Our world is a giant network. Everyone and everything is connected or associated with one another even if no one realizes it. What a complete stranger does across the globe can and often does have serious consequences for you. The imminent, constant, gnawing fear that nuclear annihilation was just moments away united almost everyone during the Cold War especially in the two superpowers. This shared experience not only bonded them together but it also kept each side from pushing the ‘red’ button. Each side was just as aware what would happened if push actually came to shove. Despite grandiose rhetoric from leaders and citizens on both sides everyone kept the nuclear option under control. That’s not to say the rhetoric had not effect on the situation. Reagan is a great example of this, only five years from the dissolution of the USSR he is making aggressive speeches and cranking up the United States military. This elicits a response from the Soviet military that leads to a mobilization and could have led to war. Reagan’s rhetoric and policies also created shared experiences. The USS Wisconsin was recommissioned 40 years after it had been built and a whole new generation of Americans served and slept on the same ship my Grandfather did. From World War Two to Korea to the First Gulf War the USS Wisconsin and the shared experience of the men who sailed her cruised around the world as America’s muscle.
Reagan’s inflammatory speeches and massive military expenditures frightened the Soviet society from leader to peasant. Fear was the overarching concern, it covered everything and permeated into everyday life. Reliable, accurate information was hard to come by in either society. Propaganda was put to great and effective use in conveying the opposing side in the most disturbing light. Citizens on both sides genuinely thought that the end could come any moment. That nuclear war was just minutes away and they would have almost no warning nor was any preparation really going to help them. Though the press was more open in the United States propaganda was just as prevalent and not many journalistic sources covered cold war events from an unbiased standpoint. Both countries wanted to win and this included the journalists. Most Soviet citizens lived in the countryside working in jobs selected by the state living in state provided housing or in communal apartments furnished by the state in cities. Residences were communal, bland, and unappealing. Limited space and many people meant community areas such as bathrooms were areas of contention and conflict. This lifestyle for the average Soviet citizen was vastly different from the consumerist America. The state and communist party’s control over every aspect of life lent to much monotony, boredom, and inefficiency. The lack of markets based in supply and demand meant huge disparaties in consumer goods. Waiting in long lines to acquire basic goods was a common occurrence in Soviet society. The divergence of much needed resources to the military further increased hardships on the average citizen.
The Soviet Union and the United States had been involved in this international chess games for decades. The pattern of move and counter move was evident, Reagan and Gorbachev were no exception. Example: the Soviets would unveil a new missile. so the US would move more missiles or interceptors to western Europe. This type of behavior was typical of the state level of interaction at this stage. So it would be expected that the soviets would fashion some response to the massive military buildup by the United States and aggressive rhetoric that Reagan was using. Reagan’s rhetoric especially the ‘evil empire’ speech was seen as threatening by the Soviets. In response to the United States of America the soviet military, “Vladimir Slipchenko, then a member of the Soviet General Staff. said “The military, the armed forces . . . used this,” he added, “as a reason to begin a very intense preparation inside the military for a state of war.” Furthermore, “we started to run huge strategic exercises. . . . These were the first military exercises in which we really tested our mobilization. We didn’t just exercise the ground forces but also the strategic arms.” The strategic arms of the soviet military included, the nuclear weapons component and air defense which were considered seperate from the Soviet Army. The experience in the Soviet Union was at the least one of concern. Leaders and citizens if they could get the information heard the words of Reagan and were worried that World War Three was around the corner. Millions of soviet soliders participated in these mobilization excersise. Soviet military spending though remained constant. Gorbachev did not include more money in the budget to match the US. In fact toward the end of the 1980s the soviet military budget was shrinking.
Life aboard the USS Wisconsin was an unique expereince. My grandfather Frank Chapman served on the Wisconsin during WW2 and Korea. The crew worked in shifts seven days a week in their off time they would sleep in a small bunk or hammock that had just been used by the man who was off shift. Despite the hardships of living at sea in such proximity to other people along with the constant worry about being killed, the sailors were generally proud to serve. Grandpa Frank along with the other sailors were proud of America, proud of the Wisconsin, and were proud to be in the Navy. Boredom was the dominant emotion, followed by brief intense fear when in combat. Despite the hardships, cramped quarters, bad food, risk of death, seperation from home and family, boredom and others most men were proud of their time on board and were proud of the United States of America. This sentiment seems to be common over the four decades the Wisconsin served. Whether it was shelling Japanese positions in 1943 or firing tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi positions in 1991 pride was the common factor linking its crew.
s Phillip Roth in The Plot Against America uses his stamp collection as a shared experience with his country and fellow Americans but it also plays an important figure with the idea of network. The mail system is one of the oldest networks in our country. This symbol of connectivity and shared expierence is similiar to the USS Wisconsin patch. Whether it was my Grandfather wearing it in 1952 off the coast of Korea or a sailor wearing it off the coast of Kuwait in 1991 they use the patch to share an experience and connect thier experiences despite the great distance of time.
Patch worn by sailors on USS Wisconsin
Crew on board USS Wisconsin
USS Wisconsin firing her guns during the 1991 gulf war
The USS Wisconsin is a Iowa Class battleship built during the Second World War. It served in the pacific theater fighting the Japanese. Following the second world war it also served in teh Korea conflict. Providing artillery support for American and United Nations forces fighting on the peninsula or shelling the opposing North Korean forces. Decommissioned following the Korean war it was recommissioned during Reagans build up in 1986. The battleship had reached its peak of power right before the second world war. With the advent of the aircraft as the dominant force in naval warfare, the battleship was relegated to a secondary role. The days of big surface fleets shooting it out were over. Land based and naval based aircraft could sink a battleship before the battleship could get in range to even fire off a shot.
The USS Wisconsin and her sister ships were the most powerful battleships built by the United States of America. Their sixteen inch guns could launch a shell weighing 2,400 pounds over 23 miles away very very accurately especially with the advent of computers. When firing a full broadside the radio and other such equipment would be temporarily disabled by the shock and power of the guns firing.
The United States Navy was a major winner as a result of the incease in Reagan’s military budget. Multiple new ships, submarines, and weapons were reasearched and built because of the extra money. New nimitz class super carriers were built and the old ones refitted to serve longer. Overall the navy was the biggest winner of the American armed services in this way. As part of the plan the Iowa class battleships which were built during world war two were refitted, modernized and sent to serve once again in the active Navy. My mother’s father was a serviceman on the USS Wisconsin which was one of the battleships refitted for service during the 1980s. Before its first decommsioning the Wisconsin served in the pacific during World War two and also in the Korean War.
USS Abraham Lincoln- Nimitz Class Supercarrier- ordered under 600 ship navy
Ronald Reagan was convinced that capitalism was the better system. He despised communism for a number of reasons. They ranged from his belief in capitalism and everyone working for themselves to his steadfast belief in God which the Soviets labeled at the opiate of the masses. Following his election to the Presidency he kept his campaign promise and adopted a more aggressive confrontational posture toward the Soviet Union. Part of this confrontation included a massive increase in military spending. Some of the programs that received increased funding besides the regular military were SDI(star wars) which was a space based ballistic missile defense project, also the navy was being revamped and expanded to what Reagan called 600 ship navy. Reagan increased military spending by about 100 billion per fiscal year. This program was more than just being prepared for a war. This massive increase in military spending was a direct challenge to the USSR because the USA had a well established lead in military technology. Reagan wanted to bolster patriotism, pride, and preperation at home while scaring the Soviets.
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