People Magazine: The Rise of Lenin's America

I know but like cmon, if you're gonna write a TL based on an alternate October revolution, you might as well get the two main leaders of it right.
 
Sorry for the pic confusion, author error. As to your questions my idea was that Julian's Family started working class due to discrimination and then moved up the social ranks. Julian is subsequently street enough to appeal to workers buy also elite enough to appeal to affluent Liberals/Progressives.

In this universe being raised in America moderates Lenin's views and the signature event in his life is the Haymaker Riot. As for his brother he will play a role later on as kind of a Billy Carter character.

This all started when a friend asked me, what would it take for Noam Chomsky to be President. Apparently a lot.
 
Europe 1912-1916
World War I started on 28 July 1914. The war had been brewing by 1901 but the spark came in the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand of Austria and the subsequent Russian mobilizations. The war quickly bogged down into stalemate as the highly organized German Army was contained in a two front war. In France the ‘lightning’ German offensive quickly bogged down and vast casualties were taken by all sides. On the Russian Front the German/Austria offensive rolled Russia forces back but again at great cost. Uneven German un-restricted submarine warfare ran the gauntlet of a total Allied Naval Blockade with more stalemate as the result. The powerful German Fleet, a major cause of the war, remained in port fighting only one major engagement at Jutland. The Italian Front remained a bloodbath and throughout Europe calls for America involvement began to be heard.
America 1912-1916
America had a decidedly neutral stance in WWI. The war was a European conflict between powers that most Americans felt were equally at fault. Wilson was re-elected on a neutrality pledge in 1916 and as before the main focus of the military was Pancho Villa and Mexico. Economic development slowed but continued on a strong track of growth. Several popular movements were taking hold across the country namely Christian Temperance on the Right and the organization of Labor on the Left. Both movements were strictly isolationist abhorring foreign entanglements and only a few hawks and business interests advocated American involvement.
LPA
Walter Julian and the LPA continued to organize all in the effort of building a relevant party. Triangulation towards the political center and away from purism had yielded significant fruits. By 1916 the Party polled near 11% nationally and had converted or elected 2 dozen Socialist Mayors. The uneasy alliance between Debs and Julian continued to hold as both men made frantic efforts to continue to organize workers and after 1913 small farmers. This process was not easy. In the South and West several LPA halls were burned and at least 200 members were killed in various demonstrations or confrontations with management. None of this registered much with any of the elites but the street battles did give the LPA some momentum. Also in the 1916 election the LPA was able to elect 2 of its members to the U.S. Congress both from New York and both close allies of Julian.
Russia
Bearing the brunt of the Austro/German offensive Russia took horrific casualties from 1914-1916. In a war arguably started by Russian early mobilization, Russia was now waging a daily struggle for its very survival. Domestic unrest exacerbated by food shortages was now creating substantial disruption to the Czar’s power. The main opposition came from the SDLP, reinforced and secretly supported by Germany. By late 1916 the SDLP was actively talking about industrial action and a forced change in Russian Policy. However even at this early point it was understood by the party elite that any confrontation with the Czar would not immediately establish Socialism. Russia was far too backwards to support a Socialism and Martov fully acknowledged the need for a capitalist revolution. This revolution could be built in partnership with some bourgeois elements.

SDLP meeting, December 1916.

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Going to do whole post on Russian Civil War

The United States 1917-1918
No popular support existed to enter WWI but substantial pressure was placed on Wilson by the Finance and Business community. German protestations over continued credit loans and arms sales to the Western Allies frayed relations with Germany as did the poorly thought of Zimmerman Telegram. Wilson himself wanted to intervene and end what was seen as needless German aggression. Eventually the United States did join the war, declaring war on the Central Powers in April 1917. The American experience in WWI was not a fundamental as other countries but it was important. The war thrust the United States into world politics and lead to the modernization of the U.S. Army. Some 170,000 Americans would be listed as casualties with 116,001 killed.

LPA
The socialist movement was fundamentally opposed to a war it saw as yet another assault against the working class. But Walter Julian noted that while wars of Imperialism and aggression were disgraceful that wars of protection were permissible. Privately Julian also noted that true opposition to the war would be very unpopular and a poor move for the LPA. The LPA pledged support for the American War Effort and many key members would fight in the trenches…gaining much influence amongst the rank and file. This effort resulted in a schism with many of the hardest Pacifists splitting off with Eugene Debs. Still by the end of the war the LPA was stronger than it ever had been before. Disgusted by the carnage and top down management of the conflict many veterans, often those in units with LPA members or commanders, were re-affiliating with the LPA. By 1919 the LPA polled at 13% nationally and held over 2900 elected positions. Wilson often referred to them as the ‘Mosquito on my left’.

