Soviet Domination - A Red Dawn story

The goverment of the various communist european nations will be beyond scared, the bulk of the French arsenal can't reach the URSS but is perfectly capable of hitting them and while they will be trying to control information, too many people will hear the radio and television program from West Europe and quickly the panic will spread even to them...not in the form of mass protest, this is sure, but at least i expect a lot of people not going to work and remain with their families in the case the worst happen.
Worst case scenario for the Warsaw Pact is that the news of the possible conflict in Central Europe, added with the current tension due to the war deprivation and request for 'volunteers' will start a series of civil disturbance in a many places that will slow the military effort.
Hell, just in Poland the locals will be probably do the minimum possible allowed to help the Soviet effort

Well, EDA forces has been lucky, hitting the soviet forces in Sweden just before they were ready to launch their own attack, mean that they were mostly in the open and so vulnerable; we can also assume that the western Med now don't have much soviet presence with the current attack on Malta at the surving comblock forces

Also Jugoslavia and Austria will start to mobilize and prepare to war, the first will go in full people war phase and prepare to be invaded by someone and the second know perfectely that in case of invasion of West Germany their official neutrality will be not worth the ink used in the treaty, so i expect that in the previous months some kind of a hoc agreement/understanding for this specific scenario had been signed or at least unofficially reached between the EDA and Wien

The British idea, look really like a 'cunning plan' out of the mind of Boldrick...as really what can possibly go wrong and explode right in the face? Better that the US want nothing to do with that.

A last question, not considering the Force de Frappe, how many nuclear device have the various EDA nations? There were the Nuclear sharing program of NATO and the various nations of Western Europe will have tried 'discretely' to keep someone of them as assurance (even if i expect that there were needed sometime to make them operative without the US key/code) and nation like Italy can create a nuclear weapon in 6 months, at least in theory.

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February 1985: Europe

Coming across the North Atlantic early in February to visit the European countries of the Allies was a high-level American diplomatic and political delegation. They started their visit in Britain before moving on first to Ireland, next to Norway, afterwards to Spain and finally to Portugal. This was no jolly. Serious business was done. Vice President Baker and Defence Secretary Robb had recently been to the Atlantic-facing countries of Europe involved in this war individually for flying visits though the February delegation sought to spend some time in each nation. There remained no indication of how long the war would last and whether it would continue in its current form or take a dramatic turn in their favour or against them. Much diplomacy was being undertaken along with significant economic work too. Heading up the American party which arrived at RAF Lyneham – on two aircraft, not one – were the Secretaries of State & Treasury. Adlai Stevenson III and Hugh Carey were both men appointed to their high-level positions back in September following the nuclear assassinations of their predecessors Mondale and Bayh at Andrews AFB. Behind closed doors, several senior European politicians thought little of both men and had more faith in President Glenn, Baker and Robb rather than these two. The British Government didn’t have much time for Carey’s pre-war behaviour (when he was New York Governor) in supporting Kennedy’s actions taken towards Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, there was concern in London, as well as in Madrid too, when it came to the lack of diplomatic skills in the part of Stevenson in convincing further countries to join the war on the Allied side alongside his hard-line approach towards many neutrals where they were either threatened or alienated by American actions: the gas attack late last year on West African countries had been a particular source of objection. Those opinions were kept private though. These were Glenn’s appointees and the Americans were VIP guests. They were treated correctly throughout their visit, starting back on the flight-line at Lyneham.

A plethora of junior officials, staff & advisers and security personnel travelled with the pair of Cabinet secretaries but there were also elected politicians which came too. Three senators and two congressmen made the journey: among them one of Massachusetts’ members of the Senate and a member of the House of Representatives from Arizona. John Kerry and John McCain would both each later serve as presidents of their country (their terms separated by another president in between) though that was many long years off. For now, each remained members of the reformed Congress with important committee roles within. They came with the VIPs and travelled extensively within each country which they visited as official guests. Previous violence across Britain in recent months had cooled off somewhat and no major riots where deaths were seen occurred during February yet their trip itinerary took them nowhere near such places where there had been all that violence before anyway. Kerry and McCain both saw the ruins of Whitehall; they also witnessed the British Army exercising on the Salisbury Plain. There were meetings, briefings and tours given. Neither man though was at a meeting which took place at Chequers in Buckinghamshire which Stevenson (Carey wasn’t there either) attended along with much of the British War Cabinet.

