Roadism: A collaborative TL

Extremely Mortal Engines. Thanks to Soviet manufacturing quality, the cities would move about 5 meters before permanently breaking down.
Definitely make it happen, complete with cities trapped in fields of mud, due to the sheer weight and lack of actual engine power...
 
Here is the first draft of the ATL. Admittedly it leans toward the ASB, without going there.

1927: Joseph Stalin becomes leader of the USSR. He proposes a new form of communism called Roadism, where the state exists only to build roads. The USSR becomes the USRR (Union of Socialist Roadist Republics) and Stalin proclaims that the state will be neutral, unless they need to defend themselves.

The early Roadist state was fraught with tension and dissent. The main issue which resulted in a dozen small schisms, was whether the vehicle should be driven on the left or right side of the road. Naturally the public tended to the right side (called "right-wing" by its proponents after the technical term for early cars' sweeping fenders) due to it having been that way for decades for horse drawn carriages and cars. However students, philosophers, and some politicians began to come out with ideas that many considered...subversive. Disparate were included in the term: left-wing, or leftist. It started simply with the suggestion that cars should be driven on the left side of the road, but it soon spiraled out of control. Riots were hard to control, and numerous crashes were caused by hardcore leftists driving fast on the left side of the road with complete disregard for the law of the land. After a decade of trouble, Stalin put his foot down. Between 1936 and 1938 he conducted the Great Purge, or Great Terror, with the arrest, execution, gulag-ing, and deportation of hundreds of great leftist thinkers.

January 1, 1932: Ivan Likhachov is named as a possible successor to Joseph Stalin at Maxim Gorky, initiating the launch of the "Great Leap Forward",....

February 25, 1936: Sergo Ordzhonikidze is purged for lacking "revolutionary fervor" by Stalin in Moscow, fueling political divisions,..

August 23, 1937: Valery Mezhlauk is purged for lacking "revolutionary fervor" by Stalin in Moscow, fueling political divisions,..

January 24, 1938: Lazar Kaganovich is purged for lacking "revolutionary fervor" by Stalin in Moscow, fueling political divisions,..

November 6, 1944: Chairman Ivan Likhachov launches the GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" (Victory) in the launch of the Eastern Offensive into Central Europe,....

April 18, 1950: Stepan Akopov is purged by Joseph Stalin as one of the first post-war Roadist purges, amidst reports of poor health,...

March 15, 1953: Ivan Khlamov is the final minister purged by Joseph Stalin in one of his final actions, shortly before dying in Moscow

July 17, 1953: Chairman Likhachov purges Vyacheslav Malyshev, for lacking "revolutionary fervor " in Moscow, amidst rumors of a coup attempt,...

February 25, 1956: Chairman Ivan Likhachov dies under mysterious circumstances in Moscow, fueling a fight for political succession amongst Roadist leaders,...

Khrushchev orders construction of "Roadtowns", designed to house work crews in accordance with Roadist principles. Families will enjoy 20x20 two story apartment of sturdy concrete, complete with window rack for airing out mattresses.

In the eastern republics, a special "Road Warrior" military division is organized, to escort fuel tankers through areas prone to bandits and counterrevolutionaries.

♬ Bound for the East, trucks and weapons loaded.
We shall do what they say can't be done.
We have a long way to go, and much fuel to deliver.
Bound for the East, just watch those bandits run!



September 15-27, 1959: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev drives from Washington D.C. to Chicago to Los Angeles, California, in an effort to promote "Roadism", sparking international attention and development...

January 20, 1961: The Whole Truth (CBS-TV) documentary by Rod Serling, President John F. Kennedy and Harvey Hunnicut, reveals a "secret speech" about the failures of "Soviet Roadism",...

May 21, 1971: Aleksey German along with Rolan Bykov, Anatoly Solonitsyn, and Vladimir Zaminsky warn of the rise of "politsais" (police with local collaborators) emerging outside of the major cities, sparking international attention and concern,...

