• What if ?
    When Germany fell. The Allies decided to go after Russia.
    Could we have been able to beat Japan and Russia?


  • I doubt USSR and Japan would ally due to Japan stealing their coal from WWI and the Japanese expansion against USSR territory while trying to expand into Mongolia that USSR directly took offense to. However lets assume USSR allied, that means that USSR would lose Lend Lease and compete against France, UK, and US. The only real issue would be USSR Pacific Fleet reinforce Japanese Fleets which still technically existed while also being the new supplier of oil. And possible USSR eastern forces now reinforcing Japanese positions in Korea and China possibly putting more pressure against the Chinese. I am curious to know if Mao would also restart the civil war and turn and help USSR? However Japanese were also anti communist too so I doubt such an alliance could exist.


  • I just got this book, named Churchills third world war, by Jonathan Walker, History Press 2017, but not got time to read it yet. The back of the book says that Operation Unthinkable was Churchills plan to use US, British and Polish forces to reclaim Eastern Europe in July 1945. The plan even called for the use of Nazi troops and the Bomb. I cant wait to read this book, just have to finish the one I read now


  • @Narvik:

    I just got this book, named Churchills third world war, by Jonathan Walker, History Press 2017, but not got time to read it yet. The back of the book says that Operation Unthinkable was Churchills plan to use US, British and Polish forces to reclaim Eastern Europe in July 1945. The plan even called for the use of Nazi troops and the Bomb. I cant wait to read this book, just have to finish the one I read now

    The idea was that Stalin made it clear he wasn’t going to liberate territories and just annex everything so Churchill made it clear that it would be best off removing the Nazi’s from power but not the Wehrmacht and reequip them and have them continue to engage the Soviets. In fact, a lot of Wehrmacht units that surrendered, didn’t even get stripped of their equipment and where being sent back to defend Germany.

  • '22 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '12

    Hmm, good question.  I think the Western Allies had about 4.5 million men in the west.  Russia had maybe more?  The Russians had heavier equipment and more tanks I bet. But allied air power would likely have crushed the red air force.  Also, I suspect by mid-1945 the USSR was exhausted and operating close to the breaking point logistically.  Operation August Storm in Manchuria was impressive for sure, but by the Japan’s army in China was a shadow of itself, and thus the operation I don’t think it telling of how the USSR would fare against the western allies.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    I like Patton’s quote from the movie


    “I understand the situation. Their (the Soviet) supply system is inadequate to maintain them in a serious action such as I could put to them. They have chickens in the coop and cattle on the hoof – that’s their supply system. They could probably maintain themselves in the type of fighting I could give them for five days. After that it would make no difference how many million men they have, and if you wanted Moscow I could give it to you. They lived on the land coming down. There is insufficient left for them to maintain themselves going back. Let’s not give them time to build up their supplies. If we do, then . . . we have had a victory over the Germans and disarmed them, but we have failed in the liberation of Europe; we have lost the war!””


  • As I pointed out, USSR was getting Lend Lease right up to the end. I have no idea how fast USSR rebuild their factories in the West but I am willing to bet that once Lend Lease is gone, they would not be able to continue to fight.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    In this scenario I think a lot would depend on what happens in the east.  Not so much the west.

    The Americans had the nuke, had the pacific on lockdown and had the capability to strategically bomb and invade a superpower via the pacific alone.  With Japan broken or at peace with the allies, this mean a us invasion of mainland Asia could have been conducted.

    Mind you, there wasn’t much to invade in the Soviet Far East., but all the same.  Russia would be fighting a two front war with no lend lease as mentioned, against a swath of allied nations.


  • @Gargantua:

    In this scenario I think a lot would depend on what happens in the east.  Not so much the west.

    The Americans had the nuke, had the pacific on lockdown and had the capability to strategically bomb and invade a superpower via the pacific alone.  With Japan broken or at peace with the allies, this mean a us invasion of mainland Asia could have been conducted.

    Mind you, there wasn�t much to invade in the Soviet Far East., but all the same.  Russia would be fighting a two front war with no lend lease as mentioned, against a swath of allied nations.

    I doubt they’re would be a reason to land in China, US wanted to liberate China but the ROC couldn’t secure a deep water port. So if US had to land invade USSR from the east, they would have to bypass Japan and most likely would take out Japan first or go into USSR east thus forcing the USN to destroy the Red Pacific Fleet.


  • @Caesar:

    @Gargantua:

    In this scenario I think a lot would depend on what happens in the east.  Not so much the west.

    The Americans had the nuke, had the pacific on lockdown and had the capability to strategically bomb and invade a superpower via the pacific alone.  With Japan broken or at peace with the allies, this mean a us invasion of mainland Asia could have been conducted.

    Mind you, there wasn�t much to invade in the Soviet Far East., but all the same.  Russia would be fighting a two front war with no lend lease as mentioned, against a swath of allied nations.

    I doubt they’re would be a reason to land in China, US wanted to liberate China but the ROC couldn’t secure a deep water port. So if US had to land invade USSR from the east, they would have to bypass Japan and most likely would take out Japan first or go into USSR east thus forcing the USN to destroy the Red Pacific Fleet.

    Depending on when the West decides to take on the Soviets, destroying the Red Pacific Fleet might have consisted of sinking ships the US had sent to Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hula (“Project Hula was a program of World War II in which the United States transferred naval vessels to the Soviet Union in anticipation of the Soviets eventually joining the war against Japan, specifically in preparation for planned Soviet invasions of southern Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. Based at Cold Bay in the Territory of Alaska, the project was active during the spring and summer of 1945. It was the largest and most ambitious transfer program of World War II.”)

    -Midnight_Reaper

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