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'''Continuity of government''' ('''COG'''), commonly referred to in public policy documents as '''Continuity of Operations''' ('''COOP'''), is the principle of establishing defined procedures, protocols, [[executive order]]s, [[Presidential Emergency Action Document]]s (PEADs), hardened [[Deep Underground Military Base|underground installations]], secure [[redundant communications|communications grids]], and pre-cleared continuity personnel that together ensure a [[government]] can continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] or any event that disables the visible [[United States federal government|federal government]].<ref name="Graff17">{{cite book |last=Graff |first=Garrett M. |title=Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=9781476735405 |pages=3–15}}</ref>


'''Continuity of Government''' ('''COG''')—commonly referred to in public policy documents as '''Continuity of Operations''' ('''COOP''')—is the integrated network of [[classified]] protocols, [[executive order]]s, [[Presidential Emergency Action Document]]s (PEADs), hardened [[Deep Underground Military Base|underground installations]], secure [[redundant communications|communications grids]], and pre-cleared continuity personnel that together ensure the United States can be governed after any event that disables the visible [[United States federal government|federal government]].<ref name="Graff17">{{cite book |last=Graff |first=Garrett M. |title=Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=9781476735405 |pages=3–15}}</ref>
Continuity of government was developed by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] before and during [[World War II]] to counter threats, such as that of the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' bombing during the [[Battle of Britain]]. The need for continuity of government plans gained new urgency with [[nuclear proliferation]]. During and after the [[Cold War]] countries developed such plans to avoid (or minimize) confusion and disorder due to a [[power vacuum]] in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. In the US, COG is no longer limited to nuclear emergencies; the [[Continuity of Operations Plan]] was activated following the [[September 11 attacks]].


COG is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as [[nuclear war]]. COG planning was pioneered by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] before and during [[World War II]] to counter the threat of strategic aerial bombardment (e.g., the [[Luftwaffe]] attacks during the [[Battle of Britain]]). The imperative for continuity of government plans gained new urgency in the nuclear era, as the advent of [[thermonuclear weapon]]s raised the specter of nation-ending strikes. During and after the [[Cold War]], many countries developed such plans to prevent confusion and disorder stemming from a [[power vacuum]] in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.
== History ==
 
=== Early evolution in the United States ===
In the United States, COG is no longer limited to nuclear emergencies; the federal [[Continuity of Operations Plan]] was activated for the first time following the [[September 11 attacks]], with a secret “shadow government” dispatched to secure locations, and has remained in effect in some form thereafter. The continuity system was also implemented during the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]] in 2021, when emergency protocols were put into action at the White House and other federal institutions.
Formal continuity planning in the United States began under President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who ordered construction of dispersed “alternate seats of government” such as [[Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center|Mount Weather]], the [[Raven Rock Mountain Complex]] (Site R), and the [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]].<ref name="Graff17"/> [[National Security Decision Directive 55]] (1982) and [[Executive Order 12656]] (1988) assigned every federal agency an emergency mission and pre-delegated lines of succession.<ref>{{cite web |title=Executive Order 12656 – Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12656.html |publisher=National Archives |date=1988-11-18 |access-date=2025-05-18}}</ref>
 
== Early evolution ==
Formal continuity planning began under President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who ordered construction of dispersed “alternate seats of government” such as [[Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center|Mount Weather]], the [[Raven Rock Mountain Complex]] (Site R), and the [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]].<ref name="Graff17" /> [[National Security Decision Directive 55]] (1982) and [[Executive Order 12656]] (1988) assigned every federal agency an emergency mission and pre-delegated lines of succession.<ref name="EO12656">{{cite web |title=Executive Order 12656 – Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12656.html |publisher=National Archives |date=1988-11-18 |access-date=2025-05-18}}</ref>


During the Reagan era, FEMA and the [[National Security Council]] ran the classified exercise series '''REX 84''', reportedly drafted by Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]], which outlined mass-detention lists and nationwide [[martial law]]. Representative [[Jack Brooks]]’s attempt to question North about REX 84 during the [[Iran–Contra hearings]] was cut off on national television, confirming the plan’s existence without disclosing details.
During the Reagan era, FEMA and the [[National Security Council]] ran the classified exercise series '''REX 84''', reportedly drafted by Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]], which outlined mass-detention lists and nationwide [[martial law]]. Representative [[Jack Brooks]]’s attempt to question North about REX 84 during the [[Iran–Contra hearings]] was cut off on national television, confirming the plan’s existence without disclosing details.


== Activation on 11 September 2001 ==
=== Activation on 11 September 2001 ===
COG was activated for the first time on September 11, 2001. President [[George W. Bush]] signed a classified emergency order that sent roughly 100 mid-level officials from every Cabinet department to bunkers at Mount Weather and Site R to run a rotating “shadow government.” Vice-President [[Dick Cheney]] directed continuity operations from undisclosed locations linked by secure video circuits.<ref name="Graff17" />
COG was activated for the first time on September 11, 2001. President [[George W. Bush]] signed a classified emergency order that sent roughly 100 mid-level officials from every Cabinet department to bunkers at Mount Weather and Site R to run a rotating “shadow government.” Vice-President [[Dick Cheney]] directed continuity operations from undisclosed locations linked by secure video circuits.<ref name="Graff17"/>


== Legal framework after 2001 ==
=== Legal framework after 2001 ===
* '''[[National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive|NSPD-51/HSPD-20]]''' (2007) established a [[National Continuity Coordinator]] in the [[White House]] and defined eight “National Essential Functions” to be protected at all times.<ref name="NSPD51">{{cite web |title=NSPD-51: National Continuity Policy |url=https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/nspd/nspd-51.htm |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |date=2007-05-09 |access-date=2025-05-18}}</ref>
* '''[[National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive|NSPD-51/HSPD-20]]''' (2007) established a [[National Continuity Coordinator]] in the [[White House]] and defined eight “National Essential Functions” to be protected at all times.<ref name="NSPD51">{{cite web |title=NSPD-51: National Continuity Policy |url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-51.htm |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |date=2007-05-09 |access-date=2025-05-18}}</ref>
* '''[[Presidential Policy Directive 40]]''' (2016) required every executive department to maintain a 30-day [[Continuity of Operations Plan]].
* '''[[Presidential Policy Directive 40]]''' (2016) required every executive department to maintain a 30-day [[Continuity of Operations Plan]].
* '''[[Executive Order 13961]]''' (2020) merged cyber-resilience and continuity doctrine into a single concept, “Federal Mission Resilience.”
* '''[[Executive Order 13961]]''' (2020) merged cyber-resilience and continuity doctrine into a single concept, “Federal Mission Resilience.”


'''Presidential Emergency Action Documents'''—secret executive orders pre-staged for crisis signature—date to the Eisenhower era; declassified summaries show past drafts suspended [[habeas corpus]] and authorized military tribunals.<ref name="Graff17" />
'''Presidential Emergency Action Documents'''—secret executive orders pre-staged for crisis signature—date to the Eisenhower era; declassified summaries show past drafts suspended [[habeas corpus]] and authorized military tribunals.


== Facilities and infrastructure ==
=== Facilities and infrastructure ===
COG relies on a constellation of deep underground facilities: [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Cheyenne Mountain]], Mount Weather, Site R, and additional classified bunkers beneath the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. Independent witnesses such as former government geologist [[Philip Schneider]] have described a nationwide [[maglev]] shuttle network (“TAUSS”) linking continuity hubs and non-public research sites.<ref name="Graff17" />
COG relies on a constellation of deep underground facilities: [[Cheyenne Mountain]], Mount Weather, Site R, and additional classified bunkers beneath the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. Independent witnesses such as former government geologist [[Philip Schneider]] have described a nationwide [[maglev]] shuttle network (“[[TAUSS]]”) linking continuity hubs and non-public research sites.


== 21st-century deployments ==
=== 21st-century deployments ===
* '''COVID-19 (2020–2021).''' [[United States Northern Command|USNORTHCOM]] issued standby orders codenamed '''Octagon''', '''Freejack''', and '''Zodiac''' to prepare for mass incapacitation of national leaders.<ref name="Newsweek2020">{{cite web |title=Inside the Military’s Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government |url=https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-plans-coronavirus-cripples-government-1492878 |publisher=Newsweek |date=2020-03-18 |access-date=2025-05-18}}</ref>
* '''COVID-19 (2020–2021).''' [[United States Northern Command|USNORTHCOM]] issued standby orders codenamed '''Octagon''', '''Freejack''', and '''Zodiac''' to prepare for mass incapacitation of national leaders.
* '''U.S. Capitol attack (January 6, 2021).''' Emergency relocation and secure-communications protocols were activated when rioters breached the [[United States Capitol]].
* '''U.S. Capitol attack (January 6, 2021).''' Emergency relocation and secure-communications protocols were activated when rioters breached the [[United States Capitol]].


== Integration with advanced and non-human contingencies ==
=== Integration with advanced and non-human contingencies ===
Whistleblowers have linked COG channels to programs dealing with recovered [[unidentified anomalous phenomena|non-human technology]] and post-disclosure governance. Former intelligence officer [[David Grusch]] testified in 2023 that a decades-long crash-retrieval effort is coordinated through the same compartmented authorities that oversee continuity deployments. In 2020, former Israeli space-security director [[Haim Eshed]] asserted that a [[Galactic Federation]] works with the U.S. government on disclosure timing and operates liaison facilities below ground in America’s continuity network.
Whistleblowers have linked COG channels to programs dealing with recovered [[unidentified anomalous phenomena|non-human technology]] and post-disclosure governance. Former intelligence officer [[David Grusch]] testified in 2023 that a decades-long crash-retrieval effort is coordinated through the same compartmented authorities that oversee continuity deployments. In 2020, former Israeli space-security director [[Haim Eshed]] asserted that a [[Galactic Federation]] works with the U.S. government on disclosure timing and operates liaison facilities below ground in America’s continuity network.