April 24, 1978: perennial Democratic Party presidential candidate Lyndon Larouche (D-NH) calls for the construction of a Bering Strait Bridge, to link the Soviet Union and United States along the Bering Strait, sparking international attention,...

1985: Doctor Emmett Brown is sent to the gulags for suggesting where they're going, they'll need no roads, while working with extremist Rhodesians.

October 12, 1986: Aleksey German along with Rolan Bykov, Anatoly Solonitsyn, and Vladimir Zaminsky report the national rise of "politsais" (police with local collaborators), after15 years in political exile, sparking international attention,....

September 15, 1989: "Night Wolves" motorcycle unit led by Alexander Zaldostanov (a.k.a. "The Surgeon") comes to power in Moscow, amidst growing political tensions regarding the rise of "politsais" in Moscow,....

March 6, 2008: "Stritreysery" (e.g. "Street Racers") illegal movement is established by Oleg Fesenko in Moscow, sparking international attention and concern,...

September 1, 2011: Soviet officials in Moscow, launch a national crackdown on "Bombili" (gypsy cabs), citing them as an "existential threat to Soviet Roadism", sparking international attention,...

October 24, 2018: Activist Oleg Shilkin is killed in Moscow, after protesting the brutal nature of "Soviet Roadism", sparking international protests against the government,...
 
Here are the disasters to show that things can go badly:

April 1990: Berlin Easter Disaster; Hainan Disaster; Political tensions mount as the East Germany and West Germany suffers one of the worst traffic jams in recorded history, fueling concerns about the failures of Roadist policies and party officials in Berlin,...

January 31, 2008: Celebrity model Anna Loginova is killed in a brutal carjacking in Moscow, shocking many with the failures of Roadist policies, across the board,...

August 2010: Beijing Disaster; Political tensions mount as the Beijing-Tibet Expressway suffers one of the worst traffic jams in recorded history, fueling concerns about the failures of Roadist policies and party officials in Beijing,...

November 2012: Moscow Disaster: Political tensions mount as the Moscow-Stalingrad Expressway suffers one of the worst traffic jams in recorded history, during a snowstorm, fueling concerns about the failures of Roadist policies and party officials in Moscow,...

September 3, 2013: Polish government officials in Warsaw, report "Roadist" car-jackings along the Russian border, with cars ending up in Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania, sparking fears of an expanding military and political crisis,...

October 2015: Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Disaster; Political tensions mount as the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway suffers one of the worst traffic jams in recorded history, fueling concerns about the failures of Roadist policies and party officials in Beijing,...

February 2018: Hainan Disaster; Political tensions mount as the Qiangzhou Strait suffers one of the worst traffic jams in recorded history, fueling concerns about the failures of Roadist policies and party officials in Beijing,...

February 5, 2020: Moscow is proclaimed to have the worst roads/highways for traffic congestion/ traffic jams, sparking accusations of "anti-Roadist" bias, by Russian leaders, fueling political tensions across Europe,...
 
Some space PODs:

July 8,1964:On Vostok 9, Georgi Beregovoy becomes the first man to walk in space.

December 14,1966:The Apollo 1 fire happens to an unmanned Apollo

August 26,1967:Apollo 2 is flown with Grissom,White,and Chaffee.

November 19,1969:Apollo 10. Al Shepard becomes the first man on the Moon.

June 5,1970:A Proton rocket orbits Zvezda,the first space station.

January 11,1971:The Americans respond with Skylab,a wet workshop in this timeline.

May 19,1971:The first N1 launches a ZIL limousine on a trajectory toward Mars.

July 20,1972:The manned Almaz program is cancelled after Almaz 1 fails to reach orbit.

April 27,1973:Apollo 18 is the last American Moon mission for a while. Jim Lovell and Charlie Duke walk on the lunar far side.

October 4,1973:On the Apollo-Soyuz mission,Neil Armstrong and Boris Volynov exchange a handshake.

