Democratic Russia on the Eve of WWII

Here is my addition to the original post!

Having lost their chance in Russia, hardline Russian Communists allied with German Marxists do an uprising in the late 1920s, successfully turning Germany into a hardline Communist State.

Meanwhile in France a Coup of former facists millitary officers and their allies in the french business community takes power in the early 1930s, fearing that a democratic weak government in Paris, wouldn't be able to fight a Communist Germany.
This Facist French Government(Vichy-style Government) arrange a massiv arrest of that they label as Communist agents(Jews, Africans, Protestants) and deports these people to forced Labour/Concentration style camps in North Africa, Indochina and to Spain and Italy(Puppit French regimes)!
Wanting to turn France into a country of only white catholic men and women!
A the same time French economy grows more and more powerfull especially helped by large Community of German expatriots(Businessmen, Scientists etc) having fleed from Communist Germany. This inturn allows the Junta in Paris to start on a massive rearmament (no bound by any type of any treaties, like Germany was in OTL).
How does this sound?

/Fred


Pretty poorly. Facist regimes in Europe were hardly inevitible.
 
Facist regimes in Europe were hardly inevitible.

Anything beyond idealism behind this?

I would have thought the emergence of quasi-fascists is borderline inevitable.

Regardless of the specifics of the war, the popular reaction to WW1 is not going to be positive. It will not be remembered by many (if any) as a 'good' war. Far too many have perished for gains which seem at best ephemeral. This has undermined the belief in the liberal democracy of the 19th century (if the countries had the trappings of liberal democracies to begin with, most did not). The fear of the left is not going to go away just because the Soviet Union isn't around as per OTL. People feared the Communists, Social Democrats etc before the war and they will continue to fear them after the war.

The economic disruption of WW1 which led to a period of relative economic instability is probably unavoidable as well. The result is going to be a period of high unemployment, high inflation, stock market crashes and the many other economic ills which were seen in OTL. If the democracy of the upper-bourgeoisie is constantly getting humiliated people are going to want change. In this situation the socialist rhetoric of full employment through state intervention will have many supporters (as per OTL). There is however a split. Alot of people do not want the revolution which socialists talk about. They certainly don't want anything like the dictatorship of the proletariat, the terror and so on.

Now 'fascists' shall emerge and argue that they can provide the social and economic stability that is craved by the populace but they need strong government to do it. They will argue they can fight the revolutionaries on the streets in a manner beyond that available for the weak centrist democrats. They shall garb themselves in the nationalism which is all the sharper for WW1. For these reasons they are likely to prevail over liberal democracy or socialist revolution.
 
That's essentially the argument presented in Mark Mazower's Dark Continent. Its pretty good, I'd recommend it if you want an interesting general study of Europe from WWI onwards. Chapter 1 preview.

I know it's offtopic. Sorry.

And no, he isn't paying me to plug it, I just think its a good book... :)
 
No state that was a least bit democratic used the word in their official name. It was a crazy conjuration of Stalin in OTL to "prove" to the world that Eastern European countries that fell under the curtain were democratic.

Federal Republic of Russia or something, maybe just Russian Federation like now. Just to say, Huge portions of Belarus and Ukraine are very Russian in culture and history, I don't see them getting independent in their OTL arbitrary borders that were decreed by communists without any care or though. With Antante still wining WWI, and a democratic and much more important, capitalistic, Russia, Versailles treaty would be much kinder to them.

Independent Finland, and one or two Baltic republics independent under a new name and concept (remember, Germany lost the war, we cant have a Eastern Prussia). Most of Ukraine and Belarus within Russia, with parts returned/given to Poland, Hungary and Romania.

If Turkey saw the end of war as ally of Central Powers, it is very likely Russa would be allowed to keep a significant portion of Caucasus region.
 
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