Brilliantlight
Banned
What if Stalin dies in a car crash in Nov of 1941? How far do the Germans get now? Do they take Moscow before the Russians can get their act together? Who takes over? Does the US increase the Lend-Lease to the USSR?
Walter_Kaufmann said:(...) However, I'd expect to see an uneasy alliance between Georgy Zhukov (and the Red Army) and Vyacheslav Molotov (and the foreign service apparatus).
Walter_Kaufmann said:I'd think the new leader would be either Vyacheslav Molotov (most likely since he was replaced as Premier by Stalin that very year [1941] and was currently the Vice Premier) or that nut, Lavrenty Beria (made deputy premier in 1941). However, I'd expect to see an uneasy alliance between Georgy Zhukov (and the Red Army) and Vyacheslav Molotov (and the foreign service apparatus). Neither group could rule on their own for an extended period of time and neither group would want to see Beria and the NKVD in control. Plus, Zhukov and Molotov, although Communist, are going to be MUCH more liberal than Beria.
Tom_B said:Zhukov would wait before trying a military coup. What is interesting is that Zhukov wanted to make the Russian winter counteroffensive on a relatively narrow front and Stalin insisted on a broad front. Military historians almost always conclude Zhukov was right and Stalin was wrong so it looks like Army Group Center is in serious trouble in this TL.
Sure there is an incentive to avoid infighting but it is part of human nature to be tempted to do so. This commitee is made of people who want to be #1 and there can be only one #1. If the Russians have some infighting for a while it may go better for the Germans, at least in the short run.Matthew Craw said:In late 1941 no one leader is in a position to take power after Stalin's death, in teh short term I suspect that the five man defense committee would take power, Molotov, Malenkov, Beria, Zhukov and one other who I think was Voroshilov. They should be able to do so since the group already existed and played the key role in running the war under Stalin, the Soviet bureaucracy is good at following orders at the centre and there is an obvious incentive to avoid infighting.
Brilliantlight said:Sure there is an incentive to avoid infighting but it is part of human nature to be tempted to do so. This commitee is made of people who want to be #1 and there can be only one #1. If the Russians have some infighting for a while it may go better for the Germans, at least in the short run.