Following two months of steadily rising tensions in the Middle East, the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact has launched a sudden air, sea, and land invasion of Western Europe.
Background
The current conflict had its roots in a secret report delivered to the Politburo in early 1988. This report covered the disasterous economic condition of the Soviet Union, and highlighted the increasingly negative balance-of-trade issue. With the recent cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war, world oil prices had reached historic lows. After several years of disasterous harvests, Soviet imports of grain and other basic foodstuffs were outstripping the supply of hard currency generated by the decreasing value of oil exports. In combination with record absenteeism and general worker apathy, the authors of the report foresaw a critical economic situation only a few years in the future.
In contrast, cheap oil imports had created an economic boom in the Western industrialized nations, especially in West Germany and the United States. Soviet leaders were faced with the possibility of abandoning their program of high military spending - with the collapse of the Brezhnev Doctrine the likely result.
At this point, the Politburo split into two informal factions. The dominant faction, the "Accomodationists", lead by General Secretary Gorbachev and Defense Secretary Dmitriy Yazov, believed that only minor corrective action to increase the price of oil was needed. This faction felt that the price of direct confrontation with the Western powers would be too costly, and that above all, relations with the United States must be preserved.
The "Preservationists", on the other hand, believed that the Soviet Union was approaching an existential crisis, and that a boost to balance-of-trade would not be enough. Instead, an improvement in the Soviet economic situation must be accompanied by a serious reversal to Western fortunes - only then could the relative positions of the two superpowers be preserved. This faction was lead by the leader of the Association of State Enterprises Aleksandr Tiziakov, the Minister of Internal Affairs Vadim Bakatin, and the Director of the KGB Vladimir Kryuchkov.
After much debate, the program of the Accomodationists was selected. Diplomatic efforts to restart the Iran-Iraq war would be implemented, with the hope of increasing world oil prices. The government of Iran would receive public backing from the Soviet Union, and would secretly be provided with satellite photography of Iraqi forces. Iraq would secretly be given weapons, primarily anti-aircraft missiles and Scud ballistic missiles. A more direct intervention, by the Syrian Army, or even by small Soviet forces, would be held as a backup plan in case the Accomodationist plan failed.
The Americans were slow to respond diplomatically, and conservatively worked with the Saudis to keep tensions low. The Soviet plan backfired in early April, when pictures of the Iraqi arms shipments were released to several Tehran newspapers. Although the Iranian revolutionary government affirmed its allegience to the Soviet Union, the Iranian Army reacted violently, with several units falling out of command almost immediately. As the rebellion among the rank-and-file spread, the Soviets became increasingly desperate. Finally, on April 23rd, Iranian army rebels forced the Revolutionary Council to flee Tehran. The Soviet Union responded decisively, landing paratroopers outside the capital, and bombing targets throughout the Islamic Republic.
Within a few days, fighting had spread throughout Iran, and other nations in the Middle East had begun to align themselves with or against the Iranian Rebel Army. Jordan and Syria fought pitched battles along their common border, with the overmatched Syrians falling back in disarray towards Damascus.
Meanwhile, the Soviets advanced quickly into central Iran. Only occasionally massing for frontal armour attacks, the Russians relied heavily on chemical weapons, which were extremely effective against the poorly-protected Iranian forces. Iranian Army rebels began to fall back in disarray, fleeing the barrage of nerve and blister agents. Soon, the Soviets were impeded more by refugees fleeing the lethally-contaminated cities, than by the Iranian Army.
The American Rapid Deployment Force was activated only days after the initial Soviet attack, and US forces began to move by air to Saudi Arabia and Oman. A massive attack was launched by the entire Iranian Air Force against US forces building up in Saudi Arabia, but was annihilated by US and Saudi interceptors in what became known as the "Ad Dammam Turkey Shoot".
With Soviet forces approaching and in some places reaching the Persian Gulf, the RDF was deployed to southern Iran on April 29th. The world held its breath over the next two days, hoping both sides would back away from direct confrontation. On May 1st, Soviet and US scout helicopters encountered each other east of the Iranian border city of Ahvas. Neither side backed down. Forty-eight hours of intense, chaotic combat ensued, with Soviet tanks charging across the desert in their hundreds, matching intense artillery fire against the Americans' superb gunnery and withering airpower. The Soviet attack faltered, and then fell apart completely, as the US conventional bomber force appeared, delivering a crushing carpet-bombing attack into the Soviet rear areas.
The Soviet Union, faced with possible, eventual defeat in Iran, needed a second and third echelon of troops to back up the invasion force. The only option was a general mobilisation, but Soviet leaders knew that a corresponding NATO mobilisation could eventually leave them hugely outmatched in Europe - the Soviet economy would only permit a full effort for a couple of months. The Soviets, desperate and convinced that only a rapid offense could save them, gave the order for an immediate assault against NATO in Europe.