== Perpetual emergency status ==
=== Perpetual emergency status ===
The national emergency proclaimed on September 14, 2001 has been renewed annually by every president, allowing the executive branch to retain extraordinary powers and, according to researchers, keeping parts of COG in continuous low-level operation.
The national emergency proclaimed on September 14, 2001 has been renewed annually by every president, allowing the executive branch to retain extraordinary powers and, according to researchers, keeping parts of COG in continuous low-level operation.


== By country ==
== By country ==
=== Australia ===
=== Australia ===
During the years following the [[Federation of Australia]] in 1901, several locations were considered for the national capital. One criterion used to assess sites was that they be inland so they could not be attacked from the sea. It was also believed that locations away from the coast would have a lower incidence of disease. During the [[Cold War]], the [[Office of National Assessments]] concluded it was unlikely that Australian cities would be targeted by the Soviet Union in a nuclear war.
During the years following the [[federation of Australia]] in 1901, several locations were considered for the national capital. One of the criteria used to assess sites was that they needed to be inland so that they could not be attacked from the sea. It was also believed that locations away from the coast would have a lower incidence of disease.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Headon |first1=David |title=Wanted: Treasure House of a Nation's Heart: The Search for an Australian Capital City, 1891–1908 |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop50/wantedtreasurehouseofanationsheart |website=Papers on parliament No. 50 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en-AU |date=March 2009}}</ref> During the [[Cold War]] the [[Office of National Assessments]] believed that it was unlikely that Australian cities would be attacked by the Soviet Union during a nuclear war.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dorling |first1=Philip |title=Secret's out: Soviets did not target cities |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/secrets-out-soviets-did-not-target-cities-20120805-23ny1.html |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=5 August 2012 |language=en}}</ref>
 
The modern Australian Government has plans to enable the continuity of government. As of 2008, these formed part of 'Plan Mercator', which the government has described as aiming "to minimise the impact of a national security emergency on critical government operations and provide for the rapid resumption of 'near normal' government business under alternate arrangements until normal operations can be resumed".<ref name="Canberra Times building central" />
 
Under the Australian system of government, there is not necessarily a requirement to maintain the [[Cabinet of Australia|Cabinet]] in a crisis. If the [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] was killed in a disaster, the [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] would need to appoint their successor. A [[national unity government]] could also be formed in a major crisis.<ref name="ABC If Canberra is attacked">{{cite news |last1=Dalzell |first1=Stephanie |last2=Pianegonda |first2=Elise |title=If Canberra is attacked or cut off by natural disaster, where does the seat of government move to? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2018-03-05/canberra-parliament-house-emergency-plan/9499384 |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=ABC News |date=4 March 2018 |language=en-AU}}</ref>


The modern Australian Government maintains plans to enable continuity of government. As of 2008, these formed part of "Plan Mercator," which the government described as aiming “to minimise the impact of a national security emergency on critical government operations and provide for the rapid resumption of ‘near normal’ government business under alternate arrangements until normal operations can be resumed.” Under the Australian system, there is not necessarily a requirement to maintain the [[Cabinet]] itself during a crisis. For example, if the [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] were killed in a disaster, the [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] would appoint a successor. A [[national unity government]] could also be formed in a major crisis.
A range of legislation, including the ''[[Defence Act 1903]]'' and several health bills, include provisions that can be activated in response to emergencies. There are also plans for the [[Parliament of Australia]] to operate from another location if it is unable to sit at [[Parliament House, Canberra|Parliament House]] in Canberra. These plans are classified.<ref name="ABC If Canberra is attacked" />


A range of legislation, including the ''[[Defence Act 1903]]'' and various health statutes, contain special provisions that can be activated in an emergency. There are also plans for the [[Parliament of Australia]] to convene at an alternate location if it cannot sit at [[Parliament House, Canberra|Parliament House]] in Canberra—though the details of such plans are classified. ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' reported that an Australian government building in the Canberra suburb of [[Symonston, Australian Capital Territory|Symonston]] houses communications systems to support continuity of government if Plan Mercator were activated. The building was completed in 2007, and its secret function was revealed inadvertently through a job advertisement in 2008.
''[[The Canberra Times]]'' has reported that an Australian Government building in the Canberra suburb of [[Symonston, Australian Capital Territory|Symonston]] houses communications systems that would be used to support the continuity of government if Plan Mercator was activated. The building was completed in 2007, and its secret function was disclosed as part of a job advertisement in 2008.<ref name="Canberra Times building central">{{cite news |last1=Dingwall |first1=Doug |title=Building 'central to Canberra terror attack response' up for sale |url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6016906/building-central-to-canberra-terror-attack-response-up-for-sale/ |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=The Canberra Times |date=31 May 2018 |language=en-AU}}</ref>


In response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in 2020, the federal and most state and territory parliaments canceled scheduled sittings from March 2020. Federal parliamentary committees continued to operate virtually. The federal Parliament met with only the minimum number of members needed for a [[Quorum#Quorum in legislatures|quorum]] on several occasions between March and June 2020, and resumed full sittings in August 2020. Arrangements from August allowed members of Parliament unable to travel to Canberra to participate virtually (though such members could not vote in proceedings).
In response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia|COVID-19 pandemic]], the federal and most of the state and territory parliaments cancelled scheduled sittings from March 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Horne |first1=Nicholas |title=COVID-19 and parliamentary sittings |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2020/April/COVID-19_and_parliamentary_sittings |website=FlagPost |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en-AU |date=2 April 2020}}</ref> Federal parliamentary committees continued to operate virtually. The federal parliament met with only the number of members necessary to form a [[quorum]] present on several occasions between March and June 2020, and resumed full sittings from August that year. The arrangements in place from August allowed members of parliament who were unable to travel to Canberra to participate virtually, but these members were unable to vote in proceedings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moulds |first1=Sarah |title=As the first 'remote' sitting starts in Canberra, virtual parliaments should be the new norm |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-24/australia-virtual-parliament-sitting-new-norm-covid-bandaid/12588432 |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=ABC News |date=24 August 2020 |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Parliaments response to the COVID-19 pandemic |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_News/News/The_Parliaments_response_to_the_COVID-19_pandemic |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en-AU |date=28 July 2020}}</ref>


Prime Minister [[Scott Morrison]] arranged to be secretly appointed to hold several additional ministerial portfolios during 2020 and 2021, justifying his appointment as acting Minister for Finance and Minister for Health as a necessary contingency in case those ministers became incapacitated by COVID-19. Morrison’s appointment as acting Health Minister was approved in March 2020 by the [[National Security Committee of Cabinet (Australia)|National Security Committee of Cabinet]] as part of the pandemic response, but it was not publicly announced. His subsequent self-appointments to other ministries were not made known to most members of his government. An inquiry in 2022 headed by former High Court justice [[Virginia Bell (judge)|Virginia Bell]] found that Morrison had not needed to hold these ministries, as he could have been formally appointed “in a matter of minutes” if those ministers were incapacitated. Morrison never exercised the extraordinary powers available to him as acting Finance or Health minister.
Prime Minister [[Scott Morrison]] arranged to be secretly appointed to hold [[Scott Morrison ministerial positions controversy|several ministerial positions]] during 2020 and 2021, justifying his appointment as the Minister for Finance and Minister for Health as being necessary in case the ministers for portfolios were affected by COVID-19 and unable to perform their duties.<ref name="ABC Morrison's secret ministries were unnecessary">{{cite news |last1=McElroy |first1=Nicholas |title=Former prime minister Scott Morrison's secret ministries were unnecessary, Virginia Bell's inquiry finds |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-25/key-takeaways-from-scott-morrison-secret-ministries-report/101699078 |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=ABC News |date=25 November 2022 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Morrison's appointment as Minister for Health was approved in March 2020 by the [[National Security Committee (Australia)|National Security Committee of Cabinet]] as part of measures taken in response to the pandemic, but was not publicly announced. His subsequent appointment to the other ministries was not known to other members of the government.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Probyn |first1=Andrew |title=Scott Morrison's power grab was set up by a handful of senior Coalition MPs — but none of them knew what would come next |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-23/behind-the-scenes-of-scott-morrisons-power-grab/101358232 |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=ABC News |date=22 August 2022 |language=en-AU}}</ref> An inquiry held into the matter during 2022 that was headed by Former High Court justice [[Virginia Bell (judge)|Virginia Bell]] found that Morrison had not needed to hold these ministries, as he could have been appointed "in a matter of minutes" if the ministers had been incapacitated. Morrison did not use the powers available to him as Finance or Health minister.<ref name="ABC Morrison's secret ministries were unnecessary"/>


=== Canada ===
=== Canada ===
[[Canada]] built numerous nuclear bunkers across the country during the Cold War, nicknamed "[[Diefenbunker]]s" in a play on the name of Prime Minister [[John Diefenbaker]]. At the height of the standoff with the Soviet Union, the Canadian government maintained a series of bunker sites to which the federal Cabinet could relocate, including the principal “Diefenbunker” near Carp, Ontario, as well as facilities at CFB North Bay and a site in Calgary. After the Cold War ended, continuity planning lapsed for some time, but in the late 2010s it began to revive amid new global threats. In 2016, the [[Privy Council Office]] drafted an agreement with the [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]] to open up bunkers at two military bases for government officials should the National Capital Region become “unviable” (for example, under threat of a North Korean missile strike).
[[Canada]] built numerous nuclear bunkers across the country, nicknamed "[[Emergency Government Headquarters|Diefenbunkers]]" in a play on the last name of then-Prime Minister [[John Diefenbaker]]. In 2016, the [[Privy Council Office (Canada)|Privy Council Office]] made an agreement with the [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]] to open two bunkers for government officials amid the ongoing [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|North Korean nuclear crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/north-korea-canada-cold-war-plan-1.4424523 |title=Canada sets aside two bunkers at military bases amid global uncertainty, North Korean threat - Politics |access-date=2017-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114083044/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/north-korea-canada-cold-war-plan-1.4424523 |archive-date=January 14, 2018 |publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>


