WI/AHC: The Palace of the Soviets actually gets built.

I'm pretty sure most people here are familiar with the Palace of the Soviets:

Palace_Of_Soviets_2.JPG


A gargantuan structure that gave birth to an entire style of construction known as Stalinist Architecture, and if it had been built would've been the Soviet Union's new administrative center and congress hall for the entire Soviet government.

Unfortunately for them, it was never completed: the foundations were completed in 1939, and by 1941 the steel frame for the lower levels of the structure were erected... but, of course, guess what happened in 1941? The Nazis invaded. Construction was halted as resources were re-prioritized towards the defense of the Motherland, and the steel frame that was just recently installed was ripped back out to be used in the defense of Moscow; the empty foundation was left derelict and ended up filled with seepage water until 1958 - but by then, Stalin was long dead, and Khrushchev scrapped any further Stalinist Architecture projects. The foundations were cleaned up and recycled as the world's largest open-air public swimming pool until 1995 (four years after the fall of the Soviet Union), when the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (which was the previous occupant of the Palace's construction site before it was demolished) was rebuilt in its original spot, resetting everything back to square one and putting an end to the story of the Palace of the Soviets.

With all the backstory now said and done: what if the Palace of the Soviets did get constructed as originally intended?

Say that the construction of the initial foundations was delayed and were only completed in 1940; the steel to be used in the frame for the lower levels had yet to be churned out before the Nazis invaded in 1941, so the steel frames never needed to be cut out and the foundations remained clean until the end of the war. Once the war ended, Stalin decides to resume construction on the Palace - because damnit, he wasn't going to take "No" for an answer! - and by 1950 by the latest, the Palace of the Soviets is completed and given a grand opening for all the world to see.

As for the ginormous statue of Lenin that was supposed to crown the spire of the Palace tower: would they have been able to even place the giant thing on top of the building, or would they have decided to be more sensible and put it in Leningrad as a Statue of Liberty analogue or something, and used a smaller statue in its place on top of the Palace (like a replica of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman sculpture)?

Would the presence of the Palace of the Soviets have any significant impact on Soviet history after its completion? Would it stand the test of time even after the Soviet Union collapses (if it even does in this timeline)? What do you think?
 
This was recently brought up somewhere. A joke was made about having to change the giant statue at the top every time there was a regime change.
 
This was recently brought up somewhere. A joke was made about having to change the giant statue at the top every time there was a regime change.

I saw that too, that was a funny joke.XD

Waste of money and resources...

But it would've been one hell of an impressive monument, wouldn't it?:cool:

The design of the structure, even though it was itself never built, inspired the designs of the so-called Seven Sisters of Moscow, a series of Stalinist-style architectural projects that still exist today. To have the Palace itself join its metaphorical children in Moscow's skyline would've been quite a sight to see.
 

chankljp

Donor
After the fall of the USSR, perhaps the Palace will end up becoming like the Ceaușescu's Palatul Parlamentului over in Bucharest, with all kinds of new government agencies and NGOs moving in to use it as an office space, while other floors gets opened to the public to as a museum.

Eventually, in an act of supreme irony, lower floors of this symbolic socialist realism architecture with a Lenin statue on top of it will be re-purposed into a shopping centre and entertainment complex. With gawking tourists taking selfies in front of it after visiting the McDonald's franchise that is now inside the building once known as "The Palace of the Soviets". :biggrin:
 
Would soil of Moscow stand with such building? It would be quiet ironic if whole building would collapse while whole Soviet leadership is there.

But if it would be built, probably it would cost so much that USSR would be almost bankcrupted. And if the building would last to 1990's it might be just parliament of Russia.
 
It wouldn’t be built until much later if at all. After WW2 Stalin, and later his successors had large parts of their country in ruins that needed to be completely rebuilt.

I think a massive symbol of Marxist superiority was far down the list of priorities. After all, they had just proved that, they occupied half of Europe.
 
Once the war ended, Stalin decides to resume construction on the Palace - because damnit, he wasn't going to take "No" for an answer! - and by 1950 by the latest, the Palace of the Soviets is completed and given a grand opening for all the world to see.

Can the USSR afford such an expense right after the war?
 
Would soil of Moscow stand with such building? It would be quiet ironic if whole building would collapse while whole Soviet leadership is there.

"Engineers said we were daft to build Palace of Soviets on swampland. We sent them for re-education and built anyway, but it sank."

"We purged the wreckers responsible, and built again. That sank too. So did third one."

"Fourth one caught fire, fell over, and sank. But fifth one held! Is strongest Palace of Soviets ever built, and today we meet to celebrate!"
 
Can the USSR afford such an expense right after the war?

I don't know, that's why I'm asking!

The actual answer is probably not, but given the type of guy Stalin was, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility... just really, really unlikely.

It may be outside the scope of this scenario, but maybe Stalin manages to finagle economic aid from the Marshall Plan so the Soviet Union can recover faster, allowing him to build his vanity project?
 
Here's some asb but funny thinking. What if Stalin agreed to leave eastern europe as allies, not client states, and not install communist governments if each nation agreed to contribute men, and money towards the building of this palace? In vietnam there was the so called "gold levy", in which the entire population basically donating wedding rings and cutlery to make up a huge bribe to buy off the KMT, so nationalist china would leave them alone.
I can just hear benes "Our freedom is worth your rings." Ridiculous? Yes, but no more so then the head of mainland china's secret police, being bribed with luxury cars and cola to accept Malay guerrillas who remained communist.
 

samcster94

Banned
I don't know, that's why I'm asking!

The actual answer is probably not, but given the type of guy Stalin was, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility... just really, really unlikely.

It may be outside the scope of this scenario, but maybe Stalin manages to finagle economic aid from the Marshall Plan so the Soviet Union can recover faster, allowing him to build his vanity project?
Ironically, this reminds me of Hitler's plans to rebuild Berlin, but on a smaller scale.
 
Top