What if the Communists Never Came to Power

[Phil75231]

NOTE: I'm not worried about the geographic extent of territory Moscow has supreme sovereignty over. I'm only worried about the nature of the regime itself, plus its fate! This concerns the Moscow regime alone, regardless of how much additional territory outside the present real-world boundaries of Russia it would have controlled AND regardless of any breakaway regions (if any) that would have gained independence (i.e. no speculations about Ukraine, the Baltic States, etc. Even if they would have won independence, this is outside the scope of the post)

I'm especially interested in Russian members' responses (though of course everyone's welcome to share their viewpoint).

Also, because the Bolsheviks came to power almost a century ago, and because A LOT can happen in a century, I'll limit myself to 50 years after the "failed" Communist attempt...IOW from 1918-1968.

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Me, I think after 1917, Russia probably would have been ruled by a non-communist civilian dictatorship - in an alliance between the powerful interests (some former nobles, wealthy commoners and/or industrialists, and the Orthodox Church); with perhaps a coup ever 10 years or so. Almost certainly there would have been plenty of political terrorism (given 19th century Russia's history as a hotbed of anarchist plots and revolts).


Regardless, I think in this scenario, Russia would NOT have been a stable democracy in the first half of the 20th century because the mass society there would not have had a "culture of democracy" that the West had by this time.

Then sometime in the 1960s there'd be a revolution overthrowing the government (maybe "people power", maybe armed conflict of one scale or another. This is frankly anybody's guess).

Even so, I think an alternate, never-communist Russia would have at least a semi-functioning democracy by around 1970 in any case.

[Joe McCarthy]

No Commies means no Nazis which means a better world.

[Phil75231]

Well, That's all well and good, but this thread is about Russia, not Germany.

How do you think Russia would have turned out - up through 1968-70- if the "Whites" won the Russian Civil War -- that's the basic spirit of the question

[Arrow Cross]

Well, That's all well and good, but this thread is about Russia, not Germany.

Everything is ever about Germany for the average American "anti-fascist", when it comes to the first part of XXth Century European history.

[beaver]

Commies were some stimul for the upper layer to think about all society, not only about their own skin interests. But Russia itself could be much more succesful finally whithout them.