=== China ===
=== China ===
The [[People's Republic of China]] once operated the underground military command center known as [[Underground Project 131|Project 131]], intended to serve as the [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] headquarters in [[Hubei]] province during a nuclear conflict. Commissioned in 1969 amid the [[Sino–Soviet split]], Project 131 was built into a hillside in [[Xianning]]. The facility included offices for Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] and other top leaders, along with tunnels, command rooms and living quarters. The project was abandoned in 1971 after Mao’s purge of General [[Lin Biao]] and his associates. In 1981, the site was turned over to local civilian authorities, and it was later converted into a tourist attraction.
{{see also|816 Nuclear Military Plant}}
{{expand section|date=June 2014}}
[[File:Project-131-tunnel-9756.jpg|thumb|In a tunnel of Project 131]]
The [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) once operated [[Underground Project 131]], intended to be the [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] headquarters in [[Hubei]] during a nuclear conflict. Built due to the [[Sino-Soviet split]] during that portion of the [[Cold War]], in 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city of [[Xianning]], where it is located.


=== Czech Republic ===
=== Czech Republic ===
The K-116 bunker facility under Zlíchov Hill in western [[Prague]] was designated to house the [[Czechoslovak]] government in case of nuclear attack (together with the K-9 facility in [[Jihlava]]). It is believed that these sites might still be used as the emergency headquarters of the Czech government and [[Czech Armed Forces|military]] if needed.
The K-116 facility under Zlíchov hill in western [[Prague]] was designated to house the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovak]] government in case of nuclear attack (together with the K-9 facility in [[Jihlava]]) and might still be used as the emergency headquarters of the Czech government and [[Military of the Czech Republic|military]].<ref name="Kam by se ukryli komunističtí funkcionáři před třetí světovou válkou?">{{cite web | url = http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/exkluzivne-na-ct24/203322-kam-by-se-ukryli-komunisticti-funkcionari-pred-treti-svetovou-valkou/ | title = Kam by se ukryli komunističtí funkcionáři před třetí světovou válkou?|language=cs|trans-title=Where would communist functionaries hide in case of world war III?}}</ref>


=== Denmark ===
=== Denmark ===
During the [[Cold War]], [[Denmark]] constructed two hardened bunker complexes, codenamed '''REGAN Vest''' and '''REGAN Øst''' (from the Danish “REGeringsANlæg,” or “Government Facility” West and East). The plan was to have roughly half of the government (and the [[Danish Royal Family|royal family]]) sheltered in one bunker and the other half in the other, allowing continuity of governance even if one site were destroyed or cut off. REGAN Vest, built in secrecy in the 1960s in [[Rold Skov|Rold Forest]] (North Jutland), was equipped to house the Prime Minister, Cabinet, monarch and hundreds of officials 60 m underground. A similarly large complex called REGAN Øst was established in [[Zealand]], though details of that facility remain classified. Both bunkers were decommissioned after the Cold War. (REGAN Vest was opened to the public as a museum in 2023.)
During the [[Cold War]], [[Denmark]] built two bunker complexes, named [[Rold Skov#History|REGAN Vest]] and [[Hellebæk#Landmarks|REGAN Øst]] (Danish: "REGeringsANlæg", translated: "Government Complex West and Government Complex East"), in [[Jutland]] and [[Zealand]] respectively. The idea was to have half of the government and the [[Danish royal family|royal family]] in one bunker, and the other half in the other, allowing continuity of government, even if one of the bunkers were destroyed or cut off.


=== France ===
=== France ===
The '''Centre d’opération des forces aériennes stratégiques (COFAS)''' is a [[hardened command center]] for [[Force de dissuasion|France’s nuclear forces]] located at the former [[Taverny Air Base]] in [[Taverny]], [[Val-d'Oise]]. An alternate national command center for the French military is at [[Mont Verdun]] near [[Lyon]]. The hardened headquarters of the '''Force océanique stratégique (FOST)''', which commands France’s [[Nuclear submarine|SSBN]] fleet, is located in [[Brest, France|Brest]], [[Finistère]] (on the Atlantic coast).
The [[Taverny Air Base|''Centre d'opération des forces aériennes stratégiques'']] (COFAS) is a [[hardened command centre]] for [[French nuclear forces]] at Taverny Air Base in [[Taverny]], [[Val d'Oise]].{{update inline|date=September 2023}} The alternate national command center is located at [[Mont Verdun]] near [[Lyon]].
 
The hardened headquarters of ''[[Force océanique stratégique]]'' (FOST), France's nuclear [[SSBN]] fleet, is at [[Brest, France|Brest]], [[Finistère]].


=== Germany ===
=== Germany ===
[[Germany]] during the Cold War operated a massive government bunker (the ''[[Emergency Government Bunker|Regierungsbunker]]'') near [[Ahrweiler]] to house the West German federal government, parliament, and essential staff in the event of war or severe crisis. This underground complex—built into a 17 km stretch of tunnels—was decommissioned in 1997 after German reunification, and part of it is now a museum.
[[Germany]] operated a government bunker ([[Government bunker (Germany)|Regierungsbunker]]) to house the German government, parliament and all federal personnel needed to keep the government working in the event of war or severe crisis. It was decommissioned in 1997.


=== Ireland ===
=== Ireland ===
In [[Ireland]], the '''[[National Security Committee (Ireland)|National Security Committee]] (NSC)''' serves as a conduit for officials to communicate with the [[Taoiseach]] (prime minister) and/or Cabinet members if the normal channel to their minister is unavailable (for example, if a minister is incapacitated or killed). In preparation for such extreme scenarios, drafts of emergency powers legislation have been drawn up in secret by Department of Justice officials, including provisions to address situations such as a catastrophic attack on the cabinet resulting in numerous deaths.
In [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the [[National Security Committee (Ireland)|National Security Committee]] (NSC) is the conduit for officials to communicate with the [[Taoiseach]] (Prime Minister) and/or cabinet members if the normal channel of communication with their minister became unavailable. Drafts of emergency powers legislation have been drawn up in secret, including legislation to deal with circumstances such as an attack on cabinet involving numerous deaths.<ref name="national security">{{cite book |last=Mulqueen |first=Michael |date=2009 |title=Re-Evaluating Irish National Security Policy: Affordable Threats? |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-8027-2}}</ref>


During the [[Cold War]] period, it was envisaged that Cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and military advisers would shelter in an underground nuclear bunker at [[Custume Barracks]] in [[Athlone]] in the event of a nuclear exchange. This bunker was equipped with a command-and-control center and communications links—including a hotline to the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] in [[Whitehall]]—as well as a map room, kitchen, and living quarters. Declassified government memoranda from the 1980s reveal that such a facility was built but kept secret, and plans for its provisioning were periodically reviewed.
During the period of the [[Cold War]], it was envisaged that cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and military advisers would use an underground nuclear bunker at [[Custume Barracks]] in [[Athlone]] in the event of a nuclear exchange. The bunker was equipped with a command and control centre with communications equipment – which had a hotline to the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] in [[Whitehall]] – a map room pointing out important areas for protection, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities.<ref>{{cite news|title=Waking up to a nuclear nightmare...|url=http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/waking-up-to-a-nuclear-nightmare-25908547.html|access-date=29 October 2016|publisher=[[Irish Independent]]|date=31 July 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=De Breadun|first1=Deaglan|title=Memo reveals plans for nuclear bunker|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/memo-reveals-plans-for-nuclear-bunker-1.344168|publisher=The Irish Times|date=3 January 2003}}</ref>


=== Israel ===
=== Israel ===
As of 2003, an underground National Crisis Management Center was under construction at an undisclosed location in the [[Judaean Mountains]] beneath [[Jerusalem]]. Another command-and-control bunker was being built as part of the new Prime Minister’s Office complex in [[Givat Ram]] (western Jerusalem). (These projects, sometimes referred to in Israeli media as “the Bor” (Hebrew: literally “the Pit”) in Jerusalem, remain highly classified.)
As of December 2003 an underground national crisis management center was being constructed at an undisclosed location in the [[Judaean Mountains]] under [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2833926,00.html |title=הבור בירושלים: מכאן תנוהל המדינה בשעת חירום |last=ynet |date=2003-07-12 |work=Ynet |access-date=2019-01-03 |language=he}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.1220548 |title=זה לא סוף העולם |last=אילני |first=עפרי |date=2010-09-07 |work=הארץ |access-date=2019-01-03 |language=he}}</ref> Another command and control bunker is being built as part of the new Prime Minister's Office complex in [[Givat Ram]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.10.tv/news/62142 |title=תיעוד בלעדי: כך נראה מהאוויר המקום ממנו ינהל רה"מ את המלחמה הבאה |website=ערוץ 10 |access-date=2019-01-03 |language=he |archive-date=2019-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103210447/https://www.10.tv/news/62142 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


=== Poland ===
=== Poland ===
According to the [[Constitution of Poland]], if the President of Poland dies or is unable to fulfill the duties of office, then the [[Marshal of the Sejm]] assumes the powers and duties of the presidency (or, if the Marshal of the Sejm is also unavailable, the [[Marshal of the Senate]] does so). In April 2010, the [[Smolensk air disaster]] tragically killed Poland’s president and numerous other civilian and military leaders. In the immediate aftermath, many of the highest offices of the state and armed forces were left vacant; their functions were automatically taken over by the respective deputies or successors in line with the constitutional order of succession.
According to [[Constitution of Poland]] in case of death or inability to discharging duties of the President, his duties are discharged by Marshal of the Sejm (or if they are unable, the Marshal of the Senate).
 
