The world without Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Castro.
- Thread starter lounge60
- Start date
Japan's going to be stronger with less organized Communist insurgencies. The CCP will be much more under the control of Moscow, maybe even making a deal with Chiang for a rump state in Manchuria. The Vietminh will be much weaker, and the leader of the fight against the French could be a non-communist, so we'd sympathize more with them. Cuba will be just be a corrupt island with a lot of civil strife, likely with the Mafia having bases all around. Who knows, Havana might even end up becoming a sort of Carribean Las Vegas?
If we assume Castro was essential in getting rid of Batista. Wouldn´t there be a revolution anyway?
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In any case, a more prosperous China.
Vietnam may go communist anyway, but perhaps the French last a lot longer. Hopefully they´d give them independence in the 70s without a lot of fuss.
Hendryk
Banned
Incidentally, in my "Superpower Empire" TL, Mao dies in 1919 during the Siberian Campaign of 1918-1922 (ironically, killed during a skirmish against Bolshevik forces), and Castro is captured and summarily executed during the retaking of Cuba by pro-US forces in 1962. As for Ho Chi Minh--or, to give him his real name, Nguyen Sinh Cung--he becomes president of Vietnam in 1953 but rules as an authoritarian nationalist rather than a Communist.
Well, if Mao doesn't make China communist then a Korean War is unlikely, and the Red Scare probably won't be as big as it was (no McCarthyism paranoia). So Truman's approval rating is a lot higher and the Democrats are more popular. Don't know if Truman will run again, Stevenson may still get the nod. But Ike seems unlikely for the GOP, maybe Taft or some other conservative...
If Ike even runs. As said before, no war in Korea could affect this, and he might just decide to stay out of politics.
Some Quick Thoughts...
-In regards to China, consider that the Chinese Communist Party would have still been backed by the Soviets, and they would have still been under the leadership of Lin Biao. In OTL, Lin Biao was the leader of the Red Guard movement during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, until his failed coup attempt against Mao in 1970. The frightening part to Lin Biao was the fact that he was even more xenophobic and Stalinist than Mao Tse-tung.
-In regards to Cuba, reemmber the fact that Meyer Lansky and Santo (Louis Santos) Trafficante controlled the country via Miami, Florida. The scary part is that Cuba would have been the site of drug tafficking starting in 1965, with cocaine and marijuana being transported via the Capri and Sans Souci Hotels in Havana. This would certainly attract the attention of DEA and FBI agents in the ATL...
-In regards to Vietnam/Indochina, due to continued Kuomingtang (KMT) violence, you would certainly have the "Golden Triangle" remain as a major exporter of heroin. Lai Chau and Nghe An Provinces would still be the major areas of insurgency by opium growers. To make matters worse, highlander groups, such as the Wa, Pa-0, Palaung, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, and Akha would be targetted for ethnic violence because of the heroin/heroin trade...
-In regards to China, consider that the Chinese Communist Party would have still been backed by the Soviets, and they would have still been under the leadership of Lin Biao. In OTL, Lin Biao was the leader of the Red Guard movement during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, until his failed coup attempt against Mao in 1970. The frightening part to Lin Biao was the fact that he was even more xenophobic and Stalinist than Mao Tse-tung.
-In regards to Cuba, reemmber the fact that Meyer Lansky and Santo (Louis Santos) Trafficante controlled the country via Miami, Florida. The scary part is that Cuba would have been the site of drug tafficking starting in 1965, with cocaine and marijuana being transported via the Capri and Sans Souci Hotels in Havana. This would certainly attract the attention of DEA and FBI agents in the ATL...
-In regards to Vietnam/Indochina, due to continued Kuomingtang (KMT) violence, you would certainly have the "Golden Triangle" remain as a major exporter of heroin. Lai Chau and Nghe An Provinces would still be the major areas of insurgency by opium growers. To make matters worse, highlander groups, such as the Wa, Pa-0, Palaung, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, and Akha would be targetted for ethnic violence because of the heroin/heroin trade...
ninebucks
Banned
If the societal forces behind these figures remain, then the individual absences may not amount to much, and instead they would be replaced by analogues.
China had no shortage of communists in the first half of the 20th Century, if Mao was not there, some other capable leader could take over and bring Communism to China. However, if we consider that even today Mao Zedong Thought plays an important role in China's national character, so the 'thoughts' of his analogue could be very different.
With no Castro, one has to wonder about the fate of Ernesto Guevara, perhaps OTL's most famous revolutionary. Imagine a Cuba where Guevara stays involved in the government, would the power corrupt him, or would he take Cuba down a different socialist path?
The absence of Ho Chi Minh could have potentially allowed a very different anti-French pro-Independence movement to take hold, perhaps a nationalist ideology, or any kind of ideology of any stripe.
China had no shortage of communists in the first half of the 20th Century, if Mao was not there, some other capable leader could take over and bring Communism to China. However, if we consider that even today Mao Zedong Thought plays an important role in China's national character, so the 'thoughts' of his analogue could be very different.
With no Castro, one has to wonder about the fate of Ernesto Guevara, perhaps OTL's most famous revolutionary. Imagine a Cuba where Guevara stays involved in the government, would the power corrupt him, or would he take Cuba down a different socialist path?
The absence of Ho Chi Minh could have potentially allowed a very different anti-French pro-Independence movement to take hold, perhaps a nationalist ideology, or any kind of ideology of any stripe.
Thank you. There's way too much "great men behind history" biases in this discussion so far.
Good question. Castro was not the only factor contributing to the revolution, but he was an important component of it.