I know Churchill was always highly suspicious of the USSR and it was probably the reason why he ordered them (the contingency plans), and Patton even advocated a pre-emptive strike, but I was wondering if this feeling was shared by other military and political leaders of the Western Allies.
I'm fascinated how Churchill could even contemplate something like this (especially the pre-emptive attack plan) with the sort of war weariness that must have existed at the time.
As a side note, I've struggled to find a copy of the document anywhere online, just dead links and excerpts quoted from a university site page which has since disappeared. If anyone knows where to find it or can upload it I would be very grateful.
As a side note, I've struggled to find a copy of the document anywhere online
https://web.archive.org/web/20101116152301/http://www.history.neu.edu/PRO2/
The Americans, for their part were resolutely opposed, and Brooke Portal and Cunningham (British military chiefs) were not at all enthusiastic about the idea, even though they obediently examined the option at Churchill's request.
I'm fascinated how Churchill could even contemplate something like this (especially the pre-emptive attack plan) with the sort of war weariness that must have existed at the time.
Churchill's finger wasn't exactly on the pulse of public opinion, as his large election defeat of that year perhaps proved, nobody really thinks this had a realistic prospect - Anthony Beevor reasonably guesses that the rank and file would have reacted with "incredulity and anger" to a Barbarossa-style sneak attack.
The plan for defending against a Soviet attack seems quite prudent, you never know. I guess I'm one of those who suspects that Stalin might have tried it on with the West had he ever managed to not be in a position of weakness against Germany initially, then the US after the German defeat (atomic monopoly).
Churchill's intense distrust Stalin was not unfair, and the abandonment of the Poles was disgraceful - it was in his nature to react proactively to what he perceived as a threat. The British public, to their credit, and demonstrating the true difference between the democracies and totalitarian states, chose social reform and peace over aggression and realpolitik. God only knows what might have happened had Churchill had the same powers as a Hitler or Stalin.