Is there anyway to get the wallies and the soviets to go to war right after ww2?

How early after the war are we talking here? Because you could see something come out of the Berlin blockade/air lift in '47-'48
 

Saphroneth

Banned
Okay, let's see.

The thing which OTL caused any possible continuation war on hold was, basically, that the two sides were exhausted.


You could probably swing something with... say, the Western Allies push further into Germany, take Berlin and then try to renege on the sphere-of-influence stuff (delay things for a couple of months, then have the US trying to awe the Soviets with their Great Big Atomic Stick.)

That has potential for a shooting incident to escalate, perhaps.
 
You certainly could have incidents of US/UK & Soviet forces shooting at each other by accident. While this would piss everyone off, it would be tamped down quickly and acknowledged for the kind of error that happened. The USSR was exhausted, and still dependent in many ways on LL. The Uk was tapped out, and France was a mess. The USA was by no means exhausted. There was plenty of manpower, industrial capacity to spare and the USSR in 1945 and for some years thereafter had essentially no navy so getting stuff to Europe was easy - you'd probably have convoys because they would try to send a few subs out but basically it was a no-brainer. Poland could become a mess for the USSR, playing hob with logistics.

Having said all that, the UK was in no shape to do this and certainly the Labour Government would not do it, Stalin was going to get what he could by bluster but was in no shape to take on the W Allies. The USA, after defeating Japan had no reason to continue fighting now against the USSR. A serious conflict rather than some incidents needs to start on purpose, and nobody had the combination of ability to do so AND desire to so. One or the other perhaps but not both.
 
In material terms, no. But in psychological terms they were as tired with the war as everyone else.

They also had the least reason to fight the war as well it wasn't until 49ish the US reallyreally started to see the Soviets as a threat and the Korean war to cement it. US rapid demobilization shows how the US wanted out of Europe at the time
 
The only plausible way it could occur is for an earlier POD in Europe where the battlelines are different and Poland is in contention between the Polish government-in-exile and the Stalin backed Lublin regime. Poland was the only flashpoint in Europe which could have lead to a new war. IOTL, the West was willing to not press the point because Stalin de facto controlled Poland. In a timeline where Stalin did not control all of Poland, a miscalculation by Stalin could have lead to a general war.

Maybe a more successful Warsaw Uprising which saw the city fall and the Germans back off. The Polish government flies in and resumes control. The Nazis hope this causes the Allies to break and allows the Poles to regain control of more of Poland. Instead of being arrested and disarmed, most of the Home Army flock to the territory controlled by "Free Poland".

Short term, the Allies hold together, but long term Stalin is upset. He wants complete control of Poland to better defend the USSR and control the supply lines to the Red Army occupation in eastern Germany. When the Pacific War ends, the Allies don't need the Soviets anymore and give the Poles greater support. Stalin misjudges the influence of the Fellow Travelers in the West who want to sell out Poland and creates a crisis where Truman and Attlee back Poland anyway. Although neither side wants war, escalation continues until a shooting war starts anyway.
 
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