After [[Smolensk air disaster]] in 2010 a lot of the highest state and army offices were emptied. Their duties were automatically taken over by respective deputies.


=== New Zealand ===
=== New Zealand ===
The New Zealand government judges that the most likely disaster scenario to threaten national governance is a major earthquake striking [[Wellington]]. Contingency plans call for the temporary relocation of Parliament and essential government staff to [[Devonport Naval Base]] in [[Auckland]] if such an event occurs. The website of the [[Governor-General of New Zealand]] emphasizes that the office’s constitutional role is to “maintain the legitimacy and continuity of government by ensuring there is always a government in office with a democratic mandate to govern.”
The New Zealand government believes the most likely disaster scenario to affect the government is a large earthquake in [[Wellington]]. The government has plans to move Parliament and essential staff to [[Devonport Naval Base]] in [[Auckland]] if such an event occurs.<ref>{{cite news|last=Davison|first=Isaac|title=Parliament would relocate to Auckland if quake knocked out capital|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11251869|access-date=8 May 2014|newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=8 May 2014}}</ref>


New Zealand’s primary [[National Crisis Management Centre]] (NCMC) is located beneath the [[Beehive (New Zealand)|Beehive]] (Executive Wing of Parliament) in Wellington. An Alternate National Crisis Management Centre is maintained in Auckland, ready to be activated if the Wellington facility is unusable, if multiple simultaneous crises occur, or if the government must relocate to Auckland.
The website of the [[Governor-General of New Zealand]] notes that their constitutional role is to "maintain the legitimacy and continuity of government by ensuring there is always a government in office with a democratic mandate to govern".<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitutional role |url=https://gg.govt.nz/office-governor-general/roles-and-functions-governor-general/constitutional-role |publisher=Governor-General of New Zealand |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en |date=27 February 2017}}</ref>
 
The New Zealand [[National Crisis Management Centre]] is located under the [[Beehive (New Zealand)|"Beehive"]] building in Wellington. An Alternate National Crisis Management Centre is in Auckland, and would be activated if the facility in Wellington was damaged, if multiple crises were occurring or if the government is required to relocate to Auckland.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Crisis Management Centre |url=https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/about/national-crisis-management-centre |publisher=National Emergency Management Agency |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>


=== Norway ===
=== Norway ===
The [[Government of Norway|Norwegian government]] operates a nuclear-war bunker known as '''Sentralanlegget''' (“the Central Facility”) in [[Hole, Norway|Hole]] municipality, [[Buskerud]] County. Built in the 1960s under a mountain (at a site called Kongens utsikt), this underground complex was designed to accommodate the [[Norwegian Royal Family]], the Cabinet, and other key officials in case of a nuclear attack or major war. ''Sentralanlegget'' serves as the nation’s wartime command headquarters and can shelter approximately 600 people for an extended period. During the 1980s, Norway also built a smaller hardened command bunker beneath the government offices in downtown [[Oslo]] (near the high-rise block ''Høyblokka''). However, that facility could not house as many personnel for long durations. (The Oslo tunnel bunker was never intended to replace ''Sentralanlegget'', but could function as a short-term crisis center.)
The [[Norwegian government]] operates a nuclear bunker called [[Sentralanlegget]] in [[Buskerud]] County. The bunker is meant to accommodate the [[Norwegian royal family]] and the government in case of a nuclear/military attack on the nation, and also function as a wartime headquarters. There is also a bunker beneath [[Regjeringskvartalet|Høyblokka]] in downtown [[Oslo]].


=== Soviet Union / Russia ===
=== Soviet Union and Russia ===
Very little open information is available about the continuity-of-government plans of the former [[Soviet Union]] and modern [[Russia]]. One known element is a sprawling underground complex built inside [[Mount Yamantau]] in the southern [[Ural Mountains]], believed to be associated with ensuring the survival of Russia’s leadership. Construction of the Yamantau facility began in the Brezhnev era (1960s–1980s) and continued for decades; Western intelligence speculated about its purpose and enormous scale. According to former KGB colonel and defector [[Oleg Gordievsky]], a KGB “15th Directorate” (now succeeded by a unit of the [[Federal Protective Service (Russia)|Federal Protective Service]]) was tasked with building and maintaining hundreds of underground command bunkers for the Soviet leadership—including the vast site beneath Yamantau, often referred to by the name of the nearby closed city, [[Mezhgorye]]. Some reports, due to Yamantau’s proximity to the nuclear weapon design center at [[Snezhinsk|Chelyabinsk-70]], have conjectured that the mountain conceals a 400-square-mile underground complex housing not only leadership shelters but also warhead stockpiles, missile launch controls, and hardened weapons production facilities designed to operate through a nuclear war.
[[File:mapmetro2.jpg|thumb|250px|Map of the [[Metro-2]] system as supposed by the United States military intelligence in 1991.<ref name="United States Department of Defense 1991 40">{{cite book |title=Military forces in transition|last=United States Department of Defense|author-link=United States Department of Defense|year=1991|publisher=United States Department of Defense|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-16-035973-2|issn=1062-6557|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UH7NSFIMgnkC&q=underground|access-date=2011-06-13}}</ref>]]
In the public domain very little is known about [[Russia]]'s COG plans. One sprawling underground facility residing in tunnels cut into [[Mount Yamantau]] is likely to be related to the survival of Russia's government, given its size and decades long construction history, with a construction start during the rule of [[Leonid Brezhnev]] (1964–82).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/16/world/despite-cold-war-s-end-russia-keeps-building-a-secret-complex.html|title=Despite Cold War's End, Russia Keeps Building a Secret Complex|first=Michael R.|last=Gordon|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 16, 1996}}</ref> [[KGB]] defector Colonel [[Oleg Gordievsky]] states that an organization, known as Directorate 15, was (or is) tasked with building and maintaining a network of hundreds of underground command bunkers for the [[Soviet]] leadership; this includes the vast site beneath Yamantau Mountain, which is often called [[Beloretsk-16|Mezhgorye / Межго́рье]] after the [[closed city]] that is located nearby. However, there is speculation, due to its proximity to [[Chelyabinsk-70]], that Yamantau is a 400-square-mile underground complex which houses nuclear warheads, missiles, launch controls, and several nuclear weapons factories designed to continue production after a hypothetical nuclear war begins.<ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.windowonheartland.net/2012/02/russias-top-secret-bases.html |title=WINDOW ON HEARTLAND Geopolitical notes on Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424050959/http://www.windowonheartland.net/2012/02/russias-top-secret-bases.html |archive-date=April 24, 2013}}</ref>


A secondary major command facility in the Urals, complementing Yamantau, is thought to be located near [[Kosvinsky Kamen]] (Kosvinsky Mountain). This site is believed to host the [[Strategic Missile Troops|Strategic Rocket Forces]]’ alternate command post—a modern hardened bunker intended to survive attacks that might cripple older Soviet-era command centers around Moscow. The bunker at Kosvinsky Kamen, completed in the mid-1990s, was specifically designed to withstand U.S. [[earth-penetrating weapon]]s, and serves a similar role to the American [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]] as a backup strategic command center.
The second command and control center in the [[Urals]], after Yamantau, is similarly speculated to be underground and located near, or under, [[Kosvinsky Kamen]]. The site is believed to host the Russian [[Strategic Rocket Forces]] alternate command post, a post for the general staff built to compensate for the vulnerability of older Soviet era command posts in the Moscow region. In spite of this, the primary command posts for the [[Strategic Rocket Forces]] remains [[Kuntsevo]] in Moscow and the secondary is the Kosvinsky Mountain in the Urals.<ref>Globalsecurity.org, [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/c3i_fac.htm Strategic C3I Facilities], accessed October 2007</ref> The facility at Kosvinsky, finished in early 1996, was designed to resist US [[nuclear bunker buster|earth-penetrating warheads]] and serves a similar role as the American [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]].<ref name="web.archive.org"/>


Additional underground command sites, according to analyses by Globalsecurity.org, include a bunker near [[Chekhov (town)|Chekhov]], which serves as the Russian General Staff’s wartime command post deep underground, and another known as “Sharapovo” about 80 km south of Moscow (built in the 1950s, and long believed to have been the primary Cold War backup command center for top Soviet officials). Each of the Chekhov and Sharapovo bunkers is reputed to be able to accommodate tens of thousands of persons. In addition, a secondary political leadership shelter is said to exist at [[Chaadayevka]], approximately 650 km southeast of Moscow near [[Penza]], which would have housed other government functions in an emergency.
Further command centers, according to globalsecurity.org, include one near [[Chekhov, Moscow Oblast|Chekhov]], which is the [[General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|Russian General Staff]] wartime command post, buried deep underground,<ref>Globalsecurity.org. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chekhov.htm Chekhov].</ref> and [[Sharapovo (Chekhov district)|Sharapovo]]([[:ru:Шарапово (село, Чеховский район)|ru]]) about {{convert|80|km|-1}} south of Moscow, built in the 1950s, Sharapovo is believed to have been the primary backup command center for the Soviet era leadership. Both Chekhov and Sharapovo are each suggested to have the capability to accommodate about 30,000 individuals,<ref name="web.archive.org"/> As an alternative to Sharapovo, a secondary political leadership base is located at [[Chaadayevka]], some 650 kilometers southeast of Moscow near the city of [[Penza]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chaadayevka.htm|title=Chaadayevka|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref>


