Soviet Invasion of Europe after WWI?

How far west could the Soviets have pushed if they successfully defeated Poland in the Polish-Soviet war?
 
They could probably save the German Revolution if they there early enough, but any further and the French would kick their asses out. Even then the supply situation would be awful. If they get there too late to save the revolution then no further than the postwar Polish border.
 
They could probably save the German Revolution if they there early enough, but any further and the French would kick their asses out. Even then the supply situation would be awful. If they get there too late to save the revolution then no further than the postwar Polish border.

I assume the Allied troops in the Rhineland would surge forwards to halt the Red menace as soon as they started making inroads into German territory, yeah?
 
I assume the Allied troops in the Rhineland would surge forwards to halt the Red menace as soon as they started making inroads into German territory, yeah?

There was a really good Tl on this premise being written a while ago on this, can't remember the name though, I'll have a dig around.

EDIT: found two actually. Though the one I was remembering has sadly gone dark

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=200193

another one here too

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=314499
 
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Is the red army really up to it? its still fighting a Civil War, Germany is divided but there are a lot of people with guns running around some on the far left some on the far right (and far right won historically). Poland has to be subdued and you have three great powers who together have about 10 million men under arms looking for a reason to kick their teeth in. a Soviet invasion of Europe seems like an unwise move at this point.
 
OTL, they couldn't beat the Poles, who were hardly a world power.

Given that there were still Western military (and paramilitary) forces in Russia fighting against the Reds (?or had just been withdrawn, maybe?), I really can't see the Soviets doing more than taking Poland.
 
They could probably save the German Revolution if they there early enough, but any further and the French would kick their asses out. Even then the supply situation would be awful. If they get there too late to save the revolution then no further than the postwar Polish border.

Idk.

Even with the French winning the war, many on the left, including some moderate socialists were ecstatic at the success of Bolshevism in Russia.

If the Red Army was able to spread revolution to Poland and then Germany, I absolutely believe France could have fallen, most likely through a Mass General strike by all the major trade unions sympathetic to Bolshevism.
 
Idk.

Even with the French winning the war, many on the left, including some moderate socialists were ecstatic at the success of Bolshevism in Russia.

If the Red Army was able to spread revolution to Poland and then Germany, I absolutely believe France could have fallen, most likely through a Mass General strike by all the major trade unions sympathetic to Bolshevism.

I am unconvinced of that. The experience of the war would have taught the unions that nationalism trumps socialism. All the French Government would have to do is make a pitch about the Russians and how they were going to pay them back for being mean to Napoleon and any pro-comintern unions find themselves crippled by a mass general work.
 
Idk.

Even with the French winning the war, many on the left, including some moderate socialists were ecstatic at the success of Bolshevism in Russia.

If the Red Army was able to spread revolution to Poland and then Germany, I absolutely believe France could have fallen, most likely through a Mass General strike by all the major trade unions sympathetic to Bolshevism.
Nope. As RodentRevolution said WWI showed that nationalism beats socialism every time. While the left might by sympathetic to the Bolsheviks the idea of an invading army overthrowing the French government would be unpalatable to most, and that doesn't even get to the reaction of the center and the right.
 
Idk.

Even with the French winning the war, many on the left, including some moderate socialists were ecstatic at the success of Bolshevism in Russia.

If the Red Army was able to spread revolution to Poland and then Germany, I absolutely believe France could have fallen, most likely through a Mass General strike by all the major trade unions sympathetic to Bolshevism.
General strikes don't have a great record in achieving 'offensive' as opposed to 'defensive' objectives. The Kornilov Affair and the Kapp Putsch at about this time were both defeated by strikes, but those strikes were essentially 'defensive', i.e. preventing an authoritarian takeover. I suspect that if Warsaw had fallen and the Soviets managed to enter German territory, you would have had martial law or something similar in France, perhaps an earlier Fascist takeover in Italy.
If the Soviets faced any serious opposition in Germany (and they would have been operating at the far end of their supplies, the opposition would not have had to be very strong) they would not have been able to deliver a revolutionary victory very quickly - which would mean a long stay on German soil, probably generating ever-stronger hostility even among the German Left. I expect they would eventually withdraw to Poland, set up a Soviet puppet regime there, and leave behind a Western Europe even more paranoid about Reds than OTL.
 
General strikes don't have a great record in achieving 'offensive' as opposed to 'defensive' objectives. The Kornilov Affair and the Kapp Putsch at about this time were both defeated by strikes, but those strikes were essentially 'defensive', i.e. preventing an authoritarian takeover. I suspect that if Warsaw had fallen and the Soviets managed to enter German territory, you would have had martial law or something similar in France, perhaps an earlier Fascist takeover in Italy.
If the Soviets faced any serious opposition in Germany (and they would have been operating at the far end of their supplies, the opposition would not have had to be very strong) they would not have been able to deliver a revolutionary victory very quickly - which would mean a long stay on German soil, probably generating ever-stronger hostility even among the German Left. I expect they would eventually withdraw to Poland, set up a Soviet puppet regime there, and leave behind a Western Europe even more paranoid about Reds than OTL.
I agree, except the plan was to annex Poland and make it an SSR. There was even a committee set up to do this.
 
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