chuckdyke Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 @Bubba883XL here is something for you. Given these facts and perceptions, one must realistically conclude the Soviets would likely never have gone to war with NATO unless significantly provoked. One must also conclude Soviet perceptions of (and desires for) minimal Warsaw Pact support also militated against starting a war unless no other options were available. Ref: The War That Never Was: NATO vs The Warsaw Pact (alternatewars.com) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, chuckdyke said: Given these facts and perceptions, one must realistically conclude the Soviets would likely never have gone to war with NATO unless significantly provoked. One must also conclude Soviet perceptions of (and desires for) minimal Warsaw Pact support also militated against starting a war unless no other options were available. There's good evidence to suggest that the 'Soviet Threat' was largely placed in the minds of the west by former Nazis, notably Reinhard Gehlen. And the Soviets, once they realised the West was relying on lovely individuals like Gehlen, with whom they'd had some experience, became paranoid. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: There's good evidence to suggest that the 'Soviet Threat' was largely placed in the minds of the west by former Nazis, notably Reinhard Gehlen. And the Soviets, once they realised the West was relying on lovely individuals like Gehlen, with whom they'd had some experience, became paranoid. It was Manstein who told his captors exactly what they liked to hear. Gehlen may even have been a double agent we never will learn the full story. Hands Speidel Rommel's second in command became commander of NATO"s land forces. But now we enter the realm of the conspiracy theorists. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 9 minutes ago, chuckdyke said: But now we enter the realm of the conspiracy theorists. Possibly not from the Soviet perspective, all they saw was Nazis.....Again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckdyke Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 20 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Possibly not from the Soviet perspective, all they saw was Nazis.....Again. It is European politics; Polish independence was guaranteed after WW 1 and it became a Soviet satellite state after WW 2. The cold war send the USSR bankrupt. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 There's the line that armies tend to train for the last war. The 'last war' from Cold War perspective was a continent-spanning conflagration with a global reach, the most bloody man-made cataclysm in history after the depopulation of the Americas. Looking at it from the perspective of 2021, we tend to imagine the 'next war' to be something quite different. Because the wars of the past 40 years have been something quite different. Its difficult for us to put ourselves in the headspace that there's another-WWII-but-worse just around the corner. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 That is a very insightful comment @MikeyD.....Respect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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