No Cold War: A Collaborative Timeline

[loneranger]

April 12, 1945: Joseph Stalin collapses due to a cerebral hemorrhage. His death is announced to the world three days later.

April 17, 1945: The Central Planning Committee meets following Stalin's death and reinstitute collective leadership.

April 21, 1945: A funeral is held for Stalin in the Red Square, attended by a variety of politicians including FDR, Winston Churchill, and Charles de Gaulle. Of particular interest is a meeting between de Gaulle and FDR (organized by Churchill) after de Gaulle stood up FDR back in February.

May 8, 1945: The United States officially ends Lend-Lease with the Soviet Union, who owes the U.S.A. to the tune of 11 billion dollars.

June 25, 1945: The United Nations is officially chartered, complete with speeches from FDR and Stalin's successor.

July 17, 1945: Potsdam Conference. FDR mainly tries to reinforce deals made at Yalta such as free elections in Poland and also pushing for concrete terms for Soviet repayment of Lend-Lease.

August 4, 1945: FDR meets de Gaulle in Paris following the conclusion of the Potsdam Conference.

August 6, 1945: The atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.

August 7, 1945: Japan surrenders. V-J Day.

August 8, 1945: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and begins their invasion of Manchuria.

August 22, 1945: The official document of surrender is signed between Japan and the United States.

November 1, 1945: FDR receives a letter from Ho Chi Minh. Although he does not take up the offer of an alliance between the two nations, he does pass along the concerns to Charles de Gaulle and indicates that under FDR the United States is not interested in propping up colonialist governments. De Gaulle agrees to a timeline of independence similar to Britain's take on India, as he is also not particularly interested in wasting manpower on maintaining a backwater colony.

December 7, 1945: FDR formally resigns as the President of the United State on the fourth anniversary of Pearl Harbor, giving a speech about all he has accomplished and urging the United States towards a greater future, particularly re-emphasizing his Second Bill of Rights ideas and his desires for the United Nations to lead the world into a greater time of peace.

Housekeeping:

• You'll note I didn't list Stalin's successor. That is primarily due to lack of knowledge on my part when it comes to Soviet politics. This item can be chosen by anyone.
• Related to the above: that said, the goal of the timeline is a prevented Cold War. As best can tell from researching other threads on the subject, that requires someone that FDR can actually negotiate with when it comes to the post-war status quo. Compared to Stalin they may be somewhat of a push-over, at least at first.
• Deaths - if you wanna kill someone, you just need one other poster to second it and it'll become canon. (This should help avoid the mass death of politicians we sometimes see in these types of timelines).
• Births - I thought this would be fun. Anyone born IOTL nine months after the POD will not be born ITTL. Maximum butterflies. Anyone born within that nine month time period (as a lot of people famous today were born around this time) will have a dice roll applied by me to see if they're born as a different gender, born with any kind of disability, or even born at all. Hopefully this will help keep things interesting as the timeline moves forward.
• And that's it! Have fun.

 

[loneranger]

December 7, 1945: Harry S. Truman is officially inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States.

December 10, 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt return to the Springwood Estate at Hyde Park for some much needed rest and relaxation.

January 29, 1946: After spending the Christmas holidays at home in Hyde Park, the Roosevelts travel the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia.

 

[Jonathan]

April 12, 1945: Joseph Stalin collapses due to a cerebral hemorrhage. His death is announced to the world three days later.

The death of Joseph Stalin, came as such a shock to his close allies and friends, let alone the whole world, in general.

During a Minister Council Meeting, held at ten o'clock on April 12, the 66 year old, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was complaining to the gathered men, "I have a terrific headache," with Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, noting down in his journal that Stalin seemed very tired and seeming to have stumbled over a few words.

By quarter to twelve, the obvious stroke was getting worse, but everyone was scared to comment, due to fear of being lashed out at, within only ten minutes Stalin deteriorated rapidly, having sat down, ready for the up coming lunch, he then slumped forward in his chair and was rendered unconscious, despite this very public act, few were willing to check whether he was still alive or even breathing.
Georgy Malenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, suggested that Stalin may have passed out from drink, having declared that Malenkov, believed that Stalin's stumbling was due to being slightly inebriated.
Others like were skittish about the act of physically prodding or wakening him, believing the rage such a deed could bring down upon them.

It took over two hours for the assembled group to call for medical attention, which itself was delayed due to candidates, not wanting to seem overly or underly worried, becoming potential conspirators in the case that this had been an assassination attempt.
It has been suggested that Stalin’s associates intentionally delayed help in the hopes that he would die, and therefore give way to a successor, while other such as Vyacheslav Molotov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, have suggested they were so terrified of possible retribution, that a healthy Stalin would be angered that somebody else took charge, that they spent hours endlessly weighing up what to do.

In the end, when a doctor from a nearby hospital had been rushed over, by Minister of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union Lavrentiy Beria, the doctor declared that Joseph Stalin was dead. Beria would quickly put himself forward to assumed the role of First Deputy Premier, putting him in charge of the secret and regular peace and various infantry divisions.

 

[Jonathan]

April 21, 1945: A funeral is held for Stalin in the Red Square, attended by a variety of politicians including FDR, Winston Churchill, and Charles de Gaulle.

April 21, 1945: While the eyes of the world were on Red Square, Beria’s secret mission was being carried out, with many believing that no espionage missions would be taking place while Stalin was being laid in state. However this was seen as the best time by Beria, who set up “otryad samoubiyts” a group of elite spies and soldiers, whose duty was to infiltrate Berlin and capture the man, who for the last twelve years had held onto enormous power over Germany. Adolf Hitler.