History Literature / TwilightOfTheRedTsar

* DystopiaIsHard: Stalin's purges, mass murders, and the war with China have dealt serious damage to the Soviet economy and living standards due to the loss of so many doctors and other skilled professionals. Suslov and the other hardliners that succeed him are Marxist extremists who stubbornly refuse any badly needed reforms that don't meet Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy. eventually resulting in a food shortage that triggers another political revolution. And the mass incarceration in the Gulag leaves a population of millions of disillusioned citizens, who begin revolting against the Soviet state. Stalin's campaigns of ethnic cleansing create tremendous ethnic tension, further destabilizing the country. And the international reputation of the USSR goes down the tubes, isolating the nation from neutral nations and even other socialist groups.

** Richard Nixon still becomes president, in 1957.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: Happens to the Soviet embassy in Hanoi, courtesy of angry Chinese refugees recovering from smallpox and sympathetic Vietnamese citizens. Ironically, Ho Chi Minh himself, who is disgusted with the USSR by that point and maintains a cordial relationship with Israel PM David Ben-Gurion, was about to declare the Soviet diplomats PersonaNonGrata, but the protesters do it for him by killing nearly all the staff and burning the embassy to the ground. Hanoi police, who despise the Soviets as much as the rest of the world, [[PassThePopcorn stand back to enjoy the destruction]] and only arrest the few surviving refugees when it looks like the fire will spread to other buildings, but the survivors are given extremely light sentences for arson.

** Egypt becomes a poverty-stricken hellhole where 'criminals' are mutilated, tortured or executed in public on a daily basis, while women and opponents of the fundamentalist Islamic regime are subject to frequent attacks by the regime's thugs. [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil Debates even arise about reintroducing slavery]].

Twilight of the Red Tsar is an Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom timeline by user Napoleon IV.

In 1953 in Our Timeline (OTL), [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Joseph Stalin]], the dreaded Soviet dictator, perished when he suffered a stroke alone. Having perished in his bedroom alone, no one dared enter it to check up on him until it was too late to save him.

However, in this timeline (TTL), Stalin survives the stroke, albeit significantly weakened. The story follows the Soviet dictator as he begins a new purge of his real and imagined enemies at home and abroad.

It can be read [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/twilight-of-the-red-tsar.371831/ here]]

** China's plight begins with Mao's Great Leap Forward resulting in a more horrific famine than OTL that kills millions. Then when the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and [[NukeEm nuclear]] and [[ThePlague germ warfare]] that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China.
** Russia's massive shortages of food result in the Second Civil War. During the war, both sides act with the extreme brutality, to the point that both sides use nuclear weapons, ethnic violence between Russians and the oppressed nations flourishes (the fact that Soviets commit ethnic cleanising of Jews, Chechens and deported people in Central Asia doesn't help) and the amount of the Russian refugees is estimated in millions, thus creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the World War II.

* ApocalypseHow:
** China undergoes a Regional Societal Collapse. It begins with Mao's Great Leap Forward resulting in a horrific famine that kills millions. Then when the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and [[NukeEm nuclear]] and [[ThePlague germ warfare]] that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China.
** Russia undergoes a Regional Societal Collapse as well. The massive shortages of food result in the Second Civil War. During the war, both sides act with the extreme brutality, to the point that both sides use nuclear weapons, ethnic violence between Russians and the oppressed nations flourishes (the fact that Soviets commit ethnic cleanising of Jews, Chechens and deported people in Central Asia doesn't help) and the amount of the Russian refugees is estimated in millions, thus creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the World War II.

* ManOnFire: The Polish revolt starts when two, then dozens of people begin self-immolating in protest, until Soviet troops open fire at a crowd coming to watch a priest burning himself, killing many, among them two children. This triggers mutinies and an eventual takeover by the rebels.

** Egypt's new Islamic government features gangs of fundamentalist thugs roaming the streets that violently attack anyone the regime is opposed to.

* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: Stalin's health is so bad that he spends almost all his time in hospital, and even then, he is constantly surrounded by doctors and has to take supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula. His incapability to rule paralyzes the government as his subordinates fear to issue any orders and solve problems without approval.

However, in this timeline (TTL), Stalin survives the stroke, albeit significantly weakened. The story follows the Soviet dictator as he begins a new purge of his imagined enemies, at home and abroad.