The Secretary of State was informed of something called Operation Purloin. He was assured that it was nothing more than a contingency, something that a reasonable and responsible government would plan for just to be sure. He directly and firmly told them that Purloin wouldn’t fly with Glenn nor any part of the US Government. One of his advisers would whisper to him that instead of Purloin, the British should have named it ‘Perfidious Albion’. What was Purloin? Purloin was just a plan to bring about the involvement of Western Europe and their mutual defence organisation – the EDA – in the wider war. This could be done by the RAF and the Royal Navy making attacks against Soviet forces who were occupying that small strip of land in mainland Sweden. These attacks would very likely ignite the whole situation there leading to the Soviets lashing out everywhere against everyone despite it being known that it was British action. Once they did so, Western Europe would be at war. It was stressed to Stevenson that this was just a contingency but he didn’t believe that. They told him that it was being considered to be put into action only if Britain was further imperilled than it already was and the EDA looked certain to remain neutral in this war. Stevenson was certain this was being floated as an idea where Britain was seeking American support for them to do it soon, not later. He told his hosts that this wouldn’t fly. Moreover, he also assured them that it was highly likely that the situation on the ground in Sweden was about to explode any time soon regardless. At the end of the Chequers meeting, it was again said to Stevenson that Purloin was only a contingency – that was repeated and repeated – so he repeated himself too: his country just wouldn’t stand for that. It was just wrong and couldn’t be done. Sweden will explode at any moment, he said again.

He was correct on that. Stevenson, Carey, Kerry and McCain would all be in Portugal by then, far away from where a whole new chapter of the Third World War began.


No official ceasefire nor any sort of progress towards a diplomatic settlement had occurred in Sweden. The heaviest of fighting had quickly come to an end once Soviet forces had driven an occupation zone along the eastern shoreline of the Øresund and dug-in. They continued to exchange shots with the Swedes on the ground and there remained clashes both at sea and in the skies. However, the advance to gobble up Swedish soil had ceased and so too had major attacks against the rest of the country. From out of Malmo, the Soviets didn’t interfere when the International Red Cross arranged for the departure of several convoys of injured children from that city’s hospitals. No games were played, and the fleet of vehicles and ambulances went right across Soviet-occupied territory unmolested. A later similar evacuation of children from hospitals occurred from out of Helsingborg too: again, one which the Soviets allowed to take place without causing any problems for political gain. The occupation over what little Swedish territory was in their hands wasn’t that harsh. Yes, it was enforced with violence yet still very much restrained compared to Soviet actions elsewhere in the world. Moscow declared that it had a security zone inside Sweden and stated that the two countries weren’t at war. The Soviets were satisfied that they had humbled and beaten a defiant Sweden and their overall aim to open up the Baltic Exits had been achieved where they had got their fleet out into open waters… though little use that did them in the end after the British and Norwegians had done all they then had.

Moscow was taken completely by surprise when Western Europe formed the EDA with their Maastricht Treaty and then went and brought Denmark and Sweden into that alliance. They were still reeling from the shock of such a diplomatic turn of events, and trying to figure out their intelligence failure to foresee that, when the news came that the EDA put military units into both Scandinavian countries. French and Italian forces moved into Denmark; France and West Germany put others into Sweden. None of that was supposed to happen. But it did and it blew all Soviet plans for Scandinavia right out of the water.

Across southern Sweden, the Swedes moved their mobilised armed forces into position to surround what they saw as a Soviet bridgehead for a further, full-scale invasion. The Baltic island of Gotland, the wider Stockholm area and the Finnish border were all full of more Swedish forces too. There were lots of them and they wouldn’t be underestimated when fighting on their home soil. This time they wouldn’t be taken by surprise. As to the EDA, they moved troops and aircraft into mainland Sweden some distance away from where the Soviets were but into clearly an offensive position. Centred on Gothenburg, the French and West Germans spread themselves out through south-western Sweden and were supported by more of their forces over in Denmark. Without actively doing so, they had reclosed the Baltic Exits just by their presence on both sides of it. They also had warships and submarines in there while the Danes were supported by them in remining certain stretches of water, areas previously cleared by those underwater nuclear detonations.

