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Originally Posted by TGLS
Starting WW3 isn't terribly difficult. Just slip a suitcase nuke into NYC. Of course, Centrum might figure that would lead to WW3.
I don't see Stalin reacting this limply, though their posture goes defensive.
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Stalin is already dead in 1956, Khrushchev and Andropov are running the USSR.
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Korea is unlikely; a defensive war means the Soviets have an excuse to get directly involved, while the offensive war doesn't. Perhaps even no Manchuria to Mao... Suez would still be bit of a boon to the Soviets, as it either disrupts relations between American and France, Britain and Israel or America looks like it supports imperialism.
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Now Stalin wanted to make the Korean War into World War III. His dead canceled the plan. Stalin's subordinates thought the USSR would get beaten in a World War. Stalin had the typical fantasy that the West lacked "Spirit/Will" and could be easily beaten.
This world assumes that, with the Chinese Communists allied with the West, the Korean War fizzles out early with Kim and his crew fleeing to
Vladivostok .
The suitcase bomb would be a poor choice, Homeline would learn too much. Why not put your bombs on tramp freighters? Place a bomb in every US port. America would be furious and out for blood. As port cities tend to be progressive the politics of the USA would be slammed to the hard right. The USSR would get a big lead and cause loads of misery and destruction. The eventual victory of the West would lead to a brutal and regressive period lasting decades. The world would be an easy mark for Centrum.