** Russia undergoes a Regional Societal Collapse as well. The massive shortages of food result in the Second Civil War. During the war, both sides act with the extreme brutality, to the point that both sides use nuclear weapons, ethnic violence between Russians and the oppressed nations flourishes (the fact that Soviets commit ethnic cleanising of Chechens and deported people in Central Asia doesn't help) and the amount of the Russian refugees is estimated in millions, thus creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the World War II.

** While the Soviet Union under Stalin is unquestionably evil, America isn't too innocent either, with Eisenhower using nuclear weapons on Chinese towns, and Nixon passing laws limiting freedom of speech for anything connected to Communism.

** Stalin, and the USSR by extension, becomes this to many socialists and communists when the Soviet Holocaust is uncovered.
** By May 1958, Mao Zedong has lost the respect of everybody over his failure to stop China's obliteration during the Sino-Soviet War, and is overthrown in a bloodless coup. In the present day, he's become hated enough that Chiang Kai-shek is a national hero and considered to be a far better leader than Mao by many Chinese.

** By the 1960s and 70s, Egypt has descended into poverty, a radical Islamist revolution has occurred and crime is rampant. The effects are worsened by the damage from the Suez War and ongoing war with Israel over the Sinai. The government churns out violent, inflammatory anti-Semitic propaganda and gangs of militant fundamentalists attack anyone the regime is against, with Egyptian Christians either fleeing to Israel or living in fear. Many ordinary Egyptians hate their new government and long for the old days of Nasserism, but can do nothing about it for fear of being killed.

* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: Stalin's health is so bad that he spends almost all his time in hospital, and even then, he is constantly surrounded by doctors and has to take supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula. His incapability to rule paralyzes the Soviet government, as Stalin's subordinates fear to issue any orders and solve problems without Stalin's approval.

** Downplayed. Mikhail Suslov pulls the plug on the Soviet Holocaust once he gains power. But instead of helping Jews re-integrate into society or allowing them the right to immigrate, he forces the survivors into ghettos throughout Siberia, hoping to cover up the mass murder of Jews.

* HateSink: Stalin earns this designation thanks to the numerous atrocities he ordered, including outright genocide and ethnic cleansing, causing many to regard the Soviets as barbarians once the Soviet Holocaust was exposed. Due to this, communism becomes a highly discredited ideology, with many leftists in the West opting to go for Syndicalism or other non-Marxist far-left ideologies.

* HeelRealization: After George H. W. Bush's speech for the end of recognition of Soviet Union as a nation, Oleg Troyanovsky, a Soviet ambassador in the UN, refused to defend Soviet Union before the UN council and pleaded the UN members to vote for the end of diplomatic recognition of Soviet Union. Formerly a sincere believer in the Soviet case, Troyanovsky confesses that he had been only defending the lies of the Soviet government.

* KilledOffForReal: Vyacheslav Molotov, Lavrenty Beria, Deng Xiaoping, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Georgy Zhukov, Alexandr Vasilevsky, Kim il-Sung, Kim Jong Il, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Shrukri al-Quwatli, Mao Zedong, Kang Sheng and Ayn Rand all die in this timeline, often far before their actual deaths in real life.

** North Korea's dictatorship, devastated by the Sino-Soviet War, surrenders rather than try and fight against the South Koreans.

** In 1960, an uprising finally breaks out in Warsaw, with people turning their homes into booby traps. While it is brutally crushed by the Red Army, and Warsaw is leveled, [[HeroicSecondWind its leaders regrouped to build a guerrilla force in the Carpathian Mountains]]. Resistance continues to break out in East Germany and Hungary.

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse. The revelation of the Soviet Holocaust is what causes the US and other nations to sever diplomatic relations with the USSR.

--> '''Richard Nixon''': Today we face the greatest threat our country has ever faced: the threat of Communism. In his quest to dominate the world Joseph Stalin has taken measures that were [[EvilerThanThou too evil for even the Nazis]]. He has unleashed poison gas and hydrogen bombs, which make the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima seem like a child’s toy. He holds the people of Eastern Europe, China, and Southeast Asia in his iron fist. And he has launched another Final Solution against the Jews. To those who say we can peacefully coexist with such a monster I say: never forget! Never forget that the minute we let our guard down the Soviets will pounce, destroying everything we hold dear.

* AdultFear: Oh yes. War, violence, genocide, and oppression are realities in TTL.

