Crisis in the Kremlin: Twilight of the Red Tsar

[Sejanus]

CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN: TWILIGHT OF THE RED TSAR

DISCORD LINK

​

8 May, 1958. The Vozhd is dead.

Joseph Stalin has died at the age of seventy-nine, a few months short of his eightieth birthday, and left behind a leadership void in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Having survived the stroke that left him partially paralyzed in 1953, Stalin moved swiftly against his surviving potentates: Beria's downfall proceeded rapidly in the months following Stalin's stroke, and by the end of the year he had been executed alongside Molotov, Mikoyan and Voroshilov - all of them tied to the Doctor's Plot and a supposed plan to kill Stalin.

It was effectively the opening shots of the 'Second Terror': Stalin's wiping clean of the slate, and preparation for a new generation of leaders for the party and state. Throughout the next three years these purges continued unabated, with Kaganovich also tried and executed in 1955, and Bulganin falling afoul the following year. By 1957, the effective governance of the Union had largely ceased: Stalin, increasingly sick and hospital bound, was barely functional for a few hours a day, and when - following a prolonged bout of pneumonia - Malenkov and Khrushchev united in an unlikely alliance to make decisions on behalf of Stalin, they too found themselves charged with conspiracy and executed.

What government function that did take place was largely guided by a newer generation of younger functionaries, all buzzing around Stalin and unwilling to countenance a single action without his express approval, with decision making often erratic and contradictory as the Man of Steel's body and mind increasingly failed him.

Nonetheless, the Great Leader of the Party and Union is now gone, and in his place there is a both a sense of relief and a great void, and now you - this new generation of the party and state - must step forward and assume the mantle.

---

State of the Union and Party

The period of Stalin's rule from the end of the Great Patriotic War to his death in 1958 can only be described as "High Stalinism" or patrimonial rule: although there exists the Party's Constitution and the Union SSR's Constitution, these have in essence only existed on paper in the last decade: power has largely been defined in reality by proximity to Stalin, and favour granted by him.

Although he has officially been Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the de jure first Secretary of the Central Committee, Stalin has largely ruled through his functionaries in the nine-man Bureau of the Presidium of the Central Committee, and the subsequent Standing Committees in the Presidium. Of course, with Stalin's passing now, these official positions and procedures may become more powerful and important, but there is great uncertainty in both the Party and the Union on the way forward, as decisiveness was seen as a weakness in the last five years, and many have been afraid to act as such.

Government of the Union SSR:

The main legislative body is the Supreme Soviet. The Supreme Soviet is made up of two chambers, and it approves all laws, appoints the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the Procurator General, receives reports from other branches of government, and makes constitutional changes. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet acts on behalf of the Supreme Soviet when it is not in session. The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet is the head of state of the USSR.

The Judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court. The office of the Procurator General oversees the work of the legal system and is responsible for representing the state in legal matters.

The executive is the Council of Ministers. It is appointed by the Supreme Soviet and reports either directly to the Supreme Soviet, or to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. It is headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who is the head of government. There are also numerous First Deputy Chairmen, and Deputy Chairmen. The government has many ministries with specific areas of responsibility, each headed by a Minister. Besides the ministries, there exist State Committees, the most important of which are the State Planning Committee, the State Committee for Construction, and the People's Control Commission. Additionally there is an office of Administrator of Affairs of the Council of Ministers, responsible for personnel and day-to-day operations of the government.

Each of the fifteen Soviet Republics has its own Council of Ministers as well, plus a legislature, judiciary, etc. The Chairmen of these Councils of Ministers of the Soviet Republics are themselves members of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The Council of Ministers sometimes elects a Presidium of the Council of Ministers, a reduced body that includes its key members and can handle the most important affairs of government.

Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU):

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is made up of local and regional committees which send representatives to the Congress of the CPSU. The Congress elects the Central Committee of the CPSU, which is responsible for all party operations between meetings of the Congress. The Central Committee appoints or elects a number of bodies to help it with its role, there is no General Secretary since its abolition at the 1952 Party Congress, however Stalin served in a de-facto capacity as the most senior Secretary of the Central Committee.

The Presidium of the Central Committee (formerly the Politburo) is the highest decision-making body of the Central Committee. Its members are elected and oversee the policies of the party and the state. Within the Presidium there also exists the Bureau, a nine-man smaller body effectively seen as Stalin's 'inner circle' and the effective governing body of the Party and State. The Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the party. The Central Control Commission is the top disciplinary body of the CPSU. Additionally, the Central Committee has numerous Departments that oversee either elements of party work or government policy.

Each Soviet Republic, with the exception of the RSFSR, has its own party organization. These mirror the All-Union organization, and are headed by a First Secretary.

The Presidium of the Central Committee has Full and Candidate Members. Full members are allowed to vote, while candidate members may only participate in the discussion. All members of the Presidium simultaneously hold key positions either within the party or government structure. Within Stalin's organized system: there are nine members of the Bureau, who are selected from among the twenty-five full members of the Presidium; there are also eleven candidate members.

Rules

Players in the game will take on the role of a senior Soviet official in the immediate aftermath of Joseph Stalin's death. All characters must be fictional. They must have a background story consistent with their position in the party and/or the government. Your job, as players, is to influence the political developments inside the Soviet Union while addressing the political, social, and economic issues that arise.

Each player will have two orders per turn. These can be related to anything within your character's competence. Promotions/demotions of allies or rivals within the party or the government, implementation of reforms, execution of specific government projects, etc. The path to power and success may go through control of the party apparatus, or through overseeing a series of successful reforms, or, perhaps, through having an alliance with key members of the senior military leadership. Be creative, as your creativity will be key to the progress of the game.

There is, by design, a collection action problem built into the game. Someone has to send orders dealing with crises and other issues that come up. But this means that other players are free to send orders promoting their own individual interests. If nobody addresses the crises, however, bad things will happen. I look forward to seeing how this shakes out.

For every turn I will submit to the Presidium a list of issues to be discussed and voted on. These are by no means exhaustive – one could easily imagine players bringing up additional issues to discuss and make decisions on. In general a turn will last about six months, but sometimes we will deviate from this timeline.

In theory factions within the CPSU are banned by the decision of the 10th Party Congress. In practice, factions have always existed within the party. As players you are free to organize into groups of like-minded colleagues, and I will assume that the NPCs inside the party and government fall into these factions as well.

Sign Ups

To signup please fill out the following information. All signups are subject to my approval. There will be a maximum of 12-15 players. If you do not know a lot about the Soviet political system please do some research or ask me questions. Game will start in a week or so.

Name: Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin
Date of Birth: 18 December 1878 (79)
Position: Chairman of the Council of Ministers
Faction: Stalinist
Background: One of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917. Appointed General Secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. Subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin by suppressing opposition. Oversaw industrialization and collectivization in the 1920s and 1930s. Led the Soviet Union through the Great Patriotic War with Nazi Germany and the first few years of the post-war period. Died on 8 May 1958 without a clear successor.