December 2,1974:Skylab B,a dry workshop,reaches orbit. On December 26 it is joined by its Soviet counterpart,Zvezda 3.

July 17,1976:It is announced that Skylab C and Zvezda 4 will be joined to make an international space station.

May 31,1977:First Space Shuttle launch (resembling the Right Side Up shuttle).

September 4,1978:Vladimir Chelomei dies in a car accident.

March 7-28,1979:Zvezda 4 reaches orbit and is checked out by the Soyuz 35 crew.

April 12-14,1979:Skylab C is launched and docked to Zvezda 4.

September 19,1979:First Briz launch (Kosmolyot).

November 12,1980:With the rendezvous of STS-31 and VKK-7 in orbit,the Space Race is officially ended.
 
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July 20, 1972:The manned Almaz program is cancelled after Almaz 1 fails to reach orbit.

[ Years later it is revealed that the Almaz station was actually supposed to travel to the alien planet Solaris, but there was only a single 1972 launch window, and the cosmonauts missed it when they got lost on the Moscow freeway system]

 
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[ Years later it is revealed that the Almaz station was actually supposed to travel to the alien planet Solaris, but there was only a single 1972 launch window, and the cosmonauts missed it when they got lost on the Moscow freeway system]
January 6,1989:The above happens

January 7-14,1989:The USRR is the laughingstock of the world
 
Here are a few more PODs to flag the many changes in the TL:

December 26, 2009: Black Lightning film directed by Alexandr Voitinsky and Dmitriy Kiselev, and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, portrays a magical car, proclaiming the virtues of "Roadism" in a superhero film,...

November 4, 2010: Kushchyovskaya Masacre; "politsais" (police with local collaborators) are blamed for the massacre of the residents of Kushchyovsjaya, Krasnodar Krai, signaling a lack of security outside of the "The Road Towns"

March 6, 2012: Rustam Usmanov (a.k.a. Ibaydullo Subkhanov) launches a theocratic revolution, along the M9 highway, outside of Moscow, calling for Uzbekistan to be a theocratic revolutionary state, sparking international attention,....

April 24, 2016: Ivashevska Massacre; "politsais" (police with local collaborators) are blamed for the massacre of the the residents of Ivashevka, Samara Oblast, fueling concerns about the lack of security in certain "Road Towns",....

September 7, 2016: Failed assassination attempt against the Russian President in Moscow, with many claiming an "Anglo-American Axis" (AAA) aligned against Russia behind the attack, fueling military tensions worldwide,...
 
Here are some PODs to flag how the state claimed a measure of success:

February 18, 1963: Soviet and Eastern European officials led by Lech Tulak and Jerzy Jankowski launch the Cup of Peace & Friendship in Warsaw, Poland, ostensibly to see the world's fastest race cars, but also to promote "Roadism" worldwide,...

July 23, 1966: Soviet race car drivers Yuri Andreev and Viktor Lapin break the World Land Speed record in Leningrad, during the Cup of Peace & Friendship race, easily defeating American and Italian race teams, sparking international attention and concern,....

June 10-11, 1967: Soviet race car drivers defeat American and Italian racing teams at Le Mans, France, in a stunning defeat, sparking calls to improve cars and car speeds by Ford, General Motors, and Chevrolet,...

June 14-15, 1969: Soviet race car drivers dominate the racing teams at Le Mans, France, with many sports reporters including Howard Cossell (ABC-TV) stating, "While America was certainly winning the Space Race, it was losing the race for the roads at home..."
 
And Bondoc,don’t feel like you have to include my space stuff in your next draft. It’s just my headcanon.
With the TL, consider how pop culture and Western people's assumptions about Soviet culture would change. For instance imagine how Lt. Chekhov would have been portrayed as a "speed junkie " on Star Trek. Or how KARR on Knight Rider would've seen as a Soviet adversary, rather than a rogue A.I.

Or try to imagine a Russian version of The Fast & Furious series, with Vin Diesel's Russian proclaiming the value of the state rather than family....
 
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