Able Archer 83 crisis
E941980
The Able Archer 83 crisis was a tense Cold War incident in November 1983 when a NATO nuclear war exercise was misinterpreted by the Soviet Union as a possible real first strike, bringing the superpowers perilously close to nuclear conflict.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Cold War crisis
ⓘ
military exercise-related incident ⓘ nuclear war scare ⓘ |
| characterizedBy | misperception and miscommunication between superpowers ⓘ |
| countryInvolved |
Soviet Union
ⓘ
United Kingdom ⓘ United States of America ⓘ
surface form:
United States
West Germany NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| describedBySource |
NATO archival materials
ⓘ
Soviet and Russian memoirs ⓘ declassified UK documents ⓘ declassified US documents ⓘ |
| endTime | November 1983 ⓘ |
| followedBy |
late Cold War de-escalation initiatives
ⓘ
renewed US–Soviet dialogue in mid-1980s ⓘ |
| hasCause |
NATO command post exercise Able Archer 83
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Operation RYaN NERFINISHED ⓘ Soviet fear of a surprise nuclear first strike ⓘ heightened Cold War tensions ⓘ |
| hasEffect |
concern within US and UK intelligence communities
ⓘ
increased awareness of nuclear escalation risks ⓘ influence on subsequent arms control thinking ⓘ later historical debate about how close the world came to nuclear war ⓘ reassessment of NATO exercise realism ⓘ |
| hasPart | Able Archer 83 exercise ⓘ |
| location |
Central Europe
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
East Germany NERFINISHED ⓘ Europe ⓘ Soviet Union NERFINISHED ⓘ West Germany NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| participant |
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Warsaw Pact NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf |
Cold War
ⓘ
Second Cold War NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| pointInTime | November 1983 ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Euromissile crisis
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shootdown ⓘ Operation RYaN NERFINISHED ⓘ deployment of Pershing II missiles in Europe ⓘ |
| riskType | nuclear escalation risk ⓘ |
| significantEvent |
NATO nuclear release procedures simulation
ⓘ
Soviet nuclear forces alert measures ⓘ increased readiness of Soviet air units in Eastern Europe ⓘ intelligence reporting to Western governments about Soviet reactions ⓘ misinterpretation of NATO exercise as possible real attack ⓘ |
| startTime | November 1983 ⓘ |
| temporalContext |
Andropov leadership in the Soviet Union
ⓘ
Reagan administration NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.