What if Movie Scenario~Red Dawn

World War 3 began in 1984, the Communists invaded the US, and it's up to a team of High Schoolers to stop them. This is the story plot of the 1984 movie; Red Dawn starring (the late, great) Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson, and Charlie Sheen.

Fun Fact: Red Dawn is the first US movie to be given the "PG-13" rating.

But, what if the events of the movie were to actually happen? This is what this wiki page will try to cover.

First, I'll tell you a brief generalization of the movie's back story. Because this is a brief generalization, you don't have to worry about spoilers.

## Back Story

Starting in an alternate 1980, in Soviet Ukraine, sudden changes in the climate there has basically decimated the wheat fields, thus making it nearly impossible to make enough wheat products to feed the Soviet people. This causes a famine on a scale not seen since the end of the Russian Civil War, the Soviet people are starving and getting more desperate.

This causes massive upheaval in the Warsaw Pact states such as Poland as anti-communist uprisings sprout up like weeds. This leads to Soviet forces to invade Poland to suppress the uprisings as well as the other Soviet satellite states, World War 3 has begun, over time the USSR would raise up the iron curtain and bowl through Western Europe, eventually the entire European continent was under the Soviet Sickle and Hammer, casing NATO to dissolve. Though the Soviets are still fighting against the Brits.

Meanwhile in Central America, a Communist uprising in Nicaragua (with aid from Cuba) secure a foothold in the nation, causing more Communist uprisings in Central America, eventually they gotten so bad that Mexico just.......keels over and dies.

This is where we come to the good ol' US of A. With most of Europe, NATO, and Mexico knocked out by the Communists, the USA is one of the fewer countries to remain independent from this Communist chaos that is going on in much of the world, and it's now ripe for an invasion.

Eventually, the Soviets and the Latin Communists (namely Cuba and Nicaragua) invade the USA. The Soviets invade Alaska and bowl through parts of Canada, the Latin Communists go through a now dead Mexico and invade the US from the south, taking several states such as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Louisiana. The Soviets would also use Nukes to destroy some of America's major cities (namely New York, Washington DC and possibly Chicago)

This is where the actual movie takes off, as the Soviets para-dropped near a local High School in Colorado, the few survivors evacuate and a group of these high schoolers (namely Swayze, Thompson, and Sheen) calling themselves the "WOLVERINES!!!" (after their high school football team) fight a Gorilla War against the Soviets and Latin Communists.

## What if?

Now here's your question. What if the events of the movie actually happened in the real world?

Now. I myself only saw bits and parts of the movie. But also by studying it online and comparing it to the dynamics of our world during the time of the movie. I noticed that there are a few errors the movie made, especially regarding on what would happen \*if\* the events of the movie were to occur, and it begins after the Opening Credits are finished.

First off (and as stated before) the Soviets para-dropped by a High School while it was still in session.

Yeah, movie problem #1 on this page.

In our world, the US Government would've bolstered their defenses, like, thousand fold if they even got information that a Communist invasion was imminent. They would also notify the EBS (Emergency Broadcast System) telling people to stay home as this war is already being fought for several years. So, what happened in the beginning wouldn't happen since schools across the nation would be shut down.

The USA would also booster their military, and "possibly" introduce the draft and conscript young men and women to fight. They would also bring all kinds of aid to Europe instead of it just letting the Soviets just bowl them over. So the Americans wouldn't fight the Soviets in their own backyards, more than likely a ground battle would take place in Europe.

Ha, hah. Another problem. If this war was going to be just like any regular conventional war. A land battle wouldn't happen, not in America, and not in Europe. It would be fought mostly at sea, and the air. Another fact is that the USA definitely had the advantage in this particular topic as both the USA and Europe knew that fighting the Soviets on the ground was basically suicide.

Though, the counter argument for this is that the Soviets' manpower (in the movie) was stretched thin.

That's because the Soviets weren't just fighting in America, and Europe. They were also fighting in China, according to the movie the Soviets Nuked not just the USA, they also Nuked China (killing 600 Million Chinese people in the process), they also sent land troops to fight against the Chinese army. So, America has an unlikely ally in China in the movie.

Now, you may ask me this question. "Johnny, China is Communist too, wouldn't they aid the Soviets?"

Well, you probably forgotten one thing; the "Sino-Soviet Split" where China believed that it can be a better leader of the Communist world than the USSR following the death of Stalin in 1953, not to mention that during the 1960s the Soviets and the Chinese were locked in some fierce border skirmishes which almost had nukes involved, and the Soviets feared that even if they can hold their won against the US and Europe, they would leave themselves open for an invasion by China, so they would also invade China to protect themselves.

Another problem the movie made was the ease of invasion by the Latin Communists and how they were to occupy several American States in the process. In our world if the events of the movie actually took place. The Latin Communists would have ran into trouble as soon as they reached the US border, even if the US was hit by several Nukes, it would be able to fend off the Latin Communists, especially that the US has strengthened their border defenses.

To put this in perspective, we have to talk a bit about the first Persian Gulf War. As Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, the US came in and quickly pushed the Iraqi forces out of the small Middle Eastern nation (thus Operation: Desert Storm). Hussein's military strength was roughly that of the Latin Communists in the movie, so if the US were to defeat a small nation's military easily, it can also happen in our world, if the events of the movie really happened.

As said before, the USA was hit by several nukes (as New York and DC were destroyed). The other problem is that Hollywood always portray the US as a "goodie-2 Shoe" who is reluctant of using Nukes (apart from the destruction they can cause on so many levels). In reality, the US would have no qualms using Nukes if they absolutely have to, and if a foreign Nuclear Power uses Nukes against the US (especially if it's an actual nation, and not a terrorist network) they too would be given the green light to use nukes to take out strategic targets such as military, naval and air bases as well as industrial centers. But in the USSR lot of these facilities are also very close to major population centers (e.g., major cities) so taking out a Soviet base or industrial center, means you also take out the city nearby.

Or it could just simply be like my Alternate history wiki page What if~The Cold War had actually got Hot?, all Major cities in the norther hemisphere destroyed, half the Earth is a radiated wasteland, and all that jazz. You get the point by now.

Well, that'll do it for this page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.