1948: Berlin backfire

From Alternative History

When the Russians finally closed off the allied sectors in the blockade, bombers took off from airfields to aid civilians. After a week of the allied airlift, Russian generals decided to shoot down any incoming craft. The British and American sectors were poised to break into east Berlin to free the economy and build a democratic government. Harry Truman made a speech condemning Russian action and justified the invasion plan. "We cannot let these repressed peoples starve to death." said Truman at an emergency meeting in London. Meanwhile, Stalin still cut off east Berlin airspace and put troops on high alert. On 31st of June 1948, Operation Black bear commenced.

Operation Black Bear commences. 500,000 American troops invade East Germany led by General Douglas MacArthur as Soviet airfields and installations are bombed in the opening weeks of the war. President Truman calls for the people of Europe to rise up against Communist Totalitarianism in a public speech. The Americans attack East Berlin, their objective: to force the Soviets to leave Germany. Although the Soviets are initally, stunned they soon begin to resist fiercley and soon the Allies realise they have made a terrible mistake.The soviets have more artillery and T-34s and soviet tanks are superior to the american Sherman. They use thousands of air planes (many american made from lend lease).The Red Army overwhelms the US troops and, after a month, had been able to push Allied Forces back into West Germany, blaming America for starting World War II back up again. The Soviets are getting sympathy everywhere. In a speech in Red Square, Premier Stalin vows to eliminate the American aggression once and for all, while Britain and France declared themselves neutral, saying they did not wish for another World War. By November 10th Hamburg is encircled and the Red Army have overrun Coburg. American forces are outnumbered by 7-1 and they have lost all foreign support as Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, Iceland and Canada all renounce there alliance with America. The United States of America now stand alone against forces of the Soviet Union.

[edit] 1949

American Forces have been pushed back to the Rhineland, and are sparsely fighting as they wait for additional forces. President Truman, just barely re-elected, orders the full force of the US military be moved to Europe to stop the expansion of the Soviets. By March US forces have managed to check the Soviet advance. Though as President Truman is committing more troops to Europe, he is also sendng envoys to Moscow to negotiate a peace, so far the talks have been unsuccessful. As General MacCarthur is suggesting that the US use the Nuclear Option to end the war quickly, Russia shocks the world in August with there first atomic test. The reaction in the US is mass hysteria, people are calling for a nuclear bombing campaign against the Soviets before they can launch an attack on American soil. President Truman orders several B-29s with nuclear payloads be transfered to France to begin bombing runs against the Soviets as soon as possible.

[edit] 1950

By February the US military presence in Europe is as strong as it was before VE Day, and the first series of nuclear bombers have arrived. American B-29s launch from Britain and France on March 13th, after continued rejection of peace from the Soviets, and Operation Vesuvius begins. The US drops Hiroshima size bombs on Coburg, and the Soviet line outside of Hamburg during the first day of bombings killing close to 150,000 Red Army troops. American armies launch a massive offensive, shermans are replaced with M26 Pershing tanks, give American tanks an advantage over T-34s, but still outnumbered. The USAF deploy F-86 sabers and large air fleets left over from 1945 and gain air superiority. The US pacific fleet use carrier aircraft to attack Vladivostok. On March 15th, the US bombs Kraków and Leningrad from Norway and Germany; and from airfields in China paid for with funds to the Republic of China to finish off Mao's army, the US destroys the Semipalatinsk Test Site, crippling the Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program. US troops take back Berlin by the end of the year.

[edit] 1951

A civil war begins in the Soviet Union as Stalin refuses to surrender to the United States. Farmers from the Ukraine and Samii begin attacking Soviet troops and rioting, demanding for the Communist Party to negotiate peace. On August 3rd, Mao Zedong is killed by US and ROC forces during a raid on a US airbase that has been bombing Soviet forces. The Chinese Communist Party quickly begins to lose support without their leader. During this same month the Allied forces cross into Poland, and continue to push back the Soviets as their internal conflict keeps them fighting a war on two fronts. With the war dragging on, and casualties mounting, there are calls for President Truman to bomb Moscow and end the war.

[edit] 1952

The Soviet Union consolidates their forces in Belorussia(Belarus) to slow further American movement towards the Motherland. The US responds with atomic-bombing the forces just outside of Kiev, radiation poisoning soon kills millions within the city. President Truman's calls to end the war are now a roar, and on September 3rd, 1952; he orders that Moscow be bombed. The city, with most of the Soviet leaders, is destroyed, killing millions more. President Truman announces the day after the peace talks begin in Kiev that he will not run for re-election.

[edit] 1953

The Treaty of Kiev is signed, and the Second World War finally comes to an end after fourteen years of fighting. President Truman, after signing the treaty, introduces a proposal before the United Nations, that would ban the use or proliferation of nuclear weapons by any nation in the future. It is ratified the day he leaves office, and the new President, Dwight D. Eisenhower is sworn into office, promising to bring about a new era of peace for the world. President Truman dies one month after leaving office. By the end of the year President Eisenhower signs the American Highway Act into law, beginning the first stages of US domestic reconstruction.

[edit] 1954

US forces begin withdrawing from Europe and begin funding the "European Highway Act" alongside their own. The plan would unite Europe by highways, and allow commerce and reconstruction to begin much more easily now that the Iron Curtain was torn down before it could even go up.