Seven Days to the River Rhine

Training Exercise "Seven Days to the River Rhine"
Part of the Cold War

A 1976 American map of probable axes of attack for the Warsaw Pact forces into Western Europe
Dateat least since 1964
Location
Result Unknown; never attempted.
Signing of the SALT II treaty.
If attempted, intended to be a Warsaw Pact victory but with heavy cost of lives
Territorial
changes
German unification under East Germany
Occupation of Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands east of River Rhine to the Warsaw Pact (if attempted)
Belligerents

Warsaw Pact

Communist Parties in prospective Soviet Satellites:

Communist Parties in prospective Soviet Satellites
(9-day extended plan to Lyon):

 NATO

 Austria
Commanders and leaders
Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet Union Dmitriy Ustinov
Soviet Union Nikolai Ogarkov
Soviet Union Col. Gen. Yuri Zarudin (ru)
Soviet Union Gen. Yevgeni F. Ivanovski
People's Republic of Bulgaria Todor Zhivkov
People's Republic of Bulgaria Dobri Dzhurov
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Gustáv Husák
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Martin Dzúr
East Germany Erich Honecker
East Germany Heinz Hoffmann
Hungarian People's Republic János Kádár
Hungarian People's Republic Lajos Czinege
Polish People's Republic Edward Gierek
Polish People's Republic Wojciech Jaruzelski
Austria Franz Muhri (de)
Belgium Louis Van Geyt
Denmark Jørgen Jensen
Netherlands Marcus Bakker
France Georges Marchais
United States Jimmy Carter
United States Harold Brown
United States David C. Jones
United Kingdom James Callaghan
(Jan–May 1979)
United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher
(May 1979–1990)
France Valery Giscard d'Estaing
France Yvon Bourges
Belgium Paul Vanden Boeynants
(Jan–Apr 1979)
Belgium Wilfried Martens
(Apr 1979–1981)
Belgium José Desmarets
Canada Pierre Trudeau
(Jan–Jun 1979)
Canada Joe Clark
(Jun 1979–1980)
Denmark Anker Jørgensen
Denmark Poul Søgaard
West Germany Helmut Schmidt
West Germany Hans Apel
Italy Giulio Andreotti
(Jan–Aug 1979)
Italy Francesco Cossiga
(Aug 1979–1980)
Italy Attilio Ruffini
Luxembourg Gaston Thorn
(Jan–Jul 1979)
Luxembourg Pierre Werner
(Jul 1979–1984)
Luxembourg Émile Krieps
Netherlands Dries van Agt
Netherlands Willem Scholten
Norway Odvar Nordli
Turkey Bülent Ecevit
(Jan–Nov 1979)
Turkey Süleyman Demirel
(Nov 1979–1980)
Austria Bruno Kreisky
Austria Otto Rösch
Casualties and losses
Would be carried out in response to a NATO first strike on Poland. Such a strike was estimated to cause 2 million immediate Polish deaths near the Vistula If carried out, heavy losses in West Germany
The Rhine is one of the most important rivers in Europe.

Seven Days to the River Rhine (Russian: «Семь дней до реки Рейн», romanized"Sem' dney do reki Reyn") was a top-secret military simulation exercise developed at least since 1964 by the Warsaw Pact. It depicted the Soviet Bloc's vision of a seven-day nuclear war between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Findlay, Christopher (28 November 2005). "Poland reveals Warsaw Pact war plans". International Relations And Security Network. ETH Zurich. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  2. ^ Watt, Nicholas (26 November 2005). "Poland risks Russia's wrath with Soviet nuclear attack map". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  3. ^ Rennie, David (26 November 2005). "World War Three seen through Soviet eyes". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2013.