Here is a list of positions that are important, to provide an example:

- Secretary of the Central Committee (usually with an area of responsibility, such as propaganda or recruiting)
- Head of the General Department of the Central Committee (sort of like a chief of staff for the party)
- Head of the Planning Department of the Central Committee (in charge of all economic planning)
- Head of the International Department of the Central Committee (responsible for dealing with other communist parties abroad)
- Chairman of the Central Control Commission (in charge of rooting out corruption in the party)
- First Secretary of the Moscow Party Committee (easily the most important local party office)
- First Secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee (the other power-center in party politics)
- First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine (basically got to run Ukraine)
- First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan/other republics (same, but typically a lot less important)

- Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (de-jure head of state)
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers (head of government, vacant due to Stalin's death)
- First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (typically in conjunction with an important ministry)
- Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (there were like twelve)
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Minister of Defense
- Minister of Internal Affairs (etc., there were dozens of ministries)
- Minister of State Security (precursor to the KGB)
- Chairman of the State Planning Committee (in charge of economic planning)
- Chairman of the People's Control Commission (government anti-corruption body)
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (since Russia didn't have its own communist party)​

(Credit to stormbringer for some of the information)

 

[Sejanus]

ALMANAC OF CPSU AND UNION SSR FIGURES

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Abulgaziyev, A.M. @DanMan , 48, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan (OKP) and Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities, CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through the Uzbek SSR.

Archangelsky, A.A. @Astra Myst , 44, First Secretary of the Moscow Party Committee (Mosgorkom) and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through Mosgorkom.

Ayushiev, V.D. @Altzek , 56, Minister of Culture, CC Member, rose up through the Ministry of Culture.​

Fedoro, L.V. @Magus Explorator , 39, Minister of Railways, CC Member, rose up through the Ministry of Railways.

Gerasimov, I.K. @Cloud Strife , 63, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the State Planning Committee (Gosplan), CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through Sovmin.​

Keskinin, A.L. @Blackgold211 , 46, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through the Central Committee.

Komarova, L.V. @Noco , 48, Chairman of the State Committee for the Introduction of New Technologies (Gostekhnika), CC Member, rose up through Gosplan.

Kozlov, I.S. @Fission Battery , 47, Chairman of the Board of the State Bank (Gosbank), CC Member, Presidium Candidate Member, rose up through the nomenklatura.​

Nabokovi, V.B. @DanBaque , 55, Minister of the Oil Industry, CC Member, rose up through the petroleum industry.

Orlynk, D.H. @Dadarian , 64, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through the UkSSR.

Pashukanis, V.E. @Lazer Raptor , 47, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through Sovnarkom.

Sausverd, U.Y. @Thiccroy , 47, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Latvia, CC Member, rose up through the LPK.

Semenyuk, P.P. @nachtingale , 40, Minister of Finance, CC Member, rose up through Narkomfin.

Seyitveliyev, S.S. @Karen , 66, Minister of State Security (MGB), CC Member, rose up through the Soviet Armed Forces.

Sokolov, F.P. @Namaroff , 47, Head of the Department of the CPSU Central Committee for Relations with Foreign Communist Parties, CC Member, Presidium Candidate Member, rose up through TASS.

Yazov, V.V. @Carol , 57, Chairman of the People's Control Commission, CC Member, Presidium Full Member, rose up through Lengorkom.

Yermontov, A.F. @Mrmastro , 34, First Secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee (Lengorkom), CC Member, rose up through Lengorkom.​

 

[Thiccroy]

"Kāds gudrs vīrs teica kādreiz, ka 'Mana Tauta ir Mans Zelts'. Šī ideja nav izdzisusi, tovarisch."

VALTERS SAUSVERDS
(Walter Sausverd)
13th of December, 1920
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic | Stalinist (Privately Marxist-"Leninist")
​

• Walter was born to a Red Latvian Rifleman and a Jewish mother. A passing tryst during the Red Army's occupation of Latgale during the Russian Civil War (Latvian War of Independence), Walter grew up with his uncle the brother of his father, due to his mother being unable to care for the child and wishing he had a better chance to earn an education and better life in Riga. There, fostering under his father, Walter graduated the 1st State Gymnasium in 1938. Then, just as he began his studies in the University of Latvia, Walter watched as his country was occupied by both the Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany, and once again the Soviet Union. Luckily evading the Deportations and the Holocaust through the help of his uncle, who worked both as an informant to the Czecha during the 1940 occupation and as a propaganda editor during the Nazi occupation. However, due to his work under the nazis, Walter's uncle was captured and after a meeting with him behind iron bars, he urged Walter to curse his uncle as a traitor to the Soviet Union so that Walter himself wouldn't have to suffer. Walter did, very reluctantly, before finally finishing his studies in the Latvian State University in 1949, earning a Doctorate in Agriculture. With this, he soon found the connections of his father who had long been in the LSDWP (Latvian Social-Democratic Worker's Party Pre-War) and embedded himself as an overseer of a large region of resource production in southern Latvia, Jelgava, specifically. Rising through the ranks through willpower, back-door dealings and quick thinking during the Second Red Terror to appease Stalin's demands for greater industry and greater produce of the fields, Walter begrudgingly recruited more and more volunteer workers, or rather immigrants, from throughout the USSR to help quotas. Finally, in 1957, he was noticed by the former First Secretary of the LSSR and was made his quote-en-quote aide-de-camps, before the man's own untimely death at the hands of a falsified conspiracy theory in line with the late Khruschev. Since then, as the new inheritor of First Secretary, up till the death of Stalin, Walter had kept his head down. Now, with the Red Star dead, Walter can't help but get giddy. This was change, finally. Finally, he might be able to do somethin without looking over his shoulder and abandoning his onw blood. His own people. His own little, sweet Latvia.​

 

[Carol]

​

Name: Yazov Vitomir Valeryevich
Date of Birth: 01 March 1901 (57)
Position: Chairman of the People's Control Commission
Faction: Stalinist
Background: Yazov Valeryevich was born a nonentity. His earliest memory is of seeing his father - a simple peasant - working on another man's farm in Bryansk oblast'. Through a family connection he got a job on the railways at the age of thirteen. Conditions there were harsh. It bred two types of men, either militant or acquiescent. Yazov was the latter. He was a "good boy" who knew the value of silence and honest work.

In the revolutionary years, like most of his colleagues, he fell in with the soviets. The leaders of the group to which he belonged were particularly loyal to the majority line of the CC. His nature lent itself to the quieter aspects of party work. It was there that he learnt to write and do his numbers properly. Each skill was further developed as he shuffled around Moscow, Stalingrad, Sverdlovsk and elsewhere. He never complained about the details of his assignments. In 1949, after the war in which he did organisational work at the Leningrad Military District, he became the first secretary of the Leningrad city (gorkom) and regional party committees. Later he joined the CPSU Presidium in 1952.

The higher Yazov rose, the more others commented: "Он - зеркало!" At the highest level, he had unquestioningly parroted Stalin's views. He was in favour of liquidating the Beria-Molotov-Mikoyan-Voroshilov axis in 1953. He did not shed a tear when Kaganovich departed in 1955. In the same year Yazov was elected chairman of the People's Control Commission. Bulganin, Malenkov and Khrushchev were the next to fall.

Yazov felt the tremors of his age. All his life he has been under the shadow of other men. When his greatest captain died, he asked himself a single question: "Who is next?"​

 

[Fission Battery]

​

Name: Igor Kozlov
Date of Birth: September 14, 1910 (48)
Position: Chairman of the Board of the State Bank of the USSR
Faction: Stalinist
Background: Kozlov was a boy when World War One broke out, barely able to understand the gravity of the situation. He only knew that a number of male relatives he would never know had been drafted. His father, Shura Kozlov, and older brothers worked long hours in a factory, labouring for little. Childhood was spent surrounded by Bolsheviks as his father hosted local meetings for party members. Kozlov truly grew up after the revolution, having only harsh memories of the tsarist regime.

