The convenient heart-attack

[Guest]

What I think makes interesting what-ifs is if you kill off an important figure in world history at a strategically important time.

For example, what happens if Stalin dies of a heart attack, August 1941? The front is crumbling, the Red Army is being encircled and annihilated, the Germans are racing towards Moscow.....and suddenly the supreme dictator of the Soviet Union, on which every important decision is concentrated, keels over dead.

Does the Soviet Union fight on? Or would that have been the last straw before surrender?

Same question could go for Churchill in 1940 or Hitler in 1943-44, but the latter has topics on this board already.

[Sam H.]

Stalin ruled with an iron fist, its hard to imagine anyone taking the reigns quickly. It would definately hurt the soviets. IF Hitler could have taken Moscow, this might have been enough to force the communists from powere.

With Stalin gone, the red army would weaken and possibly splinter into local bands loyal to individual war lords.

[brendan-moloney]

If stalin had died i think the millitary would have jumped at the chance to take control placing a general at the head of the goverment and shooting any political officers as well as party officals. a statement made to the people might read we are at war and because of this we will fight on and destroy the german invader and exspel them from the mother land and because of this we the military hear by place this country under martial law.......

[gorbag]

There's always the possibility that Beria and his goons might have tried to either conceal the fact that Stalin snuffed it, or made a go for control. The NKVD had a pretty good setup to grab hold, though I doubt that they could have done it fast enough while trying to exterminate Stalin's supporters and SMERSH apparat before the Blitzkrieg would have rolled over Moscow.