Russia 1917-1918
By 1917 the Russian War Effort had destroyed what little stability left. The brunt of the Germany invasion had pushed Russian forces back past White Russia and killed over 2 million men. The central Czarist system simply could not cope with the shock. In March 1917 members of the Duma and military seized power in Saint Petersburg and forced Nicholas to abdicate. The SDLP took part in this rising seizing control of most of the rest of Western Russia via a network of local Soviets. A provisional government was setup with the SDLP and ‘White’ Russians in the Duma sharing power. While some forces argued for collectivization the SDLP elite lead by Martov and Trotsky was able to channel this energy toward building a capitalist revolution. A small faction, known as the Bolshevists and lead by the bank robber Joseph Stalin, pushed for a true socialist rising but they were unable to undermine the SDLP majority. Local Soviets attempted to boot strap a middle class thru a series of worker initiatives and forced low dollar sales of property by the Russian Aristocracy.

Immediately however crack appeared in the Provisional Government. The SDLP wanted to quickly sue for peace but the Duma, heavily influenced by France, kept Russia in the war. Secret peace feelers sent to Germany only heightened the SDLP’s desire to make peace. By, October this debate had become a chasm and Martov took steps to initiate a ‘second revolution’. The SDLP however was trapped between the Bolshevists on the Left and Whites on the Right. Martov’s prior ideas of a sustained capitalist revolution were not mutually exclusive with the Czar a persona who still held tremendous mana in Russia. Fearful of allying with Stalin Martov chose the lesser of two evils agreeing to restoring the Czar as a titular ruler as long as the SDLP controlled actual policy. During the October Revolution the Czar was returned to power and the Duma expelled. Peace was concluded in January 1918 with Germany and the SDLP set to reform the nation.

Stalin and the Bolshevists saw this as a betrayal but with an untenable position Stalin fled with his supporters to Rostov.

Europe 1917-1918
The carnage of 1914-1917 had produced no substantial gains for any side only mass death. By 1917 Germany had destroyed most of the smaller allied powers like Romania and resumed un-restricted submarine warfare. The entry of the United States into the war and the Russians decision to keep the war going until October doomed Germany. Final offensives in the West were unable to capture Paris, although they did reach its suburbs. With an untenable situation in the West and U.S. Divisions landing at the rate of 1 division a month the German war effort was over. Internal pressures and mutinies destabilized the Kaiser’s hold on Germany and peace was concluded in November 1918. Germany was forced to sign a humiliating treaty at Versailles that limited its military, returned Russian territory gained in January and broke up Prussia. This treaty would lead to substantial resentment in both the Weimar Republic and the Bavarian Socialist Republic.

Russia at the start of the Civil War

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The Russian Civil War (1918-1923)
Participants: Bolshevists, SDLP, UFA Directorate, White Army, Finland, Poland, Britain, France.
Victors: SDLP, Bolshevists (South), Poland
Estimate Deaths: 2.8 Million
Phase 1 1918-1919:
The unity of the October Revolution quickly shattered into 3 competing camps. The Reds (SDLP) fought the Whites while the Bolshevists fought everybody. The war started with SDLP holding a core territory in Western Russia that included the capitol of St. Petersburg (Renamed Martovograd in 1927). The influence of the Czar allowed the SDLP to extend influence into the Baltic States, Finland and White Russia. In the cities the SDLP had to put down sustained resistance from both the White Army and other Socialists. The White Army was heavily supported by the West but also gained large support from the old aristocracy and the Cossacks. White Army force attacked the SDLP from Siberia, Ukraine and the North. Fought primarily by huge formations of cavalry the early war saw some White gains, although the SDLP had put down the urban revolutions by 1920. On the fringes the UFA Directorate in Siberia briefly seceded as did several autonomous regions in Central Asia. In the South the Bolshevists proclaimed the creation of Soviet Russia and consolidated power in the South. By 1920 they had capture Kiev and pushed to a common border with Anglo-Allied forces in the Caucasus. Poland entered the fray for itself skirmishing with SDLP units in 1919 and fighting against all parties for Polish Nationality

