Longtime board lurker here; this is my first thread. I've read of few of the threads concerned with the time period in question. I've been thinking of writing one that starts with a PoD in the late 20s that massively exacerbates the Great Depression. The idea is that conditions become so terrible ( 40% or greater unemployment, famine, etc etc) that millions of Americans embrace a socialist ethic and begin winning elections and even giving tacit support to farmer's revolts against foreclosure, burning mortgage records and so forth.
In reaction, far-right/fascist elements backed by the wealthy and religious reactionaries form militias and begin widespread violence against left and socialist groups.
I think that the Great Plains would be solidly held by the Left outside of the largest cities. The Northeast would be a wracked with violence between labor unions and the private armies of the wealthy. The South would be a bloodbath in a mix of racial violence, large landowners fighting socialist elements, whites with small farms torn between racial loyalties and their class concerns, and religious leaders condemning "godless socialism."
The Rocky Mtn. region and further beyond in the West I'm not so sure of. As for the regular military, at first I think they would be mostly loyal to orders, but when they see multiple regions of the country fighting one another and within themselves, loyalty to family and hometowns might splinter the military.
So, inviting comment here:
What PoD or string of PoDs could lead to this?
How does the rest of the world react as it drags on?
Specifically, does the USSR support the socialist side?
How's it most likely to end up? (fully socialist USSA, balkanized into multiple different countries with different systems, a fascist/far-right USA that utterly crushes the Left and enshrines far-Right religious principles in government, conquered from the outside during its weakness, or something else entirely)