He found he had a head for numbers, competent enough to go into university for an education in the field. A quiet reliable party member, he networked to move ahead in life while doing as little as possible to rock the boat. He found a comfortable position as a bureaucrat in the People's Commissariat for Finance once he was out of school. When the Hitlerites invaded, Kozlov was spared the draft because of his position. The party needed a paper pusher more than they did a soldier.

Kozlov continued to quietly climb the ranks, serving as secretaries for important men before taking over their jobs for them. The trend continued until after the new round of purges opened up the position of Chairman of Gosbank. An ever faithful and unassuming lackey of Stalin, he received the position in 1956. He contently fulfilled the duties of the office, remaining very still to avoid drawing any undue attention to himself. The news of Comrade Stalin's death was somewhat of a relief for Kozlov. The great shadow which had loomed over Kozlov's career was gone, granting the late Stalin dignity in death which he had denied himself in life.

 

[nachtingale]

​

Name: Pavel Pavlovych Semenyuk
Date of Birth: 7 November 1917 (40)
Position: Minister of Finance of the USSR
Faction: Hardline Stalinist (Privately Left-Communist)
Background: A poster child of the revolution, Pavel was born in German-occupied Kiev when the October Revolution first began the wave of revolutions which would sweep through the entire Russian Empire. His parents, hailing from one of the poorer districts of the city, would be enamored with the propagandists and speakers of the Bolsheviks, and he would often be taken to these rallies even as a babe, often joking that "I have been serving the revolution since I came out of the womb, by being a fantastic crier for the townsfolk."

The civil war would come and go quickly to the young babe, as he would grow up in blind faith of the Party that could do no wrong. His parents would manage to come out of the whole affair relatively unscathed, with his father joining the local Bolshevik party and seeing the young boy begin his slow rise through the ranks. Having never truly experienced the Tsarist regime, the young boy would grow up ever the optimist, only having ever seen the best that the revolution had to offer, as his squalid childhood house was now elevated to an actual apartment. "It even had a radiator, and it was then that my love for the revolution was solidified."

He would go on to follow his father's footsteps, joining the Komsomol and rapidly rising through the Bolshevik Party as a brilliant young orator for the communist cause and a political operator to boot, he would go on to study in the Leningrad State University and come out the other end with a degree in statistics as well, a practical and brilliant young man, all things considered.

Then, the Great Patriotic War happened.

The optimistic Ukrainian would take no time at all to clamor for his exemption from conscription to be rescinded, joining the Red Army with that ever intoxicating air of patriotism. "A most horrific lesson, one which opened my eyes to the world." as he would later write. The horrors of the Hitlerite invasion would harden the young man's heart, where he at least once held hope that the capitalist powers would oppose the monstrous German war machine, he now saw reaction, reaction everywhere. It was also here where he would begin to take a private interest in the readings of Gramsci and most importantly, Bordiga, forming his political views of the later years as a decided hardliner for the Soviet Regime, hoping to push it even further left than it currently was.

By the time of the great purges of the 50s, the Ukrainian would find himself now slowly ascending through the Ministry of Finance, having placed himself as Deputy Minister some months before his superior was unceremoniously dumped as part of the final purges of Stalin's reign, placing him as Minister of Finance right on the eve of Stalin's death. Upon learning of the Man of Steel's passing, he said as much,

"May the stalwart rest peacefully, for the revolution shall survive him yet."

 

[Cloud Strife]

Name: Ivan Konstantinovich Gerasimov
Date of Birth: April 6, 1895 (63)
Position: Chairman of the State Planning Committee
Faction: Stalinist

Background: Born into a family of upper middle class careerists, it did not take much for him to transfer his loyalties to the Bolsheviks before the Great War: having been passed over for a position in the Imperial Ministry of Railway Transport midwar. A technocrat by training, he survived the purges of the 1930s by dutifully assisting more ideologically motivated leaders that lacked a basic understanding of planning. At Stalin's direction he became a commissar, serving as one of his many intermediaries between him and his generals.

After his promotion to lieutenant general, he was elevated to the position Minister for Oil in the South and Western Regions in the waning days of the Great Patriotic War. This job more importantly came with Central Committee membership. As his peers began to be purged in the latter half of the 1940s he was content to support the younger generation of leaders, lest he expose himself to being eliminated as well.The purges meant by 1958 he could no longer avoid taking to frontline politics. There simply were not enough warm bodies to fill positions. Stalin named him Chairman of the State Planning Commission as one of his last acts in power.

 

[Astra Myst]

​

Name: Aleksei Aleksandrovich Archangelsky
Date of Birth: 01/18/1914 (44)
Positions: First Secretary of the Moscow Party Committee, Member and Secretary of the Central Committee, Candidate member of the Presidium
Faction: Stalinist

Background: Born in Minsk to a family of relatively well-to-do craftsmen with his father being a trade union organizer, the outbreak of the Great War meant only devastation, lives and material. Aleksei was not spared from this as he saw the marching of troops and disappearance of his family one by oone as they were conscripted, killed, or both. By the end of the war he, his mother, and his sister were living with a kind Jewish family that his father had become friends with from working with the Bund.

It was through them that he was exposed to left-wing ideals and is deeply grateful for their generosity towards him, regarding them as a second family. When the Revolution had begun his family was key in organising Bolshevik efforts for Minsk which won them much favour, with he himself joining the Komsomol in his youth. He attended Moscow State University and despite being a student of history, found great many friends in the faculty of literature. Upon graduation he was a natural fit working for the party within the Cultural-Education department, where he fell under the patronage of Aleksandr Shcherbakov, the head of the department, who he met before from his friend being a part of the Writers' Union.

He would quickly become a drinking buddy for his boss, though he would be the one who ultimately bring him to his feet and accompany him home due to the his superior's lack of moderation. When the outbreak of the war had began although he was not exempt from conscription his place in the Party meant that he was instead part of the Political Directorate in Moscow, many kilometres away from the frontline. His work in organising the many reports from the frontlines to his boss' front desk made him grew jaded as he read reports of utter desolation without end.

By Victory Day Aleksei had not celebrated like the others, he had found himself losing both his second family and his mentor while he himself remained. He continued to serve the Party, rising through the ranks of various positions until the latest round of purges meant that he now filled the position his mentor once did as head of the Moscow Party Committee.

 

[Mrmastro]

Name: Aleksei Fyodorovich Yermontov
Date of Birth: 23/11/1923 (35)
Position: First Secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee
Faction: Hardline Stalinist (Collegial-Idealist Faction)
Background:

Born to parents of bourgeois descent, his father being a minor factory owner in St. Petersburg, Aleksei had to contend from his early years for the acceptance of the proletariat. The acumen that his father had in bussiness paid off in the political sphere: quickly sensing danger during the revolution of 1917, he agreed to socialize his factory when the workers demanded it and became a firm advocate of Revolutionary Socialism, joining the Socialist Revolutionary Party. After the Bolshevik takeover he switched sides again, joining the All-Russian Communist Party. Making himself a firm believer in the ideals of Lenin, he send his only child Aleksei to a party school as to show his loyalty to the cause and shield his progeny from political repression.

The youth of Aleksei was a time of communist fervor and enlightement. Clearly separated from his bourgeois, counter-revolutionary past he finally found solace in the great works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky and of course, Stalin, the Sun of Nations. Being a prime example of a perfect homo sovieticus, the new man of the socialist future, born after it's first advances he quickly saw promotion in the party's local structures, first becoming a instructor in the Leningrad school of Marxism-Leninism, and later joining the Leningrad municipal government, sharing his post there with his function of party secretary (one of many) in the local communist chapter.

