I found
this article about a plan for a USSR invasion of Western Europe, which reminded me of what brought me to AH.com originally: World War III. The classic USSR pushes West scenario, which often ends with the end of the world. But I have a question for all upon AH.com; what if it didn't? What if it was only Europe that was flattened before the conflict either stalemated or was negotiated to a close.
There are plenty of WWIII triggers to choose from, my personal favorite being the collapse of the Soviet Union. Either way, at any point in the Cold War, the USSR unleashes 'Red Storm' rising, and assaults Western Europe.
This is another link about a Soviet Invasion of the West. As in the scenario, nukes hit major NATO command centers in Belgium, Denmark, and East Germany, but spare France and Britain, as they are nuclear powers. We can extrapolate from this that a full-blown assault will
not be launched against the United States. Furthermore, let us assume that any successful Soviet assault stops on the Rhine, far short of France, in order to spare nuclear assault.
Now, I'm not going to say it's impossible that this ends with global thermonuclear war, because it is actually probable. However, let us assume that rather than launching an immediate full-blown counter strike, the Western nuclear allies assess the situation and see that it is a mainly European push. The West, in an act of self-preservation, decides not to start a full-scale nuclear war. Global nuclear war could still occur during wartime due to mis-communications and accidents, but let us assume the war ends before this can happen. Now, that doesn't mean that some nuclear weapons won't fly; the NATO strategy for this scenario was to saturate the war-zone with nukes, which they will surely do. The question here is can the USSR make it to the Rhine, or will they be stalemated by NATO divisions and tactical nukes?
Either way, lets say that shortly after the war begins, it ends. Neither side wants to escalate the war for fears of armageddon, so a cease-fire is negotiated after the war stalemates in Germany. We can assume that there were some other fronts in the war, like the battle for Korea and the battle for the Atlantic, but these are mainly sideshows. The USSR has accomplished its objective insofar as no attack will be launched into the Warsaw Pact from West Germany, which is now practically uninhabitable. Radioactive fallout and nerve gas will drift across other parts of Europe. East-West relations will never, ever recover. What will the post-war world look like in this scenario? The USSR will become a pariah state, but a powerful, nuclear armed pariah state that has just won a major war...but at huge costs. What will happen in the domestic scene of the USSR-declaring victory is good, but after the war, the economy of the USSR is going to tank after the West places an embargo on them. What about in the West? NATO has just essentially failed, so what will the reactions be in France, Britain, and the USA? There could be a swing right to again take on the USSR, or there could be a swing left to avoid war forever, after everybody feared nuclear fire coming down during the war.
So? Any thoughts on what will happen during or after this scenario.