Throughout all of this, the Soviet leadership was undecided on how to act in respond. They were distracted by other events elsewhere yet the EDA action in the Baltic Exits was a slap in the face which remained stinging. War with Western Europe – France, Italy, West Germany and the Low Countries – hadn’t been sought. Despite all the setbacks, there had been the belief that Paris and its allies would come to their senses… just like the Americans and the Chinese eventually would too. All would understand that there was one superpower in this world and they all must accede to its will. Demands from Moscow, reasonable requests in fact, would be met with acceptance. That was how it was supposed to be. In a straight-up war, one without nuclear weapons, there was a confident prediction in Moscow that their tanks would overrun Western Europe if it came to that. The fight would be hard and the opponents no walkover, but this could be done. Such a thing wasn’t wanted though for political and economic reasons. A war like that would destroy all that the Soviet Union wanted to harness: the economic power of Western Europe. It would too unite all those countries which Moscow was intending to soon play off against each other once again, all to be Moscow’s favourite. The course of action which the Soviet leadership agreed was unacceptable was to do nothing in response. That was all that they could decide though, not how to respond. Retreating from Sweden, even with there being no longer a reason to be there, was now politically impossible. It put their military forces, who were engaged in daily low-level engagements with the Swedes, at risk of accidental conflict with those of the EDA. In Scandinavia, like on the North German Plain, Moscow was certain that its armed forces would win a conflict yet it would mean going all out there as well. That too wasn’t wanted. The resource sink that was the fight in North America, to say nothing of the China War, was a drain of unimaginable proportions. Both of those fights were seeing massive loss of life occur but also an expanse of treasure lost too. The Soviet Union always had the men to fight. It was the matter of everything else that those conflicts cost. To add Scandinavia and the rest of Western Europe to the list of wars to fight just wasn’t a choice that Moscow wanted to make.

The decision to not accept what the EDA had done but at the same time not make a response was uncharacteristic for the Soviet Union. The paralysis over failing to take action here was something not done elsewhere. It caused alarm among outsiders, those who feared the unknown. What were the Soviets up to? What were they getting ready to do that was taking them so long to prepare for? This worry was among many.


In southern Sweden, there remained shooting incidents. There were plenty of those. Swedish and Soviet forces engaged the other and lives were lost. The Swedes held their own yet there was an understanding that the Soviets were being remarkably restrained. Neither side backed away from any fight if shot at first and on a tactical level, those lower down the command chain fought like tigers when they had to. The decisions and indecisions of higher-ups wasn’t for them to ponder over.

EDA troops were far away from the fight and their naval vessels were some distance back too. Their aircraft were a different matter. French Mirages and Luftwaffe F-4s were flying from Swedish airbases, the same stations from which the Swedes put Drakens and Viggens into the sky. The West Germans were under strict ROE (rules of engagement) and the French were too but theirs were a little more relaxed in certain circumstances. The first clash in the skies between EDA and Soviet forces came on February 23rd. Firing from distance, a Mirage-2000 shot down a Soviet MiG-23 which had just attacked a pair of Swedish fighters. Full knowledge of the exact circumstances took some time to be established, especially for the Soviets to understand that a French aircraft had shot down one of theirs instead of Swedish fighters being responsible. Moscow was at once informed of this with the expectation that they would immediately issue an order for a counterstrike. Instead, there came an order for increased readiness and a relaxation in self-defence rules. The commanding Soviet Air Force general interpreted these instructions at his own discretion (which he was certainly not meant to) and the next time French aircraft were deemed to be presenting a danger, they were attacked. A pair of MiG-25s put down another Mirage-2000 when it really wasn’t in a threatening position. This shooting incident occurred on the 25th. The next day saw several more aerial engagements. French and Soviet aircraft shot at each other and there was the drawing in of Swedish and West German aircraft into this. When flying at high speed over a small area, lines in the sky that the other side had decided – without informing you – are their red lines are kind of impossible to see. February 26th saw the French lose another two aircraft (a Mirage F-1 and a Jaguar) while three Soviet MiGs went down. The West Germans had a F-4 blown apart in mid-air too.

