I've had this idea kicking around for a week or two and I just wanted to hear peoples' thoughts.
Lenin dies early and the Bolsheviks are thrown into chaos. The one who takes Lenin's place turns out to be Alexei Rykov, who won out by getting support from other parties and groups who were less than keen to see another extremist leader of the Bolsheviks. Rykov pushes for his party to back the elections as Lenin had planned. After the 1917 elections, they form a coalition with the SRs and Russia settles into a semi-democratic system where the only people allowed in the elected government are leftists, but moderate voices prevail.
The Bolsheviks, while sharing power with the SRs, are more or less in complete control of the government. Brest-Litovsk happens like OTL, but there's a bit less chaos due to softer rhetoric. I'm thinking maybe they do a little better in the Polish-Soviet war. Maybe less starvation? Maybe better relations with the US from selling themselves as democrats.
Rykov and his Bolshevik-SR coalition later merge into the Leninist Revolutionary Party (using Lenin as an icon to rally the people), which pushes forward the new Constitution of the Soviet Union in 1936. The Bolsheviks' original extreme vision of communism is toned down, causing many hardliners to leave the party.
Alexei Rykov, leader of the Leninists and one of the authors of the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union.
Ultimately, the Soviet Union is much the same. The democracy is there, but is only closely monitored in the cities and only approved (mostly leftist) parties are allowed to function. There is less repression (though this negatively impacts centralization), and less forcing of Soviet symbols. One major difference is that Rykov and the foreign ministry push for the English translation of "Soviet" in government documents to be "Democratic", thus making the state the "Union of Democratic Socialist Republics" or "UDSR". Most DSR flags opt to use national symbols and colors while subtly incorporating the hammer and sickle (and sometimes a star) like the Russian flag.
Flag of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic
The modified imperial eagle, featuring no crowns and holding the hammer and sickle.
Lenin dies early and the Bolsheviks are thrown into chaos. The one who takes Lenin's place turns out to be Alexei Rykov, who won out by getting support from other parties and groups who were less than keen to see another extremist leader of the Bolsheviks. Rykov pushes for his party to back the elections as Lenin had planned. After the 1917 elections, they form a coalition with the SRs and Russia settles into a semi-democratic system where the only people allowed in the elected government are leftists, but moderate voices prevail.
The Bolsheviks, while sharing power with the SRs, are more or less in complete control of the government. Brest-Litovsk happens like OTL, but there's a bit less chaos due to softer rhetoric. I'm thinking maybe they do a little better in the Polish-Soviet war. Maybe less starvation? Maybe better relations with the US from selling themselves as democrats.
Rykov and his Bolshevik-SR coalition later merge into the Leninist Revolutionary Party (using Lenin as an icon to rally the people), which pushes forward the new Constitution of the Soviet Union in 1936. The Bolsheviks' original extreme vision of communism is toned down, causing many hardliners to leave the party.
Alexei Rykov, leader of the Leninists and one of the authors of the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union.
Ultimately, the Soviet Union is much the same. The democracy is there, but is only closely monitored in the cities and only approved (mostly leftist) parties are allowed to function. There is less repression (though this negatively impacts centralization), and less forcing of Soviet symbols. One major difference is that Rykov and the foreign ministry push for the English translation of "Soviet" in government documents to be "Democratic", thus making the state the "Union of Democratic Socialist Republics" or "UDSR". Most DSR flags opt to use national symbols and colors while subtly incorporating the hammer and sickle (and sometimes a star) like the Russian flag.
Flag of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic
The modified imperial eagle, featuring no crowns and holding the hammer and sickle.