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First Strike

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	First Strike	label	First Strike
	First Strike	page	FirstStrike
	First Strike	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })First Strike is a 1979 documentary produced by the United States Air Force, first airing on PBS, that explored the potential for the contemporary threat posed by a nuclear surprise attack by the Soviet Union and then recommended a number of then-up and coming defense projects to guard against that threat. All of which were in the purview of the Air Force, of course.It's important for modern viewers to understand the historical context of this documentary. First Strike was produced at the start of the "Second Cold War," in which the Soviet Union underwent a massive buildup of its own military forces, resuming an aggressive expansionistic political stance after the period of détente that followed the Cuban Missile Crisis.Aside from its historical value, the documentary is noteworthy because portions of the dramatization, as well as unused clips, were part of the Stock Footage employed in the 1983 Made-for-TV Movie The Day After.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The documentary's producer, Fleming "Tex" Fuller, has uploaded it in full on YouTube, viewable here.Not to be confused with the Halo novel, Jackie Chan's movie, or the Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC.
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	First Strike / int_b6e1d40b	type	Acceptable Breaks from Reality
	First Strike / int_b6e1d40b	comment	Acceptable Breaks from Reality: Military historians generally agree that the scenario depicted in the first part of the film is extremely unrealistic. For one, the Soviet Navy would never have been able to reach the US East and West Coasts undetected, mainly because Soviet submarine technology in 1979 could never breach American sonar detection. Also, the US President surrenders a bit too easily; in real life, the Soviet strike would have been met by the full mobilization of all conventional NATO forces in Europe; the Warsaw Pact's superior conventional numbers would not be an issue to the NATO invaders, as it is well-known that Soviet equipment was often defective, plagued by maintenance issues and malfunctions, making the Soviet Army and its allies a "paper tiger". Also not taken into account are the British and French nuclear arsenals, nor the NATO arsenal shared by Belgium, Italy, Greece, Canada and West Germany, which the Soviets didn't bother dealing with and would most likely come back to haunt them in the form of a decapitation strike on Moscow that would certainly destroy or severly cripple the Soviet government and liberate the United States, not to mention the high probability of a nuclear strike and/or conventional invasion from China (on account of the Chinese being certain that, with the Soviets attacking the US, China would be next). Finally, the Soviet occupation would quickly fall apart because the surviving civilian populace (only eight million people are killed in the scenario depicted) would be so uncooperative and belligerent, the Soviet victory would soon become meaningless because they would learn the hard way that just because you've conquered the United States mainland doesn't mean its people will be receptive to Communist ideals. Quite the opposite, in fact. For the Air Force's purposes, however, all of this was an acceptable break from reality. After all, part of the point of this documentary was to convince policymakers to fund the service's strategic projects.
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