1956: With the Hungarian Revolution in full-swing, and Poland mutinous, the Warsaw Pact is in a poor position to use its conventional forces. The Suez Crisis is similarly distracting for France/Britain, but less so (as the Israelis had the military aspect well in hand). Greece, Turkey and West Germany have been integrated into NATO, and de Gaulle hasn't had his tantrum yet, so France is still directly integrated into the command. The US has begun to implement changes as a result of the Korean War. It would still be really dicey, but about as even as could be hoped for (by the 1980s it would be more of a fair fight, but by then MAD means everyone dies anyway; 1950s the Soviets have neither the nukes nor the delivery capability to hurt the US, although Western Europe may be in trouble).
Initial bombing targets are known nuclear bases, major airbases and large troop formations, in that order. Nukes will be used liberally. The primary objective will be to secure air superiority in the combat theater, in order to allow nuclear strikes on enemy troop concentrations so as to limit the ability to counterattack. Initial land offensives aim to secure as much of East Germany as possible, and in particular to link up with Berlin before the Soviets can redeploy their forces. The Balkans are less promising for the initial offensive, but an effort will be made to reach the Veleka so as to protect Istanbul. Otherwise the Balkans and Caucuses will be mostly defensive actions, as will Korea. Further goals will depend on whether Poland honors its Warsaw Pact commitments or not, and how rapidly the Soviets can launch a counterattack (as well as which cities end up getting nuked). Longterm political objectives in decreasing order of importance are: to end the Soviet domination of Hungary and East Germany, of Eastern Europe more generally, to liberate the Baltic States, and to replace the Soviet government with a more capitalist one.
The whole thing ends in blood and tears, of course, but at least it gives a rally-round-the-flag effect and Eisenhower gets to bump up his reelection margin even higher. And the further devastation of Europe extends US economic dominance, as the Europeans have to rebuild everything again. Who knows, we might even win (at the cost of massive death and destruction)!
