25.01.2010, 18:18
"The whole point of your campaign is that Stalin is objecting to America's atomic weapons, and since they only have six, do something about it now before they seven. Is that right?
No that is not what I was trying to say. Maybe I wasn't clear.
Stalin wants to rule all of Europe and spread communism through out the world as he stated publicly many times. The only thing holding him back in my "what if" is the belief that the US has dozens maybe even up to a hundred of easy to use atom bombs. What he fears is this death from above.
He knows that his standing army can easily be increased rapidly with conscripts. In the end he can foreseeable have 15 million under arms by the middle of 1946. He knows that in a conventional war he will prevail and so does his former allies.
The real Joint Chiefs of Staff plans foresee a swift Soviet overrun of Western Europe. Their plans are based on this premise. In reality the bluff of the US and Britain worked and Stalin never pulled the trigger.
In my storyline he finds out that the West is indeed bluffing and decides to pull the trigger knowing that he will take 6 hits but also gambling that his country can withstand these six bombings. He also finds out just how hard it is to assemble and deliver the bombs. It takes up to 90 days to assemble and the only delivery system is 12 specially designed B29s. Add to this that the shelf life of an assembled Mark III atomic bomb is only 8 days.
In January the US has stationed some B29s only minutes from his borders. He reacts to this provocation much like the US reacted to having missiles put in Cuba during the 60s. He is ready willing and able to go to war to erase this threat. He has a full 90 days or more to overrun Western Europe and put another 500 miles of in depth air defense between him and certain destruction. Once Europe is subjugated it will be nearly impossible for the US and Britain to again pull off another D-Day and certainly not within the near future and by this time he will have his own atomic bomb via his spy network.
"he essential point here is that you're projecting the US and USSR as bitter rivals in 1946 which historically wasn't the case at all.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with this statement. We nearly came to blows over Turkey and the occupation of Eastern Europe. Stalin talked about WWII being just the beginning of a war between communism and capitalism.
" For his part, Joseph Stalin deepened the estrangement between the United States and the Soviet Union when he asserted in 1946 that World War II was an unavoidable and inevitable consequence of "capitalist imperialism" and implied that such a war might reoccur."
"At the conclusion of World War II, Stalin demanded partial control of the Dardanelles, a strategic passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.[13][14] Since British assistance to Turkey had ended in 1947, the U.S. dispatched military aid to ensure that Turkey would retain chief control of the passage. The aircraft carrier Franklin D Roosevelt was sent to join the Missouri,[15] accompanied by $100 million in economic and military aid to the nation."
I like your storyline but if I use your ideas I cannot see anyway that Europe can be free again.
My "what if" follows closely the real Joint Chiefs of Staffs Plan Griddle. This was the prevailing plan until about 1948 and parts of it were used until the 50s. My added twists are a way that the "NATO" force could defeat the Red Army.
Your ideas are very thought provoking and I thank you for your input.
No that is not what I was trying to say. Maybe I wasn't clear.
Stalin wants to rule all of Europe and spread communism through out the world as he stated publicly many times. The only thing holding him back in my "what if" is the belief that the US has dozens maybe even up to a hundred of easy to use atom bombs. What he fears is this death from above.
He knows that his standing army can easily be increased rapidly with conscripts. In the end he can foreseeable have 15 million under arms by the middle of 1946. He knows that in a conventional war he will prevail and so does his former allies.
The real Joint Chiefs of Staff plans foresee a swift Soviet overrun of Western Europe. Their plans are based on this premise. In reality the bluff of the US and Britain worked and Stalin never pulled the trigger.
In my storyline he finds out that the West is indeed bluffing and decides to pull the trigger knowing that he will take 6 hits but also gambling that his country can withstand these six bombings. He also finds out just how hard it is to assemble and deliver the bombs. It takes up to 90 days to assemble and the only delivery system is 12 specially designed B29s. Add to this that the shelf life of an assembled Mark III atomic bomb is only 8 days.
In January the US has stationed some B29s only minutes from his borders. He reacts to this provocation much like the US reacted to having missiles put in Cuba during the 60s. He is ready willing and able to go to war to erase this threat. He has a full 90 days or more to overrun Western Europe and put another 500 miles of in depth air defense between him and certain destruction. Once Europe is subjugated it will be nearly impossible for the US and Britain to again pull off another D-Day and certainly not within the near future and by this time he will have his own atomic bomb via his spy network.
"he essential point here is that you're projecting the US and USSR as bitter rivals in 1946 which historically wasn't the case at all.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with this statement. We nearly came to blows over Turkey and the occupation of Eastern Europe. Stalin talked about WWII being just the beginning of a war between communism and capitalism.
" For his part, Joseph Stalin deepened the estrangement between the United States and the Soviet Union when he asserted in 1946 that World War II was an unavoidable and inevitable consequence of "capitalist imperialism" and implied that such a war might reoccur."
"At the conclusion of World War II, Stalin demanded partial control of the Dardanelles, a strategic passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.[13][14] Since British assistance to Turkey had ended in 1947, the U.S. dispatched military aid to ensure that Turkey would retain chief control of the passage. The aircraft carrier Franklin D Roosevelt was sent to join the Missouri,[15] accompanied by $100 million in economic and military aid to the nation."
I like your storyline but if I use your ideas I cannot see anyway that Europe can be free again.
My "what if" follows closely the real Joint Chiefs of Staffs Plan Griddle. This was the prevailing plan until about 1948 and parts of it were used until the 50s. My added twists are a way that the "NATO" force could defeat the Red Army.
Your ideas are very thought provoking and I thank you for your input.