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What World War III Might Have Looked Like

Here’s something fascinating yet spooky: the newly-elected Polish government has opened its military archives from the days of the Warsaw Pact, which includes a 1979 scenario called “Seven Days to the River Rhine” based on the ridiculous assumption that NATO would be the aggressor in a nuclear exchange. Here’s a map that outlines the scenario…

Map: 1979 map revealing the Soviet bloc's vision of a seven-day atomic holocaust between Nato and Warsaw Pact forces.

According to the Telegraph:

Radek Sikorsky, the Polish defence minister, displayed a map of USSR strikes which shows a barrage of Soviet multi-megaton nuclear strikes on key river lines, including the Rhine and the Meuse, and a Nato counter strike with smaller more accurate nuclear warheads on the Vistula as it runs through Poland.

The Nato strikes are supposed to have been mounted to interdict the movement of Soviet reinforcements from Russia to the battle front.

The whole scheme, codenamed Seven Days to the River Rhine, is predicated on the idea that Nato would be the aggressor and that the Warsaw Pact, under Soviet control, would respond only in self-defence.

Yeah. Right.

Sikorsky didn’t consult with Moscow before opening the archive, which is sure to ruffle some feathers in Russia. In an article in The Independent, who covered the event in the sensationalistically-titled Soviet Plans to Annihilate Europe Revealed, Sikorsky is quoted as saying:

“We need to know about our past. Historians have the right to know the history of the 20th century. If people did some things they were not proud of, that will be an education for them too.

I think it is very important for a democracy for the citizens to know who was who, who was the hero and who was the villain. On that basis we make democratic choices.

I think it is also important for the health of civic society for morality tales to be told: that it pays to be decent and that if you do things that did not serve the national interest, one day it will come out and you might be called to account.”

16 replies on “What World War III Might Have Looked Like”

“…the ridiculous assumption that NATO would be the aggressor in a nuclear exchange…”

I don’t see the ridiculousness in that. It seems to me that in an absurd, insane, zero-sum game, any involved party might make that first move.

Anonymous Bosch

Gah, Stuttgart was a direct strike target, not too surprising really as we have / had the US Army HQ there and (if I remember correctly) five bases and two army hospitals…..

If I understood Nato strategy correctly anyways, Western Germany was just a “buffer” the idea was to slow any soviet advances until more troops from the US could be brought into France along the Rhine, so Germany was supposed to be “scorched” in the process.

Can you feel the love?

Realisticly though: If it would have ever happened the whole thing would probably have been over within a week and the red flag would have been up on what would have been left of the Eiffel Tower.

“…what would have been left of the Eiffel Tower.”

Thereafter renamed The Eiffel Clump.

–Anonymous Bosch

The difference between what NATO members and what the Soviets would see as “acceptable losses” make it more likely that the Warsaw Pact would be the aggressor in a nuclear exchange. Thankfully, this hypothesis has not been empirically tested.

Your overuse of the word ridiculous betrays your preconceptions and bias. It’s not in the least bit odd that they would have a contingency for defense. Not to mention that the western world would absolutely have attacked the Soviets if they could without the thread of MAD. The history of western diplomacy is far from bereft of military intervention in the interest of weakening menacing powers simply because they are too powerful and were a potential threat. Winston Churchill wanted to invade the USSR immediately following WW2 for that matter fearing their eventual power.

“If” their plan was to work what would they have done next? Are there still plans out in some government building somewhere that has not been disclassified regarding more attack plans?

it is only rusian blof to scare polish in case think like chekoslovakia to live comunis pact. becouse if was war how rusia know an think nato is bombin only poland? if war have startet main target of nato was goin to be rusia and main target of rusia in eu was goin to be england.

“…the ridiculous assumption that NATO would be the aggressor in a nuclear exchange…” YOU are ridiculous

Been there done that. 72 hours from start to finish to the English channel by Russian forces, given the use by both side of tactical and Strategic nukes.

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