Susie McCallister
Banned
How would the Soviet Union fair in a war with Nazi Germany in 1939 if Stalin never took power and none of his policies implemented? That means no forced collectivization and subsequent mass famine, no great purge, no Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, but also no rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union either. It doesn't necessarily matter who takes power, just that it isn't Stalin or someone like him who would implement his policies. And I'm aware that no Stalin quite possibly butterfly away Hitler, the Nazis and the war altogether, but I'm more interested in the military aspects of a German-Soviet war in 1939 over Poland so for conveniency let's just have international affairs go along as OTL until the summer of 1939 with the Soviet Union guaranteeing Polish independence in conjunction with the Western Allies. Finally the POD is after Lenin's death so any of Stalin's actions before then remain the same.