In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union and through his policies, the Soviet Union collapsed. I'm assuming everyone on this site knows that.
What if, however, Gorbachev was killed or otherwise made unable to become Premier. This results in a neo-Stalinist regime coming to power in the USSR. Through utterly ruthless oppression, they manage to stabilize the country and pull out of Afghanistan. There are some minor revolts in the 1990s, but overall things remain stable. However, by 1999, even neo-Stalinism is obviously threatening to tear the USSR apart and only two options are left to the neo-Stalinists; give in and institute democratic reform or launch a desperate military strike against the west that will allow them to shore up the Union. On May 12th 2000, the Soviet Army surges over the border between East and West Germany and World War III has begun.
That's the basic bare bones of the TL up to 2000. Things are relatively similar to OTL; Tony Blair is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Bill Clinton is in the last months of his term in office and China is increasingly becoming the most powerful state in Asia. Other things are different, Yugoslavia collapsed but a Soviet backed Serbian regime was established, while Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia became part of the west's sphere of influence. Saddam was not defeated in the First Gulf War, but instead secured his control over Kuwait. He was however 'persuaded' not to strike south into Saudi Arabia by the Soviets, who were fearful of a flare-up in the gulf.
I'm planning for the US elections to follow a similar path, without any real progress in foreign policy and the economy suffering because of raised oil prices, Bush Sr. wouldn't get elected in 1992. I'm not so sure about 2000, Americans don't usually vote out a president in the middle of a major war but the Republicans could well make gains on anti-communist platform and 2000 was close enough anyway. Suggestions are welcome. I'll try and get a proper update done by September 8th (when I go back to school...
).
Notes:
-Use of nuclear weapons will be kept to a minimum in this TL, certainly there won't be a MAD event.
-No military/intelligence agency coups in any of the combatants, that's been done too many times.
-The losing side in this war will not be defeated anything like as thoroughly as Germany in 1945, it will be more like Germany in 1918.
What if, however, Gorbachev was killed or otherwise made unable to become Premier. This results in a neo-Stalinist regime coming to power in the USSR. Through utterly ruthless oppression, they manage to stabilize the country and pull out of Afghanistan. There are some minor revolts in the 1990s, but overall things remain stable. However, by 1999, even neo-Stalinism is obviously threatening to tear the USSR apart and only two options are left to the neo-Stalinists; give in and institute democratic reform or launch a desperate military strike against the west that will allow them to shore up the Union. On May 12th 2000, the Soviet Army surges over the border between East and West Germany and World War III has begun.
That's the basic bare bones of the TL up to 2000. Things are relatively similar to OTL; Tony Blair is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Bill Clinton is in the last months of his term in office and China is increasingly becoming the most powerful state in Asia. Other things are different, Yugoslavia collapsed but a Soviet backed Serbian regime was established, while Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia became part of the west's sphere of influence. Saddam was not defeated in the First Gulf War, but instead secured his control over Kuwait. He was however 'persuaded' not to strike south into Saudi Arabia by the Soviets, who were fearful of a flare-up in the gulf.
I'm planning for the US elections to follow a similar path, without any real progress in foreign policy and the economy suffering because of raised oil prices, Bush Sr. wouldn't get elected in 1992. I'm not so sure about 2000, Americans don't usually vote out a president in the middle of a major war but the Republicans could well make gains on anti-communist platform and 2000 was close enough anyway. Suggestions are welcome. I'll try and get a proper update done by September 8th (when I go back to school...
Notes:
-Use of nuclear weapons will be kept to a minimum in this TL, certainly there won't be a MAD event.
-No military/intelligence agency coups in any of the combatants, that's been done too many times.
-The losing side in this war will not be defeated anything like as thoroughly as Germany in 1945, it will be more like Germany in 1918.