WI, after Stalin's death on March 5th 1953, someone else succeeds Stalin? Possible successors could be Molotov who was a party big wig and a Stalinist to the bone. He died in 1984 which would make his regime even bloodier and possibly remembered even more than Stalin's. From what I gathered he was similarly ruthless as his boss. Then there's Lavrenti Beria who is a sexual predator, a pervert, a rapist. He, however, in the last few years of Stalin's reign came to the conclusion that communism wasn't going to work in the form it was in. Maybe we'd see Gorbachev/Deng Xiaoping style reforms although I pity all the extra victims of his perversions. He'd be better for the USSR IMHO. A plus side for him gaining power is his NKVD power base. The least likely, but still interesting, are smaller figures like Malenkov, Bulganin and Kaganovich. The latter died in 1991, a mere weeks before the fall of the Soviet Union.
So what could have happened? Thoughts/Ideas?
So what could have happened? Thoughts/Ideas?