How can the fall of communism be sped up?

[Andrela]

I was wondering if it was possible for these things to happen 5-10 years earlier than they originally happened:

- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Rise of Solidarity in Poland
- End of Soviet influence in Poland and other European countries
- Other factors connected to the ones above, like NATO membership of certain countries

Basically I was wondering if it was possible to have the political climate of the early 1990s occur in early 1980s instead.

 

[Angrybird]

The fastest way for Communism to fall (in the USSR) is to let the Soviets do worse in WW2.

If they cant use the victory in WW2 to legitimize away all the crimes and blunders and mismanagement of the Stalinist regime - and if they are denied at least part of the resources of Eastern Europe - then Communism might collapse as early as the 1960´s.

 

[lionhead]

Or you can just have Stalin die earlier, destalinization happen sooner and have the cold war be colder with the USA fighting less against communism and more against more logical enemies.

 

[shiftygiant]

Stalin dies in World War 2. Let's say a stray shell hits him in Moscow. Nikolai Voznesensky, the Deputy Chairman, takes control. The war lays out like in our timeline through broad-strokes- Germany overextended, a Soviet Counterattack pushes them back through Eastern Europe and to the banks of the Spree.

Voznesnsky organizes trade fairs to help boost the economy and support survivors of sieges, however finds himself at odds with the former Premier Molotov, who believes these fairs to be capitalistic. The pair begin to engage in an ideological struggle for Premiership. The result is a violent destalinization, upon which Voznesnsky scrambles out triumphant.

Whilst the Soviet Economy is strong, Voznesnsky becomes paranoid of future struggles, eventually running purges to keep the SSR's and Warsaw Pact Weak enough not to challenge Soviet Dominance. This meddling leads to protests throughout the the late 50's, which only results in brutality from the USSR. Protests become prevalent, and the Union destabilizes.

 

[Riain]

Bring the TSR2 and CVA01 & 02 into service, this extra strength in areas that cost the Soviets a bomb to counter will speed up their arms race driven collapse.

 

[Crowbar Six]

Use the leMay method and just have SAC bomb them into the stone age in the mid 50's.

OK so Europe gets its hair mussed a bit. Whats a few million between friends and from a US perspective a lot of them are pretty close to commies themselves what with being socialists, so who cares.

 

[GlobalHumanism]

I was wondering if it was possible for these things to happen 5-10 years earlier than they originally happened:

- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Rise of Solidarity in Poland
- End of Soviet influence in Poland and other European countries
- Other factors connected to the ones above, like NATO membership of certain countries

Basically I was wondering if it was possible to have the political climate of the early 1990s occur in early 1980s instead.

Easy.

Have the US launch a Nuclear First Strike, Dr. Strangelove Style, circa early 1950s

 

[user23123]

I was wondering if it was possible for these things to happen 5-10 years earlier than they originally happened:

- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Rise of Solidarity in Poland
- End of Soviet influence in Poland and other European countries
- Other factors connected to the ones above, like NATO membership of certain countries

Basically I was wondering if it was possible to have the political climate of the early 1990s occur in early 1980s instead.

For the communism to fall in EE,you are missing a crucial ingredient an USSR that at least doesn’t intervene,so you will needed some one with the mentality of 85's Mikhail Gorbachev and you need him some where in 70's or 75's,so that he will allow change to take place.
The oil crisis of the 70's must be avoided so that the oil prices doesn’t rise.

As for NATO member ship for any of the country’s of EE,with the exception of DDR in the case of an earlier union with FDR,USSR to break a part.

As for fall of communism in individual country’s,with out any change in USSR,there is the isolated Albania,where will be hard for the soviets to intervene,as for the rest of them the will need an A-bomb and the capability to hit at least any city in the European part of USSR.So the at lest a direct soviet intervention could be avoided.
Which will still leave the possibility of a hybrid intervention,which will put country's with Soviet base in disadvantage vs those with out.
Then there are the economics since any country that will leave the Soviet sphere will have to kiss goodbye most of here trade with USSR,so country X depends on soviet energy imports she got a problem,county depends on soviet raw material's she is in trouble.she depends on the USSR (and the rest of Warsow pact country's),to buy here stuff,there will be in some trouble.

 

[Napoléon Caesar Augustus]

The USSR gets hammered even harder in WW2 than in OTL. Perhaps they don't receive lend-lease and the West cooperates less. By the end of the war the Soviets just barely manage to recover their borders and get nothing else. They don't get to loot Eastern Europe or set up a satellite empire. Stalin lives longer than he did in OTL. Purges, general mismanagement and paranoia continue. When he finally dies, his replacements ends up being Molotov. As the guy was basically Stalin 2.0, the same horrific political and economic climate continues until the rotten structure collapses due to rampant poverty and popular protests, as well as diplomatic isolation and international pressure.

This might backfire and create a USSR which is basically North Korea, but eh.

 

[Mike Stearns]

Butterflying the Suez Crisis might be a good start, as it prevented the Americans from meddling in the unrest in Hungary and Poland following the revelation of the worst excesses of Stalin by Khrushchev.

 

[ThePest179]

The Anglo/American-Nazi War has the Soviet Union ripped to pieces by the Nazis and a follow up civil war. Communism never becomes a thing after that.

 

[Zheng He]

Use the leMay method and just have SAC bomb them into the stone age in the mid 50's.

OK so Europe gets its hair mussed a bit. Whats a few million between friends and from a US perspective a lot of them are pretty close to commies themselves what with being socialists, so who cares.

Thank you General Buck Turgidson.

 

[shiftygiant]

Butterflying the Suez Crisis might be a good start, as it prevented the Americans from meddling in the unrest in Hungary and Poland following the revelation of the worst excesses of Stalin by Khrushchev.

So a good PoD involves Gamal Abdel Nasser. The '54 assassination attempt being a success would be a good start, although his death earlier in the Six Day War is fine (But that causes a whole bunch of butterflies). Another alternative is that the support of the Aswan Dam isn't pulled, but this would require a non-neutral Egypt.

NATO Austria?

 

[Mike Stearns]

So a good PoD involves Gamal Abdel Nasser. The '54 assassination attempt being a success would be a good start, although his death earlier in the Six Day War is fine (But that causes a whole bunch of butterflies). Another alternative is that the support of the Aswan Dam isn't pulled, but this would require a non-neutral Egypt.

NATO Austria?

Or maybe you just need to get the British and French to realize that their timing is really shitty and that ceding control of the Suez Canal to Egypt is a reasonable price to pay when faced with the prospect of massive anti-communist revolts all across the Warsaw Pact and possibly in Russia itself.