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One of the many popular tropes of 1950s pulp fiction was the discussion of the possible WW3 scenarios between the US & USSR, with much campiness to go along with it.
One of my favorites, that I admit to have only recently discovered, is Collier's magazine 1951 classic...

Preview of the War We Don't Want

The basic premise is that with TTL's assassination of Tito in 1952 by Stalinist agents and the entrance of Red Army forces into Yugoslavia, the US via the UN ends up declaring war on the USSR.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF WORLD WAR III

1952

Assassination attempt on Marshal Tito's life, May 10th, precipitates Cominform-planned uprising in Yugoslavia. Troops from satellite nationsof Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, backed by the Red Army, cross borders. Truman terms agression "Kremlin inspired."; Reds call it "an internal matter."

Third World War begins when Moscow, still insisting that uprising is "the will of the Yugoslav people," refuses to withdraw Red Army units. Stalin miscalculates risk: had believed U.S. would neither back Tito nor fight alone. U.S. is joined by principal UN nations in declaration of war.


And as you can see by the photo, after several major atomic exchanges to go along with massive conventional advances in Asian and European theatre, the conflict ends with UN forces marching deep into Russia.

So to my plausibility question...
How likely or unlikely is this type of military outcome circa early 1950s, if such a war were to happen in our timeline?
Could US/UN forces legitimately have a shot at successfully invading Russia in the advent of 1950s war?
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