World War III

Nuclear warfare is a common theme of World War III scenarios. Such a conflict has been hypothesized to result in human extinction.

World War III is the name given to a possible third world war. It refers to a world war that may happen. It would be the successor to World War II (1939–1945).

A world war might be fought by multiple countries of the world against one other, sometimes across different continents. An all-out war fought between two or three major superpowers would be a world war.

Because technology and weapons have become so advanced, most people agree that if World War III ever happens, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons may be used. Biological weapons are living things, usually bacteria or viruses. Chemical weapons might not kill quickly but poison people or their land. Together, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons are called weapons of mass destruction. Conventional weapons, on the other hand are "normal" weapons like guns or non-nuclear bombs.

Mass destruction could damage much of the Earth, kill many humans, animals and other living things, and cause the collapse of modern civilization. Albert Einstein is often quoted as having said: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones". Einstein might not have actually said this, but other things that he said show that he believed the weapons used in World War III might be so devastating that they would end civilization as we know it.^[1]

Actual events called World War III

Some events, for example the Cold War, have been called "World War III." US President George W. Bush compared the War on Terrorism to World War III.^[2]

Neither was even remotely like what a world war would be. The Cold War was not fought on a large scale, and the Iraq War was largely conventional and was mostly contained in one general area. Terrorism is indeed a form of conflict, but it is not a world war.

World War III Media

Nuclear warfare is a common theme of World War III scenarios. Such a conflict has been hypothesized to possibly result in or lead to human extinction.
If activated, Operation Reforger would have largely consisted of convoys like this one from Operation Earnest Will in 1987, although much larger. While troops could easily fly across the Atlantic, the heavy equipment and armor reinforcements would have to come by sea.
A Warsaw Pact invasion would have come via three main paths through West Germany.
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet double agent Oleg Gordievsky, who later told the West how close the Able Archer 83 exercise had brought the Soviets to ordering a First Strike.
An example of nuclear artillery power test in the U.S.
Protest in Amsterdam against the nuclear arms race between the U.S./NATO and the Soviet Union, 1981
United States M48 tanks face Soviet Union T-55 tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, October 1961.
A US Navy HSS-1 Seabat helicopter hovers over Soviet submarine B-59, forced to the surface by US Naval forces in the Caribbean near Cuba. B-59 had a nuclear torpedo on board, and three officer keys were required to use it. Only one dissent prevented the submarine from attacking the US fleet nearby, a spark that could have led to a Third World War (28–29 October 1962).
Destruction of Russian BMP-3 IFV by Ukrainian troops in Mariupol on 7 March 2022.
Large nuclear weapons stockpile with global range (dark blue), smaller stockpile with global range (medium blue), smaller stockpile with regional range (light blue)