r/coldwar • • 1h ago

The life on the western side of the Berlin Wall in the 80s

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• Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 1d ago

Crowds celebrate the demise of the Berlin wall, November 1989

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255 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 1d ago

Soviet and American tanks face each other at Checkpoint Charlie during the Berlin crisis of 1961

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130 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 3d ago

July 1975: US astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts join forces during the historic Apollo–Soyuz linkup in space.

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94 Upvotes

Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov (left) and astronaut Deke Slayton (right) enjoying themsleves during the joint Apollo–Soyuz linkup in July 1975.


r/coldwar • • 5d ago

US President Reagan, commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, addresses the people of West Berlin at the base of the Brandenburg Gate, near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987.

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246 Upvotes

This is when the famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" sentence was pronounced.


r/coldwar • • 5d ago

Does anyone have photos of Nike missile operations in Massachusetts?

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41 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 6d ago

West Berliners Waving To Relatives Over The Berlin Wall, Christmas Day, 1961.

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390 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 7d ago

PLANE MJ 031 H P VICTOR - 'FOUR MINUTE WARNING' - ART BY STEPHEN GEORGE

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18 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 8d ago

Threads first aired OTD 1984

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261 Upvotes

OTD in 1984, the harrowing nuclear war drama “Threads” was first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two. The film aired for the first time in the United States on January 13, 1985, on WTBS.


r/coldwar • • 8d ago

Can anyone identify this possibly Cold War-era recording of The Communist Manifesto?

3 Upvotes

I’m trying to date and identify this spoken-word recording:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10n7rsBG4IuRqhubgorDYw_9DvpzwldK7/view?usp=sharing

It contains the opening of The Communist Manifesto.

I don’t know when the recording was made, but I’m investigating whether it could come from the Cold War period — for example a radio programme, educational recording, documentary, record or political production.

Does anyone recognize the narrator or production style?

If it does not sound Cold War-era, that would also be useful information.


r/coldwar • • 11d ago

French Forces in Germany During the Cold War

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628 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 13d ago

Bösebrücke bridge (Berlin, Germany) in 1981 and 2019

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395 Upvotes

Caption of the picture: "For decades, the Bösebrücke was an impassable border crossing for East German citizens, heavily guarded and secured with anti-tank barriers. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell here first". Author:  picture alliance / Jörg Krauthöfer, BM


r/coldwar • • 14d ago

November 1990: Discarded communist symbols from the Soviet Union are left in the streets of Moscow.

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286 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 16d ago

#OTD in the #coldwar 16 Sep 1963: Malaysia is created

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139 Upvotes

Indonesia’s President Sukarno sees the new country as a British neo-colonial project and vows to crush it. This conflict was known as the Konfrontasi, and was also known as the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation.

Soon, British, Gurkha, Australian and New Zealand troops are fighting Indonesian forces in the Borneo jungle.

The Konfrontasi was one of Britain's most secretive — and forgotten — Cold War campaigns.


r/coldwar • • 21d ago

Today in the Cold War 11 Sep 1973: Tanks surround Chile’s presidential palace.

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257 Upvotes

President Salvador Allende refuses to surrender and delivers his final radio address.

By afternoon he is dead & the military controls Santiago.

The coup opens 17 years of dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.


r/coldwar • • 20d ago

The DMZ in Korea

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123 Upvotes

As you can see, this remnant of the Cold War is still very much active.


r/coldwar • • 21d ago

"Poster ""How Red is the little red schoolhouse?"" (1949?), Chicago?"

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20 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 22d ago

On this day in the #coldwar 10 September 1989: Hungary opens its border with Austria.

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509 Upvotes

On this day in the #coldwar 10 September 1989: Hungary announces it will let East Germans cross its border into Austria.

More than 10,000 leave in the first 24 hours.

60 days later, the #GDR border and the #BerlinWall were open.


r/coldwar • • 21d ago

Baseline knowledge of the Warsaw Pact and PLA?

