With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

U.S. Nuclear War Plan Option Sought Destruction of China and Soviet Union as “Viable” Societies

U.S. nuclear war plans during the Johnson administration included the option of a retaliatory strike against nuclear, conventional military, and urban-industrial targets with the purpose of removing the Soviet Union “from the category of a major industrial power” and destroying it as a “viable” society.

This is one of the disclosures from a Joint Staff review of the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), obtained via a Mandatory Declassification Review request by the George Washington University-based National Security Archive and posted on our site today.

Another recently declassified document the Archive acquired through MDR includes a telling feature of U.S. plans during the Johnson administration for advance authorization of nuclear weapons use. In the event the Soviets launched a surprise attack and the U.S. president was missing in action, U.S. strategic forces would launch a retaliatory strike against the entire Sino-Soviet bloc – except for Yugoslavia.

Read entire article at National Security Archive