Hitlerite treachery was a suprise to many, but not Aleksei. Well-educated in the communist doctrine, he foresaw the imperialist invasion, ready to repel it. Already a well-known and liked young man, he quickly indulged in preparing the populace of the city for war. During the dramatic siege he hungered with the rest of his fellow soldiers, taking care of supplies and approvisation as a commisar. For his merits the Generalissimus himself awarded him with the Order of Lenin, a day that Aleksei will remember forever, with the smallest detail.

After the war Aleksei commanded respect in the city as one of it's heroes. His war-achievements brought him glory that only a war hero can know. Slowly he crawled into the inner circle of the Party's Leningrad secretariat, slowly enough to not be purged duing the devastating Leningrad affair, when many of his comrades suffered for their anti-socialist thoughts and actions. This event opened the doors of the inner circle for him. The next few years he served dutifully in the secretariat as a career bureacrat.

With Malenkov purged in the fatefull year of 1957, the First Secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee had gone with him. Aleksei Fyodorovich was the obvious choice for his replacament, known and loyal acolade of Stalin he was. Now, with the Sun of the Union gone too, the new First Secretary of Leningrad pledges to guard his legacy, firmly believing in the cause like never before.

The line and thought of Stalin has to be upheld and more dutifully complied with, but no one can take his place singulary: there was just one person like Him.​

 

[Dadarian]

Orlynk looking lost overseeing the Communist Party of Ukraine; 1958
​

Name: Dmytro Hryhoryvych Orlynk
Birthdate and age: 13 April, 1894 (64)
Position: First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Faction: Almost a Stalinist
Background: Born to an unnamed village in the middle of nowhere, Orlynk's family moved to Lubny for work during his youth. Working in the cotton mills since the age of 10, Orlynk was an early member of the Ukrainian Communist community, having ties to movements as early as 1905. He was conscripted in 1914 to fight the German invader, of which he did quite unwillingly, as he had no interest in the war as a whole. Expressing Nationalist-Communist views, he deserted the Imperial Army to fight with the Ukrainian Red Army, then broke away again to fight with the Borotbists in 1918. When the Borotbists were reannexed into the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party in 1920, Orlynk followed Hyrnko (leader of the Borotbists) into the Communist Party of the Ukraine. Over the years, Orlynk gained many connections to Ukrainian communists and former Borotbist members.

Serving dutifully in various positions within the various politburos, Orlynk's connections to Hyrnko would serve quite nicely, bringing him many favours from Moscow. However everything would change when Stalin decided that former Borotbists were counter-revolutionaries needing to be purged in 1933. This would result in the next decade being utter chaos. As the Ukrainisation issue grew into one worthy of being purged, Orlynk's past tied him to many former nationalists. This led the little weasel to do a couple things. The first would be his evolution into a consummate Communist, dutifully serving the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic with patriotic fervour. The next was, when it became apparent that Stalin was about to axe him, was to gleefully sell out Hyrnko alongside a small army of other Ukrainian communists to save his own skin. Thankfully for him, it worked (or the death order was misplaced) as he survived to see many of his former comrades-in-arms buried.

He lost his political position and much of his influence during the purges, reduced to actual secretariat work at ceremonial positions in the Ukrainian government. Indeed, he most likely would have died with a penance of a pension or purged were it not for the Great Patriotic War. Renouncing his position and joining as a political officer (a position he served during the Revolution), he served continuously from the start of the war to the end, inspiring soldiers (via his pistol) to not take one step back. He was awarded the Order of Lenin for holding a key position in Stalingrad for 83 days until he was relieved by Red Army reinforcements.

Following his actions, and a chance meeting with Stalin in Moscow during his award of the Order (of which the man had no memory of Orlynk), Orlynk was unintentionally rehabilitated by Stalin. Putting on a facade of pure Stalinism, Orlynk acted as an attack dog for Stalin in the Politburo until Stalin saw fit to put him in the Orgburo, citing his previous experience in the Ukraine. This included a juicy placement on the Presidium, where Orlynk often took naps in between sessions. When the Orgburo was disband in 1952, he was appointed (rumoured by accident due to a misspelling) as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. There he stayed until Stalin's death, leaving Orlynk without an idea what to do, or how to stay alive. There was also an election for the next ruler of the Soviet Union, so that's a thing too.

Positions held:
Soldier (Private) in the Imperial Army, 1914 -- 1917
Soldier (Private) in the Ukrainian Red Army, 1917 -- 1918
Soldier (Private) in the Ukrainian Red Army - Borotbist, 1918
Soldier (Commissar) in the Ukrainian Red Army - Borotbist, 1918 -- 1920
Standing Member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1920 -- 1925
Member of the Fourth Party Congress, 1920
Member of the Fifth Party Congress, 1921
Member of the Sixth Party Congress, 1923
Member of the Seventh Party Congress, 1924
Member of the Eighth Party Congress, 1925
Member for the Kyev Oblast in the Congress of the Soviets of the Soviet Union, 1925 -- 1931
Standing Member of the Organisational Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukraine, 1932 -- 1933
First Secretary for the Minister of Transport of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1933 -- 1936
Second Secretary for the Minister of Rivers and Dams of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 1936 -- 1937
Second Undersecretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine - Poltava Oblast, 1937 -- 1941
Soldier (Commissar) in the Red Army, 1941 -- 1945
Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1945 -- Present
Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, 1945 -- 1947
Standing Member of the Organisational Bureau of the Central Committee of the Community Party of the Soviet Union, 1947 -- 1952
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine , 1952 -- Present
Member of the Presidium, 1947 - Present

 

[Lazer Raptor]

Name: Vasily Pashukanis
Date of Birth: May 21st, 1910 (48 years old)
Position: Minister of Defense
Faction: Lenin banned factions! (Stalinist)

Born to a Lithuanian father and a Russian mother to a working class family in Moscow, Vasily Pashukanis studied as an engineer at the Institute of Military Mechanical Engineering, joined the Communist in 1930, and was assigned to the "Krasnyye Barrikady" weapons factory in Stalingrad after graduation. During the Great Patriotic War, he was placed in charge of the People's Commissariat of Munitions, where he worked tirelessly to address the shell shortage and improve the production of shells, for which he received the Hero of Socialist Labor. After the Great Patriotic War, Pashukanis, favored by Stalin for his mix of unambitious loyalty and professionalism, was assigned as Deputy Minister of Armaments, where he worked under Minister Ustinov. Continued purges saw this quiet and dutiful man ascend to Minister of Armaments in 1953, and Minister of Defense in 1956, despite having never held a military post.

Pashukanis has borne Stalin's death with his typical quiet stoicism, and few can discern if anything beyond the nitty gritty of military procurement interests him. Even when drinking with colleagues he is inoffensive and soft spoken, but he is also known for his workaholic tendencies, and some Praesidium members believe there is more to him than dry recitations of a 10% increase in shell production at the Kharkov plant in cabinet meetings.

