In November 1983, the ABC network premiered The Day After, a film dramatizing World War III from the vantage point of ordinary Americans in and around Lawrence, Kansas. The film provided a plausible flashpoint for conflict: the Warsaw Pact begins a military buildup followed by a blockade of Berlin. When the deadline for an ultimatum passes the next day, NATO forces attack East Germany, and in turn are overrun by advancing Soviet forces. Tactical nuclear weapons are deployed, and soon after, both sides launch their entire nuclear arsenals. About half the cast clings to life, and we are left with little hope that any of them will survive the extended effects of fallout, starvation, and civilizational collapse.
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