DBWI: a Communist China?

Okay, okay, I know this sounds completely ASB, but hear me out. I know that China today is the champion of both Capitalism and Monarchy in Asia, so it may be unbelievable, but what would it take to make China Communist? Could a later modernization (after the 1860s maybe?) lead to a Communist China?
 
Its not inconceivable, but unlikely. The first thing to remember was that China was overwhelmingly rural, and without any sort of industrialized, developed working class there simply aren't the conditions for communism to take root. That's why the communist movements mostly fizzled out by the mid 20th century, and were never strong to begin with.

Somehow, if the communists are to succeed, they would have to completely alter communist orthodoxy to gear it toward the rural peasantry, and furthermore try to organize all those people.
 
The Communist movement couldn't survive in overthrowing the Czar in OTL so I don't see how they would succeed in overhtrowing the Emperor. Plus, I think once the Communists took over in India, that the monarchies of Russia and China would continue to be propped up by the west no matter how authoritarian their state capitalist societies got.
 
The Communist movement couldn't survive in overthrowing the Czar in OTL so I don't see how they would succeed in overhtrowing the Emperor. Plus, I think once the Communists took over in India, that the monarchies of Russia and China would continue to be propped up by the west no matter how authoritarian their state capitalist societies got.

Eh, China doesn't really need to be propped up. It is a superpower in its own right. Of course, the Tsar is still the Kaiser's puppet, especially after the Great War, but China stands on its own, and is a rival for Germany, particularly in the Middle East by supporting the Iranians against the Turks.
 
Eh, China doesn't really need to be propped up. It is a superpower in its own right. Of course, the Tsar is still the Kaiser's puppet, especially after the Great War, but China stands on its own, and is a rival for Germany, particularly in the Middle East by supporting the Iranians against the Turks.

Yeah now. But it took several decades of Western investment in China for fear of the red tide in India sweeping over them like it did in Burma, Siam, and Indochina. But you are right that since the 60s and 70s, China has been a hegemon in its own right and has been propping up the Shah in Iran against Communist India.
 
Yeah now. But it took several decades of Western investment in China for fear of the red tide in India sweeping over them like it did in Burma, Siam, and Indochina. But you are right that since the 60s and 70s, China has been a hegemon in its own right and has been propping up the Shah in Iran against Communist India.

Yeah, fair enough; the Great War against Britain, Russia, and Japan devastated China in particular. Manchuria suffered terribly under Japanese occupation, and while the British were stopped at Nanjing the Battle of Nanjing caused massive damage to the city. We Germans love to brag about how we won the war, but the Qing were responsible for tying up a huge number of Black Hundreds troops.
 
Yeah, fair enough; the Great War against Britain, Russia, and Japan devastated China in particular. Manchuria suffered terribly under Japanese occupation, and while the British were stopped at Nanjing the Battle of Nanjing caused massive damage to the city. We Germans love to brag about how we won the war, but the Qing were responsible for tying up a huge number of Black Hundreds troops.

Hey, remember, it could have been worse. The French could have joined the other side. It's only because the French needed badly their economic ties with Germany that they helped the Germans. Of course, getting Alsace-Lorraine as a reward didn't harm either...
 
Hey, remember, it could have been worse. The French could have joined the other side. It's only because the French needed badly their economic ties with Germany that they helped the Germans. Of course, getting Alsace-Lorraine as a reward didn't harm either...

Yeah, Napoleon V was an extremely wise Emperor to recognize that there was no future for Europe in remaining divided. I have no doubts that, had De Gualle beaten Rohan in the election, far right extremism would have taken over the world. French troops get a lot of credit for their role in fighting the British in Africa, and for basically removing the threat to Germany's southern flank by attacking Italy over the alps.
 
Top