* HateSink: Stalin earns this designation thanks to the numerous atrocities he ordered, including outright genocide and ethnic cleansing, causing many worldwide to regard the Soviets as barbarians once the Soviet Holocaust was exposed. Due to this, communism becomes a highly discredited ideology, with many leftists in the West opting to go for Syndicalism or other non-Marxist far-left ideologies.

** Fidel Castro still overthrows Batista, only this time as a syndicalist, and still ruins American relations with his nationalization of American property. An invasion by Cuban exiles also falls apart, and the US puts an embargo on Cuba.

* {{Reconstruction}}: After seeing the horrors of Stalinism brought to their most logical conclusion, Italy's radical leftists embrace syndicalism, which rejects single-party domination in favor of worker self-management.

* KilledOffForReal: Vyacheslav Molotov, Lavrenty Beria, Deng Xiaoping, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Georgy Zhukov, Kim il-Sung, Kim Jong Il, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Shrukri al-Quwatli, Mao Zedong, Kang Sheng and Ayn Rand all die in this timeline, often far before their actual deaths in real life.

* HeroicBSOD: Eisenhower, who was clearly shaken by the decision to use 12 nuclear missiles on China to end the Korean War. The strain on him is so bad, he suffers a heart attack, and gives up running for reelection in 1956.

* DeadlyGas: Used by Stalin in China as part of his biowarfare campaign against Mao.

* BodyHorror: Stalin's illness doesn't affect his body in a pleasant way. For example, doctors had to amputate his gangrenous toes, caused by atherosclerosis.

* DirtyCommunists: Communism becomes even more discredited than in OTL, being unseparated in the mass consciousness from Stalin's crimes. The Communists who don't want to be associated with Stalin's crimes abandon the ideas of Communism completely in favor of Syndicalism or any other non-Marxist far-left ideologies.

* DystopiaIsHard: Stalin's purges, mass murders, as well the war with China have dealt serious damage to the Soviet economy and living standards due to the loss of so many doctors and other skilled professionals. Suslov and the other hardliners that succeed him are Marxist extremists who stubbornly refuse any badly needed reforms that don't meet Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy. eventually resulting in a food shortage that triggers another political revolution. And the mass incarceration in the Gulag leaves a population of millions of disillusioned citizens, who begin revolting against the Soviet state. Stalin's campaigns of ethnic cleansing create tremendous ethnic tension, further destabilizing the country. And the international reputation of the USSR goes down the tubes, isolating the nation from neutral nations and even other socialist groups.

** Downplayed. Mikhail Suslov pulls the plug on the Soviet Holocaust once he gains power. But instead of helping Jews re-integrate into society or allowing them the right to immigrate, he forces the survivors into ghettoes throughout Siberia, hoping to cover up the mass murder of Jews.

* StaircaseTumble: Mao descends into alcoholism after his sacking and dies from a fall down a staircase while drunk, just a few days before the KMT army attacks his HQ. Chiang, who wanted to put him on trial as one last humiliation for his rival, is not very psyched about this.

* NotSoDifferent: The Soviets unleashing another Holocaust on the Jews and using Einsatzgruppen-style massacres against the Chinese makes them eerily similar to what the Nazis used during WWII.

* YouMonster: Georgy Zhukov's last words are shouting the Russian equivalent to a picture of Stalin as he is lead to the gallows. It should be noted that it is a far more serious insult in Russian than in English, as it is basically saying that someone is not simply evil, but an abomination in the eyes of God and man.

* YouMonster: Georgy Zhukov's FamousLastWords are shouting the Russian equivalent to a picture of Stalin as he is lead to the gallows. It should be noted that it is a far more serious insult in Russian than in English, as it is basically saying that someone is not simply evil, but an abomination in the eyes of God and man.

* FamousLastWords:
** "[[YouMonster Vyrodok]]" (to a Stalin's portrait) -- Georgy Zhukov
*** It should be noted that it is a far more serious insult in Russian than in English, as it is basically saying that someone is not simply evil, but an abomination in the eyes of God and man.
** "God-speed to the Russians! God-speed to the Arabs! God-speed to the German people! Our Final Victory has never been closer! Heil Hitler!” -- Adolf Eichmann

** Georgy Zhukov's FamousLastWords are shouting the Russian insult to a picture of Stalin as he is about to be executed, saying that he is an abomination in the eyes of God and man.