Moscow itself is widely rumored to contain extensive protected infrastructure beneath the city. It is said that there may be up to a dozen underground levels below the [[Kremlin]] and its vicinity, built to protect the national command authority. A secretive organization called the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President (Glavnoye Upravleniye Spetsialnykh Program, or GUSP)—established in 1977 as the 15th Directorate of the KGB—oversees many of these facilities and continuity programs. One alleged component is a special underground railway line (sometimes dubbed "[[Metro-2]]" or “D-6”) parallel to the public [[Moscow Metro]], meant for use by officials in an emergency. Reportedly, this secret metro system has stations or portals at key locations including the old KGB headquarters at [[Lubyanka Square]] (now the [[FSB]] headquarters) and a large underground command complex near [[Moscow State University]] in the Ramenki district. Another suspected underground hub is the secure government terminal at [[Vnukovo#Vnukovo-2|Vnukovo-2]] airport outside Moscow, which would facilitate evacuation of leaders. Despite official secrecy and denial regarding these sites, it is believed that many of the Moscow-area bunkers are interconnected by the clandestine Metro-2 system.
There is also said to be as many as 12 underground levels beneath the Russian capital of [[Moscow]] to protect the government in the [[Kremlin]], known as the Main Directorate of special programs of the President (Glavnoye Upravlenie Specialnih Program: GUSP) <small>([[:ru:Главное управление специальных программ Президента Российской Федерации|ru]])</small> the direct successor of the 15th Directorate of the KGB, which was established in 1977, GUSP is said to oversee, amongst other sites, a parallel track line alongside the [[Moscow metro]], known as the 'Kremlin line' [[Moscow Metro-2|Metro-2 or D-6]] to be used in an emergency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.agentura.ru/english/dosie/gusp/|title=The Main Directorate of special programs of the President, the GUSP Chief - Alexander Tsarenko|access-date=2014-05-10|archive-date=2014-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620020252/http://www.agentura.ru/english/dosie/gusp/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two destinations of this system are suggested to be the old [[KGB]] headquarters, now the [[Federal Security Service|FSB]] headquarters, at [[Lubyanka Square]], and the second being regarded as an enormous underground leadership bunker adjacent to [[Moscow State University]].<ref name="United States Department of Defense 1991 40"/> Another alleged subterranean destination, apart from the aforementioned underground town at [[Ramenki District|Ramenki]]/Moscow State University is ''[[Vnukovo International Airport|Vnukovo]]-2'' airport.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/1997/fbuma04301997000507.htm|title=Secrets 'Metro'-Style|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref> Despite official Russian state ambiguity, it is speculated that many of the Moscow bunkers are linked by an underground railway line.<ref name="web.archive.org"/>


=== Sweden ===
=== Sweden ===
Under Swedish law, if Sweden is at war the [[Riksdag]] (parliament) may convene outside the capital, and if necessary a '''War Delegation''' (''Krigsdelegationen'') of 50 members can assume the legislative powers of the full Riksdag. The War Delegation consists of the [[Speaker of the Riksdag|Speaker]] and 50 MPs. The government may, if authorized by the Riksdag, issue [[Enabling act|enabling ordinances]] on matters such as rationing, property seizure and other wartime controls. If the government (Cabinet) is unable to perform its duties, the Riksdag can decide on the formation of a new government. Likewise, if neither the Riksdag nor the War Delegation can carry out their functions, the government may assume the authority of the Riksdag (with certain limitations) to ensure continuity of rule.
In case of war, the [[Riksdag]] can convene somewhere else than in the capital, and if necessary, a War Delegation will replace the Riksdag. The War Delegation consists of the Speaker and 50 members of the Riksdag. The government can put a number of [[enabling act]]s in force to regulate for example rationing, export and seizing of property.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Riksdagsförvaltningen|title=The War Delegation|url=https://www.riksdagen.se/en/how-the-riksdag-works/authorities-and-boards-under-the-riksdag/the-war-delegation/|access-date=2022-01-30|website=www.riksdagen.se|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Riksdagsförvaltningen|title=Riksdagens roll vid krig och krigsfara|url=https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/sa-funkar-riksdagen/arbetet-i-riksdagen/riksdagens-roll-vid-krig-och-krigsfara/|access-date=2022-01-30|website=www.riksdagen.se|language=sv}}</ref> If the government is unable to carry out its duties the Riksdag may decide on the formation of a new government. Likewise, if the Riksdag and the War Delegation are unable to carry out its duties, the government can assume the powers of the Riksdag, but with some limitations.<ref name="Reg15">{{Cite web |title=Regeringsformen (The Instrument of Government), chapter 15 |url=https://www.riksdagen.se/globalassets/07.-dokument--lagar/regeringsformen-eng-2021.pdf |access-date=2022-01-31 |website=Riksdagen.se}}</ref>


During the [[Cold War]], Sweden built extensive civil defense infrastructure. A large bunker known as the '''Klara shelter''' (''Klara skyddsrum'') was constructed beneath central [[Stockholm]] to accommodate two-thirds of the national government along with 8,000–12,000 civilians in the event of a military attack on the capital. The shelter is a two-story oval cavern with multiple entrances; in peacetime, parts of it have been used as a parking garage. Sweden also built over 65,000 smaller [[Fallout shelter]]s, and each county had at least one massive hard-rock underground bunker to serve as a regional wartime headquarters controlling numerous smaller bunkers in the surrounding municipalities.
During the [[Cold War]], the [[Klara shelter|Klara skyddsrum]] ("Klara shelter" or "Klara bunker") was built underneath [[Stockholm]]. The bunker is designed to accommodate two thirds of the government and between 8,000 and 12,000 civilians in the case of a military attack on Stockholm. It is designed as a very large, two-story oval, with multiple entrances. During peacetime, parts of it are used as a parking garage. Sweden built over 65,000 fallout shelters<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.thelocal.se/20171101/why-sweden-is-home-to-65000-fallout-shelters| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171101172549/https://www.thelocal.se/20171101/why-sweden-is-home-to-65000-fallout-shelters| archive-date = 2017-11-01| title = Why Sweden is home to 65,000 fallout shelters - The Local}}</ref> in regular houses, and every county had at least one large hard-rock underground bunker that controlled a number of smaller bunkers that were located in the municipalities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/halland/hemlig-bunker-i-halmstad-oppnades|title=Hemlig bunker i Halmstad öppnades|first=Anders|last=Fall|newspaper=SVT Nyheter|date=January 31, 2017|via=www.svt.se}}</ref>
 
=== Turkey ===
There is little public knowledge about continuity of government in Turkey. The cabinet and presidential offices, based in the capital of [[Ankara]], have secondary sites in [[Istanbul]] and [[İzmir]].


=== United Kingdom ===
=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, the primary national COG command center is believed to be the secure bunker known as "{{ill|Pindar (bunker)|lt=Pindar}}" under the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] building in [[Whitehall]], London. During the Cold War, the UK maintained a large underground complex known as the '''Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ)''' in a former stone quarry near [[Corsham]], [[Wiltshire]]. This 35-acre facility (codenamed “Burlington” among other names) was designed to house the Prime Minister, War Cabinet, and key officials for up to 30 days during a nuclear war. It was supported by an above-ground administrative facility at [[RAF Rudloe Manor]] nearby. The Corsham bunker was kept on standby into the 1990s, but was ultimately decommissioned as the Soviet threat receded.
{{see also|Letters of last resort}}
The primary British COG headquarters is at the Ministry of Defence in [[Whitehall]]. The [[Central Government War Headquarters]] was previously maintained in a quarry complex near [[Corsham, Wiltshire]]. The above-ground support facility was [[RAF Rudloe Manor]].


The UK’s armed services also maintain their own hardened command centers for strategic forces. For example, control of the [[Royal Navy]]’s [[Trident (UK nuclear programme)|Trident]] nuclear submarine fleet is exercised from the [[Northwood Headquarters]] in northwest London, while the [[Royal Air Force]]’s principal wartime command center is located at [[RAF High Wycombe]] in Buckinghamshire (the home of RAF Strike Command).
Service command centres are [[Northwood Headquarters|Northwood]] for the [[Royal Navy Trident SSBN force]], and [[RAF High Wycombe]] for the Royal Air Force.


=== United States ===
=== United States ===
{{Main|Continuity of Operations Plan}}
'''Continuity of government''' ('''COG''')—commonly referred to in public policy documents as '''Continuity of Operations''' ('''COOP''')—is the integrated network of [[classified]] protocols, [[executive order]]s, [[Presidential Emergency Action Document]]s (PEADs), hardened [[Deep Underground Military Base|underground installations]], secure [[redundant communications|communications grids]], and pre-cleared continuity personnel that together ensure the United States can be governed after any event that disables the visible [[United States federal government|federal government]].<ref name="Graff17"/><!--[FIRMAMENT 》 Firmamentum]--><!--F6 SCS Collect every Terrorist Immediately. COMMUNITY HUMINT TAKE CONTROL, Stop all forms of [[psychotronic devices in gang-stalking|electronic warfare]] on personnel.!!!-->


Continuity of the U.S. national government was first tested in late 1776, when British forces advanced toward the then-capital of [[Philadelphia]]. On December 9, 1776, the [[Continental Congress]] passed a resolution anticipating a British capture of Philadelphia:
;Early history
Continuity of the national government was first threatened in late 1776, when British forces advanced toward the Continental capital at [[Philadelphia]]. On December 9, the [[Continental Congress]] passed a resolution in anticipation of a British capture:


{{quote|Resolved: That in case this Congress shall be under the necessity of removing from Philadelphia, it shall be adjourned to [[Baltimore]], … }}
<blockquote>''Resolved'': That in case this Congress shall be under the necessity of removing from Philadelphia, it shall be adjourned to [[Baltimore]].</blockquote>


Three days later, facing the approach of Lord Cornwallis’s army, Congress adjourned to reconvene in Baltimore, successfully avoiding capture. Several further relocations occurred during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] as enemy threats dictated.
The Congress was adjourned as planned three days later.<ref>Journals of the Continental Congress</ref> Other relocations followed during the course of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]].


