Plan "Dropshot": how the US wanted to destroy the USSR

In the years following the end of the Second World War, relations between former allies in the fight against fascism have deteriorated sharply due to numerous ideological contradictions. By 1949, the conflict had become so acute that the command of the US armed forces developed an attack plan for the USSR that provided for the use of nuclear weapons.

Confrontation of yesterday's allies

These strategic developments, called the "Dropshot" plan, were the result of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the states of the capitalist world. The opposition was in many ways provoked by the obvious attempts of the USSR to extend its influence to the entire territory of Western Europe.

The plan for the destruction of the USSR began to be developed at the end of 1945, when the Soviet leadership responded with a refusal to demand the world community to withdraw its occupation troops from the territory of Iran and established a puppet government there. After under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, Stalin nevertheless liberated the territories previously seized, a threat of invasion of Soviet troops to Turkey.

The conflict was caused by the territories of Transcaucasia, which were part of the Russian Empire from the end of the 19th century, but in 1921 they withdrew to Turkey. In early August 1946, after the note presented to the Turkish government by representatives of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, the outbreak of the war seemed inevitable, and only the intervention of the Western allies prevented bloodshed.

The political contradictions between the socialist camp and its Western adversaries were especially acute after Moscow's attempts to establish in 1948-1949. The blockade of West Berlin. This measure, which runs counter to generally accepted international norms, was aimed at hindering the division of Germany and ensuring Stalin control over its entire territory.

The causes of the fears of the Western world

Simultaneously, pro-Soviet regimes were established on the territory of Eastern Europe. It ended in 1955 with the signing of the Warsaw Pact, and the creation of a powerful military bloc directed against the countries of the Western world, which at that time was experiencing an intensification of the intensified communist movements.

All these facts aroused fears among the leaders of a number of countries that the Soviet Union, possessing sufficient military potential, will try to undertake an unexpected and large-scale seizure of the territory of Western Europe. In this case, only the United States, which at that time had nuclear weapons, could become a possible aggression. Such fears created the "Dropshot" plan developed by the US military specialists.

Early concepts that determined the course of a possible war with the USSR

It should be noted that the 1949 nuclear strike plan for the USSR (Dropshot) was not the first among such projects. In 1945, when the Iranian conflict became more acute, Eisenhower's staff developed the concept of a possible war with the Soviet Union, which went down in history under the code name Totality. Four years later, the blockade of West Berlin was the impetus to create another plan to counteract the alleged aggression, called Charioteer, which, like its predecessor, remained on paper.

And finally, the largest development, anticipating the notorious "Dropshot" plan, was a memorandum created by the Security Council under the US president, which determined the tasks facing the government and the armed forces against the USSR.

Main provisions of the memorandum

This document envisaged the division of all the tasks ahead into two groups - peaceful and military. The first section included measures that curbed the ideological pressure of the Soviet Union, which it exerted against the countries of the socialist community. The second part of the memorandum considered possible ways of changing the political system throughout the USSR and changing the government.

Despite the fact that the basic concept outlined in it did not imply a long occupation of the country and the forced implantation of democratic principles in it, it pursued very far-reaching goals. Among them was the reduction of the USSR's military potential, the establishment of its economic dependence on the Western world, the removal of the Iron Curtain and the granting of autonomy to the national minorities that were part of it.

Goals of the creators of military projects

This memorandum became the basic basis of many subsequent strategic developments of the United States. The program "Dropshot" was included in their number. The creators of the projects saw the way to achieve their goals in carrying out large-scale nuclear bombings of the territory of the Soviet Union. Their result was to undermine the country's economic potential and create prerequisites for the emergence of psychological shock among the population.

However, among the developers were realists who were familiar with the psychology of Soviet people and argued that such bombings were likely to cause them to become even closer together around the Communist Party and the government. The chance to verify the correctness of such judgments, fortunately, was not presented.

The notorious plan for the destruction of the Soviet Union

In December 1949, the command of the US Armed Forces approved the so-called "Dropshot" plan. As the US wanted to destroy the USSR, it was set forth in it with all frankness. Its creators proceeded from the premise that the political leaders of the Soviet Union, striving for world domination, are creating a real threat not only to America's security, but to the entire civilization as a whole. Despite the fact that the Soviet military industry at that time did not gain enough power after the war, the threat of its creation in the near future of nuclear weapons was very high.

Among the threats emanating from the countries of the socialist camp, possible attacks involving nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons were considered. It was for the pre-emptive strike in the event of the inevitability of the outbreak of the Third World War that the "Dropshot" plan was developed. The list of cities indicated in it as the primary goals of the defeat was compiled taking into account their strategic importance.

The main provisions of the plan

According to the creators of the plan, the greatest probability of the outbreak of war could have been formed by the beginning of 1957. The countries of the socialist camp, as well as a number of states that were with him in close economic cooperation, were to perform on the side of the USSR. Among them, in the first place, there was a part of China controlled by the Communists, as well as Manchuria, Finland and Korea.

As their opponents, the "Dropshot" plan assumed, in addition to the United States, all countries that were part of the NATO bloc, as well as the states of the British Commonwealth and the non-communist part of China. Those states that wish to maintain neutrality should have given NATO access to their resources. Among them could be the countries of Latin America and the Middle East.

When the Soviet troops attacked, the same plan called for the creation of a powerful defensive line on the Rhine-Alps-Piave line. In the event of an enemy invasion of the Middle East region, he was to stop the contingent of troops stationed in Turkey and Iran. At all sites of military operations, intensive air strikes, intensification of economic and psychological war were envisaged. The main task was to implement a massive offensive in Europe, whose goal was the destruction of Soviet troops and the full occupation of the territory of the USSR.

Response measures taken by the USSR

In response, the Soviet military industry made every effort to produce weapons systems capable of containing the Western world in its militaristic aspirations. First of all, they should be attributed to the creation of a powerful nuclear shield that provided a much-needed balance of power in the world and a whole range of modern types of offensive weapons that do not allow our potential adversaries to rely on the use of force in resolving disputes.