Alternative History
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Communist-Controlled America is the name for an alternate timeline in which the United States transformed into a communist state in the early-20th century.

Points of Divergence

Multiple points in this timeline diverge from our own. However, the history of most countries in this timeline is identical to that of our timeline, even after the timeline first diverges.

China

The first point at which this alternate timeline diverges from our timeline is in 19th century China. The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan, named the Hundred Days' Reform, to transform China into a constitutional monarchy. In our timeline, opposition to this reform was intense, with conservatives condemning it as too radical. This lead to the 1898 coup, in which Empress Dowager Cixi thwarted these plans and took control of the government. This, however, only further weakened the imperial government, leading to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. In this timeline, Kang Youwei's influence was much greater than in our timeline. Yuan Shikai and many conservatives were convinced by Kang Youwei to join the emperor when the reform plan was enacted. Youwei saw westernization and industrialization as necessary for China to defend itself against the outside world, and lead a new conservative movement against the conservative movement lead Empress Dowager Cixi. The opposition to the reform was much less intense than in our timeline as a result of Youwei and Shikai's actions. With little support, the coup engineered by the empress was a failure, and Cixi was put under house arrest instead of Guangxu. The failed coup lead to a distrust for the original conservative movement, making any further attempt to stop the reform practically impossible. On September 22, 1899, the reform was completed, and China had transformed into a modern constitutional monarchy. The Hundred Days' Reform became known as the "Guangxu Revolution". On December 9, 1899, the first annual election was held in China, with Yuan Shikai being voted into office as Prime Minister of China that same day. China was divided among local militias into partially self-governing "provinces" that remained loyal to the emperor and the "United Provinces of China" was formed, which was later renamed the "Chinese Federation" by Mao. Local militias were later united as a single national army, the "Royal Preservation Army", by Yuan Shikai, for China to defend itself against Japan, in the event of a second war between China and Japan. Without the fall of the Qing dynasty, Mongolia became independent peacefully through negotiations rather than through a revolution. The rise of nationalist movements in Mongolia lead to its independence in 1914; Mongolia continued to recognize the Chinese emperor as its monarch, despite its independence, until 1976 when it left the Chinese Commonwealth. Throughout the early 20th century, China stabilized and gained influence as a global power, rather than suffering periods of instability and unrest that it did in our timeline. The Warlord Era never happened, because Yuan Shikai's failed attempt to restore the monarchy never happened, because the monarchy was never overthrown in the first place. The emperor remained the legitimate and legal monarch of China, protected by the Chinese Constitution, albeit in the form of an almost entirely powerless head of state. Tensions between nationalists and the communists in China still grew, like in our timeline, though the intervention of Sun Yat-sen prevented an armed conflict. The influence of the Xuantong Emperor prevented tensions from resuming after Yat-sen's death, and as a result, the Chinese Civil War never happened in this timeline.

Russia

In December of 1904, in the Russian Empire, a strike occurred at the Putilov plant, starting what is known as the Russian Revolution of 1905. A workers' procession preceded to the Winter Palace to deliver to a petition to the Tsar. Troops guarding the palace opened fire on demonstrators in an event known as "Bloody Sunday". Workers went on strike throughout the empire and thousands of protesters died. This lead Nicholas II to create the State Duma of the Russian Empire on February 18 in 1905. On our timeline, this Duma would posses consultative powers only, which only caused civil unrest to increase and the revolution continued, ultimately ended in a victory for the Imperial Army as the revolution was ended. The Imperial Army's victory only highlighted tensions, eventually leading to the Russian Revolution and the creation of the Soviet Union. In this timeline, however, Nicholas II took inspiration from the Hundred Days' Reform when creating the Duma. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was simply known as the Russian Revolution, and spanned from January 22 to February 25 of 1905, and in a victory for the Revolutionaries instead of the Imperial Government. He drafted and ratified the Articles of Democracy, a document that turned Russia into a constitutional monarchy. A federal government structured after that of that of the United States' and of China's would take control. The Tsar would still own the territory of the Russian Empire, but would give all profits of and control over it to the Russian government. In exchange, the royal family would receive a free annual salary from the government that would allow them to continue their life of luxury in the Winter Palace. The Russian Provisional Government was set up to govern the Russian Empire's territory, with the capital moved from Saint Petersburg (which was never renamed to Petrograd) to Moscow. On June 18, Vladimir Lenin was elected as the first prime minister of Russia. Russia was renamed the "Republic of Russia", later renamed the "Democratic Republic of Russia" by Trotsky. Lenin implied socialist policies intended to help the working class. Russia industrialized, but millions did not die under the soviet polices of our timeline. The Russo-Japanese War ended much earlier than our timeline, with Lenin negotiating a cease-fire with the Japanese Emperor. Without his arrest and escape to Europe, Trotsky's relationship with Lenin never improved. Trotsky lead the Mensheviks against the Bolsheviks, leading to the rise of the Mensheviks and right-wing groups. Without the Tsar in power and the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks fighting each other for popularity, the February and October Revolutions never occurred and the Soviet Union never existed. Russia became socialist, but not communist, and was only briefly involved and World War 1. Casualties of the war were blamed on Lenin instead of Nicholas II.

United States

to be added

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