World War III

The "Baker" Explosion, part of Operation Crossroads, a US Army nuclear test at Bikini Atoll, Micronesia, on July 25, 1946.

World War III is a hypothetical future war that has not happened. It is thought that due to nuclear weapons, this war might not be survivable by many human beings. The United Nations was organized during World War II as a way to prevent WWIII.

History

In the waning days of World War II, Churchill and other western leaders contemplated attacking the Soviets as a way to honor their prewar commitment to their ally, Poland. It was codenamed Operation Unthinkable. Soviet spies got wind of it and their units in Poland were ordered to assume defensive positions. Even though the Western Allies had the Atomic Bomb and better air and sea power, the Russians enjoyed a numerical superiority in men and artillery. Both sides were too exhausted from war to want to continue the fight, and the western Allies conceded most of eastern and central Europe to the Soviets.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was another time when WWIII was narrowly averted.