Operation Unthinkable was the codename of two related plans by the Western Allies at the end of World War 2 in Europe. It marked the start of what would eventually become the Cold War, as the British Armed Forces’ Joint Planning Staff prepared for the Yalta agreement to be put in place. With Nazi Germany on its knees as the Allies made ground on both fronts, the vision of post-war Europe was discussed by US President Franklin D Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin at Yalta in February 1945. 

The final agreement stipulated that “the Provisional Government which is now functioning in Poland should, therefore, be reorganised on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland and from Poles abroad.

However, not long after, a communist government was installed in Poland by the Soviet Union and many Poles felt betrayed by the Allies.

Churchill soon realised that Stalin had no intentions of keeping his promise and, in fact, was more interested in the spread of communism to Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the rest of Eastern Europe.

He felt like he needed a contingency plan and called for Operation Unthinkable, later claiming that an “Iron Curtain” had descended on Europe.

[The plan will] impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire

Operartion Unthinkable

The initial goal of the mission was: “To impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire. 

“Even though ‘the will’ of these two countries may be defined as no more than a square deal for Poland, that does not necessarily limit the military commitment.”

The word ‘Russia’ was used heavily throughout the document as during the Imperial period the term was used to refer to the Russian Empire, with which the USSR was almost coextensive.

The chiefs of staff were concerned that, given the enormous size of Soviet forces deployed in Europe at the end of the war and the perception that Stalin was unreliable, western democracy was under threat.

The hypothetical date for the start of the Allied invasion of Soviet-held Europe was scheduled for July 1, 1945.

The plan assumed a surprise attack by up to 47 British and American divisions in the area of Dresden, in the middle of Soviet lines, with Canadian forces put on alert to support.

This represented almost half of the roughly 100 divisions available to the British, American and Canadian headquarters at that time.

With the forces available, it was unlikely Western forces would have been able to hold their line through the winter of 1945 and pushing on threatened an all-out war. 

In response to instructions by Churchill on June 10, 1945, a follow-up plan was drafted to analyse “what measures would be required to ensure the security of the British Isles in the event of war with Russia in the near future”.

The plan would allow for American forces to travel east, while Britain would utilise the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force – which was superior to the Soviets – in case of the threat of a real war.

However, one of the assumptions in the Operation Unthinkable report was that the Soviet Union could ally itself with Imperial Japan if the Western Allies commenced hostilities in Europe.

This was arguably one of the reasons why it never happened. 

After Yalta, the Allies met again at the Potsdam Conference following Nazi Germany’s surrender – albeit, this time, the US was represented by President Harry Truman after Roosevelt’s death and Prime Minister Clement Attlee represented Britain after his remarkable election victory over Churchill in July 1945. 

Potsdam was a defining moment as it was here that Stalin first heard about the Manhattan Project – the US programme that had successfully tested the first atomic bomb. 

Stalin was reportedly furious with Truman for not telling him about the technology, as bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to swiftly provoke Imperial Japan’s surrender. 

After six years of the most brutal conflict the world had ever seen, war with the Soviet Union was an outcome no one wanted.

The Allied forces had nearly four million men in Europe, but the majority of them were US forces, who would soon be transferred to the Pacific.

However, the Red Army had almost 11 million men.

The post-war peace left the Soviet Union and the US as the two superpowers in global politics but the relationship was tense and, despite Operation Unthinkable never materialising, the Cold War was inevitable. 

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