The award-winning #podcast preserving the stories of the #ColdWar before they are lost... Produced by Ian Sanders, Fellow of @RoyalHistSoc & at @mcrmuseum
Manchester, England
Joined December 2017
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Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
Nurses with prams block a Soviet tank in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, 1968.
#OTD 1961: The Soviet Union detonates Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya, the largest nuclear explosion in history.
At 50 megatons, it’s over 3,000 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.
A terrifying demonstration of Cold War power that has never been repeated.
#otd 1956: Israel invades Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, triggering the Suez Crisis.
It’s the opening move in a secret plan with Britain and France to seize the canal.
US pressure will force a retreat—and expose the limits of Britain’s power in the Cold War.
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
A powerful letter from President Ronald Regan to PM Margaret Thatcher, thanking her for her hospitality, congratulating her on the victory in the Falklands and offering to work to find a lasting solution there.
Note the personal warmth - this was a real 'special relationship'.
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
Mrs. Töpfer and her grandson René in their apartment in East Berlin, 1986.
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
The 1983 MOD assessment of likely UK targets for Soviet air attack in wartime by different aircraft types.
An extensive network of radar, RN ships, Bloodhound & Rapier SAMS and RAF interceptors were expected to cause 20-50% losses - but only had 3 days supply of missiles.
#OTD 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis ends as Khrushchev agrees to withdraw Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba.
JFK promises not to invade. Secretly, he also agrees to remove US missiles from Turkey.
After 13 days on the brink, nuclear war is averted.
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
Detectorist in one word? Genius ❤️
@BBCiPlayer
#Detectorists
“What’s so refreshing is that Ian is a very modest and humble host—quite unlike Joe Rogan—and does not interrupt or talk over his guests, or feel compelled to demonstrate his knowledge over the subject matter.”
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
The B-59 story stayed buried for decades. It first surfaced in 1995 in Komsomolskaya Pravda, via radio officer Vadim Orlov.
It only came out in full at the 2002 Havana conference, 40 years on, when Orlov told the room how close B-59 came to firing.
OTD 1962: US warships drop practice depth charges near Soviet submarine B-59 off Cuba.
They don’t know it carries a nuclear torpedo. Its crew fears war has begun.
Launch authorization required the agreement of all three senior officers. Vasily Arkhipov refuses…
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
27 October 1970: a fashion shoot on East Berlin's Alexanderplatz - and a surprised onlooker (via Bundesarchiv)
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
The 1981 MOD assessment, drawn up by the Service Chiefs, about the scale of threat posed to the UK by Soviet air forces - up to 200 bombers delivering 1200 tonnes of weapons per day.
It noted UK stockpiles of SAMS (Rapier & Bloodhound) would be exhausted in 3 days.
Cold War Conversations Podcast retweeted
As the British Government sensibly encourages the public to stockpile emergency supplies, lets take a trip back to 1989 to learn about what the MOD thought the Soviet military threat to the UK was and how this country would be attacked by land, sea and air in WW3.
#otd 1955: After ten years of Allied & Soviet occupation, Austria declares permanent neutrality.
No NATO. No Warsaw Pact. No foreign military bases.
A rare Cold War compromise allows Austria to remain independent and undivided while Europe is split between East and West.
#otd 1983: US troops invade Grenada to overthrow its Marxist military regime.
Reagan fears growing Cuban and Soviet influence.
Margaret Thatcher opposes the intervention. Reagan proceeds anyway.
Listen to the story here. coldwarconversations.com/epi…
On the morning of 4 November 1956, Soviet forces wer attack #Budapest. Within hours, tanks and artillery would crush one of the most dramatic uprisings of the #ColdWar
Listen here 🎧🎧coldwarconversations.com/epi…
#Hungary56 #imrenagy #hungary
Charlie was 17 in 1956. A trip home from work by tram ended up with him being thrust into the heart of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
coldwarconversations.com/epi…
On the morning of 4 November 1956, Soviet forces were attacking #Budapest. Within hours, tanks and artillery would crush one of the most dramatic uprisings of the #ColdWar.
Listen here 🎧🎧coldwarconversations.com/epi…
#Hungary56 #imrenagy #hungary
Charlie was 17 in 1956. A trip home from work by tram ended up with him being thrust into the heart of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
coldwarconversations.com/epi…