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So I have always assumed that it would take a few atom bombs well behind Russian lines to usher in a quick peace if the US/Britain forces took on the Soviets … but then what? The Soviets were both highly motivated and politicized and, as the West is discovering with ISIS, it's hard to defeat an ideology - it takes ground forces - and as both Napoleon and Hitler found out, Russia is so massive, it's a logistical impossibility. I believe it would have just led to a big and unsettled radioactive mess. We'll never know - and perhaps that's a good thing.
The difference being ISIS is an ideology without a nation---no borders. There is not specific nation, homeland or uniformed troops to bomb. By the end of the war they were more tired than everyone else. If we were to strike that would have been the time. We had the bomb and no one else did.
I would have given it two weeks---maybe a month before they would have capitulated. Four or five A-bombs over Moscow and other cities and they would have been waving the white flag. Being bombed back the stone age is pretty persuasive.
Russian materiel of that age is sketchy at best. We now know that their tanks were designed to last only 1500 hours as that is what their designers calculated would be how long it would last in battle conditions. They made tons of them but fit, finish and durability was not great. This was the same across the board with all of their guns and artillery. It was all quantity over quality. When pressed it would fall apart and they would just be throwing men into a meat grinder.