August 1969 Clashes in Xinjiang

Nick recounts the Lake Zolokhanashkal engagement and how fighting at opposite frontier ends signaled wider escalation risk.

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Episode notes

Many people think that the closest the world ever came to nuclear war was during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

To be sure, that was a very tenuous point in history.

However, there is a good argument to be made that the closest the world has come to nuclear war actually took place in 1969. The reason most people are unaware of what happened is that it had nothing to do with the United States.

It was two other nuclear powers who almost went to war.

Learn more about the 1969 Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, how it changed the course of the Cold War, and almost led to nuclear disaster on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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