Branches off somewhat in 2022, although many things stay the same
2022: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and Korea create the Hanoi Pact in order to assist socialist construction in all areas
2024: Ukraine War ends, resulting in Russia taking Donbass region as well as NATO arsenal depleted. Communism in Russia has grown stronger as a result of a real antiwar movement rather than a NATO-sponsored astroturf. Ukraine still exists as a NATO vassal state and blames the war on “communism” despite Putin not being a communist.
2024-2027: The KPRF grows stronger, winning many elections. The main political divide is now between KPRF and Jedinaja Rossija
2027-28: Eventually, Russian oligarchs had enough and wanted to end the threat of the KPRF, resulting in mercenaries to be used to prevent KPRF members from entering the Duma. This was the flame that lit the fuse of the 2nd Russian Civil War. Gennadij Źuganov proclaimed that the KPRF members who were barred were “militants”, leading to a major split in the party, resulting in a lot of the lower echelons reorganizing into the KPR(b). War was officially declared on the KPR(b), with Jedinaja Rossija declaring them a terrorist group.
2029: The KPR(b) ended up winning the war and proclaimed the USSR reborn, changing its name to the KPSS. The USSR joins the Hanoi Pact later.
2030: The United States starts placing soldiers in Taiwan, resulting in a strongly-worded letter from China demanding America remove their soldiers from Taiwan. America declines, resulting in the East Asia War.
2030-2034: The anticommunists, made up of the US, NATO, Occupied Korea, and some others, had the upper hand at first, but they were eventually ousted, first out of Korea, then out of the Philippines. The anticommunists also had no luck in Europe, either, with Hanoi Pact forces pushing all the way to Germany. Communism also gained popularity in Latin America, as well as the idea that LatAm should be unified into one nation. Maoist groups had a truce with China and fought on the side of the communists.
2032: In Germany, the German Communist Party (DKP), the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) all united into the Communist Unity Party of Germany (KED)
2033: In Romania, there was a patsoc takeover in the Socialist Party of Romania (PSR), resulting in them taking up socially reactionary stances
2034-35: The East Asia War, now WWIII, ended in a Communist victory. New socialist states joined the Hanoi Pact, such as:
- Republic of Japan
- Socialist Republic of the Philippines
- Indian People’s Republic
- German Socialist People’s Republic
- Second Polish People’s Republic
- Socialist Federation of Latin America
Romania, now under patsoc government, also joined the Hanoi Pact. South Korea, now governed by the People’s Democracy Party, is now a transitional state that is able to write its own laws, but its foreign policy is managed by Pyongyang and aimed at integration. Maoist groups in the Philippines and India also managed to gain a stronghold in the north of their respective countries, resulting in these MLM-governed states:
- People’s Socialist Republic of India
- People’s Socialist Republic of the Philippines
The peace between Maoists and MLs also deteriorated, as the Maoist CPP declared the Hanoi Pact to be revisionist, and formed their own bloc, with the Indian Naxalites (Maoist Bloc) The USSR occupied Poland in a program called “Rapid Re-communization” in order to rid Poland of reactionary politics. These policies were attacked by the Romanian government, with the PSR chairman claiming that it was “social-imperialist” and “violated national self-determination”, which many Hanoi Pact communists saw as a dogwhistle for the PSR’s homophobic stance. However, in Britain, the CPGB-ML upheld the PSR and also condemned Rapid Recommunization.
Very interesting timeline! I haven’t seen many leftist-infighting worlds (none at all other than this one actually) so really excited to see what you do with it!
There’s also a side-story regarding Japan. After the Republic of Japan was established, many Tokyo residents wanted to move to Osaka for better prospects, as they saw that South Japan was more prosperous than North Japan, resulting in a mass exodus across the border into Osaka. However, when the CIA found out about people leaving North Japan for South Japan, they started working with the Yakuza to kidnap South Japanese residents and hauling them to North Japan, where they got indoctrinated with anticommunist beliefs and then aired as “defectors” in the North. When South Japan found out about that, they built a border wall (The Chubu-Kanto Wall) in order to make it harder for Yakuza members to smuggle South Japanese into the North. The NATO media then started to say that “The Wall is the latest example of Hanoi Pact authoritarianism”, completely denying what caused the Wall to be built.
Also, China and Korea demanded Japan pay reparations for WWII. South Japan agreed to the plan and started paying their part. However, the LDP (North Japanese ruling party, banned in South Japan for supporting imperialism), denied the human rights abuses by Japan, and thus claimed that they don’t have to pay anything, regarding in strongly-worded letters arriving from Beijing and Pyongyang, and making South Japan pay even more in reparations.
I really like that you made this world pretty realistic for how it might go, and dare I say it, materialist. Love it!