 

[Altzek]

​

Name: Valery Dayanovich Ayushiev
Date of Birth: May 23th, 1900 (57)
Position: Minister of Culture of the USSR
Faction: Stalinist, privately close to the crypto-Leftists.
Background: Born in Verkhneudinsk (modern-day Ulan-Ude) to a Buryat father and a Russian mother. Valery knew only a comfortable poverty in his youth, alternating between school and his job in a local tannery until the beginning of the civil war in Russia. At that point Valery joined the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and enrolled in the new Red Guards that took over the city and instituted Soviet power, soon joined by his father Dayan (a veteran of the 1905 movement in Chita) returning from the Western Front. The arrival of the Japanese in Verkhneudinsk prompted father and son to leave the city in order to join the partisan detachments that, in February 1920, would reconquer the city with the assistance of the Red Army. This move proved to be a faux pas on the part of Dayan, who would lose his life in a failed assault on Japanese around the city in October 1919. In the end, it wouldn't be armed struggle to evict the Japanese from Verkhneudinsk, but negotiations, which allowed the foreigners to leave in safety while Soviet power was reorganized in the city in March 1920.
Eventually he demobilized to join the Oriental College in Vladivostok (then part of the short-lived Far Eastern Republic), but by then the damage had been done and the Left ideology stuck with him. He would join the Komsomol during his studies, rampage throughout Siberia after his graduation as he led hordes of Buryat, Altai and Tuvan youth against the monasteries, move to Moscow in 1927 to 'upgrade' his status to that of a full-fledged party member, pursue a degree in journalism and, interestingly enough, acquaint himself with esoterists such as Gleb Bokii and Alexander Barchenko (who he would abandon just in time to avoid being purged with them in the late '30s) and futurist authors such as Vladimir Mayakovsky and Sergei Eiseinstein, men whose values would leave an impression in him. In Moscow he would find employment as a journalist for the Izvestia and meet and marry his wife Sofia.

The brief but intense wartime period would see him first commissariate a number of Red Army formations and then, towards the end of the war, find employment in the Ministry of Culture, where he collaborated to the production of propaganda reels for the war effort.
After the war, more climbing the ranks of the Izvestia's direction, narrowly managing to save his wife from a purge following accusations of participation to a Zionist plot for the creation of a Jewish state in Crimea, and employment in the Ministry of Culture whose ranks he would climb far more due to the purging of other individuals than from real administrative or creative skills of his own.

He would force himself just enough tears to be counted on two hands at Stalin's funeral, then he returned to his post as Minister of Culture following his death.

Valery Dayanovich is thoroghly disillusioned with the state of the union. Years of studies of Marx, Engels and Lenin brought him to many conclusions regarding the Party, the cultural and artistic direction of the Union, its historic state, the class and even anthropological nature of the New Soviet Man that would warrant an execution if spoken loud, but for the time being he keeps his mouth shut and bitterly swallows the authorization of this year's third socialist realist movie.

 

[Karen]

​

Name: Seyitnafe Seyitveliyev (cyrillization: Стефан Степанович)
Date of Birth: 9 December 1891 (67)
Position: Minister of State Security
Faction: Apolitical
Background: A scion of a peasant family from Leninabad, Seyitveliyev rose from relative obscurity to prominence as a capable (non-commissioned) officer in the ranks of the Turkestan Red Army, later joining an all-Tatar cavalry unit for the duration of the Russian Civil War. While escaping the mind-shattering war against the Central Powers, the young dragoon led multiple charges during the Battle of Tsaritsyn, fought frequent skirmishes against the Don Volunteers, the Orenburg Cossacks and assisted in the pacification of rebellious peasant armies in western Siberia, cited for his action in defeating the Khivan-based Basmachi rebels during the latter half of the Civil War. Taking the interbellum to enter Mixed Technical School No. 105 (Turkestan SSR), graduating with honours as an Army engineer before moving to Kazan to study in the military academy, graduating with high marks.

While spending a brief stint in a correctional facility in Magnitogorsk, it seems to save his life, Seyitnafe gave up the last vestiges of his Tatar lineage- his name- in order to escape the first wave of army purges, and as one of the few senior officers considered trusted by Voroshilov, found himself commanding a regiment at the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa. From the retreat out of the Ukrainian SSR during the opening stages until Stalingrad, he commanded his regiment (later being promoted to General of Division due to a critical general shortage in preparation for Soviet counter-offensive operations) and gained the fortune of meeting a charming visiting bureaucrat by the name of Khruschev in the latter days of Operation Uranus, where his 73rd Mixed Guards Rifle Division (motorised) secured Suvorovsky during the German attempt at a breakout. The escape from the noose had turned into a burning firestorm as the relentless pursuit nearly burned the 73rd into oblivion as they pushed through liberated Ukraine, Poland and into Germany.

His post-war career has been less than stellar, due to political affiliations, now-General Seyitveliyev spent the better part of the post-war years commanding all Soviet forces in Austria, including being deployed to assist in the suppression of anti-proletarian agencies in East Germany and later Hungary, where the 5th Guards Tank Division (mechanised) secured the Budapest Police Barracks no. 2 (Géza Pap) from rabid fascist protestors seeking to turn the weapons of liberation into the weapons of oppression. This was considered as mostly out of protocol as in 1953 "Стефан Степанович" replaced Minister Ignatiev during the 1953 purge of general conspirators, ascending to the post as part of Stalin's last slew of appointments. Emerging from the shadow of his various associations relatively unscathed and seemingly having buried his identity in the favour of pure Sovietisation, Marshal Степанович's election to the post was, predictably, unanimous, for who better than a man of the Army to reign the impossibly byzantine intel-security networks of the USSR in check?

curriculum vitae

• Entered the Turkestan Red Army, January 1918
• Elected Captain of the 1st Turkestan Cavalry Company, July 1918
• Promoted to Major by [ NAME RESCINDED ] during actions around Orsk, October 1918
• Commendation received and awarded first Order of the Red Banner, December 1922
• Resigned commission, January 1923
• Entered Mixed Technical School No. 105, August 1925
• Citation received and awarded first Order of Lenin, July 1926
• Graduated with honours for Military and Civil Engineering, September 1927
• Citation received and awarded second Order of Lenin, October 1927
• Entered Kazan Military Academy post-sabbatical, July 1929
• Citation received and awarded third Order of Lenin, 1929
• Graduated, commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel, Crimean Military District, January 1931
• Stripped of all honours and commission due to allegations of conspiracy under [ NAME RESCINDED ], May 1933
• Reinstated as Colonel of the 21st Crimean Rifle Regiment, December 1939
• Commendation received and awarded second Order of the Red Banner, January 1940
• Promoted to General of Division, commanding the 73rd Mixed Guards Rifle Division (motorised) in actions in during Ukraine redeployments, September 1941
• Commendation received and awarded third Order of the Red Banner, December 1941
• Citation received and awarded fourth Order of Lenin, March 1942
• Assigned with division to the 65th Army, October 1942
• Participated in Operation Uranus, November 1942
• Division and person cited, recipient of Order of Suvorov, Order of Kutuzov and fourth Order of the Red Banner, December 1942
• Participated in Operation Little Saturn, December 1942
• Commendation received and awarded fifth Order of the Red Banner
• Continued service in the Southwestern Offensive, January 1943
• Promoted to command of 6th Army, Southwestern Front, after death of Gen. [ NAME RESCINDED ], May 1943
• Named Marshal of the Soviet Union due to operations in Lower Silesia, 1944
• Moved to command of 13th Army, Ukrainian Front, June 1944
• Commanded armoured forces directly in Battle of Seelow Heights, March 1945
• Recipient of Hero of the Soviet Union, May 1945
• Moved to command of Carpathian Military District, August 1945
• Moved to command of Western Army Group of Forces in Austria (WGFA), January 1946
• Stripped of all commands under citation of illness for sabbatical, April 1953
• Restored with full honours, including fifth Order of Lenin, named Minister of State Security, May 1953
• Dispatched in command of the 5th Guards Tank Division to East Germany, June 1953
• Appointed provisional commander of the Crimean Military District, August 1953
• Returned to Moscow and assumed full duties of Ministry, November 1953
• Assigned civil command of all security forces in the Moscow Area, December 1953
• Previous posting revoked, named General in reserve, January 1954
• Dispatched to Budapest, June 1956
• Returned from Budapest, January 1957
• Assumed full duties of Ministry, January 1957