For most of its history, the United States operated without a standing continuity plan. When British forces [[Burning of Washington|burned Washington, D.C.]] in 1814 during the [[War of 1812]], Secretary of State [[James Monroe]] had only a few hours’ warning to save essential government records. Although Monroe’s staff managed to evacuate many valuable documents, a great deal was destroyed, and the incoming administration of President James Madison encountered considerable confusion due to the loss of records.
For most of its existence, the United States operated without a standing continuity plan. When British forces [[Burning of Washington|burned Washington]] in 1814, Secretary of State [[James Monroe]] received only a few hours' notice to remove the government records. Although his staff saved many valuable records, much was nonetheless destroyed, and the next administration encountered a great deal of confusion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/staffing|title=Staffing and Administration - Short History - Department History - Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov}}</ref>


In 1952, President [[Harry S. Truman]] ordered all federal agencies to develop continuity plans in the event of a civil defense emergency.<ref name="Graff17" /> Continuity plans have been maintained and periodically revised since then, at times requiring the construction of secret relocation facilities such as the [[Project Greek Island|emergency Congress bunker]] at the [[Greenbrier (hotel)|Greenbrier]] in West Virginia.
;Formal planning
In 1952, President [[Harry Truman|Truman]] ordered all federal offices to develop their own continuity plans for the event of a [[civil defense]] emergency. Plans have been maintained and adapted since then, at times requiring the construction of secret facilities such as the [[Project Greek Island|emergency Congress facility]] in [[Greenbrier County, West Virginia]]. The current continuity policy is defined in National Security Policy Directive 51<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-51.htm|title=NSPD-51: National Continuity Policy|website=fas.org}}</ref> and its implementation plan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1384886826028-729844d3fd23ff85d94d52186c85748f/NCPIP.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-07-07 |archive-date=2017-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120083339/https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1384886826028-729844d3fd23ff85d94d52186c85748f/NCPIP.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>


The current framework for federal continuity policy is defined in [[National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive|National Security Presidential Directive 51]] (issued in 2007) and its classified implementation plan (National Continuity Policy Implementation Plan of 2007). Elements of the continuity plan were activated for the first time during the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, when President [[George W. Bush]] initiated the long-standing “Continuity of Operations” protocols and deployed teams of officials to secure underground locations. (A clandestine “shadow government” of about 100 federal employees operated in bunkers outside Washington for several months after 9/11 as a precaution against follow-up attacks.) Continuity contingencies were implemented again on January 6, 2021, when the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a mob, prompting emergency relocation and communication measures to protect lawmakers and ensure the presidential line of succession.
;Activation and operations
The continuity plan was activated for the first time during the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] and then again during the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/09/AR2006060900891.html|title=Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret|first1=Barton|last1=Gellman|first2=Susan|last2=Schmidt|date=1 March 2002|via=washingtonpost.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCKS8JYrStI |title=Inside the historic White House Situation Room |date=2024-05-13 |last=ABC News |access-date=2024-05-15 |via=YouTube}}</ref>


The United States [[Presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]] is the order in which officials assume the powers and duties of the office of President if the incumbent is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed. This line of succession is established by the [[Presidential Succession Act]] and has been revised multiple times (most recently in 2006). A designated [[Designated survivor]] is an individual in the line of succession who is chosen to stay at a secure, undisclosed location when top leaders gather (for example, during a [[State of the Union]] address or inauguration), ensuring that one eligible person would survive to become Acting President in a catastrophe.
'''Presidential Emergency Action Documents''' (PEADs) are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared for the President of the United States to exercise or expand powers in anticipation of a range of emergency hypothetical worst-case scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass.


'''Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs)''' are another aspect of U.S. continuity planning. PEADs are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared in advance for the President to sign under various hypothetical emergency scenarios, allowing the rapid exercise or expansion of executive powers during a crisis. The existence of PEADs dates back to the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration in the 1950s (as a response to the threat of nuclear war), and these documents have been periodically updated over time—though their contents remain secret.
The [[United States presidential line of succession]] is the order in which officials of the United States federal government assume the powers and duties of the office of president of the United States if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. It was adopted in 1947, and last revised in 2006. The [[designated survivor]] is an individual in the line of succession, chosen to stay away from events such as State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations.


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 127: Line 149:
* [[Shadow government]]
* [[Shadow government]]
* [[Critical infrastructure protection]]
* [[Critical infrastructure protection]]
* [[Data embassy]]
* [[Data embassy]], a set of servers that store one country's data in another country to ensure a country's digital continuity with particular respect to critical databases
* [[Decapitation strike]]
* [[Decapitation strike]]
* [[Disaster recovery]]
* [[IT disaster recovery|Disaster recovery]]
* [[Government in exile]]
* [[Government in exile]]
* [[Shadow government (disambiguation)]]
* [[Temporary capital]]
* [[Temporary capital]]
* [[Central Government War Headquarters]] (Corsham bunker)
'''UK-specific:'''
* [[Central Government War Headquarters]]
* [[Civil Contingencies Secretariat]]
* [[Civil Contingencies Secretariat]]
'''US-specific:'''
* [[Continuity of Government Commission]]
* [[Continuity of Government Commission]]
* [[Continuity of Operations Plan]]
* [[Continuity of Operations Plan]]
* [[Designated survivor]]
* [[National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive]]
* [[Presidential Emergency Facility]]
* [[Presidential Emergency Facility]]
* [[Wartime Information Security Program]]
* [[Wartime Information Security Program]]
* ''Senate Report 93-549'' (1973) – U.S. Senate report on emergency powers
* [[Senate Report 93-549]]
* [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA)
* [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]]


== References ==
== References ==
<references>
<references />
{{Reflist|2}}
 
</references>
== External links ==
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/02/AR2006060201410_pf.html Washington Post article – Back to the Bunker]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020403231559/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/01/attack/main502530.shtml CBS News Article – 'Shadow Government' News to Congress]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8622796487067551025 Video: COVER UP – Behind the Iran Contra Affair – Pt 3] specifically, also [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4755829652615170641 Pt 1] [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6363522851504883872 Pt 2]
* [http://www.marxists.org/history/capitalism/white-book-capitalism/usa/executive-orders.htm Summary of Executive Powers]
* [http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2007/08/white_house_again_denies_defaz.html Congressman DeFazio denied access to Continuity of Government files]
* Spencer S. Hsu, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902719.html "Bush Changes Continuity Plan: Administration, Not DHS, Would Run Shadow Government,"] ''Washington Post'', May 10, 2007; Page A12.
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Continuity Of Government}}
[[Category:Continuity of government| ]]

Latest revision as of 05:56, 18 May 2025

This article incorporated content from the Wikipedia article on 18 May 2025.

Continuity of government (COG), commonly referred to in public policy documents as Continuity of Operations (COOP), is the principle of establishing defined procedures, protocols, executive orders, Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs), hardened underground installations, secure communications grids, and pre-cleared continuity personnel that together ensure a government can continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war or any event that disables the visible federal government.[1]

Continuity of government was developed by the British government before and during World War II to counter threats, such as that of the Luftwaffe bombing during the Battle of Britain. The need for continuity of government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation. During and after the Cold War countries developed such plans to avoid (or minimize) confusion and disorder due to a power vacuum in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. In the US, COG is no longer limited to nuclear emergencies; the Continuity of Operations Plan was activated following the September 11 attacks.

History[edit | edit source]

Early evolution in the United States[edit | edit source]

Formal continuity planning in the United States began under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who ordered construction of dispersed “alternate seats of government” such as Mount Weather, the Raven Rock Mountain Complex (Site R), and the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.[1] National Security Decision Directive 55 (1982) and Executive Order 12656 (1988) assigned every federal agency an emergency mission and pre-delegated lines of succession.[2]

During the Reagan era, FEMA and the National Security Council ran the classified exercise series REX 84, reportedly drafted by Lt. Col. Oliver North, which outlined mass-detention lists and nationwide martial law. Representative Jack Brooks’s attempt to question North about REX 84 during the Iran–Contra hearings was cut off on national television, confirming the plan’s existence without disclosing details.

Activation on 11 September 2001[edit | edit source]

COG was activated for the first time on September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush signed a classified emergency order that sent roughly 100 mid-level officials from every Cabinet department to bunkers at Mount Weather and Site R to run a rotating “shadow government.” Vice-President Dick Cheney directed continuity operations from undisclosed locations linked by secure video circuits.[1]

Legal framework after 2001[edit | edit source]

Presidential Emergency Action Documents—secret executive orders pre-staged for crisis signature—date to the Eisenhower era; declassified summaries show past drafts suspended habeas corpus and authorized military tribunals.

