what does the USSR actually DO in this scenario?
once they start moving troops my thinking it has poor reception, possibly driving Poland into closer relations with Germany?
The Soviet main plan was to pour men and material through Romania by rail. Romania agreed to let them do this, being a Czechoslovak and French ally. Most Munich war TLs have them agreeing only to the Soviets using *one* rail line and moving troops and weapons separately for security reasons, so I suppose that was also the case historically.
I don't know if they also intended to fly over either Romania or Poland (which won't be liked for sure) or to use the Baltic fleet against Germany.
ObssesedNuker said:
Thing is, the French are not going to do a thing without being damn sure the British are on their side. They don't exactly trust the Soviets and also don't really take them seriously as a power.
The Franco-Soviet Alliance was pushed originally by Louis Barthou, just before he was assassinated in 1934. His successor Pierre Laval (of Vichy France fame!) was far less enthusiastic and the reason the treaty of alliance was so neutered in the end as to be meaningless.
But WI Barthou lives? He wasn't the intended victim of the assassination attempt - that was the visiting King of Yugoslavia - and merely catched a stray bullet.