Overview[]
NATO shown in Blue (the European Defence Community shown in Dark Blue) and the Warsaw Pact shown in Red (the Soviet Union shown in Dark Red).
In this timeline, on the 16th of February 1946, rather than establishing the Saar Protectorate, France unilaterally annexes all of French-Occupied Germany, with the purpose of stymieing German reunification, controlling the resource rich and industrialised areas of the Rhineland, and establishing a larger frontier against Central Europe. In response to this action, the Soviet Union declares its intention to remain in Iran indefinitely and refuses to deliver foodstuffs from Soviet-Occupied Germany into the Western Zones. The United Kingdom and the United States begin talks with France in forming an international organisation to contain the threat posed by the Soviet Union.