World War III (1962 Conventional Warfare)

World War III (also known as the Third World War or WWIII / WW3) was a global war lasting from 1962 to 1970 and involving the vast majority of the world's nations. It pitted the United States of America, its NATO allies, and their partners against the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, as well as other Communist countries and insurgent groups worldwide. It was the most widespread conflict in human history; fighting took place in nearly every region of the globe including the Arctic and Antarctic and on every continent except Antarctica, and the war directly involved an estimated 500 million people from more than 50 countries and numerous insurgent groups. It surpassed World War II as the deadliest war in human history, with an estimated 63 million to 120 million people dead as a result of it.

The war began in October 1962 as a result of a dispute of Soviet nuclear missile bases in Cuba. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had been shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba's Communist regime in the wake of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and in response to the presence American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey. US intelligence had discovered the missiles and their launch sites, and President Kennedy ordered the Soviets to remove the missiles leading to a standoff blockade. On October 27, and American U-2 spy plane was shot down observing Cuba and another was intercepted and shot down over Siberia. President Kennedy then ordered a lightning air raid on Cuba thus World War 3 had begun, followed by a full-on military assault/offensive by the seaborne landings from the same point sites. Premier Khrushchev then ordered his armies to capture West Berlin and to attack NATO aircraft patrolling above the Eastern border. The two powers exchanged declarations of war, followed by their allies, and the war quickly spread to almost every region of the world.

American armed forces had mostly successfully occupied Cuba by November 5, taking over nuclear bases there while the Cuban Communist government fled in to exile with the tactical retreating Soviet fleet. The day after, Warsaw pact forces successfully captured West Berlin after five days of heavy fighting to which the Western Allies had fought bravely last stand but in vain as they were quickly overwhelmed by Soviet/Eastern Bloc's numerically superior forces and launched their invasion of Europe, initiating one of the most brutal theatres of the war. After heavy fighting the NATO forces were driven back to the West German capital of Bonn, where they just barely successfully defended the city from Communist Bloc forces as so they besiege the city. Soviet aircraft engaged NATO aircraft and anti-air defence over West Germany, Low Countries, France, Italy, Britain and particularly Turkey before ground attacks in a attempted to gain air superiority and destroy Allied nuclear bases in the countries, Air raids on Europe but were defeated. However, they did have more success in the land based operations including the Battle and Occupation of Istanbul(World War-1962).

The war also raged in East Asia and  Africa, as Soviet-supported Communist forces attempted to defeat Western-supported countries and gain dominance. Fighting raged in Korea, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands, as well as in Central and Southern Africa against the Soviet-supported Socialist Republic of the Congo. The Soviets also attempted an partly successful invasion of Alaska with the Soviet expeditionary forces gaining a fairly significant foothold from which to launch attacks on much of the US, and the US/UK and Soviet navies fought each other in all the world's oceans throughout the war with the largest battles including Battle of English Channel, Battles of Suez and Panama Canals, Battle of Bering Straits and others.

In autumn 1963, the Soviets attempted to break the stalemate on the Western Front by launching another blitz-like offensive of the West front with them reaching across line as far as Normandy to Alsace, By encircling Allied NATO forces along the River Seine but they were defeated in the decisive Battle of Paris. They were also losing ground in Africa and Alaska at the Battle of Anchorage as the rest of the remaining forces get push back to ocean for withdrawing back the Soviet mainland. Anti-Communist insurgent groups had started to arisen in many Warsaw Pact states by this point, and the Communist forces were facing an increasing manpower shortage.

In July 1964, the Soviets assaulted the West defence line yet again once more, but were decisively defeated at the Battle of Luxembourg in one of the largest-scale battles in the history of war. There are other major battles of the war like at Arnhem, Zeeland, Hamburg, Frankfurt, The Hague, Hanover, Munich, Brussels and attacks over London, Rome, Barcelona and other major cities just out of reach of Soviet forces. With this victory, and the growing strength of anti-Communist groups in the Eastern Bloc, the Allies were finally able to break through the stalemate and invade East Germany. They recaptured Berlin in mid-1965, granting the Free German Army the authority there acting as provisional government. In central Asia, the Soviets became bogged down in a long campaign in Iran and Pakistan, further draining their resources and supplies. In 1967, Communist forces in central and southern Africa surrendered, and South Korean forces scored a major victories over the North Koreans at Wonsan, As well as Seoul, Pyeongchang, Incheon and Pyongyang. North Vietnamese forces also suffered a major defeats at Khe Sanh along with Huế, Saigon and Mekong/Tây Nguyên and Communist insurgents in Southeast Asia were rapidly losing ground fast.

From mid 1964, the Allies began talks with the People's Republic of China for terms of entry on the western side into the war as the Sino-Soviet split reared its head and China began providing aid to the Allies after withdrawal of their troops from Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan as the Soviets cut of military aid for Chinese themselves that year. After a deal was reached in which China would make large territorial gains after the war, Chairman Mao Zedong declared war on the Soviets in June 1965. This front would prove to be the most brutal of the war, with millions of troops dying for small initial territorial gains. However, forced into a two-front war, the Soviets began to lose ground quickly, with their economy and society taking incredible strain. Popular resistance in Warsaw Pact countries led to the defection of most of their rebellious governments by the end of 1968, and a NATO-Allied invasion of Russia soon after leading to the Liberation of the Baltic states and a score of them major victories on the Eastern Front's Soviet national territories. With their military strength crippled, the Soviets were forced to sue for peace as NATO Allied forces were approaching outlining areas surrounding Moscow, which was concluded the following year in the Treaty of Berlin (1970).

World War III irreversible altered the changed of the world and its political structure forever. Communist regimes were overthrown worldwide and democratic elections were held. The UN was strengthened to prevent all war, and it led a reconstruction effort to rebuild large parts of the world that were devastated by the war. With the fall of Communism, economic integration and globalization emerged, and the European and Asian Unions were formed in an effort to create common identities.