Question by Anis: What would have happened if Stalin had lived another year? Who would’ve likely been Stalin’s successor?
There are many questions on here about the power struggle that DID occur after Lenin and Stalin’s deaths, but in the case of Stalin’s did, what WOULD HAVE happened if he had lived- which actually was very likely, since evidence suggest he did die naturally, but rather of poisoning. Had he been allowed to live his full life, he may have made it to 1963, not 1953. Anyways, had Beria, Khrushchev, Voroshilov, Zhukov, Suslov, and maybe even Malenkov been purged, what course do you believe the Soviet political system have taken. Who would have survived the purges and became Stalin’s successor?
Thank you.
I forgot to include Molotov. He would have been one of the first targets of Stalin. In fact, he may have helped posion Stalin.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Dune Rider
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov – was the protege of Stalin who fell out of favor, but may have been “rehabilitated” in such a scenario you describe to lead what would have been a decimated inner-circle; the paranoia of the old man would have left few standing near his throne if he would have lived another decade and may have found him looking to very few “old” comrades for his inner-court.
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
Spellbound says
I think that Beria, due to his power and the loyalties that many in the security apparatus still felt towards him may have survived, albeit by the skin of his teeth. Suslov would have survived, he was, in some ways, like Vyshinsky, a faceless, shrill loyal Stalinist. I think that Khrushchev would also have survived, he would have played up the folksy, boorish peasant to Stalin's amusement. That Voroshilov survived at all is a complete mystery, the man was useless – but Stalin always liked him. Zhukov would never be allowed back to Moscow under Stalin, he was too popular, and this played on many communists fear of a Soviet Bonaparte.
Molotov would have been the first to go, his Jewish wife, Polina, had already been arrested, and he had fallen out of favour, despite his loyalty. Mikoyan would also have gone with Molotov.
I think the most likely scenario is an alliance between Malenkov and Beria as the initial rulers post Stalin, with Malenkov being sidelined by the wily Beria; however, I don't see Beria lasting very long – he was too feared, and too hated to survive long. I think that Suslov would have outed him as a British agent (there were unsubstantiated rumours that he had at some point before the revolution worked for the British), and replaced him with the most obvious loyal, ideologically sound candidate member of the CC – Leonid Brezhnev.
BTW – the poisoning theory is not widely accepted, I don't think that it is true as the people usually named as the culprits, Beria or Molotov, did not benefit nearly as much as they should have.