The Cold War, which dominated much of the 20th century, was a clash of ideologies, political ambitions, and global power struggles. It was a battle between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, each determined to impose its vision of the future upon the world. The Cold War never boiled over into full-scale war, but the fear of nuclear annihilation and the constant threat of conflict shaped the political landscape. But what if the Soviet Union had won this prolonged battle, and the world as we know it had unfolded differently?
In the original timeline, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the Cold War, leaving the United States as the undisputed global superpower. However, in this alternate reality, the Soviets have triumphed, their system of governance and ideology proving resilient and successful. How did this shift happen? The end of the Cold War came not with the fall of the Berlin Wall, but with the extension of Soviet influence across Europe, Asia, and beyond, ushering in a new age of global communism.
The victory of the Soviets would have drastically altered the political and economic systems of the world. The capitalist model, so dominant in the West, would have been eclipsed by socialism, and Western governments would have been forced to adopt forms of governance that more closely resembled the Soviet model. The United States, long a symbol of free-market capitalism and democracy, would have seen its institutions transformed, as the Soviet Union's ideals spread through every corner of the globe.