radio broadcast as well as the red and white comic book of Bert. Anything else related would be appreciated too. Thank you.


r/coldwar 18d ago

Girl writes letter to Soviet Union letter changes country in 1980s

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245 Upvotes

November 1982, 10 year old Samantha noticed a Time magazine cover featuring the newly appointed Soviet leader, Yuri Andropov. The girl was concerned about the threat of nuclear war she asked her mother why no one simply asked Andropov if he wanted war. Samantha's mother encouraged her to write to him directly.Samantha sent a simple, earnest letter asking Andropov if he intended to conquer the world or prevent nuclear destruction to global surprise, her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda, and in April 1983, she received a reply from Andropov inviting her to see the Soviet Union. The Goodwill Tour of the Soviet Union in 1983, Samantha traveled to the Soviet Union with her parents for a two-week tour as an official guest of the government she began acting 1984 Disney Channel political aired a special Samantha Smith Goes to Washington: Campaign '84, where she interviewed presidential candidates. In 1985, she landed a co-starring role as Elizabeth Coleridge alongside Robert Wagner in the television drama series Lime Street.while returning home from filming segments for Lime Street, 13-year-old Samantha and her father, Arthur Smith, were killed in a plane crash. The commuter aircraft, Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808, missed the runway in rainy weather and struck trees near Auburn, Maine.Her death brought profound Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbavich and US Ronald Reagan together.


r/coldwar 19d ago

Soviet schoolchildren living in New York City, outside the USSR's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in North Riverdale, The Bronx (1977)

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94 Upvotes

r/coldwar 19d ago

RARE Vintage 1963 Zippo Lighter - Armed Forces Special Weapons Project

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210 Upvotes

Picked this up recently and had to do some research to figure out what I was looking at. The insignia on the front is the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP) — the organization that took over nuclear weapons custody from the Manhattan Project after WWII. Leslie Groves, the general who ran the Manhattan Project, was its first chief. They were responsible for storing, securing, and handling America’s nuclear arsenal through the early Cold War until transitioning to the Defense Atomic Support Agency in 1959.

The lighter dates to 1963 — confirmed by the dot code on the bottom (two dots left, one right of the Zippo script). That puts it one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Would love to hear from anyone who knows more about the AFSWP or has seen one of these before.


r/coldwar 20d ago

Looking for Family Information pt. 2

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13 Upvotes

Hi, here are some photos of my grandfather. He was born in 1942, so based on how old he looks this was maybe the early/mid 60s.

I don’t know much at all regarding the details, aside from him mentioning Germany a couple times. I would love to know anything that anyone may recognize.


r/coldwar 20d ago

Looking for Family Information

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35 Upvotes

Hi, here are some photos of my grandfather. He was born in 1942, so based on how old he looks this was maybe the early/mid 60s.

I don’t know much at all regarding the details, aside from him mentioning Germany a couple times. I would love to know anything that anyone may recognize.


r/coldwar 20d ago

In-Country Escort / INF Treaty / USSR 1988

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58 Upvotes

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was signed on December 8, 1987, in Washington during the Soviet-American summit.

The parties to the treaty pledged not to produce, test, or deploy ground-launched intermediate- and short-range missiles.

According to the treaty, the parties were required to destroy all launchers and ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers within three years.

This badge was worn by officers accompanying American inspectors of military units; the number of badges was limited to 100.

The badges were strictly controlled; they were received against signature before the inspection and returned against signature after its completion.

The Americans coveted such badges, and it's possible that some Senators or at least members of the US Congress (who often served as inspectors) have one in their collection.

(Photos of Senators and Congressmen are attached)


r/coldwar 21d ago

“A Delightful Weapon”: British Adoption of the AR-15 Rifle in Southeast Asia, 1960-1970

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14 Upvotes