England was going to attack the USSR with the help of the Wehrmacht and the SS
Churchill crossing the Rhine in Germany during the Rhineland offensive. Together with the Prime Minister are Field Marshals B. Montgomery and A. Brooke. March 25, 1945
"Russian threat"
In 1998, the British government declassified archive documents that showed that an operation codenamed Operation Unthinkable had indeed been developed. These documents are held in the National Archives.
The initiator of the new big the war, which was to begin after the capitulation of the Third Reich, was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. A long-time enemy of Russia. It was Churchill, as Minister of Armaments and Minister of War of Britain, who became one of the main supporters and main initiators of the intervention in Russia, declaring the need to "strangle Bolshevism in the cradle." According to Churchill: "of all tyrannies, the Bolshevik tyranny is the worst... the most destructive, the most humiliating and... it is far worse than German militarism."
At the same time, Churchill was one of the most outstanding statesmen of the British Empire, who tried with all his might to preserve the world empire of the Anglo-Saxons. Naturally, he clearly identified the main enemies of the British Empire - Germany and Russia. It was the Germans and Russians who could challenge England in Europe and the world.
During the war, Churchill initially delayed the opening of the Second Front in Europe in order to exhaust the resources of Germany and the USSR as much as possible (Why did Great Britain and the USA delay the opening of a second front?). The Allies operated in secondary areas and theaters – Africa, the Mediterranean.
When the war turned radically and the Russians Tanks quickly went to the West, the British Prime Minister promoted the so-called "Balkan strategy". In order to land troops in the south of Europe, take Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna, to occupy South-Eastern and Central Europe before the Red Army.
The goal of the operation was stated quite openly – to impose the will of the USA and Great Britain on the USSR. According to Churchill, "Soviet Russia has become a mortal threat to the free world." Therefore, it is necessary to create a new front, which "must go as far east as possible." The main goal of the Anglo-American armies is Berlin; Prague and Vienna must also be occupied.
In addition, London and Washington tried to prevent the establishment of a Moscow-created communist government in Poland by defending the legitimacy of the London-based government in exile.
Churchill expresses fears that the Russians are aiming for complete hegemony in Europe: “At any moment, if they so choose, they will sweep through the rest of Europe and drive us back to our island.”
Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin at the Yalta Conference. February 1945.
Operation Unthinkable
Churchill instructs the War Cabinet's Joint Planning Staff to submit their views on a possible military campaign against the USSR. The plan's principal developer is Brigadier General Geoffrey Thompson. The plan is ready on 22 May 1945.
The start of military operations was planned for July 1, 1945. The plan for the land campaign envisaged two main attacks in Germany in the direction of Poland. The attacks were supposed to be: northern, along the Stettin-Schneidemühl-Bydgoszcz axis; and southern, along the Leipzig-Cottbus-Poznan and Breslau axis. The main tank battles were supposed to unfold east of the Oder-Neisse line, and the outcome of the campaign would depend on their outcome. Anglo-American troops were supposed to occupy Berlin and push the Russians back to the Oder and Neisse rivers, several dozen kilometers east of the German capital.
The planners believed that, despite the Russians' numerical superiority, there was a chance of achieving success thanks to the element of surprise, superior command and control of troops, and aviation. However, if the Red Army does not suffer a decisive defeat at the first stage, then a total war is inevitable. And in it, the Russians in Europe have an advantage. Deep and rapid penetration of Anglo-American troops into the depths of Russia, following the example of the Germans, is impossible.
England and the United States had to stake everything on one "great battle." In essence, it was the same gamble as the Wehrmacht invasion in June 1941, when the Nazis bet that Russia's main forces would be destroyed before winter.
The plan noted that only 47 Anglo-American divisions, including 14 armored, would be used in offensive operations. According to their estimates, they would be confronted by Red Army forces equivalent to 170 Allied divisions, of which 30 would be tank divisions.
Therefore, the Allies planned to use Polish rebels and 10-12 German divisions on their side. Later, even more German units could be formed. German prisoners of war were going to be used in the war with the Russians. For this purpose, uniforms and weapon The Third Reich was preserved for a while.
The Anglo-American command also tried to retain German command personnel, including SS men. People with such experience were needed by England and the USA to build their new world order (Why did the US cover up Nazi criminals?).
There was also hope that the Allies' advantage in world communications, at sea, and the cessation of Lend-Lease supplies would create critical problems for the USSR.
"Beyond our capabilities"
Churchill's ideas and Thompson's work were sent to the highest headquarters of Great Britain - the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On June 8, the conclusion of the British General Staff was drawn up.
The British generals were rather cool to Churchill's idea to start a new world war. The Prime Minister's chief military adviser Hastings Ismay wondered how the authorities would explain to the people that they had started a war against the Soviet Union, which for several years had positioned itself as the main opponent of the "black-brown plague" (Nazism and fascism), as an ally of Britain and the USA. It was also unacceptable to involve Wehrmacht and SS units in the war with the Russians, which would raise many questions and a negative reaction from the world community.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that the Anglo-American forces had complete superiority only at sea and in strategic aviation. There would be no quick victory. The war would be total, long and costly. The numerical superiority of the Russians made even a short-term and limited success on land doubtful.
The key conclusion, signed by Field Marshal Alan Brooke, was clear:
"We therefore believe that if war comes, it will be beyond our power to achieve a quick limited success, and we shall find ourselves engaged in a long war against superior forces. Moreover, the superiority of these forces may be increased immeasurably if American fatigue and indifference increase and they are drawn to the magnet of war in the Pacific."
"Advance to the North Sea and the Atlantic"
On July 11, the British prepared a defensive plan, which retained the code name "Unthinkable." The British military noted that if the Americans left Europe (for example, to the Pacific theater), the Russians would be able to advance to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The British would have to, following the example of the 1940 campaign, evacuate to the British Isles and rely on the defense fleet and aviation.
In this way, Churchill wanted to do what some leading figures of the Third Reich had proposed just before the fall of the German Empire. Eliminate Hitler and use the remaining power of the Wehrmacht, the SS and the military-economic potential of the German Empire in the fight against the Russians. The Germans were becoming outright "cannon fodder" for England and the USA in the fight against the "red threat". The Anglo-American divisions became the second echelon.
Churchill lost the election in July 1945, losing his place as prime minister. However, he retained his status as the leading ideologist of the Western world. On March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Churchill gave a speech that became famous and is considered to be the starting point of the Cold War.
In essence, this was the beginning of the third world war – an ideological, informational, economic confrontation between two world poles. A diplomatic and secret war, a war of special services, a small war in third countries (Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Afghanistan, etc.).
The Anglo-Saxons, led by Churchill, were unable to start a “hot war” due to the military and economic might of the Soviet superpower. Analysis by the British and American military showed that the Russians were invincible on land at that time and could reach the Atlantic coast in the event of a new war in Europe. Neither Churchill, nor the British generals, nor their American allies were suicidal.
Allied troops parade in Berlin on September 7, 1945, marking the end of World War II. A column of 52 Soviet IS-3 heavy tanks from the 2nd Guards Tank Army marches along the Charlottenburg Highway
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