Howdy folks, Today I'm releasing a map of "Seven Days to the River...

@Npolitics29
NW1@Npolitics29
4 views Aug 10, 2026 ~2 min read
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Howdy folks,

Today I'm releasing a map of "Seven Days to the River Rhine, a 1970s Soviet plan for the conquest of West Germany (& possibly parts of France)

The plan was initially created in the event of a NATO nuclear first strike; it was later adapted for Soviet plans. 1/
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First, Soviet Strategic Forces would use nuclear weapons to level
-Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg (W Germany)
-Brussels (Belgium)
-Vienna (Austria, neutral but sympathetic to NATO)
-Esbjerg, Roskilde (Denmark)
-Padua, Vicenza, Verona, (Italy)
2/
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Dozens of NATO bases would be struck by smaller tactical nuclear weapons.

In the aftermath, Soviet/Warsaw Pact forces would launch a pronged attack across W. Germany, bypassing NATO forces entrenched in Hamburg, Hannover, etc and rushing towards the Rhine 3/
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In the north, Polish/Soviet forces would advance to the Danish border and *possibly* push further pending orders

Out west, Soviet/Warsaw Pact units would advance to borders of Low countries

Neutral Austria would be occupied
4/
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*Additional* Soviet plans called for a push into France to create a buffer with a final stopping line just north of the Spanish border.

This plan was dropped due to HIGH odds of
A) Soviet/Pact units would need resupply and be understrength
B) Nuclear response form France
5/
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French forces had land-based IRBMs on the Albion Plateau while Mirage jets AN-11 gravity bombs designated for cities in western Russia and its satellite states.

A small number of M1 nuclear missiles were also used by French submarines 6/
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What is truly amazing is how the Soviets treated the use of nuclear weapons as "normal". They did not see them with the same horror that NATO member states did. To them, nuclear weapons were to be used alongside conventional weapons in almost ANY conflict with the West 7/
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Needless to say.....

Seven Days to the River Rhine never occurred.

Had such an apocalyptic event transpired, escalation to a full nuclear exchange would've been likely. As it is, tens of millions of Europeans would've died in this limited exchange alone.

DONE/
@SenhorRaposa
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