I believe General Zhukov was already there commanding the Kiev Military District starting in June 1940.Shirer wrote that if Stalin had attacked Germany in June 1940, he probably could’ve gotten as far as Berlin before effective resistance was organized. I’d assume he would’ve brought Zhukov back west if he planned such an operation.
Shirer should stick to writing fiction imhoShirer wrote that if Stalin had attacked Germany in June 1940, he probably could’ve gotten as far as Berlin before effective resistance was organized. I’d assume he would’ve brought Zhukov back west if he planned such an operation.
What if the USSR started to invade Germany after Poland was split, to put a final closure on the very regime which sought to destroy communism? And thus, maybe even staring world war 2?
What if the USSR started to invade Germany after Poland was split, to put a final closure on the very regime which sought to destroy communism? And thus, maybe even staring world war 2?
Have you read about the problems they had invading Poland? Not to mention the infrastructure problems of East Poland that would make an invasion from the East into Central Europe effectively a non-starter. The Germans had to spend most of 1940-41 building up their part of Poland to enable Barbarossa and found that that still didn't fix the even worse problems of Russian occupied Poland, which they only started being able to address in 1942 and was a major bottleneck for their invasion that might have been the margin between defeat and victory in 1941. In 1939 or 1940 with how bad the USSR was doing it would have been a disaster. IIRC even Halder was hoping the Soviets would try and invade, as he was expecting it to turn into a super-Tannenberg; considering Soviet performance in general until much later with much more combat experience they'd probably give Halder the victory he was expecting.What if the USSR started to invade Germany after Poland was split, to put a final closure on the very regime which sought to destroy communism? And thus, maybe even staring world war 2?
Frankly, if the USSR invades Eastern Germany after Germany invades France, how is this worse for the USSR then what actually happened? Morally they can invade because they know if they don't the Germans will invade them, just like WWI, and they have the cause to "get on with it" to avoid what happened before. The French and British would welcome the ally. if they strike into Romania (as noted above) how long before Germany runs out of oil?The main advantage for Soviets, would be if they attack right during the German invasion of France and Low Countries.
Soviet Union might be better off on the long run as
1 ) Even if Soviets are badly prepared for war, and Germans fight well, the fight will still occur in Poland and Eastern Germany, rather than in Soviet Union proper. And Germans will still lose (quickly) as they'd have to fight a two-front war, under British naval blockade and without Soviets supplying them.
2 ) The image of Soviet-led Communism might not be harmed too much by the M-R Pact, as Stalinists would argue "USSR only made a deal with the Reich to gain time, as it wasn't ready to fight the fascists in 1939 yet, but as soon as the Red Army was ready, Comrade Stalin fought the fascists".
So is the USSR. Considerably so. They had a major expansion between 1940-41 that gave them the numbers they had in June 1941 as well as equipment modernization. There was no KV-1 or T-34 yet. The radio shortage was even worse than in 1941. The PAK36 was in fact able to deal with ever tank in the Soviet arsenal in 1939-40. The aircraft, especially fighters, were grossly inferior even to the Bf109E.While the Red Army at this time was certainly rough around the edges, and any major gain would come with horrific casualties, keep in mind that the Wehrmacht is significantly weaker compared to June, 1941. They have less troops, less advanced equipment, and practically no allies(though I’m sure some nations would be quick to join their side if Stalin invaded). France and Britain are basically safe from invasion now that Germany is distracted, but I doubt they’ll actually declare war on the Soviet Union. Rather they would more likely just watch the two drain each other in a fight that the Soviets would probably win in the long run.
In September 1939? According to Merekov the Soviet Army had approximately sixty infantry divisions in the west & forty others of cavalry, motorized, ect... There were in theory a considerable pool of reservists, but the mobilization system Merekov describes was very awkward.
I doubt the Allies want to see the USSR dominating Central Europe even if temporarily. The Western European governments of 1939-40 thought very differently about that than FDR did in 1944-45 especially without France ever being invaded by Germany ITTL.Maybe not in September of 1939, but before Germany invades the Soviet Union. With the Soviet's massive manpower, I could easily see them destroying Nazi Germany eventually while the Allies just sit back and laugh and let the 2 regimes destroy each other.