Challenge: Democratic Soviet Union

ninebucks

Banned
Tough call, but would Gorbachev concentrate on economy 1st, democratic reforms with full supermarket shelves and half-working economy could make USSR drift toward the goal described in OP. In other words, pulling Deng in USSR. And mixed-economy USSR would need to democratize (as opposed to today's China), as it did not have population willing to work for bowl of rice the way a lot of Chinese do even today.

I disagree, economic reform, as it happened in OTL, sold the USSR out. State resources were sold for a pittance to people who didn't care about anything but their own wealth and corrupt officials turned their back en masse while billions of dollars of state-owned equipment were literally stolen. While I won't make the outrageous claim that the late-USSR was more democratic than the early-RF, I would claim that the people were disempowered when what was essentially their property was given away without a single thought being given to their interests.

Top-down economic reform without comprehensive political reform inevitably creates a situation where politicians are more beholden to amoral businessmen and oligarchs than their own populations. China is also facing this problem and, I'd argue, their current 'Harmonious Society' policy is doomed to eventual failure, and that their best bet would be to resocialise a good deal of their economy, (at the risk of sounding like some kind of neo-Maoist, the PRC's economy is currently less socialised than the USA's by a huge factor, and that will need remedying).
 
Going back a bit earlier, what if Alexander Kerensky had displayed better leadership and been able to reign in Lenin and the Bolshiveks? Could he (and perhaps Trotsky) have succeeded in creating a lasting democratic system (Assuming they could have done something about Stalin)?

As for later, perhaps if Breshnev had lived longer and there had been a smoother transistion to Gorbachev?
With the second one, really it's Khruschev who you want to be in power longer... Brezhnev presided over stagnation and conservatism (i.e. keeping things the same, not 'Conservative Party' conservatism...).

Or, have Khruschev succeeded by a reform-minded leader. Someone like Gorbachev, but
a) 20 years earlier
b) having the conscious aim of moving to democracy.
 
Challenge: make the Soviet Union transition into a democratic nation like the United States, possibly in the '80s or '90s.

Extra points if you can think of a POD after World War II (IE a timeline where Stalin rules the country during the war still). Something with Trotsky is acceptable though.

The SU seemed already like a kind of allegory to the USA
. So, make the Soviet Union a nation that becomes a democratic state. I can imagine that the Communist Party could be a major political party, but there would be others, of course.

Did you mean a foil?

Well, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union did relinquish power in the early '90s. Maybe they could keep power for a bit...
 
Well, the Soviet Union analogue in the Lenin-less World TL is reasonably democratic, though only left-wing parties are actually in the Duma (or whatever its called in the TL).
 
I guess having Kosygin, Andropov (have him not die so early) and maybe that Romanov fella run things for a while might make a difference...even if there was a short Brezhnev interlude. Couple that with Gorbachev coming on the scene later and probably introducing democracy within the CPSU first and the USSR might evolve into a proper democracy later on, maybe even by sometime this decade (first it would only be separate leftist parties though, not a plurality of different parties ranging from left to right).
 
Did you mean a foil?

Well, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union did relinquish power in the early '90s. Maybe they could keep power for a bit...

I guess that applies better - a foil. They were a bit similar in their actions. They were both meddling in other nation's business, their populations were both multiethnic, and whatnot.
 
Just make Khrushchev a better person, he had not a very good reputation in the USSR, he was kind like Yeltsin without the vodka and the freedom of speech! :D
Seriously, if he was not invited to risign things would work better. Personally, I think that without the cuban crisis he would be able to stay a little longer in the power.
 
Suppose the Soviet Union never signed the non-aggresion pact with Hitler. By the time Hitler invades Poland, Stalin is infurated and attacks. America, now seeing that everybody is attacking Germany, declares war. Due to the combined effort, Berlin is captured by 1942. Hitler is burned at the stake for crimes against life.

Due to the early win, soilders in the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. are very freindly. The armies sing and party when they meet in Berlin. This freindlieness leads to the Soviets being more acceptong to America's ways, become a republic in the 60's. :D
 
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Lenin lives longer - maybe. After all NEP was his idea. It still most likely would be one-party system but Party itself more democratic and non-party members may be allowed to participate. But I somehow doubt it would pull through.
Trotsky was at the time of his power all for world revolution. If he'd won over Stalin there is more likely would be an early war with Europe. Aftermatch may see a democratic Russia though :)
Stalin. It's rather unlikely but I've read that he actually proposed to hold a 1938 Supreme Council elections with more then one runner for each seat and allow non-party members to participate. The source was quite unreliable but propose an unexpected course of development. Until Stalins death no real democracy would arise but after that people may be more ready to go in that direction. It assumes that Stalin turns to be more Franco-like dictator and not a blood-crazy lunatic.
I don't know about later PODs. Maybe if Andropov had not dieid untill later and has not too severe health problem. Again he would not install any democracy but maybe his reforms allow to develop it later. Not very likely again.
 
Personally, I think the easiest POD is to have Joe McCarthy be more successful. Create a one-party, America First US and then the Soviets would be a democracy just like the US. Both with fine Constitutions, both with regular elections - and both with totally preordained results!
 
Challenge: make the Soviet Union transition into a democratic nation like the United States, possibly in the '80s or '90s.

Extra points if you can think of a POD after World War II (IE a timeline where Stalin rules the country during the war still). Something with Trotsky is acceptable though.

The SU seemed already like a kind of allegory to the USA. So, make the Soviet Union a nation that becomes a democratic state. I can imagine that the Communist Party could be a major political party, but there would be others, of course.

Done here:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=111748

No Yeltsin, most of the USSR is preserved as a confederation, with a name change but the same initials USSR/CCCP, and the new USSR could certainly be democratic

If you want a surviving USSR that keeps the exact name "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", is as strong a union as the USSR in OTL, includes most of the 15 republics, and is a democracy, that is probably ASB.

Given a choice most republics would not want to remain in a strong union with Russia, or any union at all.

Also, would be odd to have a democratic country officially calling itself "socialist".
 
The USSR, as said, already had democratic centralism. It just wasn't followed. So have that established as an actual process and we're a long way in.
 
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