Friday 13 March, 1981. The Soviet UnionOfficially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991. has invaded YugoslaviaWhen the map of Europe was redrawn after World War I, Yugoslavia was created as a monarchy. During the Second World War, communists led by Josip Tito eventually triumphed in struggles between different factions. He kept Yugoslavia united under a constitution modelled on the Soviet Union, and ruled as a dictator until 1980. Yugoslavia collapsed in 1992.. Within days, then Labour leader and the Archbishop of Canterbury are arrested at a peace march in Trafalgar Square. After British military bases are bombed, the United Kingdom unleashes 29 nuclear missiles on the Soviet Union.
Britain’s secret plans for nuclear apocalypse
Friday 13 March, 1981. The Soviet UnionOfficially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991. has invaded YugoslaviaWhen the map of Europe was redrawn after World War I, Yugoslavia was created as a monarchy. During the Second World War, communists led by Josip Tito eventually triumphed in struggles between different factions. He kept Yugoslavia united under a constitution modelled on the Soviet Union, and ruled as a dictator until 1980. Yugoslavia collapsed in 1992.. Within days, then Labour leader and the Archbishop of Canterbury are arrested at a peace march in Trafalgar Square. After British military bases are bombed, the United Kingdom unleashes 29 nuclear missiles on the Soviet Union.
On the morning of 21 March, the Queen delivers a speech to the nation announcing the beginning of World War Three.
"Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me," she reads.
This scenario is from the Wintex-Cimex plan, which was designed to prepare the West for nuclear warfare at the height of the Cold WarA period of diplomatic conflict between blocs led by the USA and the USSR that lasted from 1947 until 1991, when the USSR collapsed.. Now, it is all revealed to the public at the National Archive's Protect and Survive exhibition.
The name comes from a booklet issued by Margaret ThatcherBritain's first female prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the modern era.'s government in 1980. Advice includes painting windows white to reflect the heat from radioactive blasts, alongside tips on how to label and store dead bodies.
Ever wondered how to build a nuclear bunker? At the exhibition, you can walk into a model hide-out. It is stocked with tinned pies and special edition Charles and Diana liquorice.
"We want people to think, 'How would I have coped if the worst had happened?'," says exhibition curator Mark Dunton.
Between the end of World War Two and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, NatoThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members. allies (including the US and the UK) were locked in a tense stand-off with nuclear-armed Soviet Russia.
At low points like the 1962 Cuban Missile CrisisA confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union that occurred after the USSR installed missiles on the island of Cuba, within 140km of Florida., the world was just seconds away from catastrophe.
"I hid under my blankets when I went to sleep for about six months, waiting for the missiles to drop on my house and melt my Star Wars toys," said Justyn Taylor, who grew up in Cardiff in the 1980s.
There are over 14,000 nuclear warheads in the world today. While the threat has receded since North Korea tested a Hydrogen bomb in 2017, global tensions remain high.
Last year, it emerged that the world's super-rich are buying nuclear bunkers in 15-storey underground luxury complexes.
Should we prepare for nuclear war?
India and Pakistan, the US and North Korea - what would it take for these stand-offs to explode, even by accident? What's more, new technology brings new threats. In his book Hacking the Bomb, Dr Andrew Futter proposes that a terror group could, one day, hack missile systems.
But according to deterrence theory, the threat of mutually assured destruction has kept the world at relative peace since World War Two. "They make the cost of war seem frighteningly high," wrote political scientist Kenneth Waltz. Is starting a nuclear war really in anyone's interest? Perhaps it's not time to build a bunker just yet.
Q & A
What do we know? The Protect and Survive exhibition opens at the National Archives in Richmond on 4 April - which marks the 70th anniversary of the formation of Nato. It closes on 9 November, exactly 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which marked a major thawing in relations between the West and Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War.
What do we not know? How close the world is to nuclear war. At the start of the Cold War, the Doomsday Clock was developed to show metaphorically how close humanity is to destruction. Today, it is set at two minutes to "midnight". The last time it gave so severe a warning was in 1953, at the height of the nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union.
Soviet Union - Officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991.
Yugoslavia - When the map of Europe was redrawn after World War I, Yugoslavia was created as a monarchy. During the Second World War, communists led by Josip Tito eventually triumphed in struggles between different factions. He kept Yugoslavia united under a constitution modelled on the Soviet Union, and ruled as a dictator until 1980. Yugoslavia collapsed in 1992.
Cold War - A period of diplomatic conflict between blocs led by the USA and the USSR that lasted from 1947 until 1991, when the USSR collapsed.
Margaret Thatcher - Britain's first female prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the modern era.
Nato - The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members.
Cuban Missile Crisis - A confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union that occurred after the USSR installed missiles on the island of Cuba, within 140km of Florida.
Britain’s secret plans for nuclear apocalypse

Glossary
Soviet Union - Officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). A powerful group of communist republics, the biggest being Russia, that existed from 1922 to 1991.
Yugoslavia - When the map of Europe was redrawn after World War I, Yugoslavia was created as a monarchy. During the Second World War, communists led by Josip Tito eventually triumphed in struggles between different factions. He kept Yugoslavia united under a constitution modelled on the Soviet Union, and ruled as a dictator until 1980. Yugoslavia collapsed in 1992.
Cold War - A period of diplomatic conflict between blocs led by the USA and the USSR that lasted from 1947 until 1991, when the USSR collapsed.
Margaret Thatcher - Britain’s first female prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the modern era.
Nato - The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 to unite Western democracies in Europe and North America against the perceived growing threat of the USSR. It now has 31 members.
Cuban Missile Crisis - A confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union that occurred after the USSR installed missiles on the island of Cuba, within 140km of Florida.