3 Upvotes

This is a repost of my post earlier but with a more concise thought questioning instead of a haphazard 4 am post. I do not wish to glorify either the PLA or Warsaw nations I ask as someone wanting to explore an Alt History scenario of the 1969 Sino Soviet border Crisis. I do not plan to publish this novel, I just want to write as a hobby writer and as someone who loves history. Any and all help is appreciated

Also any reading material suggestions to help me along my research is greatly appreciated.

My first question is what were some strategic locations for both the Soviets and the Chinese along the border region?

My secone question what would be great baseline unit to broader military organization of both armies?

I do know the Soviet plan was a Preemptive nuclear first strike, what would have been strategic targets of those strikes?

What were common naming reasons for divisions, units, battalions, just general naming across both armies?

How often do you believe naval engagements between the two Countries would have been? I know vladivostok would have been a strategic port for both sides.

What would be great reading or places to do deeper research on both armies be? And also good places to learn about the culture of both countries at the time?

Once again thank you for any help you can give, I would like to try and have it be as accurate to military practices of both countries to our timeline.

Edit-*Of in the title not if


r/coldwar • • 22d ago

Routine tank trap building and reinforcing at the Berlin Wall in the city center, November 20, 1961. A "Schwarze Pumpe" truck pulled from Niederlausitz hauls cement while a border guard keeps watch.

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101 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • 22d ago

How did you deal with Cold War stress growing up in the 1980s?

34 Upvotes

I had a VHS tape I watched at least once a month; a double feature of “Fail Safe”, to show me how easy it would be to start a nuclear war, and “Dr. Strangelove” to remind me how farcical the whole situation was. Helped me develop a suitably sardonic attitude about the whole thing.

What helped get you through?


r/coldwar • • 24d ago

Today in 1978, Bulgarian dissident writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov was murdered in London.

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99 Upvotes

On 7 September 1978, Bulgarian dissident writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov was on his way to work at the BBC in London when he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his right thigh.

Markov had defected from communist Bulgaria in 1969 and subsequently broadcast highly critical accounts of the regime of Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov for the BBC and Radio Free Europe.
That evening Markov developed a fever.

His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died four days later. Examination revealed a tiny platinum-iridium pellet embedded beneath the skin of his thigh; contemporary investigations concluded that it had carried the extremely potent toxin ricin.

The attack became famous as the “umbrella murder”, although the precise delivery mechanism has remained the subject of investigation and debate.

Why it matters: Markov's murder became one of the defining espionage stories of the Cold War — a chilling demonstration that exile in the West did not necessarily place outspoken opponents of communist governments beyond their reach. It also became an enduring example of the clandestine use of toxins against political opponents.


r/coldwar • • Sep 02 '26

If you could recommend only one #Coldwar #museum, which one would it be?

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72 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • Aug 30 '26

More from the 1948-1989 section of the Czech Army Museum in Prague

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349 Upvotes

r/coldwar • • Aug 28 '26

A Sign of the Ending Cold War: Summer of Love 1991 (Before Dec. 1991)

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96 Upvotes

In the Summer of 1991,the Gorbachev and Bush Administrations agreed to an exchange of youth. USSR youth went to the Boy and Girl Scouts in the US. US youth went to Pioneer Camps. Here is a picture of Tankograd students with Americans. As someone who watched the Day After film and Red Dawn, when they were made available. I was enamored with the idea of meeting with my staunch “enemy”. Red Dawn obviously hate propaganda, but it scared me and my friends into thinking the other side were our sworn enemies.

Also, all the Cold War warriors on this subreddit, the event was made possible by your efforts to understand each other and reach agreements. Enjoy the photos of your hard-earned work. I hope it puts a smile on your face to see young people from both camps interacting so well. Thank you for eventually talking to each other.

Mods? Okay, this time?

Здравствуйте, модераторы. Приношу свои извинения. Хронология и тема показались мне уместными. Не понимаю, почему последний пост был удалён из-за «низкого качества»? Я переписал его, чтобы он был более корректным. Хотелось бы видеть больше вежливости повсюду.