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Operation Unthinkable: Churchills anfallsplan mot Sovjet 1945
A study of one of the great "what if"s of modern times—Churchill's proposed invasion of the Soviet Union as World War II drew to a close
As the war in Europe entered its final months, the world teetered on the edge of a Third World War. While Soviet forces smashed their way into Berlin, Churchill ordered British military planners to prepare the top secret Operation Unthinkable—the plan for an Allied invasion of the Soviet Union on July 1, 1945. Using U.S., British, and Polish forces, the invasion would reclaim Eastern Europe for the West. The plan called for the use of the atomic bomb and Nazi troops if necessary—highly controversial, as the true extent of the Holocaust was becoming clear. This haunting study of the war that so nearly was outlines the motivations behind Churchill's plan, the logistics of launching a vast assault against an enemy who had bested Hitler, potential sabotage by Polish communists, and whether the Allies would have succeeded. Well supported by a wide range of primary sources from the Polish Underground Museum Study Trust, Sikorski Institute, National Archives, and Imperial War Museum, this is a fascinating insight into the upheaval as World War II drew to a close and the Allies' mistrust of the Soviet Union that would blossom into the Cold War.
As the war in Europe entered its final months, the world teetered on the edge of a Third World War. While Soviet forces smashed their way into Berlin, Churchill ordered British military planners to prepare the top secret Operation Unthinkable—the plan for an Allied invasion of the Soviet Union on July 1, 1945. Using U.S., British, and Polish forces, the invasion would reclaim Eastern Europe for the West. The plan called for the use of the atomic bomb and Nazi troops if necessary—highly controversial, as the true extent of the Holocaust was becoming clear. This haunting study of the war that so nearly was outlines the motivations behind Churchill's plan, the logistics of launching a vast assault against an enemy who had bested Hitler, potential sabotage by Polish communists, and whether the Allies would have succeeded. Well supported by a wide range of primary sources from the Polish Underground Museum Study Trust, Sikorski Institute, National Archives, and Imperial War Museum, this is a fascinating insight into the upheaval as World War II drew to a close and the Allies' mistrust of the Soviet Union that would blossom into the Cold War.
223 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 6, 2014
Niewątpliwą zaletą książki jest ogrom źródeł, jakie przewalił Walker. Kilkaset przypisów, imponujący zestaw oficjalnych i nieoficjalnych materiałów: dokumentów, monografii, opracowań. To budzi respekt. Obiektywizm, godzien szacunku, pozytywnie wpłynął na efekt końcowy. Walker nie ocenia, jeśli nie ma ku temu podstaw. Uważnie analizuje wypowiedzi głównych aktorów dramatu i na tej podstawie próbuje odpowiedzieć, na ile realna była operacja "Unthinkable" i czym by się mogła skończyć. A jest o czym pisać. Unthinkable miała być próbą wyrwania z łap Sowietów Polski i spacyfikowania Stalina, który po pokonaniu Niemiec zdecydowanie przystapił do budowy komunistycznego imperium, nie patrząc przy tym na złożone obietnice, układy etc.
Mimo jednak wielkiej ilości źródeł trudno znaleźć konkrety na temat samej operacji. Wiele dokumentów zniszczono, wiele pewnie jeszcze jest utajnionych. Tym samym czytelnik otrzymał jedynie zarys problemu. Rozczarowuje nieco porównanie możliwości sprzętowych aliantów i sowietów. daleko Walkerowi do błyskotliwych i rzetelnych analiz Sołonina.
Mimo jednak wielkiej ilości źródeł trudno znaleźć konkrety na temat samej operacji. Wiele dokumentów zniszczono, wiele pewnie jeszcze jest utajnionych. Tym samym czytelnik otrzymał jedynie zarys problemu. Rozczarowuje nieco porównanie możliwości sprzętowych aliantów i sowietów. daleko Walkerowi do błyskotliwych i rzetelnych analiz Sołonina.
September 22, 2016
Temat fascynujący - plan operacji "Unthinkable", czyli przygotowany na zlecenie Churchilla scenariusz wojny między zachodnimi aliantami a Związkiem Radzieckim, która miałaby wybuchnąć tuż po zakończeniu II wojny światowej. Czyta się jak interesujący wariant historii alternatywnej (którym de facto jest ten plan i traktująca o nim książka).
Z perspektywy polskiego czytelnika książka pozwala lepiej zrozumieć, dlaczego w '45 zostaliśmy na lodzie i dlaczego nasi sojusznicy odpuścili sobie sprawę polską. Zamiast się na nich obrażać, warto poczytać i spróbować zrozumieć, dlaczego po prostu nie mogło być inaczej.
