What if Beria succeeded Stalin?

I am thinking about writing a TL where Kruschev is killed at Stalingrad and Beria get's into power, how would this impact the economic, societal, and military structure of the Soviet Union? How would this impact there relationship with the United States and the European powers? Better yet how would it impact history as a whole?
 
Not possible. No one wants or likes Beria. He's dead in nearly any post Stalin situation.
Not necessarily, no East German uprising, Malkenov and Beria are never discredited, and Kruschev grumbles in a corner as he consolidates his power.
 
Well all right then :p Essentially, the way I see things is Beria was heavily invested and depended on Uncle Joe himself. AFAIK most the Politburo detested Beria personally so once Stalin kicks it things look grim for Beria, as OTL proved :eek:

Now, in terms of how he actually might become the leader, to be honest I'm pretty fuzzy as to have that actually occur. Now, per your OP, killing Khrushchev, mmm I don't think that will do it, as like I said it still won't stop someone else filling the void and simply dispensing Beria since aside the The Boss his power base was quite limited, and push come to shove Zhukov wouldn't support Beria neither would IMO the Politburo.

Also going back to Khrushchev, AFAIK it was actually a couple of years after Stalin's death that he came to the forefront of leadership, so, that is something to think about I guess. One thing is really interesting though; From what I've read Beria actually was as pro-west as a Soviet could get away with, so let have some fun *handwave* Zhukov, Kruschev, Molotov et all suffer Collective Heart Attacks (no Pun intended...okay maybe a little) Beria pick up the pieces, maybe institues a more peaceful co-existance policy? All pure speculation on my part mind. Cheers :)
 
Well all right then :p Essentially, the way I see things is Beria was heavily invested and depended on Uncle Joe himself. AFAIK most the Politburo detested Beria personally so once Stalin kicks it things look grim for Beria, as OTL proved :eek:

Now, in terms of how he actually might become the leader, to be honest I'm pretty fuzzy as to have that actually occur. Now, per your OP, killing Khrushchev, mmm I don't think that will do it, as like I said it still won't stop someone else filling the void and simply dispensing Beria since aside the The Boss his power base was quite limited, and push come to shove Zhukov wouldn't support Beria neither would IMO the Politburo.

Also going back to Khrushchev, AFAIK it was actually a couple of years after Stalin's death that he came to the forefront of leadership, so, that is something to think about I guess. One thing is really interesting though; From what I've read Beria actually was as pro-west as a Soviet could get away with, so let have some fun *handwave* Zhukov, Kruschev, Molotov et all suffer Collective Heart Attacks (no Pun intended...okay maybe a little) Beria pick up the pieces, maybe institues a more peaceful co-existance policy? All pure speculation on my part mind. Cheers :)
Yeah Kruschev's death might not be enough, but if you look at the history of the Politburo him and Malkenov were already in power after Stalin's death, it's only the German riots that exposed their weakness and allowed Kruschev and co. to pounce. My POD would be for some reason the German Riots not happening, or them being responded to better.
 
Not necessarily, no East German uprising, Malkenov and Beria are never discredited, and Kruschev grumbles in a corner as he consolidates his power.

No. Not only is Beria hated because of his control of the secret police, his ecoonmic policies are despised by everyone. The military and political establishment both know that his taking control means a radical shift away from communist principles and major purges.
 
No. Not only is Beria hated because of his control of the secret police, his ecoonmic policies are despised by everyone. The military and political establishment both know that his taking control means a radical shift away from communist principles and major purges.
Then how was he so powerful for years after Stalin's death? He may not have been well liked but he heald all the cards in 53'
 
Well I think it was just the matter of the Sheer Terror wrought by the NKVD so they didn't realize until a while after The Boss kicked it how much of a Paper Tiger they were dealing with. As mentioned by myself and others, The Army hated Beria (probably for the Commisars in the Red Army--again, personal speculation :eek: ) The Politburo hated Beria. He had no solid Power Base aside from Personal Loyalty from The Boss himself.
 
Well I think it was just the matter of the Sheer Terror wrought by the NKVD so they didn't realize until a while after The Boss kicked it how much of a Paper Tiger they were dealing with. As mentioned by myself and others, The Army hated Beria (probably for the Commisars in the Red Army--again, personal speculation :eek: ) The Politburo hated Beria. He had no solid Power Base aside from Personal Loyalty from The Boss himself.
And, once again, the friendship of Malkenov, an EXTREMELY powerful Soviet Leader.
 
Siding with Beria would cause him to lose any influence he might have had.
It did OTL, but like I said that was only because certain events arose, that I am not going to mention a THIRD time, that exposed the weakness in their leadership. Given time for the two to conslidate power and Beria is next inline for the Soviet Throne.
 
Then how was he so powerful for years after Stalin's death? He may not have been well liked but he heald all the cards in 53'

He died the same year that Stalin did: 1953. He was only in the spotlight for three months before being executed.

Anyways, we have this thread at least once a month. He was a part of the Stalinist order; if he survives, he's going to perpetuate that system (or at least a pseudo-stalinist system). Economically, he was open to reforms so long as it didn't jeopardize his position. This is a wildcard for him if he can't pull Malenkov and Molotov away from the heavy industry tendencies. Frankly, Beria didn't have much care for such things; I'd expect him to allow a focus on a resource based economy.

Domestically, take the Brezhnev years. I've always posited that Beria was never truly a communist, so I feel he wouldn't care so much for the internal affairs of Soviet citizens. Foreign policy, it's a misconception that Beria was willing to deal with the West. It's suicide for him. Literally any out of character move for Beria that ruffles the military or Party the wrong way, will get him killed. He isn't going to let Eastern Europe go, but he can and would most likely bring about a halt in internationalism (a stark departure from OTL's Khrushchev era). If the cards aren't already set, he could be a pro-Israel leader, and would most likely accelerate a Sino-Soviet split.
 
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