Phase 2 1919- Jan 1922:
Much of the Western Allies had hoped logistical support for the White Army could lead to a victory for the Whites. But by 1921 it was clear that this aid was too scarce to make a real difference. SDLP forces were too large and highly motivate. Martov and Trotsky proved to be keen commanders and skilled diplomats. The only lasting success for the Western Power came in the partition of Finland with Northern Finland eventually repatriated to Sweden after a plebiscite in 1921 under the Sweds not Reds slogan. The Red Army in conjunction with local partisans gained the upper hand by 1920 and by 1921 the White Army was on the ropes. SDLP territory extended to Siberia and into Central Asia up to the Afghanistan border. But in the West and South things were not as successful. Bolshevist forces proved highly organized and refused to surrender. Stalin proved a cagy adversary and alliances with the Cossacks proved fruitful. By 1922 Soviet Russia was firmly entrenched in the South and protected by huge trench lines 9 tiers deep. This success was enabled by the Poles who fought a smart battleplan and threw back successive attacks from the SDLP. By 1921, Martov had called off the attacks on Poland and the poles had gained territory hundreds of miles into Russia.

Phase 3 and International Reaction 1922- July 1923: The final remnants of the White Army were defeated in 1923. Stalemate in the South allowed for Soviet Russia to remain solvent and ensured two Socalist States would succeed the Russian Empire. Abroad the reaction was mixed. Allied intervention was seen as foolish and unneeded. By 1923 it was clear the SDLP was not the Socialist terror it was imagined to be and in many ways the SDLP’s desire to foster a capitalist revolution reassured the Capitalist Elites. When the Union Socialist Republics, formed in 1923, gave a place at the table to conservative elements the fears of Capitalist Elites were further soothed. The real enemy appeared to be Soviet Russia

Russia 1923




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Europe 1920-1923
Recovery from the Great War was slow. The war had redrawn the map of Europe breaking up the Austro-Hungarian Empire and shaving Germany. France had experienced significant loss in terms of manpower and was now looking at an inverted population age pyramid. The United Kingdom was deeply in debt but had gain additional colonies in Africa. Russia had been split with both the USR and SR withdrawing from World Politics. Germany saw the most turmoil. The final collapse of the Kaiser caused substantial political turmoil throughout Germany as Communists fought Republicans and other elements for control. In Nov 1918, Bavaria seceded in the form of the Bavarian Council Republic. Secret aid from the SDLP helped to prevent a counter coup by the Friekorps with the BCR quickly aligning toward the USR. In 1923, a Nationalistic party bent on reunion with Germany called the Nazi Party, launched a successful counter coup and Bavaria was restored to Germany. While successful the coup cost the lives of the movements two top leaders Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff. The coup did however launch the NDSP to national standing and its new leaders Ernst Rohm, Rudolf Hess and Hermann Goring became national heroes. Poland gained independence roughly along the Pilsuduski Line although Polish forces were push out of most of the Ukraine
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America 1920-1923
The losses suffered during WWI were far beyond anything that the American Public could have imagined. Returning its sons home the nation resolved to never again fight a European War. The GOP was a shoe in for the 1920 election and the DNC lost substantial group amidst its Irish/German base when it refused to condemn either British response to the Irish Revolution or the treatment of Germany. In the end Warren Harding and a Republican Congress would be elected in a landslide. Events in Russia were seen as transitory. The Communists had largely been defeated and the Czar remained in power. Of course this was a vast over simplification but Americans knew little of Russia or its politics. The 1918 revolution has stoked a brief Red Scare but this had faded and more attention was paid to silencing Anarchists and those with so called deviant sexual behavior.

LPA 1920-1923
1920 was a watershed year for the LPA. Thousands of members returned from the trench lines bringing with them rolls of hundreds of former soldiers and officers disillusioned with the way things were done. Unlike the DNC, the LPA strongly condemned both the British response to the Irish Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles. Julian was able to build substantial inroads into the Upper Mid-West. Overnight this doubles party support and the party polled at 27% nationally although it did not run a candidate in 1920. Instead it was able to win some 15 seats in the U.S. House and 1 in the Senate with an additional 12 DNC members defected to avoid being unseated.

Asia 1920-1924
China’s revolution continued with rival warlords dividing most of China. In the south a faction lead by the Kuomintang began to gain ground around Canton. India saw additional turmoil as nationalists continued to challenge the British Mandate. Japan gain additional Pacific Colonies as a result of WWI and continued to build its Navy. Its aspirations were however stagnated by the Washington Naval Conference that limited the tonnage allowed to Japan.

NDSP Members man barricades in central Munich lead my Henrich Himmler (fell to death by impalement in 1927)

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