Z perspektywy polskiego czytelnika książka pozwala lepiej zrozumieć, dlaczego w '45 zostaliśmy na lodzie i dlaczego nasi sojusznicy odpuścili sobie sprawę polską. Zamiast się na nich obrażać, warto poczytać i spróbować zrozumieć, dlaczego po prostu nie mogło być inaczej.
September 29, 2015
Operation Unthinkable: The Third World War: British Plans To Attack The Soviet Empire, 1945, is an stellar book about Operation Unthinkable, which was a plan hatched by Winston Churchill’s staff in the the near end era of the second world war. The plan called for an invasion and destruction of the Soviet Empire, or as the plan said, to enforce the will/wrath of the British and American Empire, at the end of the war. The plan would of used American, British, French, Polish resistance fighters, and the last remaining elements of Nazi Germany’s Military. Jonathan Walker goes into great detail about every little crevice in the creation of the plan, such as when he described the climate in Britain near the end of the war, as well as many factors which affected the creation of the plan. He goes into a similar amount of detail for every part of the plan, from it’s creation to its later use as a contingency plan during the cold war. The book progresses nicely, and no knowledge about the early cold war(mid-late 1940s- early 1950s) is required. I heavily recommend this book to anyone interested in history, but readers interested in history around World War Two-The early cold war in particular will find this book very interesting and fun to read.
November 26, 2017
Englantilaisen historioitsijan Jonathan Walkerin "Churchillin kolmas maailmansota" (Minerva, 2017) kertoo Unthinkable-suunnitelmasta, jossa englantilaiset valmistautuivat heti kolmannen valtakunnan luhistumisen jälkeen kalistelemaan aseita Neuvostoliiton kanssa.
Churchill oli huolissaan Neuvostoliiton vaikutusvallasta, olihan idän karhu ehtinyt ahmaista kitaansa isoja osia itäisestä Euroopasta. Puolan kohtalo oli erityisen ahdistava, ja pahimmassa tapauksessa puna-armeijan vyöryä kohti Atlanttia olisi voinut olla vaikea pysäyttää, ilman ennaltaehkäisevää hyökkäystä.
Englantilaisten suunnitelma tuntuu melko epärealistiselta, etenkin kun Neuvostoliitolla oli suunnaton miesylivoima ja Yhdysvallat eivät olleet vielä tuossa vaiheessa erityisen kiinnostuneita Neuvostoliiton vaikutusvallan kasvamisesta, vaan tunsivat itse asiassa epäluuloa Iso-Britannian imperialistista politiikkaa kohtaan.
Lyhyt mutta ihan kiinnostava tietokirja kenties vähemmän tunnetusta palasesta maailmanhistoriaa.
Churchill oli huolissaan Neuvostoliiton vaikutusvallasta, olihan idän karhu ehtinyt ahmaista kitaansa isoja osia itäisestä Euroopasta. Puolan kohtalo oli erityisen ahdistava, ja pahimmassa tapauksessa puna-armeijan vyöryä kohti Atlanttia olisi voinut olla vaikea pysäyttää, ilman ennaltaehkäisevää hyökkäystä.
Englantilaisten suunnitelma tuntuu melko epärealistiselta, etenkin kun Neuvostoliitolla oli suunnaton miesylivoima ja Yhdysvallat eivät olleet vielä tuossa vaiheessa erityisen kiinnostuneita Neuvostoliiton vaikutusvallan kasvamisesta, vaan tunsivat itse asiassa epäluuloa Iso-Britannian imperialistista politiikkaa kohtaan.
Lyhyt mutta ihan kiinnostava tietokirja kenties vähemmän tunnetusta palasesta maailmanhistoriaa.
April 5, 2015
An interesting and well written work on the contingency planning of the western allies around the end of the 2nd World War. The book is a light read, mainly due to the limited scope of its topic. The author shows good discipline in not diving into the realms of counterfactual history but instead sticking to the known facts.
September 30, 2013
Makes chilling reading, and to think all this was going on while, Britain was celebrating the end of WWII.
November 17, 2024
Students of WWII and the Cold War have long known of the existence of Unthinkable, and of Churchill's hardening attitude, often contrasted with the more sanguine position of Roosevelt, towards the Soviet Union in particular and communism in general.
While this plan has long been known, it is generally not described in any detail. This book provides a real service in fleshing out the context of the plan and British conceptions of what it was about.
