United States Civil Defense

Publisher Description

The dangerous, decades-long arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War begged a fundamental question: how did these superpowers actually plan to survive a nuclear strike? In Armageddon Insurance, the first historical account of Soviet civil defense and a pioneering reappraisal of its American counterpart, Edward M. Geist compares how the two superpowers tried, and mostly failed, to reinforce their societies to withstand the ultimate catastrophe. Drawing on previously unexamined documents from archives in America, Russia, and Ukraine, Geist places these civil defense programs in their political and cultural contexts, demonstrating how each country's efforts reflected its cultural preoccupations and blind spots and revealing how American and Soviet civil defense related to profound issues of nuclear strategy and national values. This work challenges prevailing historical assumptions and unearths the ways Moscow and Washington developed nuclear weapons policies based not on rational strategic or technical considerations but in power struggles between different institutions pursuing their own narrow self-interests.

This textbook has been prepared by the Office of Civil Defense Staff College, Battle Creek, Michigan, for use as a student reference manual in the Civil Defense Management course. The chapters are keyed to corresponding sessions of the course. They are intended to summarize concisely the major concepts related to the subject area identified by the chapter title. They are not intended to be a comprehensive or exhaustive discussion of each subject. Students are urged to read the references cited at the end of each chapter for more detailed information. This textbook is for training purposes only and is not a policy guide document.

A brief history of civil defense administration precedes analysis of nuclear attack conditions and the influence of protective measures. Damage limitation procedure is explained in terms of--(1) blast effects, (2) radiation doses, (3) geographical fallout distribution patterns, and (4) national shelter needs. Major concept emphasis relates to--(1) lifesaving potential of improved strategic defense programs, (2) functional protection factor determination for shelters, and (3) geographic and demographic characteristics of hypothetical attack situations. Extensive substantive data and diagrams are included.