This is pretty much a test thread to see what you think about this idea, and how plausibly I set up the scenario, and what I could do differently.
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By Early 1936, Josef Stalin was in a position of incredible status. He had whipped the USSR into a major industrial power with the most powerful army on the planet, though at an appalling cost of human life. His political opponents had been made to either submit before him, or be reduced into obscurity. It seemed that only the Red Army was in a position to challenge him, although he wanted to change that as well. As it happened, on one particular February day Stalin was walking down some stairs, when he slipped. The fall did not go well, his neck having been broken. The man of steel was dead. This left a considerable power vacuum. His shoes would very though to fill. If time could take its course for the Politburo to get its act together, it could very well be that a triumvirate of Molotov, Kaganovich and Voroshilov would assume power. However, the turn of events overtook any such speculations. Tukhachevsky did not like Stalin's clique, and would not be about to pass up on this window of opportunity, and launched a coup.
The coup succeeding pretty smoothly, the task of rebuilding a political establishment was underway. Many associated with Stalinism, especially thew high-ranking ones, where pushed into obscurity, some even exiled to Sibiria. People like Nikolai Bukharin, who had supported the coup, got position of power in the new government. The technocratic movement was able to advance their positions as well. Leon Trotsky returned from exile, but there would be quite some effort for him to regain influence.
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By Early 1936, Josef Stalin was in a position of incredible status. He had whipped the USSR into a major industrial power with the most powerful army on the planet, though at an appalling cost of human life. His political opponents had been made to either submit before him, or be reduced into obscurity. It seemed that only the Red Army was in a position to challenge him, although he wanted to change that as well. As it happened, on one particular February day Stalin was walking down some stairs, when he slipped. The fall did not go well, his neck having been broken. The man of steel was dead. This left a considerable power vacuum. His shoes would very though to fill. If time could take its course for the Politburo to get its act together, it could very well be that a triumvirate of Molotov, Kaganovich and Voroshilov would assume power. However, the turn of events overtook any such speculations. Tukhachevsky did not like Stalin's clique, and would not be about to pass up on this window of opportunity, and launched a coup.
The coup succeeding pretty smoothly, the task of rebuilding a political establishment was underway. Many associated with Stalinism, especially thew high-ranking ones, where pushed into obscurity, some even exiled to Sibiria. People like Nikolai Bukharin, who had supported the coup, got position of power in the new government. The technocratic movement was able to advance their positions as well. Leon Trotsky returned from exile, but there would be quite some effort for him to regain influence.