 

[Namaroff]

​

Name: Fyodor Sokolov
Date of Birth: March 2, 1911 (46)
Position: Head of the International Department of the Central Committee
Faction: Moderate
Background:
Following the end of the careers of Suslov and Brezhnev in '53 as part of Stalin's final purge, openings emerged for ministers of information from the propaganda departments of the CPSU SSR and ASR branches to rise to the information and international departments of the all-union party in Moscow. Therein stepped Sokolov. Born in (then Tsaritsyn) Stalingrad to university academics, he came up into the party through the Youth League and did his military service in the Frontier Border Guards on the border with Turkey in the Caucasus. Back home he applied himself to his education in journalism and his job as an editor for TASS, neglecting the growth of his potential in the Party until Operation Barbarossa.

Upon the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, being part of TASS on what became the front lines of the invasion was the meatgrinder of agitprop work, devoid of the theoretical work done by party agitprop offices. Sokolov saw first hand how high ranking party members micromanaged TASS as much as the Red Army during the Battle (after the city had been renamed Stalingrad). After the war he married the sister of his childhood sweetheart, who has died during the Siege. He was dispatched to Belarus with his family, first to get BelTA back in running as its director and then as head of the agitprop department of the branch party there.

Before the 53 purge he was eyeing a triumphant return home to become director of TASS, but The Boss tapped him over career diplomats to run the international department. There he enthusiastically applied himself to neglecting his wife and children and pouring himself over the wires, radio waves, post, trains and airplanes to personally squeeze whatever The Boss wanted from the communist parties across the globe. He had his first heart attack, was advised to quit smoking, went back to smoking, and developed a permanent slouch from overwork and malnutrition. In short, he survived the Late Stalin Years perfectly.

Now with the Boss dead, rather than tend to his family and health and see his career fall down the toilet, he could instead apply his efforts to his own pragmatic realpolitik vision of how best to achieve the USSR's cynical self-interest worldwide.

 

[Noco]

Lazar Vasilyevich Komarova​

Date of Birth: 03 February 1910 (48)
Position: Chairman of the State Committee for the Introduction of New Technologies
Faction: Technocratic Communism
Background: Born in Omsk during its occupation by White forces, Lazar Komarova has vivid memories of the Bolshevik entry into his hometown. His parents, an educated doctor and a rural peasant, were sympathetic to the Revolution and in his time helping in the medical camps, Komarova grew enamored by the spirit of Communism. As a young man, Komarova excelled in his studies and successfully enrolled in the new Siberian Institute of National Economy. Fascinated by both concepts of economic management and proficient in mathematics, Komarova was forwarded to work in the Economic-Statistical Sector of the State Planning Committee.

Skilled at his career, Komarova nevertheless found the work unfulfilling and pursued higher studies in the field of mathematics. In Leningrad, Komarova studied at the Institute of Physics and Mathematics while being active in its student scientific circles. In 1939, however, the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War necessitated the transfer of Komarova to military service. Far flung from frontline service, Komarova was pushed to enroll in the High Artillery School in Leningrad and quickly became a trusted mind behind the military application of physics. Primarily working on anti-aircraft firing patterns and practical invention, Komarova effectively served the war effort as a scientist and engineer. Following the end of the war, Komarova briefly taught courses at the prestigious Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy.

At this time, however, Komarova discovered his true love: emergent computational technologies. Having been the first user of the Soviet "Strela" computer, Komarova was immediately convinced of a future governed by thinking machines that could simplify and enrich the pursuits of Mankind. Pioneering a Department of Mathematical Machines at the Artillery Academy, Komarova led a series of informatics seminars and published computational papers amidst the backdrop of Stalin's paranoid purging. Warned off by his more politically-minded colleagues, Komarova's sincere and open support for a cybernization of the Soviet economy, bureaucracy, and society left him a clear target. And yet, he avoided persecution time and time again, and indeed benefitted from Stalin's removal of the old guard.

In 1955, an aged Stalin presented Lazar V. Komarova with an award for a patent issued during the Great Patriotic War, an anti-aircraft design credited with helping shield the Motherland. Having got along decently, they again met when Komarova was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour, amid other weapons designers. That same year in 1956, Komarova was named Chairman of the State Committee for the Introduction of New Technologies, affording him legitimate sway in the field of science. Nevertheless, his tenure has remained controversial owing to his clear support for theoretical and experimental, as well as his desire to radically reform the structure of Soviet management. While an avowed supporter of the Party line, Komarova is evidently in favor of a system of the future, one not yet coined nor truly realized.

 

[DanBaque]

Vladimir Nabokovi - Minister of Oil

Devoted to the cause of Stalin and Socialism, young Nabokovi served in the sovietization campaigns in the Caucasus at the age of 17. There he learned the local languages and was posted for several years on the outside of Baku's oil refining plants, before being demobilised and promptly hired by that same plant.

His promotions there were hardly meteoric, but he nonetheless he learnt and toiled, before shining during the shock industrialization campaigns as a minor manager. Productivity improved by 300% in merely a few months, a testament mainly to his secretary's forging skills. This was parlayed into an initially unfortunate relocation to Vladivostok, where he was able to hide from the worst of the Great Purge.

The war did not pass him by, being returned to Baku and only avoiding frontline fighting through luck, though he would have been willing. Even so he sickened due to lacking hygiene and his lungs have never recovered. After the war ended, he spent a short period reorganising the oil industry in Manchuria for the Chinese, and there weaseled from the second purge.

Afterwards, as one of the most senior and experienced oilmen left in the country, he was recruited by the bureaucracy and just two years ago arrived to the position of Minister after the much-deserved execution of the traitor duo. He remains as devoted to socialism as ever, but who knows what brutal ambition may lie in his heart.

 

[Sejanus]

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, 1953 - 1958

Disclaimer: Anything posted or discussed below is based on historical and/or alternate history events. My posting of these does not constitute an agreement with these events, and I strictly condemn any violence or targeted oppression of peoples.

1953

1 March - J.V. Stalin suffers a stroke but is attended to by physicians in the crucial aftermath; he manages to survive, but suffers partial paralysis and several other health complications.

March to July - The downfall of L.P. Beria occurs: Beria and his "Georgian Mafia" are targeted by Stalin. Interrogations of Beria and associates is overseen by S.S. Seyitveliyev. Ignatyev is also succeeded by Seyitveliyev, with the former being dismissed and also brought up on charges related to masterminding the "Doctor's Plot".

June - The "Volksaufstand" occurs in East Germany. Stalin uses this opportunity to lay blame on Beria, but also levels criticism on figures such as Molotov and Mikoyan.

27 July - The Korean Armistice Agreement is agreed upon, with Stalin's focus shifted specifically on rooting out internal enemies. The failures of the war are leveled against Molotov, who is subsequently dismissed for "sabotage and collusion". Dmitri Shepilov succeeds him as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

August to December - Molotov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan, Budyonny, Vyshinsky, and several associates are also brought up on counter-revolutionary charges, and of conspiring with Western powers to assassinate J.V. Stalin; confessions by Ignatyev support these accusations. All are executed after trials.
All other events as per OTL.

