WI: Stalin shot dead in 1936.

The shooter is caught immediately, and is revealed to be an old Ukranian Anarchist. Who can take over?
 
Why does it matter who takes over when the policies and implementation of policies and workplace cultures were necessitated by nomenklatura and proletarian economic demands? Stalin didn't fall from the moon.
 
But Stalin had very peculiar traits, such as his paranoia and ruthlessness. If just the purges can be avoided that would make a huge difference in the war.
 
The purges can't be avoided.

The nomenklatura turned on the peasantry and proletariat with indiscriminate campaigns to enforce labour discipline and cripple the potential for independent working class institutions.

The nomenklatura turned on itself in order to achieve individual promotion, punish failure, and prevent through self-terrorisation the possibility of another political line forming—in part as such a line could only destroy nomenklatura rule.

As an institution of the nomenklatura the officers of the Army will go through a cycle of purging; this is an all party affair, not a whim of Stalin. The party in general feared bonapartism, even if there was no Bonaparte on offer.
 
But the extent and duration would be far different without Joe's 'guiding hand'
Different don't necessarily mean lesser or shorter; which is often the desire of authors who off Stalin.

And the political consequence desired, of destroying the potential for political centre in the army, will require purges of similar effect on the personnel of the officer nomenklatura.
 
But the extent and duration would be far different without Joe's 'guiding hand'

Pretty much, yeah. There’s probably gonna be purges regardless of who you put in charge of the Soviet Union in the 30’s. I’m fact, IATL, the purge will probably be at least partially in response to Stalin’s death. But there will be a difference in how extensive, how long, and how bloody those purges are. I’m not really anymore a follower of the Great Man Theory of History then most other modern history buffs (or at least, I think most modern history buffs aren’t followers of the Great Man Theory) but I feel people who try to argue that things would be exactly the same under every other leader are falling victim to the same brand of historical determinism which, ironically, denies human agency just as much as the Great Man Theory, if not moreso. The fact is that whose in charge does matter and will affect the situation.

And the political consequence desired, of destroying the potential for political centre in the army, will require purges of similar effect on the personnel of the officer nomenklatura.

I just don’t see there being any political center in the army. The Red Army officer corps never showed that sort of political independence even before they got gutted by the purges. The total subordination of Army to matters of policy (and therefore, the Communist Party) was laid down in black-and-white by Frunze in the 20’s and adhered too assiduously.

And even if we accept that the army has to be purged, there’s nothing saying that, for example, the industrial managers and engineers have too be.

Please say Beria! :evilsmile:

Hasn’t entered the national stage yet. He’s still a regional party member and local NKVD chief down in Georgia in ‘36.
 
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there’s nothing saying that, for example, the industrial managers and engineers have too be.

That we rationally know that the red army was politically incapable of forming a centre doesn't change the general irrational fear in the nomenklatura of the possibility of such a centre coming into being.

Regarding managers, actually there is both a political and economic necessity to their being purged, S Fitzpatrick and V Andrle are pretty convincing.

Politically existing managers and experts blocked the rapid rise of young party members and nomenklatura. Purges here tended to be the result of firm-local bottom up action: precisely an indication that they weren't susceptible to a whim of policy change.

Economically the five year plans existed on such fairy dreams (4 in 5??), that even the Stakhanovite motivations supplied to management and foremen did nothing for the desired productivity and sweat levels: negative motivations were indiscriminately applied through purges.

The purges are the hubris of class discipline during condensed industrialisation, with a real awareness in the nomenklatura that a fuck up means them all up against the wall.
 
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