1956, West and East German borders.

With the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, a considerable bulk of the Soviet Army’s logistics had been diverted to focus on suppressing the Nagy government. Tensions between the West and East were on the rise, as NATO planners feared that the situation in Hungary might spill over to neighbouring neutral Austria with the increasing escalation. Pressured by Westminster in restoring Poland as part of her wartime promise, and from the new West German Federal Republic on border hostilities, the NATO headquarters in Brussels deemed that the Soviet Union’s newly-formed Warsaw Pact are on the brink of collapse and unpopularity, but also a threat to the free world.

Led by the US Army Europe and British Army on the Rhine, CENTAG immediately mobilized and launched a surprise invasion at Fulda Gap, planning to secure Berlin, Potsdam and eventually the entirety of Germany, then Poland. Motivated by arrogance and underestimation of the Soviet’s strength, NATO was soon bogged down in a conflict of attrition that they were not prepared for.

West German BGS units were quickly armed with WW2 equipment to face off against the Soviets and act as a vanguard for NATO forces, seeing action in frontline duties. The disastrous early battles and the revolution in Hungary also prevented the Soviets from deploying their new T-54 tanks, with Soviet and PACT forces in East Germany only able to muster WW2 IS tanks. Attrition also forced the US and British to pull out their WW2 reserve units and equipment. France, protesting the war and the United States perceived dominance over Western Europe, remained out of the conflict.