Facilities and infrastructure[edit | edit source]

COG relies on a constellation of deep underground facilities: Cheyenne Mountain, Mount Weather, Site R, and additional classified bunkers beneath the Appalachian Mountains. Independent witnesses such as former government geologist Philip Schneider have described a nationwide maglev shuttle network (“TAUSS”) linking continuity hubs and non-public research sites.

21st-century deployments[edit | edit source]

  • COVID-19 (2020–2021). USNORTHCOM issued standby orders codenamed Octagon, Freejack, and Zodiac to prepare for mass incapacitation of national leaders.
  • U.S. Capitol attack (January 6, 2021). Emergency relocation and secure-communications protocols were activated when rioters breached the United States Capitol.

Integration with advanced and non-human contingencies[edit | edit source]

Whistleblowers have linked COG channels to programs dealing with recovered non-human technology and post-disclosure governance. Former intelligence officer David Grusch testified in 2023 that a decades-long crash-retrieval effort is coordinated through the same compartmented authorities that oversee continuity deployments. In 2020, former Israeli space-security director Haim Eshed asserted that a Galactic Federation works with the U.S. government on disclosure timing and operates liaison facilities below ground in America’s continuity network.

Perpetual emergency status[edit | edit source]

The national emergency proclaimed on September 14, 2001 has been renewed annually by every president, allowing the executive branch to retain extraordinary powers and, according to researchers, keeping parts of COG in continuous low-level operation.

By country[edit | edit source]

Australia[edit | edit source]

During the years following the federation of Australia in 1901, several locations were considered for the national capital. One of the criteria used to assess sites was that they needed to be inland so that they could not be attacked from the sea. It was also believed that locations away from the coast would have a lower incidence of disease.[4] During the Cold War the Office of National Assessments believed that it was unlikely that Australian cities would be attacked by the Soviet Union during a nuclear war.[5]

The modern Australian Government has plans to enable the continuity of government. As of 2008, these formed part of 'Plan Mercator', which the government has described as aiming "to minimise the impact of a national security emergency on critical government operations and provide for the rapid resumption of 'near normal' government business under alternate arrangements until normal operations can be resumed".[6]

Under the Australian system of government, there is not necessarily a requirement to maintain the Cabinet in a crisis. If the Prime Minister was killed in a disaster, the Governor-General would need to appoint their successor. A national unity government could also be formed in a major crisis.[7]

A range of legislation, including the Defence Act 1903 and several health bills, include provisions that can be activated in response to emergencies. There are also plans for the Parliament of Australia to operate from another location if it is unable to sit at Parliament House in Canberra. These plans are classified.[7]

The Canberra Times has reported that an Australian Government building in the Canberra suburb of Symonston houses communications systems that would be used to support the continuity of government if Plan Mercator was activated. The building was completed in 2007, and its secret function was disclosed as part of a job advertisement in 2008.[6]

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal and most of the state and territory parliaments cancelled scheduled sittings from March 2020.[8] Federal parliamentary committees continued to operate virtually. The federal parliament met with only the number of members necessary to form a quorum present on several occasions between March and June 2020, and resumed full sittings from August that year. The arrangements in place from August allowed members of parliament who were unable to travel to Canberra to participate virtually, but these members were unable to vote in proceedings.[9][10]

Prime Minister Scott Morrison arranged to be secretly appointed to hold several ministerial positions during 2020 and 2021, justifying his appointment as the Minister for Finance and Minister for Health as being necessary in case the ministers for portfolios were affected by COVID-19 and unable to perform their duties.[11] Morrison's appointment as Minister for Health was approved in March 2020 by the National Security Committee of Cabinet as part of measures taken in response to the pandemic, but was not publicly announced. His subsequent appointment to the other ministries was not known to other members of the government.[12] An inquiry held into the matter during 2022 that was headed by Former High Court justice Virginia Bell found that Morrison had not needed to hold these ministries, as he could have been appointed "in a matter of minutes" if the ministers had been incapacitated. Morrison did not use the powers available to him as Finance or Health minister.[11]

Canada[edit | edit source]

Canada built numerous nuclear bunkers across the country, nicknamed "Diefenbunkers" in a play on the last name of then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. In 2016, the Privy Council Office made an agreement with the Department of National Defence to open two bunkers for government officials amid the ongoing North Korean nuclear crisis.[13]

China[edit | edit source]

In a tunnel of Project 131

The People's Republic of China (PRC) once operated Underground Project 131, intended to be the PLA headquarters in Hubei during a nuclear conflict. Built due to the Sino-Soviet split during that portion of the Cold War, in 1981, the Project 131 site was turned over to the civilian authorities of the prefecture-level city of Xianning, where it is located.

Czech Republic[edit | edit source]

The K-116 facility under Zlíchov hill in western Prague was designated to house the Czechoslovak government in case of nuclear attack (together with the K-9 facility in Jihlava) and might still be used as the emergency headquarters of the Czech government and military.[14]

Denmark[edit | edit source]

During the Cold War, Denmark built two bunker complexes, named REGAN Vest and REGAN Øst (Danish: "REGeringsANlæg", translated: "Government Complex West and Government Complex East"), in Jutland and Zealand respectively. The idea was to have half of the government and the royal family in one bunker, and the other half in the other, allowing continuity of government, even if one of the bunkers were destroyed or cut off.

France[edit | edit source]

The Centre d'opération des forces aériennes stratégiques (COFAS) is a hardened command centre for French nuclear forces at Taverny Air Base in Taverny, Val d'Oise.Template:Update inline The alternate national command center is located at Mont Verdun near Lyon.

The hardened headquarters of Force océanique stratégique (FOST), France's nuclear SSBN fleet, is at Brest, Finistère.

Germany[edit | edit source]

Germany operated a government bunker (Regierungsbunker) to house the German government, parliament and all federal personnel needed to keep the government working in the event of war or severe crisis. It was decommissioned in 1997.

Ireland[edit | edit source]

In Ireland, the National Security Committee (NSC) is the conduit for officials to communicate with the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and/or cabinet members if the normal channel of communication with their minister became unavailable. Drafts of emergency powers legislation have been drawn up in secret, including legislation to deal with circumstances such as an attack on cabinet involving numerous deaths.[15]

During the period of the Cold War, it was envisaged that cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and military advisers would use an underground nuclear bunker at Custume Barracks in Athlone in the event of a nuclear exchange. The bunker was equipped with a command and control centre with communications equipment – which had a hotline to the British government in Whitehall – a map room pointing out important areas for protection, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities.[16][17]

Israel[edit | edit source]

As of December 2003 an underground national crisis management center was being constructed at an undisclosed location in the Judaean Mountains under Jerusalem.[18][19] Another command and control bunker is being built as part of the new Prime Minister's Office complex in Givat Ram.[20]

Poland[edit | edit source]

According to Constitution of Poland in case of death or inability to discharging duties of the President, his duties are discharged by Marshal of the Sejm (or if they are unable, the Marshal of the Senate).

After Smolensk air disaster in 2010 a lot of the highest state and army offices were emptied. Their duties were automatically taken over by respective deputies.

New Zealand[edit | edit source]

The New Zealand government believes the most likely disaster scenario to affect the government is a large earthquake in Wellington. The government has plans to move Parliament and essential staff to Devonport Naval Base in Auckland if such an event occurs.[21]

The website of the Governor-General of New Zealand notes that their constitutional role is to "maintain the legitimacy and continuity of government by ensuring there is always a government in office with a democratic mandate to govern".[22]

The New Zealand National Crisis Management Centre is located under the "Beehive" building in Wellington. An Alternate National Crisis Management Centre is in Auckland, and would be activated if the facility in Wellington was damaged, if multiple crises were occurring or if the government is required to relocate to Auckland.[23]

Norway[edit | edit source]

The Norwegian government operates a nuclear bunker called Sentralanlegget in Buskerud County. The bunker is meant to accommodate the Norwegian royal family and the government in case of a nuclear/military attack on the nation, and also function as a wartime headquarters. There is also a bunker beneath Høyblokka in downtown Oslo.

Soviet Union and Russia[edit | edit source]

Map of the Metro-2 system as supposed by the United States military intelligence in 1991.[24]

In the public domain very little is known about Russia's COG plans. One sprawling underground facility residing in tunnels cut into Mount Yamantau is likely to be related to the survival of Russia's government, given its size and decades long construction history, with a construction start during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev (1964–82).[25] KGB defector Colonel Oleg Gordievsky states that an organization, known as Directorate 15, was (or is) tasked with building and maintaining a network of hundreds of underground command bunkers for the Soviet leadership; this includes the vast site beneath Yamantau Mountain, which is often called Mezhgorye / Межго́рье after the closed city that is located nearby. However, there is speculation, due to its proximity to Chelyabinsk-70, that Yamantau is a 400-square-mile underground complex which houses nuclear warheads, missiles, launch controls, and several nuclear weapons factories designed to continue production after a hypothetical nuclear war begins.[26]

The second command and control center in the Urals, after Yamantau, is similarly speculated to be underground and located near, or under, Kosvinsky Kamen. The site is believed to host the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces alternate command post, a post for the general staff built to compensate for the vulnerability of older Soviet era command posts in the Moscow region. In spite of this, the primary command posts for the Strategic Rocket Forces remains Kuntsevo in Moscow and the secondary is the Kosvinsky Mountain in the Urals.[27] The facility at Kosvinsky, finished in early 1996, was designed to resist US earth-penetrating warheads and serves a similar role as the American Cheyenne Mountain Complex.[26]

