WI Stalin dies in 1935 instead of 1953?

Assuming Stalin died in 1935, which would be before the Great Purge took off, what would become of the Soviet Union?

What could be considered Stalin's greatest achievement, his forced industrialization through Five Year Plans, was already ongoing with the First Five Year Plan being completed and the Second Five Year Plan being halfway there.

The main question concerns who is going to take over and what policies will follow. None of Stalin's potentates of the early 50s had the political clout to take over in the mid 30s (nor did anyone else for that matter). The way I see it, a clique of politburo members (who?) takes over with tacit support behind the scenes from Yagoda's NKVD and the Red Army. A purge probably won't occur, meaning the USSR is much better equipped to deal with the Nazi invasion in 1941, assuming it happens as scheduled despite butterflies.
 
How does he die in 1935?

That plays a huge role. If he's knocked off by someone in the Politburo, then the Soviet Union is thrown into chaos for a little bit and we could see another civil war.

Ukraine could also attempt to gain independence, as they were starved to death by Stalin during the Holodomor. The next Soviet leader will have to play nice with the Ukraine most likely
 
Interesting question.
What did Soviet leadership look like in '35?

No purges yet.

Well, there are these people and then the politburo of the 1930s. But, like I said, none of these people are powerful enough to step into Stalin's shoes (heck, even he hadn't achieved the peak of his power yet in 1935, being forced to at least take note of the party's opinion).

Indeed, before the purges, there are still plenty of people who can offer an alternative to the Stalinist model. Stalin dying before he consolidates power would probably be less damaging than him dying afterward.

My money would be on who ever was running the NKVD at the time.

Yagoda is a political nobody, at most he could stay behind the scenes and sell information and the NKVD's loyalty to the person who makes him the best offer, but he's not going to get the big seat.

That plays a huge role. If he's knocked off by someone in the Politburo, then the Soviet Union is thrown into chaos for a little bit and we could see another civil war.

Ukraine could also attempt to gain independence, as they were starved to death by Stalin during the Holodomor. The next Soviet leader will have to play nice with the Ukraine most likely

No to both things.

Stalin dying as a result of something that came from within the party would at worst result in a power struggle, followed by the consolidation of power, likely around a group of men as opposed to one, single powerful leader a la Koba. Bukharin is probably first in the running to take over the mantle of leadership but it really depends on the circumstances. Another civil war simply isn't going to happen. A civil war could happen in two big circumstances: enough people have to oppose the government and have the force and numbers to form a significant resistance, which is a nonissue, the Soviets by now have pretty deliberately choked out whatever is left of the White Movement, or there would have to be an issue of no valid, immediate successor being available to the point where it's a free-for-all. And even then, it's much more likely to get dealt with in the typical cloak-and-dagger Muscovite fashion than it is to result in a massive civil war.

The Soviets did and would have suppressed anything that looked like a revolt from the Ukrainians. The worst of the anti-Soviet activity in Ukraine during the 30's took place during collectivization, it's unlikely that the Soviet public would hear a word of what was happening in Moscow, so there's no real impetus for the Ukrainians to think they have a chance. And even if somehow they magically get word of the deepest secrets of Soviet political infighting, they'll still be crushed immediately.
 
What happens in 1941 when 30 000 officers that was purged are avalible?

As in during Barbarossa? But would there be a Barbarossa in 1941? Without Stalin there may be not Ribbentrop-Molotow pact. USSr may have attacked Germans instead. Or sth completely different...
 
What happens in 1941 when 30 000 officers that was purged are avalible?

The Red Army might be more efficient at the sake of being far more political than it was OTL without Stalinist terror to break it under the yoke.

Alternatively, it might be similarly bad to OTL because of the large amount of political appointees that were present in the officer corps. I generally am of the impression that the USSR was nowhere near as affected by the military purges as is often said. *Cough* Conquest

As in during Barbarossa? But would there be a Barbarossa in 1941? Without Stalin there may be not Ribbentrop-Molotow pact. USSr may have attacked Germans instead. Or sth completely different...

The USSR in 1941 was not ready.

The USSR in even 1942 would have been a significantly different game.

Stalin's hope was that Hitler would go to war with the West and that the two sides would duke it out while the USSR gets to sit and watch, and grab up all her old territory in the meantime. The USSR provided pretty much all of Germany's grains and raw materials under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as time went on. Suffice to say the USSR was taking control, and at a certain point the Germans would be helpless to stop it.
 
As in during Barbarossa? But would there be a Barbarossa in 1941? Without Stalin there may be not Ribbentrop-Molotow pact. USSr may have attacked Germans instead. Or sth completely different...
A bigger point, without the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Hitler will probably not invade Poland, being too fearful of having the Soviets on one side and the Allies on the other.
 
Too bad this isn't where Stalin passed away in an untimely fashion in 1934. With Stalin out of the way in 1934, one Sergey Kirov--a quite popular Communist leader from Leningrad--would probably not be assassinated and could have rocketed up the ranks of the Politburo and by 1940-1942 could have been in line for one of the highest positions in the Politburo.
 
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