The Cold War of OTL was a dangerous time that saw a lot of proxy wars between the United States, the beacon of Democracy and Capitalism, and the USSR, the Hegemon of Communism. It wouldn't be until the 1980s that the US finally won the Cold War in effect with the USSR and the Warsaw pact collapsing in on itself due to economic stagnation/depression, military failure, government reforms, etc, etc, but that led to a bunch of things that made the situation worse in both Russia and China. So the challenge here is, with a PoD between when Stalin died as the earliest and Kruschev being ousted from the leadership as the latest, find a way for the PRC, USSR, and maybe DPRK, North Vietnam, Warsaw Pact Nations, and maybe Cuba democratize and transition away from Communism into a mixed system by the 70s, ending the Cold War a decade or two early.
AHC : Communist Bloc Democratizes by the 1970s
- Thread starter TheDoofusUser
- Start date
Something which helped them propaganda wise during this time was their lead, real or presumed, in the Space Race; Sputnik not being the first could probably deny them a key propaganda piece. With a few tweaks, you could probably get the US notching down more "firsts" there. If the Americans can also avoid stuff like Vietnam, that also weakens some of the opposition they had to face in the 1960s, and they can project an image of strength. At the same time, some of the money that went into Vietnam could be saved, with other parts going into social programs or tax cuts. This could help extend the period of economic expansion into the late 1970s, so removing a key obstacle many western states faces during the early 1970s.
Couple that with a hot, shooting War between the PRC and the USSR, and the Soviets are put in a really difficult position. Whether they'd collapse or not is probably debatable, but they would be significantly weaker.
Couple that with a hot, shooting War between the PRC and the USSR, and the Soviets are put in a really difficult position. Whether they'd collapse or not is probably debatable, but they would be significantly weaker.
interesting, though I'm looking for a PoD that doesn't lead to the USSR and PRC killing each other and democratizing themselves from within and by extension the rest of the Communist Bloc except maybe Cuba. Maybe Kosygin succeeds Stalin instead of Malenkov, Beria, or Kruschev, making Andropov his appointed successor and instituting Deng style reforms in the USSR while Andropov lays the groundwork for Political Reforms, such as Democracy within the Communist Party? As for the PRC, maybe Mao dies in the Late 50s/Early 60s instead and a reformer succeeds him, leading to the PRC adopting Democracy within the Party as well and that translates to both becoming an actual Democratic Process for the former Communist nations?