To keep it simple the British had contemplated joint action with the Americans and possibly with a newly rearmed and reoriented German Army, curiously enough adding some substance to Stalin's paranoia of the Allies joining with the Germans against him.
The planners envisioned an offensive on the North European Plain as the best shot at achieving anything worthwhile, but ultimately they had few illusions about feasibility. Even with American help the planners did not think the Allies could inflict any decisive defeat on the Soviet Union.
It remains unclear as to how far Churchill actually intended to carry this. Was he really contemplating war with the Soviet Union? Or was this just a typical worse case contingency that militaries around the world routinely war game as exercises in strategy?
One is sceptical of the whole premise. Arming Germans against Russians, the latter being very popular in both the US and UK at the time, seems politically unfeasible. Waging war against the Soviet Union even with American assistance strikes one as very far-fetched because the UK was exhausted and in no position to continue fighting, certainly not against an army the size of the Red Army in 1945.
Many people towards the end of the war endorse General Patton's views that the Western Allies ought to have taken Berlin before the Soviets, and that the US should have beaten the Red Army to liberate Eastern Europe and prevent the Cold War.
This book makes it clear that more sober observers such as the planners of Unthinkable, thought the chances of this to be very remote. It would have been politically impossible to sell such a war to the British and American publics, and they wouldn't have been able to win it anyway, at least not on the ground in Central Europe.
While this plan has long been known, it is generally not described in any detail. This book provides a real service in fleshing out the context of the plan and British conceptions of what it was about.
To keep it simple the British had contemplated joint action with the Americans and possibly with a newly rearmed and reoriented German Army, curiously enough adding some substance to Stalin's paranoia of the Allies joining with the Germans against him.
The planners envisioned an offensive on the North European Plain as the best shot at achieving anything worthwhile, but ultimately they had few illusions about feasibility. Even with American help the planners did not think the Allies could inflict any decisive defeat on the Soviet Union.
It remains unclear as to how far Churchill actually intended to carry this. Was he really contemplating war with the Soviet Union? Or was this just a typical worse case contingency that militaries around the world routinely war game as exercises in strategy?
One is sceptical of the whole premise. Arming Germans against Russians, the latter being very popular in both the US and UK at the time, seems politically unfeasible. Waging war against the Soviet Union even with American assistance strikes one as very far-fetched because the UK was exhausted and in no position to continue fighting, certainly not against an army the size of the Red Army in 1945.
Many people towards the end of the war endorse General Patton's views that the Western Allies ought to have taken Berlin before the Soviets, and that the US should have beaten the Red Army to liberate Eastern Europe and prevent the Cold War.
This book makes it clear that more sober observers such as the planners of Unthinkable, thought the chances of this to be very remote. It would have been politically impossible to sell such a war to the British and American publics, and they wouldn't have been able to win it anyway, at least not on the ground in Central Europe.
August 29, 2021
I had never heard of this military plan before, that once WW2 ended with the German surrender, there would then be a war waged against Russia beginning in July 1945 to stop the spread the communism; somewhat ironically German soldiers would join with the Allies in this endeavour. This book is quite detailed & brings out some of the strategic thinking of the time as well as the differences from the American point of view (as they still waging war in the Pacific at the time the plan was formulated). The author makes great play that American thinking was always based on suspicions of further British empire-building (but little evidence is offered in this regard), this despite Walker's careful analysis of the issues of borders to the Eastern front & also in what becomes Yugoslavia (at the time). It looks like war-weary-ness and the challenges of geography & harsh winters prevented any push back by the Allies on the Russian Red Army advances. This is interesting military history even if it is a big 'What if' but clearly also demonstrates how Churchill correctly foresaw the changing balance of power after the war.
November 19, 2020
A definite read if you have an interest in this area of history.
June 24, 2025
Filled w jibber jabber but also highly informative on its subject matter.
January 30, 2014
For history purposes, it does answer the old Patton and the British should have just driven on Moscow meme from the end of WW2. Not a spoiler, but it would have been awful. However, it's a really thin read that gets a little repetitive. I recommend it if you have some military history, theory, Soviet Union interest.......but it's not for the generalist
May 18, 2014
Nothing really new here and bit sparce.
The book does give insight into British strategic thinking at the end of World War 2. There's also some interesting views on the machinations over re-arming the Germans so shortly after the discovery of the concentration camps.
It's quite a short book and does repeat itself at points.
The book does give insight into British strategic thinking at the end of World War 2. There's also some interesting views on the machinations over re-arming the Germans so shortly after the discovery of the concentration camps.
It's quite a short book and does repeat itself at points.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews