"Comrades, isn't nuking cities of a traditionally neutral country fascist?"
-Georgi Malenkov attempting to persuade party cadres and Soviet Army generals to support his plot
The North Star is Red: a Wallace Presidency, KMT Victory, Alternate Cold War TL
- Thread starter TastySpam
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-Georgi Malenkov attempting to persuade party cadres and Soviet Army generals to support his plot
Definitely one of the upcoming posts. Alongsides India, Japan, France/UK, the US, Argentina/Brazil, and a surprise mystery character announced Super Smash style.
There's definitely an expanding universe mind meme you can make about this. Also probably some Vaclav Havel essay about ideological contortions in Communist systems.
India is definitely the most major power to stay essentially neutral in the war...and that comes with interesting consequences.
Yugoslavia holds on for now, but if communism in general falls, then Yugoslavia will fall, too. There are many people who hate the existence of such a state that would stoke up ethnic supremacy ideas. My bet is that North Japan becomes the best run Communist state.
I'm actually a bit surprised that Beria survived the plot. Plus as a Georgian, I'd think he'd also be at least a bit of an outsider anyway. I get the impression that many Soviet citizens are genuinely shocked by his deeds in Sweden. He may have gotten the better of Malinkov but something tells me that Beria is still not quite as secure as he seems. He is so evil, not just for the people he has ordered killed but in his personal, direct deeds as well, that there will always be people close to him hoping for his demise, no matter how many he purges. Those skeletons in his garden Tastyspam mentioned were not a figure of speech.
It's interesting to see how Sweden and Israel have been brought closer together by tragedy and mutual interests. Now they're building nuclear weapons and may wind up cooperating with China too. Wouldn't it be wild to see something like the Swedish intelligence team up with the Mossad to eliminate Beria?
It's interesting to see how Sweden and Israel have been brought closer together by tragedy and mutual interests. Now they're building nuclear weapons and may wind up cooperating with China too. Wouldn't it be wild to see something like the Swedish intelligence team up with the Mossad to eliminate Beria?
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I was genuinely surprised that the USSR didn’t allow Jews to be sent to Israel. I was expecting that the USSR and Israel would be even closer than OTL.
Well the Soviet leaders from Stalin to Gorbachev were essentially fringe Russians so is not the Union administration would be shocked to not be governed by a pure Russian.
Yeah, that's kind of minor I guess, but I thought it might be a cherry on top of a very awful sundae. The real strikes against him are more the years of terror, likely suspicions of killing Stalin and general backstabbing tendencies, the things he did with young women and of course, the thermonuclear strike.
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BigBlueBox
Banned
The Soviet value system and government structure is completely different than the American one. When McCarthy launched his nuke he had already pissed of the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff by that point, then pissed them off even further by going over their heads, tarnishing America’s international image, inflicting friendly fire and civilian casualties, and potentially putting America itself at risk of Soviet nuclear retaliation. When Beria nuked Stockholm he had already earned the respect of the Red Army by bringing the war to an end, and more importantly nuking a city makes him look like a strong leader who defends the motherland in the CPSU’s eyes, not a monster.
Give it time, and Beria will eventually piss off the rest of the CPSU...
TheLoneAmigo
Donor
I dunno... those economic reforms sound extremely promising in terms of delivering Soviet prosperity.
Amazing TL !
Beria and McCarthy being in charge of the two superpowers could only have ended badly. I love the small ironic details like Kennedy's mushroom poster in his office saying never again while USA has launched the first nuclear strike (And the second. And the third.)
I'm guessing now both countries' international reputation is severely tarnished after this nuke frenzy.
The way Kennedy tossed Sweden to Soviet's wrath will definitely make them look as an untrustworthy leader of alliance.
I'd expect a closer European cooperation away from USA/USSR, but the situation in West Germany and the actions of Italy might be a problem with this. Perhaps a more "sane" block (albeit anticolonialist) could emerge with the leadership of UK/France and possibly South China, with which would associate Israel and what is left of Sweden. Perhaps Yougoslavia too ? I'm not sure to understand their situation, are they under occupation ? How can they be allowed to deal with the west after their defeat ?
Also I don't think the common swede will be delighted to see his country joining the alliance of the country who allowed them to be nuked.
Beria and McCarthy being in charge of the two superpowers could only have ended badly. I love the small ironic details like Kennedy's mushroom poster in his office saying never again while USA has launched the first nuclear strike (And the second. And the third.)
I'm guessing now both countries' international reputation is severely tarnished after this nuke frenzy.
The way Kennedy tossed Sweden to Soviet's wrath will definitely make them look as an untrustworthy leader of alliance.
I'd expect a closer European cooperation away from USA/USSR, but the situation in West Germany and the actions of Italy might be a problem with this. Perhaps a more "sane" block (albeit anticolonialist) could emerge with the leadership of UK/France and possibly South China, with which would associate Israel and what is left of Sweden. Perhaps Yougoslavia too ? I'm not sure to understand their situation, are they under occupation ? How can they be allowed to deal with the west after their defeat ?
Also I don't think the common swede will be delighted to see his country joining the alliance of the country who allowed them to be nuked.
BigBlueBox
Banned
Yugoslavia is an independent rump state because Beria decided keeping Finland, Korea, and North China were more important than Yugoslavia. The future for Western Europe doesn’t look bright. France, Britain, and the Netherlands insist on fighting bloody wars to defend their colonies. Wars that are only going to intensify now that the Soviets can spare more supplies. The Dutch are propping up Islamic states in Indonesia. With the Saudis and Soviets cooperating, we could see a jihad against the West, and the Dutch might regret who they chose to support.
De Gaulle must be praising every deity possible french domination of european politics has practically been dropped in his lap
Tbqf, I'm not sure if he was an actual sexual predator. Could be true, but could also just be something the USSR made up to make him look even worse when they were about to shoot him. History wise, I think it's an open question.
Story wise, it's probably better to not make him into a mass-rapist just because he's plenty bad already.
Should have a post on that. To make things short, honestly hasn't happened yet. The Soviets began work on Sputnik in 1955, when the US declared their intention to go to space. ITL 1955 USA is uh, a lot more preoccupied.
Yeah, that's 100% right about Yugoslavia. At the end of the war, the Yugoslavs still held Montenegeo, Macedonia, Slovenia, and most of coastal Croatia. So they weren't totally defeated, though they got banged up really bad. Getting Yugoslavia also became a lot less important after the Soviets gained a foothold in the Mediterranean from East Turkey to Syria.
Also, it's less the Dutch and more the USA (and by the US, we mean Kennedy) with the Dutch going along very reluctantly.
Chapter 87 - The Fallout: Part 2 - China, Japan, and Korea
The Fallout: Part 2 - China, Japan, and Korea
The country least eager to end the war was clearly Republican China. With a path opened up North, Chiang Kai-Shek saw his opportunity to break out of the Mukden pocket, a chance he took right before the declaration of a cease-fire by both the USSR, USA, and Li Zongren administration in Nanjing. Chiang Kai-Shek nearly flipped the switch himself, almost deciding to just completely disregard the Melbourne Accords and continue the war against the PRC. However, seeing absolutely no support from basically any other nation, Chiang Kai-Shek begrudgingly ordered the troops to retreat down to the South. Unsurprisingly, Chiang was furious. He felt that he had the war finished up before the betrayal of Li, who Chiang had always detested. He felt like he had wasted decades of his life. After all, Sino-Japanese relations were poisoned precisely by the Japanese invasion and creation of puppet Manchukuo. Now, twenty-five years later, he felt he was still fighting over the same damn provinces.
At home, he more or less took his revenge against forces aligned with Li Zongren. Li, knowing that his gambit of seizing power in China had failed and that he had aroused the ire of Chiang, fled the Presidential Palace in Nanjing with Chiang-aligned assassins quick on his trail, fleeing to Hong Kong. Most notably, many Li-aligned KMT politicians such as Bai Chongxi also fled. Li had hoped that several of the local strongmen (former warlords) would side with him against Chiang, but almost none did. Even the "bourgeoisie" clique in the Foreign Ministry, who famously negotiated the Melbourne Accords, abandoned Li, claiming to Chiang that they simply had to negotiate the best peace agreement they could when they were ordered to do so by the acting President. An angry Chiang spared them any kind of purge, but they were certainly not favored by him, even though they had won one major concession: Beria had agreed at Melbourne that in exchange for a South Chinese withdrawal from North China, the USSR would accede to a South Chinese nuclear program and prevent any North Chinese nuclear program.
Returning to Nanjing, Chiang Kai-Shek was given a suitably large parade, though the actual war remained controversial in South China. Overall, most major politicians agreed that Chiang had done a reasonably good enough job given a "bad hand that was dealt" to him. Then again, most members of the KMT were part of the same power structure, and denouncing Chiang would be akin to denouncing themselves.
The flight of Li's Guangxi clique led to a power vacuum in Guangdong Province (which had annexed Guangxi in Chiang's bid to limit the influence of Li Zongren loyalists). The province quickly hosted a surprisingly robust intra-party election, which was notably won by Zheng Yanfen, a relatively young KMT politician, beating off forces loyal to Sun Fo, the son of Sun Yatsen. However, the race was ended relatively amicably with Sun supporters gaining top positions as well. The Guangdong KMT elections would be cited as Chiang Kai-Shek as an example of intra-party democracy, especially against liberals who agitated against martial law, which had been introduced during the war. Although weakened after the Melbourne Accords, several provisions were still in effect, such as curfews and raids against "seditious Communism." This contrasted with several other provinces, where former warlords, often dying off of old age, were often simply replaced by their sons. Intra-party KMT elections were seriously competitive in places like Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Taiwan, but they were extremely noncompetitive in other places.
For example, Governor Ma Hongkui of Gansu (now 63 years old) was clearly grooming his son Ma Dunjing to support him. In a rather amusing twist, Ma Hongbin, his cousin, had defected to the Communists during the Civil War, although the two cousins still corresponded periodically by mail, even though Hongkui had a policy of killing all Communists in his province. Liu Wenhui of Sichuan, Yan Xishan of Shanxi, Chen Lifu of Zhejiang, Cheng Qian of Hunan, and many others were notably prepping their sons as well. Ironically, intra-party KMT democracy would be strongest both in both pro-Chiang strongholds and former Communist strongholds.
Chiang, wounded but still politically on top, would find a surprisingly close partner in President Kennedy of the United States. Chiang loathed McCarthy for the atomic bombing of Mukden, so he was pleasantly surprised that Kennedy, who had once dismissed as a stupid playboy, had actually proved more cunning than his public persona implied. The two reached more or less a total agreement on foreign policy - the two nations would work together to ensure the success of anti-Communist governments in Asia, with no preference for or against "colonial" governments as long as they protected Sino-American economic interests. For example, both had signed onto the Chinese agreement with Tunku's United Malays National Organization in Malaya, as well as the American ploy to forge a "third front" in the Indonesia war of moderate nationalists, moderate Islamists, ethnic minorities, and indigenous pro-Dutch forces. Both would deploy forces to Laos, where the Pathet Lao and Viet Minh (in exile) were fighting with Burmese support. Both supported the coup of Sarit Thanarat in Thailand, as well cooperating in working against Norodon Sihanouk of Cambodia, who was seen as politically too unreliable in regards to dealings with the Communist Burmese government.
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Perhaps the biggest political victim of the atomic bombing of Mukden was the South Japanese ruling party. The Spring of Rage returned with a vengeance, with protesters swarming Tokyo in numbers far beyond those in 1955. As much as they targeted the ruling government, they were also primarily protesting against any American presence. American-governed Okinawa saw its largest protests, with an estimated 35% of the island turning out to call for an American withdrawal. Prime Minister Kishi, who saw a continued alliance with the United States as the only plausible defense against the Soviet-controlled North Japan. It was also known by the public that Kishi volunteered to send troops to both Korea and China, which had been actually turned down by the governments in question (South Korea and South China) because they weren't numerous enough to make up for a possible public relations hit. However, South Japan had been closely involved in the logistical support of American and Chinese troops, helping ship both troops to the Dalian front. This was also very unpopular. With Kishi's approval ratings in the low teens and an election coming up, the ruling party officially panicked. The cabinet informed Kishi that he no longer had the party's confidence, especially if he was to crack down on these protests with bloodshed, to which he responded to by trying to expel his detractors on the left. This failed, as the party centrists rallied behind the left to expel Kishi instead, who took his supporters and joined Yoshida's Liberal Party, causing the government to collapse immediately. Tanzan Ishibashi was supposed to take charge of the party, but he was too ill, and had to resign during the campaign. A young member of the party, Takeo Miki, took control of the party, The Japanese elections, fought between the Liberals, (Social) Nationalists, and Socialists proved an absolute mess for the ruling party, although Miki, rather popular with the public, did much better than expected.
Most horrifyingly to Miki, the far-left Socialists had actually managed to win the popular vote, taking 42% to the Nationalist's 40% (and the Liberal's 17%), due to piling up huge margins in places like Tokyo itself. However, this meant that the Nationalists took a plurality of the seats and were thus able to govern as a minority government. In exchange for the Socialists promising to not topple the government (as Kishi had already decided to vote against the government no matter what) and do their best to defuse the protests convulsing the capital, Miki announced that a proposed Japan-US defense treaty (the famous Anpo) was to be scrapped, with American forces to vacate Japan by the end of the year. Of course, Miki had secretly communicated with the Americans and Chinese about this and Kennedy actually accepted, with the condition that troops from South China (their ally in the Busan Pact) largely replace the American troops. Miki thought this was a perfectly good idea, as South China was much more popular in South Japan than America was. That being said, the feeling wasn't always returned. Several individual Chinese troops were not a fan of their new assignment, but KMT disciplinarians had a tendency of cracking down harshly on any abusively anti-Japanese troops.
The Communists in North Japan celebrated this as a huge victory. With no American presence, the Communists believed that Japan was only one Socialist victory away from inevitable unification on Communist terms. In addition, both Japanese economies notably boomed during the Three Years War, as both Japanese economies became primary sources of supply and munitions for both the North and South Chinese armies. Whereas in South Japan, this created political instability as a new urban class loathed Prime Minister Kishi and the United States, in the North, this proved to make the regime wildly popular. Although North Japan was poorer than South Japan, it was notably much richer than the region had been under Imperial Japan, actually even growing economically faster than South Japan (though this was largely due to the "catch-up effect," not superior economic policy). During the Imperial period, North Japan was one of the poorest regions in East Asia, with impoverished North Japanese peasants moving to Northeast China in search of a better life. Under Communism, living standards were both up and relations with the former colony (Northeast China) were shockingly good, a huge reversal of the former relationships. Finally, the atomic bombing of Mukden provided immense propaganda value for the North Japanese regime, as anti-nuclear sentiment was widespread in both Japans, and their closest ally being nuked by the Americans (as they once were) only drew the two nations closer together. At least during the 1950's, the relative openness of the North Japanese regime caused many South Japanese leftist intellectuals to cross the border, something that increasingly annoyed the South Japanese government. Political participation and press freedoms were still extremely limited, but as of 1957, North Japan was probably the most politically lenient of the Communist states.
