History Literature / TwilightOfTheRedTsar

* AssholeVictim: Many communist leaders, like Kim Il Sung, and Nikita Khrushchev, who were also ruthless leaders.
* ApocalypseHow: China undergoes a Regional Societal Collapse. Mao beginning an earlier Great Leap Forward results in a horrific famine that kills millions. [[spoiler: When the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and nuclear and germ warfare that cause millions more to die.]] It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China.

* BalkanizeMe: [[spoiler: China breaks apart completely during the Sino-Soviet War. What's left is a PRC rump, a Southeastern part controlled by Taiwan, an independent Tibet, a series of Soviet satellites in the Northern parts and an Taoist extremist group that rules over Chongqing]].

* ChurchMilitant: the Yellow Banners are a Taoist version of this trope.

* CrapsackWorld: The 1950s are truly this if you live in the Eastern Block and Red China.

* ThePurge: A surviving Stalin gleefully unleashes one expanding the Doctors' Plot against Jewish doctors into a Holocaust, and sending his associates to death or to Gulag's.

* WarIsHell: [[spoiler: The Sino-Soviet War]].

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: The Soviet forces massacre children. The MGB murders a young Kim Jong Il]].

* BrokenPedestal:
** Stalin becomes this to many socialists when the [[spoiler:Soviet Holocaust]] is uncovered.
** [[spoiler: 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]].

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: [[spoiler: Broken. Eisenhower uses nuclear missiles on several Chinese cities after Stalin's intransigence prevents a peaceful resolution of the Korean war. During the Sino-Soviet War, Stalin unleashes one on Beijing, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill and then another just a few miles to the North]]. ''And then'', in April 1958, he bombs '''[[UpToEleven four]]''' more Chinese cities, killing millions more people, just so he can kill Stalin]].

** While the Soviet Union under Joe Stalin is unquestionably evil, America isn't too innocent with Eisenhower using weapons on Chinese towns, and Nixon passing laws limiting freedom of speech for anything connected to Communism.
** This is most evident during the Sino-Soviet War. The Red Army is a truly odious group, slaughtering countless Chinese civilians and unleashing nuclear and biological weapons, while Mao causes famine and political repression out of his own pride. The forces opposing these two are the Yellow Banner, a group of Taoist zealots who deal opium and create an oppressive theocracy, and Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan. The neighbouring countries in Asia, however, are none too welcoming to millions of starving and diseased Chinese refugees arriving on their shores, forcing them into slums and occasionally starting riots.
** The Suez War is between the antisemitic and pro-Soviet Nasser, while the British and French unleash their own atrocities on Egypt's civilian population]

** Stalin becomes this to many socialists when the Soviet Holocaust is uncovered.

* CommieNazis: due to butterflies the United States implements a limited hate speech law, banning anything that sounds remotely connected with communism- which includes National Socialism. When a Nazi attempts to sue, the Supreme Court uphelds the Communism Act and deems Nazism as posing a "clear and present danger" to the United States' national security.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Stalin when he unleashes a Holocaust on Russia's Jewish population, and the Red Army committing Einsatzgruppen-style massacres against Chinese civilians.

* ApocalypseHow: China undergoes a Regional Societal Collapse. Mao beginning an earlier Great Leap Forward results in a horrific famine that kills millions. When the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and nuclear and germ warfare that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China.

* ApocalypseHow: China undergoes Regional Societal Collapse at the worst. Mao beginning an earlier Great Leap Forward results in a horrific famine that kills millions. When the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and nuclear and germ warfare that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: [[spoiler: Stalin when he unleashes a Holocaust on Russia's Jewish population, and the Red Army committing Einsatzgruppen-style massacres against Chinese civilians]].
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Many communist leaders, like Kim Il Sung, and Nikita Khrushchev, who were also ruthless leaders]].
* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: China becomes a Class O. Mao beginning an earlier Great Leap Forward results in a horrific famine that kills millions. When the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and nuclear and germ warfare that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horsemen have arrived in China]].

* BlackAndGreyMorality: Big time.
** While the Soviet Union under Joe Stalin is unquestionably evil, America isn't too innocent [[spoiler: with Eisenhower using weapons on Chinese towns, and Nixon passing laws limiting freedom of speech for anything connected to Communism]].
** This is most evident during the [[spoiler: Sino-Soviet War]]. The Red Army is a truly odious group, [[spoiler: slaughtering countless Chinese civilians and unleashing nuclear and biological weapons, while Mao causes famine and political repression out of his own pride. The forces opposing these two are the Yellow Banner, a group of Taoist zealots who deal opium and create an oppressive government, and Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan]]. The neighboring countries in Asia, however, are none too welcoming to [[spoiler: the millions of starving and diseased Chinese refugees arriving on their shores, forcing them into slums and occasionally starting riots]].
** [[spoiler: The Suez War is between the antisemitic and pro-Soviet Nasser, while the British and French unleash their own atrocities on Egypt's civilian population]].

** Stalin becomes this to many socialists [[spoiler: when the Soviet Holocaust is uncovered]].

* ChummyCommies: due to Stalin's crimes, [[spoiler: leftists in the West have forsaken Marxist-Leninism in favor of Syndicalism, a much more democratic and libertarian branch of socialism.]]

