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There were debates amongst the Party as to the best way to achieve industrialization. If I remember, Stalin basically adopted one plan, purged the opponents of it, and then decided they were right all along, and purged the supporters of the first plan. The adopted plan was, of course, to...

I read it about thirty years ago, and remember that it was quite original. Even technological unsophisticates can win through... Regards R

I've managed to catch an update on the same day. So we're to be denied Frost/Nixon, but we get Frost/Wilson instead? That would be one for posterity. Regards R

The huge purges eased off in 1939, and definitely eased with the Nazi-Soviet pact, showing that Stalin was suspicious of his new friend to the west. Or it could have been Beria, who probably took one look at the survival rates of his predecessors and concluded that he must convince Stalin to...

This is an important point. OTL everywhere was occupied or had governments sympathetic to the Nazis. Here that isn't true. if they can find a way out, it's not so far to be in more benign territory. There's a huge long neutral border to the south. Many countries had no great love for Jews, but...

Deng Xiaoping becomes ill in 1989, and the politburo are deeply divided on what to do about Tiananmen. One group want to crush them, and another want reforms, but neither is officially in charge with the leader indisposed. There is some action, which might be like the USSR coup in 91, or...

Good for morale and some headlines. Isn't this the first time the allies have set foot on German soil? Regards R

Not sure about the coasting, but the US certainly benefited from an influx of talented immigrants, a short term lack of industrial competition, and things like not having to pay royalties on lots of patents. Several of these factors may be absent in the future, but we'll have to see how the TL...

Nice discussion of the Irish viewpoint, and I learnt something new. It occurs to me, that without lend-lease (or not such a big scale) and the huge naval program, the US economy isn't going to get such a big Keynesian boost, and so might not grow quite as fast. We'd only be talking the odd...

There was an interesting article in National Interest about how the USSR might have won the cold war. This might be of more than passing interest to folks here. If this isn't the correct forum, please ask the mods to move this thread. Summarizing the five points: 1/ Stalin doesn't purge all...

Of course, it has been known for censors to release a film with certain cuts, so maybe what appears on screens in Italy won't be quite the same as elsewhere. ...and Ireland? It's at least three decades since I saw the film, but I don't remember anything particularly anti-catholic. Then again...

Strategically the Japanese have painted themselves into a corner, and it's really their own fault. They have a range of tactical plans, some of which will be better than others, but all of them are bad choices. The answer is for them to be looking for allies, or at least ones that might give...

People like Malcolm Campbell were using aero engines in land vehicles to break speed records in the 30s, so the idea was there. Regards R

A great analysis. The Germans find themselves in an analagous position to Rommel before Alamein: A superior enemy who is only going to get stronger, that they can't outflank. so it'll be Ardennes II: This time it's personal? Or perhaps somewhere else on the front. Are the Germans working on...

If there's still a deadlock in 1941, will Churchill dust off one of his 'soft underbelly' schemes? Invade through Trieste? or maybe Denmark? Hopefully he can be dissuaded of any Gallipoli-like screw-ups this time around. Regards R

The best solution would have been a withdrawal. The Russian advance in the south in the Spring had made the central part of the front into a massive salient. The Russians actually chose to attack from the deepest part of the salient. A withdrawal would have completely changed the tactical...

Don't worry, we can rely on Hollywood to tell us the true story later ;) Regards R

Again I'm late to the party on another magnificent TL. Brings to mind Eric Morecambe's quip about playing all the notes, but not necessarily in the right order...:) Regards R

Even if Stalin starts a war tomorrow, the Russians have been supplying the Germans with material for a year. That's going to take a lot of explaining. OTL they got a free pass because the Germans invaded them, and they suffered enormously, plus they destroyed the majority of the German Army. It...

There will be suspicions, but as you say, no hard evidence until after the USSR comes to an end, as the evidence is buried on their soil. Oddly enough, with the Germans killing off the Polish intelligentsia and starting on Polish Jews, German atrocities may become more specifically associated...