US-Soviet military cooperation post-WWII

Here's my question - is it possible to create a situation, with a pod either during or after WWII, that leads to Soviet and American soldiers fighting a war together, either conventional or not, against a third party?

Perhaps a scenario where the Sino-Soviet split occurs but there is no corresponding detente between the Chinese and the US could lead to this situation? China seems like the most likely option for a post-WWII opponent of the USSR and USA - I don't know if anyone else really has the power or motivation to create a sufficient threat.

I got the idea when I was looking at those pictures of Russian and American soldiers shaking hands in Germany, and I thought, "What if they were shaking hands on the banks of the Yalu?" or wherever.

So, what do you think?
 
Neat idea. I like it. Here's why not and why it could work.

That idea foundered on several issues.
Stalin was paranoid. He wanted Soviet society to be a insular box that nobody else really understood and thus felt like meddling with. He trusted nobody, inside or outside his country. He didn't want the WAllies seeing firsthand how bad things were on his end. The bluffs he started about how powerful Russia was without giving the West much access to call them did a lot to screw up US/USSR relations.
Add in the propaganda of the "bestial" Red Army as they took Berlin and so forth, and reactionary American leaders found plenty to be scared about.

Remove Stalin and get Beria or Molotov in charge that wouldn't mind American/WAllied troops fighting on the Eastern Front and seeing how trashed Soviet territory west of the Urals was, and you'd see a lot less delusional American thoughts of Communism on the march to world domination.
American/WAllied deaths on the Eastern Front fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army in substantial numbers would erase any thoughts about how soft Americans were or doubts about what Ivan wanted out of the war- stomp the Germans flat and ensure they'd never have to march west again.
I'm not saying that the US and USSR would be palsy-walsy from then on, but a joint effort to push the Germans out of the USSR to Berlin would have developed true camaraderie and trust.
In this scenario, however, the Morgenthau plan would've been mild compared to the treatment imposed by the Allies IOTL.
 
As long as you don't mind it being a good ways after WWII, China is indeed your best bet.

The classic scenario is "China invades Siberia to grab all those nifty resources. US says "hey! Hands of the oil! (Because, like, the US only fights for oil, dude)".

You can also imagine China vs. India, with the situation spiraling out of control and pulling in both the US and the USSR on India's side.

Heck, have terrorists from Afghanistan hit the US with a 9/11 style attack before the USSR pulls out. Sudden end of US support, and the Green Berets (not that they were ever there, of course) suddenly start helping the Soviet occupation forces...
 

Old Airman

Banned
IOTL USSR had been ready to join anti-Iraq coalition during 1st Gulf War. This is your easiest scenario to turn into reality :)
 
Another possiblity was what the Iranian militants orginally wanted: seize both the U.S. and Soviet Embassies in Tehran. Both superpowers would have a causus belli for joint action.

There was also talk in LBJ's administration of joint action against the Chinese nuclear weapons program with the Soviets in '64.
 

Thande

Donor
Drew does this quite convincingly with the occupation of Syria after a different Yom Kippur war in his Fear, Loathing and Gumbo timeline.
 

Old Airman

Banned
Another possiblity was what the Iranian militants orginally wanted: seize both the U.S. and Soviet Embassies in Tehran. Both superpowers would have a causus belli for joint action.
I doubt it would be a JOINT action. At best, a simultaneous one, with some sort of very limited information exchange to avoid large-scale shooting at each other. As in "we're coming from North, you're from South, that's it"
There was also talk in LBJ's administration of joint action against the Chinese nuclear weapons program with the Soviets in '64.
I guess poor sods didn't know that Soviets were the ones who enabled Mao's nukes...
 
the soviets during either the 6 day war or the yom kippur war ( I forget which one) at one point when negotiations seemed to be failing, suggested that the US and the USSR dispatch airborne troops to enforce a ceasefire... probably blustering

but perhaps the us and ussr could be involved in a peacekeeping mission in which both participate (india-pakistan? perhaps a civil war in china of some sorts)
 
Some kind of joint action against Islamic militants is the easiest, IMO. Maybe the scenario with Iran seizing both embassies, or some kind of joint action in Afghanistan if militants from Afghanistan decide to launch an attack on the US after the Iranian Revolution.

Maybe naval cooperation against an earlier Somali pirate menace? Maybe Somalia collapses after the Ogaden War, and pirates start popping up in the anarchy, leading the US and Soviets to launch a joint naval expedition to put down the pirate sometime in the mid-1980s? Maybe Gorbechev tries to organize something like this to build trust with the US so he can focus on internal reforms?

The scenario with China is unlikely because the Soviets were much more powerful than the Chinese, so there's little chance of the Chinese getting close to the resources of Siberia, and the US would likely be happy to let both of them bleed each other dry while keeping nukes from being launched.
 
Here's my question - is it possible to create a situation, with a pod either during or after WWII, that leads to Soviet and American soldiers fighting a war together, either conventional or not, against a third party?

Perhaps a scenario where the Sino-Soviet split occurs but there is no corresponding detente between the Chinese and the US could lead to this situation? China seems like the most likely option for a post-WWII opponent of the USSR and USA - I don't know if anyone else really has the power or motivation to create a sufficient threat.

I got the idea when I was looking at those pictures of Russian and American soldiers shaking hands in Germany, and I thought, "What if they were shaking hands on the banks of the Yalu?" or wherever.

So, what do you think?

Two possibilities :

- germans fanatics succeeded in establishing a stronghold in the mountains in the Alpine Fortress (Alpenfestung) and they were able to conduct a guerrilla war in most of Germany with Werwolf units... In the hilly Bavaria or the Sudeten, the Red Army and the western allies must fight together...

- with or without the use of a Bomb A, the Japanese decided to continue to fight in Mandchuria and Korea, so the Soviets and Americans troops meet somewhere on the Yalu or in the middle of Korea. The invasion of the Japanese home islands is very costly for the Americans and the Japanese decided to put the Okinawa level of resistance everywhere. The Soviets finished by invading the Hokkaido island and the north of Honshu under the umbrella and with the support of the US Navy...
 
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