The way the TNG movies and 2009 Trek set things up, the Federation and the Empire were developing an rapprochement and easing tensions, but now with the Federation coming to their aid and failing, all because the mission was placed under the hands of a Vulcan who vanished, it could easily set the stage for a nice conflict to overarc a new Post-Dominion series.
I wished they'd limited it. I like the idea of the Romulans wounded and now full of vengeance allowing them to finally be the central antagonist for once instead of the Klingons or Cardassians.
It's the implicit assumption behind how the Russians store EVERYTHING.
It factored especially into the their plans for a nuclear exchange in that they looked upon WWIII as a long war as nations would rebuild after the initial exchange and race to regain nuclear weapons so as to fire a second salvo and keep everyone else from properly rebuilding. In that context, having even elderly T-34s in a world where working equipment is rare would be a Godsend.