US Culture with No De-Stalinization or Sino-Soviet Split?

Not sure if it would be "healthy" to try to sideline Stalin...

The man was in awful health by 1953, pushing him to nearly a decade more of life might work but he's just not going to have the mental faculties to do what he once did.

It should be noted that the post-WWII Soviet Union was a very different place than the absolute power and one-man rule that Stalin had consolidated in the 1930's. During the war, Stalin for obvious reasons could not engage in the periodic cycles of purges that he did to clear out old-guard officials and elevate people loyal to him. Stalin did this kind of thing in a cyclical way: he initiated a purge to get rid of people who were either too comfortably entrenched in power or actively opposed to him and then usually culminated it by disposing of the head of the secret police and thus decapitating the most crucial figure to the operation of the Stalinist state (who could very easily build his own power if left unchecked), Stalin likely had plans like this in place for Beria (who was deeply unpopular and had literally no power base without Stalin and was historically ousted and executed shortly after Stalin's death).

Stalin because of the war, however, could not purge the party or the military (he did quietly reassign Georgy Zhukov who he thought was a threat to his power) and this was almost assuredly the ultimate purpose of the Doctor's Plot: to reveal yet another conspiracy-in-the-making against the Soviet government and purge anyone who opposed him as well as clear out old-guard officials like Molotov to make way for a new generation of Soviet leaders.

While he will likely be able to carry out the Doctor's Plot and purge the party in his early years, his mental decline was becoming fairly pronounced by that point and I don't think he would have lasted until the 60's. If he lived on to the 60's, sooner or later, the task of actually ruling the Soviet Union is going to default to Stalin's inner circle, probably much like OTL: figures from the inner circle such as Malenkov, Molotov, and Beria will serve as a collective leadership to keep the nation stable and also to prevent any one man from doing what Stalin once did and building an autocracy centered solely around himself. Stalin really won't have a say in this: he'll be fighting to maintain mental cohesion and prevent urinary incontinence, he won't be able to rule the country.

Needless to say, again like OTL, Beria is likely going to get ousted and purged himself. Even if Stalin is still alive, Beria is too dangerous to be kept around and he was deeply resented for his role in the Stalinist terror apparatus.
 
The man was in awful health by 1953, pushing him to nearly a decade more of life might work but he's just not going to have the mental faculties to do what he once did.

It should be noted that the post-WWII Soviet Union was a very different place than the absolute power and one-man rule that Stalin had consolidated in the 1930's. During the war, Stalin for obvious reasons could not engage in the periodic cycles of purges that he did to clear out old-guard officials and elevate people loyal to him. Stalin did this kind of thing in a cyclical way: he initiated a purge to get rid of people who were either too comfortably entrenched in power or actively opposed to him and then usually culminated it by disposing of the head of the secret police and thus decapitating the most crucial figure to the operation of the Stalinist state (who could very easily build his own power if left unchecked), Stalin likely had plans like this in place for Beria (who was deeply unpopular and had literally no power base without Stalin and was historically ousted and executed shortly after Stalin's death).

Stalin because of the war, however, could not purge the party or the military (he did quietly reassign Georgy Zhukov who he thought was a threat to his power) and this was almost assuredly the ultimate purpose of the Doctor's Plot: to reveal yet another conspiracy-in-the-making against the Soviet government and purge anyone who opposed him as well as clear out old-guard officials like Molotov to make way for a new generation of Soviet leaders.

While he will likely be able to carry out the Doctor's Plot and purge the party in his early years, his mental decline was becoming fairly pronounced by that point and I don't think he would have lasted until the 60's. If he lived on to the 60's, sooner or later, the task of actually ruling the Soviet Union is going to default to Stalin's inner circle, probably much like OTL: figures from the inner circle such as Malenkov, Molotov, and Beria will serve as a collective leadership to keep the nation stable and also to prevent any one man from doing what Stalin once did and building an autocracy centered solely around himself. Stalin really won't have a say in this: he'll be fighting to maintain mental cohesion and prevent urinary incontinence, he won't be able to rule the country.

Needless to say, again like OTL, Beria is likely going to get ousted and purged himself. Even if Stalin is still alive, Beria is too dangerous to be kept around and he was deeply resented for his role in the Stalinist terror apparatus.

I didn't really make this to talk about Stalin himself living, just the idea of Stalinism. Stalin could have even died earlier in this timeline and it wouldn't matter as long as the governing system and policies he propagated survived.
 
I didn't really make this to talk about Stalin himself living, just the idea of Stalinism. Stalin could have even died earlier in this timeline and it wouldn't matter as long as the governing system and policies he propagated survived.

Then Molotov (who remained an unrepentant Stalinist even after his wife was imprisoned for her support of Zionism) is probably your best bet.
 
I love how this thread is titled " US Culture with No De-Stalinization or Sino-Soviet Split?" and yet we've totally moved away from any mention of America.
 
I love how this thread is titled " US Culture with No De-Stalinization or Sino-Soviet Split?" and yet we've totally moved away from any mention of America.

Tell me about it. I try and bring up something kinda new that hasn't been done to death but people ignore it so they can go on about the same topics they've been arguing about for years. I see that a lot here where people kinda just argue about the same things constantly with no resolution or answers. Sealion is the most infamous but it is by no means the only one.

I did get a few on-topic responses so thanks to all the members who actually tried to answer the question. At least this isn't ASB where all topics devolve into a discussion of escapist fiction mixed with horrible unfunny attempts at humor.


Since so few people tried to answer the question I'll give my opinion on it. I think Communist parties would be much more popular at least until the 80's-90's. Communist parties would be much better organized without the ideological disputes that tore them apart OTL. Lack of a Sino-Soviet split with give an image to the West of the Communist states as being a monolithic, united bloc. I think anti-Communist feelings would be stronger due to the negative feelings many westerners have with totalitarian nations as well as the perceived strength of the Soviet Union and PRC. Racist depictions of Chinese and other Asians many also be more common in media. I also think the leaders of the USSR and PRC would be portrayed much more harshly, similar to how the leaders of North Korea are seen in modern media.
 
the post-Vietnam world would be... interesting. In OTL, sure, we lost, but we also had the historic approach to China and the Sino-Soviet split, which kept both of them from really doing anything about our historic low point. In this TL, we not only lose the war, we still have to deal with a Stalinist USSR that is still allied with China. I'm guessing anti-communist paranoia in the USA will be cranked up to 11...
 
A revival of the concept of discrimination based on facial appearance?:p

Not exactly though that may be part of it.
It would be more like anyone with leftist leanings would be sent to “reeducation” camps while people of Chinese or Korean ancestry would be “relocated” to ghettos “for their own protection”.
 
Not exactly though that may be part of it.
It would be more like anyone with leftist leanings would be sent to “reeducation” camps while people of Chinese or Korean ancestry would be “relocated” to ghettos “for their own protection”.

In that case you might wanna insert an "s".:eek:
 
No de-Stalinization is not the same as a longer-living Stalin. Just let Beria come out as winner of the power struggle. I don´t think Brezhnev could be labelled a Stalinist. At this point there had developed more of an oligarchy. The leadership was anxious to avoid the purges under Stalin, as they could easily become the next victims themselves.
Beria is not a Stalinist. From what I gathered, he's like a creepy Deng. He'll loosen up the central planning, rebuild relations with the West, but he'll keep a tight leash on the USSR.

Continuing Stalinism seems improbable. After Stalin, nobody wants another Stalin
 
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