Largest extent of the "Communist spread" that still guarantees their fall

IOTL, Communism was able to spread and uproot governments around Asia, Latin America and Africa. Eastern Europe and Russia were unmentioned as their transition to Communism was due to the Red Army during WWII.
In many scenarios the strong spread of Communism has been played around with, with the result being the West coming under siege.
But I'd like to explore a scenario where, even when Communism spreads so far, it crumbles under the freedom that capitalism gives(where the US or the West does not attempt to spread them with military means but purely through diplomacy).
How far, if so, can Communism actually spread that still ensures the victory of the "First World"(USCAN, Western Europe)? Can they take over all of Africa? All of Asia? All of Latin America? Perhaps even some of the Scandinavian countries?
Interested in what answers may arise.

EDIT: POD is after 1939. WWII should still be as similar to OTL as much as possible.
 
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I think that a big part of this is that no matter how large the USSR's sphere of influence gets, there are going to be Communists that don't want to cooperate with the Soviets, for a number of reasons. I also think that the larger the sphere of influence gets, the more likely this becomes. Internal conflict within the 'Communist World' will likely undermine Soviet successes, whilst the West remains strongly unified due to the resultant siege mentality of the West.

That being said, the Third World can't go completely to the Communists, as that will cut off the supply of a number of key materials that will then erode away the First World's productive potential and wealth.
 

MrP

Banned
If one admits the validity of the "imperial overstretch" theory, then the further the Soviet Union spreads its influence, the sooner it will collapse. There is also, as Hrvatskiwi points out, the dissent factor: more Communist countries mean more chances that "heretical" interpretations of the dogma will come up, leading to the kind of ideological break-ups that took place in OTL with Yugoslavia and China.

Then there's the likelihood that it results in a smaller non-aligned movement, there being fewer countries to join it in the first place, and thus fewer opportunities for the USSR to pursue diplomatic alliances with them.
 

Sycamore

Banned
Perhaps the Politburo could have maintained its early support of George Padmore (whom they appointed as the head of the Negro Bureau of the Red International of Labour Unions, and elected to the Moscow City Soviet), and of Pan-Africanism in general- as such, the International African Service Bureau becomes an inherently communist group, the early Pan-African anti-colonialist and anti-capitalist movement succeeds, and an African USSR encompassing the entirety of the continent (along with perhaps some areas of the Caribbean, and the Guyanas in South America) comes into existence. However, this only serves to hasten the demise of communism, with the Pan-African Union of Soviet Socialist Republics soon collapsing and balkanizing due to sectarian tensions.
 

MrP

Banned
In OTL, after 1945, every time the Red Army was deployed, it was either to put down an uprising in a Soviet satellite (East Germany 1953, Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968), in reaction to a border incident with a fellow Communist state (China 1969) or on behalf of an embattled friendly regime (Afghanistan 1979). It's likely that this would have happened even more often, had the Soviet sphere of influence been larger.
 
If one admits the validity of the "imperial overstretch" theory, then the further the Soviet Union spreads its influence, the sooner it will collapse. There is also, as Hrvatskiwi points out, the dissent factor: more Communist countries mean more chances that "heretical" interpretations of the dogma will come up, leading to the kind of ideological break-ups that took place in OTL with Yugoslavia and China.

Then there's the likelihood that it results in a smaller non-aligned movement, there being fewer countries to join it in the first place, and thus fewer opportunities for the USSR to pursue diplomatic alliances with them.

This is interesting. The TL that I'm thinking of sees a greater expansion of Chinese influence earlier on(think YLi's East is Red, but more Chinawank).

So could that mean a Communist-wank leads to the stronger possibility of a Soviet fall?
 
Perhaps the Politburo could have maintained its early support of George Padmore (whom they appointed as the head of the Negro Bureau of the Red International of Labour Unions, and elected to the Moscow City Soviet), and of Pan-Africanism in general- as such, the International African Service Bureau becomes an inherently communist group, the early Pan-African anti-colonialist and anti-capitalist movement succeeds, and an African USSR encompassing the entirety of the continent (along with perhaps some areas of the Caribbean, and the Guyanas in South America) comes into existence. However, this only serves to hasten the demise of communism, with the Pan-African Union of Soviet Socialist Republics soon collapsing and balkanizing due to sectarian tensions.

Could the USSR attempting to fund this megastate possibly lead to bankruptcy?
 

Sycamore

Banned
Could the USSR attempting to fund this megastate possibly lead to bankruptcy?

Possibly. Or both megastates (Soviet Pan-Africa and the USSR) could simply be driven to bankruptcy independently of one another, due primarily to internal instabilities and external pressures.
 
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