1954

The reverberations of the Doctor's Plot and the growing 'Second Great Purge' continue: thousands are brought up on charges, including affiliation with the Western-backed counter-revolutionary front that had been headed by figures such as Molotov, Voroshilov, Mikoyan, etc.

14 to 25 February - The XXth Party Congress of the CPSU is held and solidifies Stalin's continued hold over the party and state: figures like Malenkov and Khrushchev survive in their roles, and younger figures like Aristov, Kuzmin, Ponomarenko and Suslov rise to the forefront, a newer generation of leaders.

All other events as per OTL.

1955

Relations between the USSR and the PRC continue to deteriorate as Stalin grows to view Mao as a rival for power in the Communist world; this is further worsened by the Chinese interpretation of Soviet economic principles, and the PRC's growing demands for further economic support.

14 May - The Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) is formed as a counterweight to the West's NATO alliance. It is championed and supported by key surviving magnates such as Malenkov.

All other events as per OTL.

1956

12 March 1956 - Bolesław Bierut passes away, he is succeeded by hardliner Aleksander Zawadzki. Without Bierut's subtle protection, Gomułka is purged.

June 1956 - Poznań June takes place. Riots against the People's Republic of Poland erupt, beginning over protests over working conditions and emboldened by Bierut's death. With Stalin's backing, Zawadzki moves to ruthlessly crush the protests and restore order.

October to November - Inspired by rumours of events in Poland, and Rakosi's continued hardliner stance, protests and uprisings erupt in Hungary. Once again, with Stalin's backing, Rakosi moves to brutally suppress these events. He nonetheless is forced to symbolically "give up" some power by stepping down as Chairman of the Council of Ministers in favour of Ernő Gerő.

November - Eisenhower is re-elected President of the United States.

December - A review of these events and disturbances in Eastern Europe leads to a review of the Soviet Armed Forces; there are fears of another purge, however Stalin opts to demote and exile several senior figures instead, cementing his authority once more. Zhukov is relegated to the role of Director of the Kharkov Guards Higher Tank Command School.

All other events as per OTL.

1957

January to March - Stalin suffers several health issues: another stroke, and a severe bout of pneumonia leaves him physically and mentally weakened, and government decision-making grinds to a halt, with the Presidium Bureau agreeing to "continue consulting Cde. Stalin on all pertinent matters".

August - Stalin suffers another bout of pneumonia and is a bedridden in hospital once more: Malenkov and Khrushchev, arguably the last surviving magnates from the Second World War era, take the decision to make decisions without consulting the barely conscious Stalin. Although their decision is condemned in discussion of the Presidium Bureau, there is no official condemnation given.

4 October - Sputnik 1 is launched.

7 November - Sputnik 2 is launched.

16-26 November - Stalin begins to recover once more, and receives visitors. Once Aristov and Suslov report the actions of Malenkov and Khrushchev, they are officially shunned; they are no longer allowed to visit Stalin in hospital, and at a meeting of the Presidium Bureau held in Stalin's absence they are ritualistically condemned by the other members.

27 November - Malenkov resigns his posts and begs to see Stalin, pleading forgiveness. He is refused access to Stalin.

7 December - Khrushchev is ritualistically condemned at a plenum of the Central Committee. He also offers his resignation at the end of the session.

December - Khrushchev and Malenkov are arrested. Aristov delivers a report to the Presidium detailing their conspiracy to murder Cde. Stalin and usurp state power, and their involvement with Western-aligned groups that had previously supported the Molotov-Mikoyan axis. A trial is held and both men are summarily shot.​

All other events as per OTL.

1958
January to February - Several nuclear tests take place.

February - Stalin suffers a severe stroke, he is moved to a permanent suite at the Kremlin Hospital; in the few times he is conscious he delegates much of the Party's work to Semichastny and Suslov; business in the Council of Ministers is given to Kuzmin and Tikhonov.

March - Stalin - in a rare state of lucidity - participates in planning for his eightieth birthday, which is set to be a lavish affair. He also officially condemns Mao's growing revisionism in a statement in Pravda, further worsening relations between the two states.

April - Suslov is stripped of his role as a Secretary of the Central Committee, and returned to the Ideology Department of the Central Committee. Party work is redistributed to the Secretariat as a whole. Tensions build in the Presidium Bureau, with Aristov, Kuzmin and Semichastny forming a bloc against Ponomarenko, Suslov and Tikhonov.

2 May - Stalin's pneumonia returns, he enters a coma.

3 May - Doctor's deliver the prognosis in private to the Presidium Bureau that Stalin will likely not awake from this coma. The Presidium Bureau agrees to sit on the information further.

8 May - Stalin passes away; the Presidium Bureau informs the members of the CC Presidium and calls for an emergency session of the entire Presidium body on 9 May to discuss the way forward.​

All other events as per OTL up until 9 May.

---

ALMANAC OF KEY FIGURES IN THE EASTERN BLOC, C. 1958

Union SSR

Leadership Unconfirmed.

German Democratic Republic (GDR)

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED: Walter Ulbricht
President of the Republic: Wilhelm Pieck
Minister-President: Otto Grotewohl

Polish People's Republic

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR: Aleksander Zawadzki
Chairman of the Council of State: Aleksander Zawadzki
Prime Minister: Hilary Minc

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the KSC: Antonín Novotný
President: Antonín Novotný
Prime Minister: Viliam Široký

Hungarian People's Republic

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the MDP: Mátyás Rákosi
Chairman of the Presidential Council: István Dobi
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Ernő Gerő

Socialist Republic of Romania

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PCR: Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly: Ion Gheorghe Maurer
President of the Council of Ministers: Chivu Stoica

People's Republic of Bulgaria

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the BKP: Valko Chervenkov
Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly: Dimitar Ganev
Chairman of the Council of Ministers: Valko Chervenkov

People's Socialist Republic of Albania

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PLA: Enver Hoxha
Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly: Haxhi Lleshi
Prime Minister: Mehmet Shehu

 

[Blackgold211]

Aron L'vovich Keskinin​

Date of Birth: 27 October 1911 (47)
Position: Secretary in the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Faction: Hardline Stalinist (In reality, an Apolitical Toady)
Background:
Born in the Grand Duchy of Finland in the city of Viipuri to Russian-Jewish and Finnish parentage, workers both, social democratic sympathies had run deep in the family. Aron's earliest memories are that of a peaceful one, far away from the chaos and shortages of the Great War, that illusion was shattered with the Battle of Viipuri, his father volunteering as a militiaman and his mother fleeing to St Petersburg. Though it was a close-run thing, both he and his parents survived due to the pity of a well connected party member; he would not see his father for three years, an experience that would leave a deep impression.

Growing up in Leningrad, worked hard throughout his primary education, joining Komsomol and volunteering for the Komsomol literacy campaign Keskinin spent his youth playing up his communist credentials and connecting to current and potential future party members. Returning to his education in 1932, Keskenin would study political history, focusing on contemporary French politics, reasoning that the degree would be obscure enough to secure both a living and a role away from any danger. Accepting a job from the Central Committee working in the French ambassadorial staff as a way into the party and secure his living, Keskinin would quickly get more than he would bargain for. With the eve of the Great Purge, Keskinin was rapidly elevated to ambassador to France by impromptu promotion, saving his own skin by linking himself into Zhdanov's patronage networks.

