WI: Stalin arrested or killed in 1941

[Mort the Reaper]

(Got the idea from this thread)

When it became clear to Stalin that the Germans were invading the Soviet Union, his response was... less than admirable. He lashed out in anger and fear, then shut himself up in his dacha for three days refusing all outside contact. Once Molotov and some others went to his Dacha requesting to see him, Stalin's response indicated that he might've thought they were there to arrest him.

This wasn't true, they were actually there to tell him they'd formed the State Defense Committee and wanted him to chair it. But what if they really had come to his dacha to arrest him - or even kill him? How would it affect the war and later events?

 

[Jaehaerys48]

I doubt anyone could have put together enough of a power base of their own to arrest Stalin and take over. The only way I can see him being killed would be if one of his officials decided to go rogue and take things into their own hands, similar to the assassination of South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee by Kim Jae-gyu, director of the Korean CIA. Stalin had lots of allies in government, including those who came to the dacha (which is why they wanted him to return), and fear of Stalin was still high due to the purges.

If Stalin is killed, a leadership struggle would inevitably follow. I don't think the Soviet war effort would collapse, however. The Red Army was unified enough and committed to the fight against the Germans, they'd hold on even if a political crisis ensued, and maybe would have even taken control over the political situation themselves, at least partially through an ally such as Molotov. None of the top Russian marshals are going to surrender or turn on each other with the Wehrmacht at their doorsteps, and if they keep up their resistance, the Eastern Front probably looks the same - the Germans continue their push into Russia before halting outside of Moscow due to being stretched too thin, and then 1942 onwards probably occurs similarly to how it did otl.

 

[Lalli]

I bit doubt that. THem hadn't will or courage to do that. And Stalin had too strong power base that anyone would had been able to plot such thing. You just don't oust dictator alone. You would need lot of support from political leadership, NKVD (or whatever other security organisation) and army. Otherwise you are going to fail and pretty certainly to be killed.

 

[Thelogin]

S

 

[classyjazzy55]

Pretty sure they wouldn't do that, they had come to basically shake him out and you know...get to being a leader during a war. Also it would've just been absolutely horible to do during a fight against Nazi Germany. The Eastern front was a bloodbath already but it would've been worse if they tried to do any moves against Stalin.