| March 14 |  |
Editor says, what if Soviet leader Georgy Malenkov had his arch-rival, Nikita Khrushchev, poisoned? muses Robbie Taylor. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the March 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1953, Soviet leader Georgy Malenkov has his arch-rival, Nikita Khrushchev, poisoned.
Poisoning of Nikita KhrushchevKhrushchev was on the brink of toppling Malenkov from his position in the Communist Party, and Malenkov moved first. Although he faced some trouble from Khrushchev's allies in the party at first, a quick purge removed them from power. Malenkov became even more repressive than his predecessor Stalin, and relations with the west soured under his leadership. Relations with the non-aligned nations didn't fare much better, and in 1959, he was ousted and exiled in an attempt to liberalize the Soviet Union.
Leonid Brezhnev assumed the leadership of the USSR, and to show the world that times had changed, called a general election the next year, which he won handily. Although Brezhnev held on to power with a steely grip, he did open the country's re-education camps and release political prisoners. He was hailed by the west for opening the Soviet Union to business ventures from various friendly capitalists, and allowing the Soviet people to elect its leaders (apart from himself). He even set in place the electoral procedures following his death, so that the USSR could finally become a democracy.
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© robbie@robbietaylor.netStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Georgy Malenkov, Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Union, Premature Death, Murder. Andrew Beane commented on Facebook: Nothing in Brezhnev's real tenure in power, which lasted 18 years, would suggest any major shift to a democratic system, nor a depature from the lumbering command economy that eventually aided in the destruction of the USSR
~ If such a bottom-up course of political reform and dismantling of a command economy actually goes through during the 60s, the popular support for the Cold War in the West will probably plummet (although habitual power politics mean that the various proxy wars could still happen on some level).
~ I agree with Andrew Beane; this scenario seems unlikely. A more credible route to Soviet deomcracy would have been if someone (almost anyone, really) other than Stalin had risen to power after Lenin's death in 1924. At that time, the apparatus of totalitaianism hadn't become so firmly entrenched (well, no more than it had been under the Tsars, anyway).
~ I also agree with Andrew Beane. For Russian democracy to happen, I'd go for a far earlier POD---basically, have Russia stay OUT of WWI. Maybe have the Tsar declare the Serbs to be regicides beyond the pale of humanity (in OTL the silly man thought that he had to help his "Slavic brothers" and that Russia needed the Balkans.) If Sergei Witte had been in actual command of the Russian gov't (maybe something sidelined the Tsar and Tsarina?) that would do it---Witte was very much against getting mixed up in WWI.
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