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Taking into account that he's obviously working with 1900 settlement, I can't believe you missed Krimea and whole Novorossia thing :) I'd say that Ukraine not being controlled by Russia inevitably ends up being controlled by PLC (Poland-Lithuania), so fates of those two are linked together...

Well, Cities vs Countryside conflict did breed Siege of Dushanbe IOTL, when largely secular and Russophone (although overwhelmingly Tajik ethnically) burghers fought Islamist militia entrenched into farming hinterland, and is present in several Ukrainian regions, so it should be taken into...

ITTL Czechoslovakia could evolve into something different. IOTL they, even before Communist takeover of 1948, were enthusiastic supporters of both planned economy (heck, they called their new car, symbol of new Czechoslovakia, Tatraplan) and close alliance with the USSR. ITTL Benes (or somebody...

With all due respect, I disagree. USSR went to great lengths trying to align republican borders with areas of ethnic settlements as much as possible (which lead to nightmarish spaghetti in Central Asia, where ethnic self-identification had often been murky and ethnicities had numerous enclaves...

This is a tough task (Slovenia is actually most "Non-Balkan" out of all Yugoslavian republic, meaning very weak tradition of either statehood or blood feuds). However, if one is absolutely desperate, the POD should be before Dec. 1979 (death of Kardelj). This is the guy who, if survived long...

Adding to RGB's list, off the top of my head: 1) Soviets won only because Stalin had more soldiers than Axis had bullets, so Noble German Knight just could not kill'em all. 2) Soviets raped everything made of flesh West of Brest. 3) Allies tried to do something to save European Jewry. 4) Soviet...

One thing should be noted, it would not add stability to the political system, as King would likely have even less power over Parliament and Executive affairs than OTL President. Mere figurehead he would be.

Didn't they hit Hungary too?

Not that much different from OTL. Economic depression of x-USSR would be less severe than in OTL 1990s (it had been made worse by new borders). Living standards in Ukraine and Central Asia would be somewhat higher at expense of Russia (now Russia spends all oil and gas income by itself, ITTL it...

Couple of points here: 1. Seagulls (I-153 is one of very few Soviet planes which is almost never referred to by it's official numeric designation, it is always Seagull, just like Il-2 is always Shturmovik) had been built on factories which could switch from I-15 overnight. Typical learning curve...

Am I allowed to ask why wasn't initial accusation of French being pro-Serbian considered a flamebait and stating the fact that US and German-occupied areas of Kosovo saw it's non-Albanian population cleansed out is a flamebait? Thank You in advance.

Yeah, right, French refusal to aid KLA ethnic cleansers by providing them cover of security the way Germans and Americans did (that's why their occupation zones are Serbfrei now) is sure sign of French being pro-Serbian. If you don't endorse crimes against Serbians, you're pro-Serbian :(

Re: CalBear's list of inferior Soviet designs. Most of them were more or less testbeds, produced (as with Pe-3 and Pe-8) in very limited numbers, or transitional aircrafts. Plus I have following comments: I-153. It was a stopgap measure (and pretty successful at it) to replace aging fighters...

Disagree. Nobody ever complained to me about 5.45's lack of effect if you did hit the target. I'd like to clarify, none of my buddies considered AK-74 "a sissy gun". It was a matter of slight preference toward one caliber or another, and everyone acknowledged on the same breath that either...

Balkan communist federation (Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania) idea from 1945 could materialize very easily. And, with some tweaking, old Czech Corridor idea (and Czechoslovakia entering federation later, turning it into Central European Federation) could be implemented in 1945. Now, how to dragoon...

Re: AK-47 vs. AK-74. I've had several buddies who served in Afghanistan while 7.62 rifle was being replaced by 5.45 version (early 1980s). Their opinion about switchover differed according to region they served in. Guys who fought in mountain and desert landscapes liked 5.45 for it's increased...

IOTL Army started adoption of Crag just dozen years later. Adoption of black-powder M1885 half-decade before world switched to smokeless powder would just result in a bunch of obsolete rifles in American armoury.

Well, if you introduce tatters in Eurasia early enough, both Med civilization and all great Steppe invasions (Huns, Kumans, Mongols) are doomed. Med would be wiped out by extremely numerous tribal hosts of Norther Europe, and steppe raiders are extremely out of luck as their most potent weapon...

Then again, South Africans didn't have a lot of suppliers who were willing to sell them guns or licenses to produce, so politics played a huge role in the decision. Not that R4 didn't give a yeoman's service to South Africans, performing flawlessly both in jungle swamps and on dusty plains.

It might have something to do with projectile itself. There's this famous (among Russophone history buffs, anyway) issue of Soviet 45 mm ATGs unable to penetrate Panzers' armour, although poligon tests said that it should be able to. It was traced down to defective AP shell, being made too...