I've seen various AH's where the USSR undergoes some sort of civil war, often pre-WWII.
Here's one by Dale Cozort where it's Trotsky vs. Stalin in 1926.
Here's another where Stalin was behind Sergei Kirov's murder, but Kirov survives and rallies a rebellion against him.
In both cases, the second faction is based in Leningrad, which makes sense I suppose.
And here's a fairly Turtledove-esque silly one in a CSA victory timeline that simply states "Stalin breaks away from Lenin, viewing his use of Communism as too soft and useless" before the Tsarists are even completely defeated. For some reason, Stalin is also based in Moscow. Later Lenin dies and Trotsky succeeds him. Go figure.
So how plausible is any of this.
Here's one by Dale Cozort where it's Trotsky vs. Stalin in 1926.
Here's another where Stalin was behind Sergei Kirov's murder, but Kirov survives and rallies a rebellion against him.
In both cases, the second faction is based in Leningrad, which makes sense I suppose.
And here's a fairly Turtledove-esque silly one in a CSA victory timeline that simply states "Stalin breaks away from Lenin, viewing his use of Communism as too soft and useless" before the Tsarists are even completely defeated. For some reason, Stalin is also based in Moscow. Later Lenin dies and Trotsky succeeds him. Go figure.
So how plausible is any of this.