With a post 1945 POD and avoiding a later true global war what is the earliest date the Soviet Union could begin to fall apart?
Earliest date for a Soviet collapse (without a WW III)?
- Thread starter Ditzy Vixen (RossN)
- Start date
1952 if Stalin is in the middle of a Purge when he dies.Some people benefiting from the Purge will wish to continue it, while others will want to stop it and remove those put in power by the Purge.If the forces ate balanced 50/50 if could get violently ugly.
1953. Stalin lives on and his paranoia is sparked by the attempted assassination by Beria. This kicks off a whole new series of purges just as East Germany rebels. The rebellions spread through Eastern Europe as Stalin's insanity consumes the upper echelon of power. Chaos rages and Eisenhower decides to support the Eastern Europeans against Soviet reprisals seeing the bloodbath as proof Uncle Joe has come unhinged. As Stalin invades and slaughters thousands, the US unleashes it's nuclear stockpile as it lacks the conventional forces to meet the assault.
If it ends with Zhukov and Eisenhower shaking hands, then I'm all in.
But there's a state of war, Stalin invades after all, and a nuclear WW3 is still a WW3.