Lenin not shot at by Fanny Kaplan

[Justin Pickard]

On August 30, 1918, Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, approached Lenin after he'd spoken at a meeting and was on his way to his car. She called out to Lenin, and when he turned to answer, fired three shots, two of which struck him in the shoulder and lung. Lenin was taken to his private apartment in the Kremlin, and refused to venture to a hospital, believing other assassins would be waiting there. Doctors were summoned, but decided that it was too dangerous to remove the bullets. Lenin eventually recovered, though his health declined from this point, and it is believed that the incident contributed to his later strokes.

What if Miss Kaplan had stayed at home, and Lenin survived the 1920s without suffering any strokes, eventually dying from natural causes in - say - 1942, at the age of 72?

 

[Ivan Druzhkov]

Hmm...first off, I don't buy the "Lenin=good, Stalin=Antichrist" line that seems popular today. That being said, while the would probably still be industrialization, a (probable) end to the NEP after it had served its purpose, and maybe a purge or two, I doubt it would be on the scale of OTL's 1930's.

Lenin's foreign policy would probably be more agressive than Stalin's was during the period. He might end up doing something really stupid and get a war on his hands.

 

[DaSla]

well lenin made alot of reforms that stalin removed so it would be interesting to see how lenin shaped the soviet union.

 

[jolo]

Lenin was far more pragmatic and far less aggressive than Stalin - when his state economy ideals failed, he reintroduced some private ownership. His foreign policy can also be described as pretty peaceful afaik - he made peace with Germany (only to be rewarded with a war against Poland and the Ukraine, who, afaik, started it because of perceived weakness of Russia and anticommunist believes).

To me, there appears to be a slight possibility he might have liberalized communism similar to the Chinese economically and some Eastern European states politically.

The only open question is, whether this would have caused Russia to have even more enemies - a better functioning Soviet Union would probably be regarded as pretty much of a threat to the stability of other nations - not to mention religious leaders' opinions.

 

[Molobo]

(only to be rewarded with a war against Poland and the Ukraine, who, afaik, started it because of perceived weakness of Russia and anticommunist believes).

That is wrong.Lenin called for world revolution and Bolsheviks moved into Baltics, Belarus and Ukraine and confronted national movements there.Then Poland and Ukraine joined forces for counteroffensive.

Lenin himself was pretty bloodthirsty:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/ad2kulak.html

Send to Penza
To Comrades Kuraev,
Bosh, Minkin and
other Penza
communists

Comrades! The revolt by the five kulak volost's must be suppressed
without mercy. The interest of the entire revolution demands this,
because we have now before us our final decisive battle "with the
kulaks." We need to set an example.

1) You need to hang (hang without fail, so that the public
sees) at least 100 notorious kulaks, the rich, and the
bloodsuckers.
2) Publish their names.
3) Take away all of their grain.
4) Execute the hostages - in accordance with yesterday's
telegram.

This needs to be accomplished in such a way, that people for
hundreds of miles around will see, tremble, know and scream out:
let's choke and strangle those blood-sucking kulaks.

Telegraph us acknowledging receipt and execution of this.

Yours, Lenin

P.S. Use your toughest people for this.

..................................
TRANSLATOR'S COMMENTS: Lenin uses the derogative term
kulach'e in reference to the class of prosperous peasants. A volost'
was a territorial/administrative unit consisting of a few villages and
surrounding land.


[not numbered]

 

[MerryPrankster]

Lenin was a bloodthirsty, nasty fellow, but Stalin is in a class by himself.

Hmm...how long will the NEP last if Lenin remains the dominant leader of the CP (he wasn't a dictator, but he had a lot of personality and "street cred" for leading the revolution)? Will it become institutionalized and the USSR become a sort of authoritarian Sweden? Or will he discontinue it at a later point and do the Stalin thing?

 

[Molobo]

Personally I think Lenin was more dangerous then Stalin.
Stalin was a calculating coldlbooded killer interested in personal power.Lenin was an mad maniac dreaming about worldwide communism who believed his visions.
He would start a war with the west more readily then Stalin who always was cautious.

 

[Earling]

Lenin's death probably did more for his reputation than any other event...

Give Russia time to recover and watch as NEP is turned around, the peasants are smashed and the ruthless method of maintaining power against any opposition real or imagined is upheld.

Suddenly things are not so different.

 

[zoomar]

Lenin's death probably did more for his reputation than any other event...

Give Russia time to recover and watch as NEP is turned around, the peasants are smashed and the ruthless method of maintaining power against any opposition real or imagined is upheld.

Suddenly things are not so different.

I agree completely. The Bolshevik revolution set things into motion which would have created a totalitarian and anti-democratic state - barring a successful anti-bolshevik revolution. Plus, Uncle Joe was also every bit as realist as VI Lenin: he made the realistic assesment that the USSR needed to concentate on building communism in Russia rather than exporting it, and implemented a lot of window dressing in WW2 (increased religious freedoms, etc) to appeal to his anglo-saxon allies. The only probably difference is that Lenin would probably be not as paranoid - probably fewer purges.

 

[Xen]

This works wonders for me, it gives me a villian in my world without Hitler, and an excuse for Germany to rearm its nation without the west smacking it down.

 

[Ivan Druzhkov]

This works wonders for me, it gives me a villian in my world without Hitler, and an excuse for Germany to rearm its nation without the west smacking it down.

Trotsky's another good one to use.