DBWI: What if the Soviet Union Collapsed in the 1990s instead of Red China?

I know, I know, there's basically no way China survives the blowback from Tienanmen, but I guess you could pick a POD earlier than that.

It just seems like the USSR was pretty boned when the wall came down and the Eastern Bloc dissolved, and all those people (and tanks) took the streets. It seems like if things were a bit different the thing could have folded completely like China did.

What would the world be like? Would this Russian Rump state be as revanchist as Beiyang, like would it still use the name USSR the way Beiyang still uses PRC? Would NATO extend even further west than East Germany or would it just cease to be relevant at all? Would this Super China have demanded Hong Kong, or maybe even parts of the old USSR?
 
Prevent the Gang of Four from taking power, and continuing Mao's destructive policies seems to be a good start, since those policies lead to economic collapse, and the massacre at Tienanmen was the final coup de grace, which ended the regime.
 
According to the autobiography of Dmitri Yazov, a group of hardline Soviet politicians were planning a coup. Said coup fell apart when Yazov got cold feet. If they went through with it, the consequences could've been dire for the Soviet Union.
 
I remember going to the John Wayne Presidental library and reading about a failed CIA coup to overthrow the USSR.
 
Prevent the Gang of Four from taking power, and continuing Mao's destructive policies seems to be a good start, since those policies lead to economic collapse, and the massacre at Tienanmen was the final coup de grace, which ended the regime.
Even then, there wasn't really anybody to take power after they eventually died. Mao had already killed off most of the reformers and competents in the government. Maybe if Zhou Enlai's scheme to protect Deng had worked, then there would've been someone to challenge the gang?
 
Well, Hong Kong probably wouldn't have remained British: OTL, they got the New Territories lease made indefinite in return for financial aid to the Canton government. A unified China is far more likely to resist continued British rule.

In turn, that would've likely had an adverse effect on Britain. The property/financial services boom in Hong Kong led to a lot of young British men and women getting jobs out there - we might have had more unemployment among university-educated youth if not for the Hong Kong job market. And it's provided cash injections to Britain on a regular basis.

Plus, it lets Britain still project some power in the Far East. Between there and Brunei, Britain's been able to supply and deploy peacekeeping units to help clear up insurgent groups in Malaysia and to assist the Canton government (to say nothing of the RN and RAN's big anti-piracy operation in the Straits of Malacca in the early 2000s). Which in turn allowed a renewed British business influence to grow there...
 
I can't imagine the mess that is China in Europe, imagine the pressure soviets refugee fleeing en mass would do to the European economy.
 
Well for one, the ROC-Canton (Ukraine analogue?) would still have Teochew:mad:(Crimea analogue?), albiet as part of Canton province.
 
OOC:Beiyang?
IC:I'd say super China would have to stay an ally of the US out of necessity. A revanchist, dismembered Russia with nukes is not a good neighbour to have.
 
Another thing: would a unified PRC have been willing to stop the DPRK's collapse after Kim Il-sung's death?

Probably not...

The immediate post-reunification era was fairly tense, economically, but the ROK's managed to come through it well and is enjoying good growth. Even if there's awkward questions regarding their continued occupation of those Korean parts of Manchuria...
 
Probably not...

The immediate post-reunification era was fairly tense, economically, but the ROK's managed to come through it well and is enjoying good growth. Even if there's awkward questions regarding their continued occupation of those Korean parts of Manchuria...

"Tense" is an understatement. I would have bet the house on DPRK turning into a military dictatorship that went belligerent and invaded Manchuria, given that the Chinese couldn't have stopped them and the Soviets were sure they were another communist regime.

They did yeoman's work on Reunification Nature Preserve, though - after all the land mines were removed in the former border area, I was sure developers would tear that place down and build up, but it's perfect the way it is. Pricey, sure, but even so, I promised my wife we'd go there for our anniversary last year and it was wonderful.
 
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