Further command centers, according to globalsecurity.org, include one near Chekhov, which is the Russian General Staff wartime command post, buried deep underground,[28] and Sharapovo(ru) about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Moscow, built in the 1950s, Sharapovo is believed to have been the primary backup command center for the Soviet era leadership. Both Chekhov and Sharapovo are each suggested to have the capability to accommodate about 30,000 individuals,[26] As an alternative to Sharapovo, a secondary political leadership base is located at Chaadayevka, some 650 kilometers southeast of Moscow near the city of Penza.[29]

There is also said to be as many as 12 underground levels beneath the Russian capital of Moscow to protect the government in the Kremlin, known as the Main Directorate of special programs of the President (Glavnoye Upravlenie Specialnih Program: GUSP) (ru) the direct successor of the 15th Directorate of the KGB, which was established in 1977, GUSP is said to oversee, amongst other sites, a parallel track line alongside the Moscow metro, known as the 'Kremlin line' Metro-2 or D-6 to be used in an emergency.[30] Two destinations of this system are suggested to be the old KGB headquarters, now the FSB headquarters, at Lubyanka Square, and the second being regarded as an enormous underground leadership bunker adjacent to Moscow State University.[24] Another alleged subterranean destination, apart from the aforementioned underground town at Ramenki/Moscow State University is Vnukovo-2 airport.[31] Despite official Russian state ambiguity, it is speculated that many of the Moscow bunkers are linked by an underground railway line.[26]

Sweden[edit | edit source]

In case of war, the Riksdag can convene somewhere else than in the capital, and if necessary, a War Delegation will replace the Riksdag. The War Delegation consists of the Speaker and 50 members of the Riksdag. The government can put a number of enabling acts in force to regulate for example rationing, export and seizing of property.[32][33] If the government is unable to carry out its duties the Riksdag may decide on the formation of a new government. Likewise, if the Riksdag and the War Delegation are unable to carry out its duties, the government can assume the powers of the Riksdag, but with some limitations.[34]

During the Cold War, the Klara skyddsrum ("Klara shelter" or "Klara bunker") was built underneath Stockholm. The bunker is designed to accommodate two thirds of the government and between 8,000 and 12,000 civilians in the case of a military attack on Stockholm. It is designed as a very large, two-story oval, with multiple entrances. During peacetime, parts of it are used as a parking garage. Sweden built over 65,000 fallout shelters[35] in regular houses, and every county had at least one large hard-rock underground bunker that controlled a number of smaller bunkers that were located in the municipalities.[36]

Turkey[edit | edit source]

There is little public knowledge about continuity of government in Turkey. The cabinet and presidential offices, based in the capital of Ankara, have secondary sites in Istanbul and İzmir.

United Kingdom[edit | edit source]

The primary British COG headquarters is at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. The Central Government War Headquarters was previously maintained in a quarry complex near Corsham, Wiltshire. The above-ground support facility was RAF Rudloe Manor.

Service command centres are Northwood for the Royal Navy Trident SSBN force, and RAF High Wycombe for the Royal Air Force.

United States[edit | edit source]

Continuity of government (COG)—commonly referred to in public policy documents as Continuity of Operations (COOP)—is the integrated network of classified protocols, executive orders, Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs), hardened underground installations, secure communications grids, and pre-cleared continuity personnel that together ensure the United States can be governed after any event that disables the visible federal government.[1]

Early history

Continuity of the national government was first threatened in late 1776, when British forces advanced toward the Continental capital at Philadelphia. On December 9, the Continental Congress passed a resolution in anticipation of a British capture:

Resolved: That in case this Congress shall be under the necessity of removing from Philadelphia, it shall be adjourned to Baltimore.

The Congress was adjourned as planned three days later.[37] Other relocations followed during the course of the Revolutionary War.

For most of its existence, the United States operated without a standing continuity plan. When British forces burned Washington in 1814, Secretary of State James Monroe received only a few hours' notice to remove the government records. Although his staff saved many valuable records, much was nonetheless destroyed, and the next administration encountered a great deal of confusion.[38]

Formal planning

In 1952, President Truman ordered all federal offices to develop their own continuity plans for the event of a civil defense emergency. Plans have been maintained and adapted since then, at times requiring the construction of secret facilities such as the emergency Congress facility in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The current continuity policy is defined in National Security Policy Directive 51[39] and its implementation plan.[40]

Activation and operations

The continuity plan was activated for the first time during the September 11, 2001 attacks and then again during the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[41][42]

Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) are draft classified executive orders, proclamations, and messages to Congress that are prepared for the President of the United States to exercise or expand powers in anticipation of a range of emergency hypothetical worst-case scenarios, so that they are ready to sign and put into effect the moment one of those scenarios comes to pass.

The United States presidential line of succession is the order in which officials of the United States federal government assume the powers and duties of the office of president of the United States if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. It was adopted in 1947, and last revised in 2006. The designated survivor is an individual in the line of succession, chosen to stay away from events such as State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations.

See also[edit | edit source]

UK-specific:

US-specific:

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Graff, Garrett M. (2017). Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die. Simon & Schuster. pp. 3–15. ISBN 9781476735405.
  2. ↑ "Executive Order 12656 – Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities". National Archives. November 18, 1988. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  3. ↑ "NSPD-51: National Continuity Policy". Federation of American Scientists. May 9, 2007. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  4. ↑ Headon, David (March 2009). "Wanted: Treasure House of a Nation's Heart: The Search for an Australian Capital City, 1891–1908". Papers on parliament No. 50. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ Dorling, Philip (August 5, 2012). "Secret's out: Soviets did not target cities". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dingwall, Doug (May 31, 2018). "Building 'central to Canberra terror attack response' up for sale". The Canberra Times. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Dalzell, Stephanie; Pianegonda, Elise (March 4, 2018). "If Canberra is attacked or cut off by natural disaster, where does the seat of government move to?". ABC News. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  8. ↑ Horne, Nicholas (April 2, 2020). "COVID-19 and parliamentary sittings". FlagPost. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  9. ↑ Moulds, Sarah (August 24, 2020). "As the first 'remote' sitting starts in Canberra, virtual parliaments should be the new norm". ABC News. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  10. ↑ "The Parliaments response to the COVID-19 pandemic". Parliament of Australia. July 28, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 McElroy, Nicholas (November 25, 2022). "Former prime minister Scott Morrison's secret ministries were unnecessary, Virginia Bell's inquiry finds". ABC News. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  12. ↑ Probyn, Andrew (August 22, 2022). "Scott Morrison's power grab was set up by a handful of senior Coalition MPs — but none of them knew what would come next". ABC News. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Canada sets aside two bunkers at military bases amid global uncertainty, North Korean threat - Politics". CBC News. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Kam by se ukryli komunističtí funkcionáři před třetí světovou válkou?" [Where would communist functionaries hide in case of world war III?] (in čeština).
  15. ↑ Mulqueen, Michael (2009). Re-Evaluating Irish National Security Policy: Affordable Threats?. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-8027-2.
  16. ↑ "Waking up to a nuclear nightmare..." Irish Independent. July 31, 2004. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  17. ↑ De Breadun, Deaglan (January 3, 2003). "Memo reveals plans for nuclear bunker". The Irish Times.
  18. ↑ ynet (July 12, 2003). "הבור בירושלים: מכאן תנוהל המדינה בשעת חירום". Ynet (in עברית). Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  19. ↑ אילני, עפרי (September 7, 2010). "זה לא סוף העולם". הארץ (in עברית). Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  20. ↑ "תיעוד בלעדי: כך נראה מהאוויר המקום ממנו ינהל רה"מ את המלחמה הבאה". ערוץ 10 (in עברית). Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  21. ↑ Davison, Isaac (May 8, 2014). "Parliament would relocate to Auckland if quake knocked out capital". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Constitutional role". Governor-General of New Zealand. February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  23. ↑ "National Crisis Management Centre". National Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 United States Department of Defense (1991). Military forces in transition. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Defense. p. 40. ISBN 0-16-035973-2. ISSN 1062-6557. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  25. ↑ Gordon, Michael R. (April 16, 1996). "Despite Cold War's End, Russia Keeps Building a Secret Complex". The New York Times.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 "WINDOW ON HEARTLAND Geopolitical notes on Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia". Archived from the original on April 24, 2013.
  27. ↑ Globalsecurity.org, Strategic C3I Facilities, accessed October 2007
  28. ↑ Globalsecurity.org. Chekhov.
  29. ↑ "Chaadayevka". www.globalsecurity.org.
  30. ↑ "The Main Directorate of special programs of the President, the GUSP Chief - Alexander Tsarenko". Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Secrets 'Metro'-Style". www.globalsecurity.org.
  32. ↑ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "The War Delegation". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  33. ↑ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Riksdagens roll vid krig och krigsfara". www.riksdagen.se (in svenska). Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Regeringsformen (The Instrument of Government), chapter 15" (PDF). Riksdagen.se. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Why Sweden is home to 65,000 fallout shelters - The Local". Archived from the original on November 1, 2017.
  36. ↑ Fall, Anders (January 31, 2017). "Hemlig bunker i Halmstad öppnades". SVT Nyheter – via www.svt.se.
  37. ↑ Journals of the Continental Congress
  38. ↑ "Staffing and Administration - Short History - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov.
  39. ↑ "NSPD-51: National Continuity Policy". fas.org.
  40. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 20, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  41. ↑ Gellman, Barton; Schmidt, Susan (March 1, 2002). "Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret" – via washingtonpost.com.
  42. ↑ ABC News (May 13, 2024). Inside the historic White House Situation Room. Retrieved May 15, 2024 – via YouTube.

External links[edit | edit source]

Retrieved from "https://en.ikwipedia.org/index.php?title=Continuity_of_Government&oldid=11289"