WI: Stalin Dies

[Napoleon53]

Basically, just a couple simple, intriguing questions, ya'll.

1. What if Joseph Stalin is killed/dies before the Invasion of Poland?
2. What if Joseph Stalin is killed/dies after the Invasion of Poland/before Operation Barbarossa?
3. What if Joseph Stalin is killed/dies during Operation Barbarossa?

What happens? If Stalin dies before Op. Barbarossa, does Germany still invade? Do Russia's generals and politicians break down and start fighting each other over who will succeed Stalin (most likely happens if Stalin dies in Barbarossa, IMO)? Does Russia pull out just like in WWI (if he dies before Barbarossa)?

 

[jmc247]

That is a lot of scenarios, but for any of your questions one has to know how he dies and does it lead to protracted power vacuum inside the USSR. Meaning lets say for your during Barbarossa scenario the exact timing matters as does how it happens and what happens after. If Stalin is killed in the late summer of 1941 by Beria who proceeds to try to execute a coup which leads to a counter coup and protected power struggle its a very different scenario then him having a stroke that summer and being quickly replaced by a non-Totalitarian dictator of the Khrushchev mold.