Stalin commits suicide June 23,1941

I think if the transfer of power happens quickly it will help the Red Army. After all the leadership is less likely to interfere with the military than Stalin.
 
I think if the transfer of power happens quickly it will help the Red Army. After all the leadership is less likely to interfere with the military than Stalin.

They all interfered with the military. The red army troops did poorly in Finland partly because they had been given lots of political indoctrination but less actual combat instruction.
 
They all interfered with the military. The red army troops did poorly in Finland partly because they had been given lots of political indoctrination but less actual combat instruction.

I realize that but it would be a matter of degree. Whoever took over would have had less of a hold on the army than Stalin did.
 
Very interesting thread, I too wondered what would happen if Stalin had been arrested after disappearing for six days. Molotov does sound like a good replacement, Zhukov would have been needed at the front trying to stop the Germans.

Just what was Beria doing while Stalin disappeared? And just how easy would it have been to get rid of him at this time? Did the NKVD have any plans to get rid of him or was he just too politically powerful? If you get rid of Stalin Beria has to go as well, and what butterflies does that produce?
 
It should be noted that Zhukov, while showing promise, was just a capable officer. Volshirov would be the Defense Minister.

I agree that Molotov would get the nod, and he'd probably run the Soviet Union better than Stalin did to win the war. That said, in the postwar period I think there is no choice but to either purge the NKVD or face Beria having so much power that he can become General Secretary.

As for the war itself, I think Molotov has little choice but to follow Stalin's leads--gulag labor, penal brigades and NKVD political control of the armed forces are in the cards. I'm not sure where M stands on those issues (He might want to toss Kaganovich for his involvement in the gulags) but WW2 is still going to be a very brutal affair for the Soviet Union, even if the Soviets don't get unnecessarily nasty.
 

burmafrd

Banned
At that time you could not get from one side of the European USSR to the other without going through Moscow both RR and highway. Its value as a rail and road hub would be hard to exagerate.
 
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