Keskinin would spend the majority of the Great Patriotic War, in Paris, London and then Algiers, serving as the mostly symbolic ambassador to the Free French government and attending various conferences as one of many soviet delegates. Finishing the war with a decent amount of diplomatic experience, Keskinin was elevated to the Collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a Finnish Jew Keskinin was not the most popular of people in the Russian dominated bureaucracy holding onto power, and life, with the support of his Zhdanovite patronage network, which would quickly fall to pieces with his death.

With no powerbase of his own, not that it would have done him much good, and implicated in both the Doctor's Plot and Leningrad Affair, Keskinin shielded himself by being so obviously powerless and rapidly throwing his erstwhile colleagues under the bus. Reliant completely on Stalin's good will, Keskinin's usefulness as a disposable and blackmailable asset kept him his life. Transferred out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and into a rapid number of different positions, most notably a short stint as the First Secretary of the Karelo-Finnish SSR, before finally ending up as a Secretary in the Central Committee as Stalin's puppet in 1952, staying there due to Stalin's worsening health and eventual death six years later. Though unpopular in the party Keskinin's long(ish) tenure as a Secretary of the CPSU has not left him without connections and while the crown is be beyond his reach, the role of kingmaker is certainly within his grasp.

 

[DanMan]

Name: Abdulaziz Muhammadovich Abulgaziyev
Date of Birth: 18 December 1909
Faction: Stalinist (privately reformist)
Background: Abdulaziz Abulgaziyev was born in the then Khanate of Khiva to a Uzbek father and Karakalpak mother. His early years would see the chaotic Khivan Revolution which culminated in the Khanate's conquest by the Bolsheviks. He would enroll in Tashkent State University and graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1932. It was during his time in university that Abulgaziyev would join the Communist Party. After university, he would found work at a munitions factory in Tashkent as an engineer and his membership in the Communist Party would help him rise to managing the entire plant by 1937. That year, of course, was the height of the Great Purge, which saw a great number of positions open up for a new wave of Communist officials across the Soviet Union with Uzbekistan being no exception. Abulgaziyev would be appointed deputy Secretary of Industry of the Tashkent party committee in 1938 and would himself become the head of that department in 1940.

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the evacuation of Soviet industry across the Urals would see a great many factories relocated to Tashkent. As such, the overview of his department within the Tashkent Communist Party would be great expanded as a result. He would be promoted to Secretary of Industry of the Uzbek Communist Party in 1944 and would serve in that position for the rest of the war. In 1946, he would be nominated as an Uzbek Deputy to the Soviet of Nationalities, a position which he holds to this day. In the same year, Abulgaziyev would become First Secretary of the Tashkent party committee and over the next few years created a personal powerbase within the city. 1950 would see Abulgaziyev become a member of the Central Committee as one of the few Uzbek representatives in that body. The Second Terror would see a new slew of promotions for Abulgaziyev as the old Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities would be killed and he would take the place of the USSR's upper house's figurehead leader. Then the First Secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party would be purged a for a failure to meet cotton quotas and replaced by Abulgaziyev. Lastly, he would be one of the final Presidium members appointed by Stalin after the body was purged of the "Malenkov-Khrushchev clique."

Positions: First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan
Member of the Central Committee
Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities

 

[Magus Explorator]

Name: Ludmil Fedoro
Date of Birth: 07 October 1917 (40)
Position: Minister of Railways of the USSR
Faction: Stalinist (In secret, very sympathetic to Titoism)

Background: Ludmil was born into a family rooted in the industrial pulse of Vyatka (now Kirov). His parents, initially skeptical of the revolution, witnessed the Soviet regime's transformative impact on their lives—from the completion of the trans-Siberian railway to the ambitious five-year plan. Notably, Ludmil's father, Vladimir Fedoro, played a pivotal role in establishing the city's inaugural public transport system.

At the age of 20, Ludmil secured entry into Moscow State University, propelled by the support of the local communist party, foreseeing a bright future for him. Despite facing the prerequisite of a dual major in engineering and logistics imposed by the local party office, Ludmil navigated through these academic challenges. His journey took a turn when, with a sense of duty to his motherland, he enlisted in the Great Patriotic War, showcasing his skills by efficiently managing logistics for a detachment of the Main Rear of the Soviet army.

While his role lacked the spotlight, Ludmil embraced it with enthusiasm, swiftly ascending the ranks of the Soviet Logistical arms.

Post-war, he returned to his oblast, entrusted with overseeing the railways and their "future" expansions. From this entry-level political position, Ludmil steadily climbed the political ladder, reaching a pinnacle in the mid-'56 when he assumed the role of Minister of Railways following the sudden demise of his predecessor due to stomach ulcerations.

Upon learning of the Vozhd's passing, Ludmil experienced a mix of deep sadness for the man who elevated Russia into its current juggernaut status and a sense of relief for having lived through the tumultuous journey.

 

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Name: Ivan Orlovich

Date of Birth: Oct 3rd, 1919

Position: Minister of Foreign Affairs

Faction: Stalinist (Reformist)

Background: Ivan Orlovich was born in the waning days of the war far off to the east of the Russian Empire in Vladivostok. His childhood was rather mundane considering the circumstances, but his father managed to achieve a mid-level job as a Beuracrat for the Party. This allowed Ivan a bit more opportunities when it came to living conditions and education, and in 1941, months before Barbarossa, Ivan would earn a position as a minor secretary to the Soviet Embassy in Australia.

From here, Ivan's career both catapaulted upwards. Due to a mixture of luck, hard work, and sympathetic superiors saw Ivan quickly rise up the ranks of the Embassy staff and the Ministry of Foreign affairs as a whole. By 1948, he had secured a role as an ambassador. The reason for Ivan's rise was mainly for the reason that the man was incredibly likable, polite, and sincere. He had the spelling eyes of an idealist, but proudly worked within the Party lines to get results.

Ivan would spend the next five years working diligently as a representative of the Soviet Union, earning the nickname 'Friendly Red' in diplomatic circles and consistently showed success in his role as a Soviet ambassador. It was a mix of his competency, relative inexperience, and 'a naïve fool' that resulted in Ivan suddenly being called back to Moscow to act as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1953 when Molotov was purged, and in '54 Ivan's superior suddenly suffered a heart attack and died. This, Ivan found himself rubbing shoulders with some of the most influential and powerful people within the Soviet Union, including Stalin himself.

Ivan's time as Minister under Stalin were... difficult to say the least. Amazingly, he and Stalin got along quite well in private, but on matters of policy Ivan found himself little more than an extension of Stalin's will. Ivan would keep Stalin up to date on international matters and would, quietly, advise the boss on courses of actions but that was the extent of Minister Orlovich's power. Seeing Stalin's heavy handed actions, paranoia, and declining health first hand, Ivan would begin to swing towards Kruschev's camp in the Presidium. In 1957 when the Malenkov-Kruschev Diarchy was formed, Ivan privately spoke with them and agreed on many matters of importance including reforms with Kruschev but came short of public ally supporting them. This saved Ivan's life when Kruschev and Malenkov were purged upon Stalin's recovery.

The time between the last Purge and Stalin's death were difficult for Ivan, as both a private friend of Stalin, a member of the Communist Party, and a Soviet Patriot. He had personally come to believe that no matter how great Stalin was, his flaws had ballooned in his old age. But without support from the likes of Kruschev and Stalin's continuing paranoia, There was little he could do.

But now Stalin is dead, and Ivan Orlovich can breath easy. Now, he can truly begin to help the Soviet Union, and as a charismatic, uncompromising figure within the party he hopes he can do much good.