24. “Operation Unthinkable”
Winston Churchill’s Polish freedom as something that touched upon British honor. Stalin’s refusal to respect Poland’s independence was thus an affront to Britain, in Churchill’s mind. His reaction was extreme, to put it mildly: Churchill ordered up plans to attack the Soviets soon as Germany surrendered. The nebulous goal was to push the Soviets’ forces back to the USSR, or at least force Stalin to treat Poland fairly. British generals presented their Prime Minister with Operation Unthinkable, whose title indicated what the generals thought of Churchill’s idea.
Two versions were offered, an offensive and defensive one. The offensive envisaged a surprise attack on the Soviets in July, 1945, to force Stalin to give Poland a “fair deal”. The defensive envisaged a British defense of Western Europe after America withdrew from the continent. The Soviets had 10 million men available in the summer of 1945. They outnumbered the British and Americans in Europe 4:1 in men, and 2:1 in tanks – and superior tanks at that. The Allies had an advantage in the air, but even that was subject to challenge, as the Red Air Force by 1945 had formidable fighter and ground attack arms.