* CommieNazis: due to butterflies [[spoiler: the United States implements a limited hate speech law, banning anything that sounds remotely connected with communism- which includes National Socialism. When a Nazi attempts to sue, the Supreme Court uphelds the Communism Act and deems Nazism as posing a "clear and present danger" to the United States' national security.]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: Ikrali Lashkhi, a Georgian who was one of the officials involved with the [[spoiler: purging of Georgia's Jews, and who revealed the process to the US]], invoked this, claiming to have been horrified by becoming as bad as the Nazis. Some people believe that he defected to save himself from being purged since [[spoiler: he was also a virulent anti-Semite]].

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: During the Suez War, the British and French armies realize a battle in Cairo would be too costly, in terms of manpower and civilian casualties, so they decide to do the one thing the can demoralize all Egyptians: assasinate Nasser. ''It works'']].
* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Mao Zedong, who pushes the People's Liberation Army to fight on against better armed Red Army and ROC forces. It is deconstructed when it becomes clear that China simply can't stand up to the superior forces, and Mao's refusal to surrender hurts the Chinese more after Stalin unleashes more nuclear bombs. Eventually, the Chinese government fires Mao]].

* HellholePrison: the Gulags, [[spoiler: particularly to Jewish prisioners]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: InUniverse. The revelation of the Soviet holocaust is was causes the US to sever diplomatic relations with the USSR]].

* ThePurge: A surviving Stalin gleefully unleashes one [[spoiler: expanding the Doctors' Plot against Jewish doctors into a Holocaust]], and sending his associates to death or to Gulag's.

* {{Determinator}}: [[spoiler: Mao Zedong, who pushes the People's Liberation Army to fight on against better armed Red Army and ROC forces. It is deconstructed when it becomes clear that China simply can't stand up to the superior forces, and Mao's refusal to surrender hurts the Chinese more after Stalin unleashes more nuclear bombs. Eventually, the Chinese government fires Mao.

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: China becomes a Class O. Mao beginning an earlier Great Leap Forward results in a horrific famine that kills millions. When the USSR and Red China go to war, Russia unleashes massacres and nuclear and germ warfare that cause millions more to die. It is not for nothing that posters remark that the Four Horesmen have arrived in China]].

* ChummyCommies: due to Stalin's crimes, [[spoiler: leftists in the West have forsaken marxist-lenninism in favor of Syndicalism, a much more democratic and libertarian branch of socialism.]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: Ikrali Lashkhi, a Georgian who was one of the figures of the [[spoiler: purging of Georgia's Jews, and who revealed the process to the US]], invoked this, claiming to have been horrified by becoming as bad as the Nazis. Some people believe that he defected to save himself from being purged since [[spoiler: he was also a virulent anti-Semite]].

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Vyacheslav Molotov, Deng Xiaoping, Nikita Khrushchev, Georgy Zhukov, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il]].

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: [[spoiler: Broken. Eisenhower uses nuclear missiles on several Chinese cities after Stalin's intransigence prevents a peaceful resolution of the Korean war. During the Sino-Soviet War, Stalin unleashes one on Beijing, [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill and then another just a few miles to the North]] ]].

--> '''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 too evil for even the Nazis. [[spoiler: 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.

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

** The Soviet Union under Joe Stalin is unquestionably evil. America isn't too innocent, [[spoiler: with Eisenhower using weapons on Chinese towns, and Nixon passing laws limiting freedom of speech for anything connected to Communism]].

* BalkanizeMe: [[spoiler: China breaks apart completely during the Sino-Soviet War. What's left is a PRC rump, a Southeastern part controlled by Taiwan, Tibet, a series of Soviet satellites in the Northern parts and an Taoist extremist group that rules over Chongqing]].

* BalkanizeMe: [[spoiler: China breaks apart completely during the Sino-Soviet War. What's left is a PRC rump, a Southeastern part controlled by Taiwan, a Taoist extremist group that rules over Chongqing, Tibet, and a series of Soviet satellites in the Northern parts]].

* RussianGuySuffersWorst: subverted, while life in the Soviet Union is still bad, China still got it worst, [[spoiler: after being nuked, invaded by one of its allies and suffer from a bio-chemical attack.]]

* RussianGuySuffersWorst: subverted, while life in the Soviet Union is still bad, China still got it worst, [[spoiler: after being nuked, invaded by one of its allies and suffer from a bio-chemical attack.]]

** Bill Clinton and Hu Jintao are both political writers.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Stalin enjoys doing this to all of his supposed enemies. [[spoiler:

* EvilCripple: Stalin, who unleashes his second purge after being crippled by a stroke. [[By the late 1950s, he has degenerated into DarkLordOnLifeSupport, and needs a whole team of doctors to keep him alive. And even then, he is so weak, he can only stay awake for a few hours at a time]].

** This is most evident during the [[spoiler: Sino-Soviet War]]. The Red Army is a truly odious group, [[spoiler: slaughtering countless Chinese civilians

* DefectorFromDecadence: Ikrali Lashkhi, a Georgian who was one of the figures of the [[spoiler: Soviet holocaust, and who revealed the process to the US]], invoked this, claiming to have been horrified by becoming as bad as the Nazis. Some people believe that he defected to save himself from being purged.
* InSpiteOfTheNail:
** Despite increased anti-communist hysteria, [=McCarthy=] still loses his reputation with his attacks on the military.

* YouMonster: [[spoiler: General Zhukov's]] FamousLastWords were shouting the Russian equivalent to a picture of Stalin as he was lead to the gallows