The EDA and the Soviets were bringing down each other’s aircraft seemingly at will over Sweden. Exact details on individual events were hard to come by for politicians, men who demanded full knowledge of what was going on. They were told versions of events which weren’t true, even if the intent was there to tell the truth. Decisions were made. In Moscow, there finally came a decision on how to act against what Western Europe had done by moving into Scandinavia: they would be pushed out with full force used. This didn’t include a wider European war. The Soviet leadership remained convinced it was in control of events and so sought a limited conflict. As they had done to the Swedes, they would punish the EDA and eliminate them as a threat over Sweden and the Baltic Exits too. Soviet tanks weren’t about to go over the Iron Curtain and into West Germany. Moscow was going to fight a conflict – not a war – with one arm tied behind its back, all to stop things spiralling towards an end game they didn’t want. These decisions once again brought open remarks within the Defence Council as to the wisdom of this and even the suggestion that this wasn’t going to all go to plan. It was forced through by Vorotnikov though.

Soviet intelligence failings continued. They completely missed Paris and Rome taking a decision of their own, one which they browbeat Bonn into as well. The EDA was going to strike itself – not just act in self-defence – through Scandinavia but also extend military action to the Mediterranean as well. West Germany was expected to face an invasion only if things got out of hand. If that occurred, it would be one opposed on the border, the western side of that and not over on the eastern side as there had been talk of trying to achieve. Bonn wouldn’t allow for a pre-emptive attack into East Germany and they were fully supported by Brussels and The Hague here. The Dutch and the Belgians, plus the Danes as well, had all had their arms twisted like the West Germans to get them into this at the behest of a rather-driven Mitterrand.


In the early hours of the 27th, the EDA struck first. They were three hours ahead of the Soviets in attacking the other without a declaration of war. It was a conventional fight.

Over Sweden, French and Swedish aircraft attacked the Soviet-held airbases at Angelholm and Ljungbyhed where the Soviets were getting ready to launch their own air attacks from. West German fighters weren’t involved in any offensive action though.

On and above the Øresund, Danish and Italian air and naval forces went into action against the Soviets. They struck at them when the Soviets were moving forward ready to go into action too, just in a few hours time, but not yet.

Malta was bombed by Italian Tornados flying from Sicily joined by French Navy aircraft flying from the aircraft carrier Clemenceau. The joint French-Italian fleet in the Mediterranean headed straight for Malta on the back of that with Italian marines with them. Soviet forces here were taken by surprise as well.

Right down the centre of the divided Germany, between East and West, no border crossings were made. Above West Germany, the Luftwaffe was joined in flying defensive-only missions by the French, the Dutch and the Belgians. The Soviets, East Germans and Czechoslovaks put fighters into the sky above East Germany. Here the dividing lines were more pronounced than those above Sweden yet there were crossings of those made soon enough and missiles fired at other aircraft. Responses were made to the actions of others, real and imagined. In Moscow and Paris, neither side had intended for conflict to come here to Germany. There had been the belief that war would be fought elsewhere, away from where massed armies and air forces weren’t lined up against each other. Troops below them were readied to go into action as they all waiting for higher orders to do just that.

Millions of civilians across Europe were all in the firing line. Two nuclear-armed powers were at war with each aiming to fight a limited conflict. Panic hit in Western Europe especially though the governments in Eastern Europe (who sought to keep control of information) were gravely concerned too. Their leaders deluded themselves that this would stay localised. It really wasn’t going to.

They have been catched 3 hours before their own attack and so probably in the middle of preparing aircraft and other vehicles, so yes tooled for action...but i suspect the wrong action, with enphasis of bomb and maybe supplementary tank while some more air to air package will be needed. In any case, if taken by surprise the air attack during this moment can also eliminate the ground crew making the air war effort even more complicated.

So, the mess becomes even worse. As was to be expected given the Soviet government. If the war goes broader, I'm quite sure that they'll attack Austria, if only because they believe that the Austrians will join the war against them as well. And they might also become very angry with Yugoslavia for refusing to kowtow.

Incidentally, the Soviets really don't have many possible fronts for new wars left over here.