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The other nation to contest that title was the People's Republic of Korea. Controlling Mainland Korea (Rhee's forces were closely guarded by American troops in Jeju), the PRK was only allowed to remain unmolested by the Melbourne Accords in exchange for the adoption of several reforms demanded by the Americans. President McCarthy had intended on invading the Korean mainland, but the foreign service fought against this, viewing it as a trap set by Mao. By creating an ostensibly neutral nation, Korea was also partly a ploy to encourage Soviet intervention in Asia. The Soviets informed the US that an attack on Korea would be viewed as an attack on Soviet interests in Asia, and American allies such as the UK, France, New Zealand, and the Philippines opposed an attack. Similarly, even South China was lukewarm, having declared war on North China due to Korea being a pretense, not because they particularly insisted on protecting the status quo in Korea. As a result, the PRK slipped under the international radar, somehow against all odds, avoiding being outright invaded in the Three Years War. Similarly, its political status became harshly monitored after the war, being a center of Cold War intrigue. The Constitution of the People's Republic of Korea quickly weakened the powers of President Cho Bong-am, placing most powers in the hands of the Prime Minister, Kim Tu-bong, who was the civilian politician most closely aligned with the Army, as led by the Chinese-born Oh Giseop, and Vice Prime Minister Park Hon-yong, the General Secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea. Ironically, President Cho Bong-am, the only non-Communist in the government, pretty much survived every intrigue plot against him because the two Communist factions were constantly at odds. The Kim-Oh faction was generally in the middle of the political spectrum between Kim and Park, and ironically the hardline Communists often supported Cho because they felt his fall would empower the moderate Communists.
In theory, the People's Republic of Korea had an elected multi-party parliament, with the Worker's Party of Korea (Park), the People's Party (Kim), and the Progressives (Cho) all separately running under a proportional representation system. However, all three parties ruled together in the "National Popular Front", with the Korean People's Army also guaranteed 25% of the seats in parliament. With a minimum 10% threshold and extreme intimidation/unfair tactics used against any candidate who tried to open an additional party, parties outside of the Popular Front unsurprisingly won no seats. The fourth party added was perhaps the strangest, the Chongu Party. Formed out of the remnants of the Chondoist Chongu Party in North Korea, a Communist front-group for Chondoist religious figures who supported the North Korean government (Cheondoism being the religion founded in the Donghak Peasant Rebellion that famously sparked the first Qing-Japanese War, heavily influenced by both Korean Shamanism and Confucianism). In the new PRK, the new Chongu party was formed by the new government shoveling collaborating Buddhist priests, Korean shamans, and Cheondoist figures into one new party. Quickly, Protestant Christian pastors who sought to collaborate with the new regime were also included. One such preacher, who had been rescued from Kim Il-Sung's labour camps after the North Chinese rolled into North Korea, would be the enterprising Sun Myung Moon, who would eventually become one of the leading figures in the new Chongu party. As a result of this, Protestant Christians who wished to collaborate with the government were tolerated, but Catholics were put in a very difficult position.
Although by no means a full democracy, the PRK still held multi-party elections, setting them apart from the other People's Republics of the world. Although it was illegal to engage in "anti-Communist sedition", the new country didn't have a large enough secret police to severely hunt down dissidents. Although the ruling parties never changed, they still remained somewhat sensitive to public opinion. When the North Chinese government began bringing in immigrants from Communist-friendly countries, the PRK quickly terminated their open borders with the rest of the Union State (of China, North Mongolia, Tuva, Burma, and Korea), which nearly led to their expulsion if not for the furious lobbying of Defense Minister Oh. The PRK was simply too important to expel, because the postwar economic boom quickly made them the wealthiest member of the State Union, heavily subsidizing the other members. "Juche" or "socialism with Korean characteristics", once briefly outlined by the late Kim il-Sung, quickly became the guiding economic principle of the PRK, despite bearing very little resemblance to the original speech. The guiding principle of Juche was to maximize Korean economic output through a "socialist market economy" before dealing with inequality. Relations with the USA/Japan/China remained frosty, but the PRK quickly gained simultaneous trade relations with the United Kingdom, France, North China, North Japan, and the USSR. The PRK became a rare example where the Communist side of a split nation became the wealthier side as the ROK-Jeju, deeply unpopular among the native Jejuese, quickly became a police state under Rhee and his US backers.
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