DBWI: Reverse Cold War--Capitalist America Vs. Communist Russia?

[Zyobot]

IOTL, the Cold War was a worldwide standoff between the People's States of America and the Russian Empire as they built up nuclear arsenals, instigated proxy wars, and masterminded general geopolitical mayhem in order to spread their respective political and economic systems across the globe. America's collapse in the early 2000s marked the end of this decades-long gridlock, resulting in the ultimate triumph of imperial power and Eurasian laissez-faireism for generations to come.

But let's say that the roles were reversed. How would a Cold War with a capitalist America and a communist Russia play out ITTL?

Thank you in advance,
Zyobot

OOC
To clarify on what sort of world TTL takes place in, there are two essential PODs to it. The first is that Peter the Great democratizes Russia circa 1721, causing it to develop into a representative constitutional monarchy with an effective Duma and nominal (though still privileged) nobility. As the Industrial Revolution commences in both Europe and Asia during the 18th and 19th Centuries--leading to noticeably more technological advancement and overall modernization than is true IOTL--Russia transforms into a thoroughly mechanized colossus and champion of laissez-faire by the 1900s. At its height, the Empire's sphere of influence mainly encompasses Northern Europe, the Middle East and the pretty much anarcho-capitalistic Asia-Pacific.

The second is that a far greedier British Empire holds onto its Thirteen Colonies and eventually conquers the whole continent, now termed British North America (or BNA). Whatever industrialization it undergoes mainly benefits the upper classes and imperial overlords; while the British Isles take the lion's share of economic productivity, the American colonists toil and slave away in dangerous factories and mines, all for the benefit of people who don't even live amongst them. Add in mass conscription to fight in wars for the enrichment and prestige of those same people, and the colonists finally have enough as a socialist American Revolution occurs in 1920--the People's States of America (or PSA) is born. In its continued mission to establish a worldwide worker's paradise, the PSA's reach has extended throughout Southern Europe, South America and large swaths of Africa, which is home to numberless free communes and lasting resentment against the imperialistic powers that have exploited it for ages.

We can figure out the rest as the discussion evolves. What I have so far may not be perfect, but it was the most interesting/least cliche storyline that I could come up with.

[TheRomanSlayer]

OOC: I'm not sure how a constitutional monarchy would have been established in what is basically the Age of Absolutism, and combined with the autocratic tradition of the early Muscovite state and later Russian Tsardom, it would have been difficult. There was a map made by ToixStory about a different kind of Russian reformation where instead of making Russia an expy of France and the Netherlands, it was reformed using the model of Austria and Prussia. It involved a defeat in the Great Northern War, followed by decades of Prussian style reforms and after that, the avenging of its defeat.

IC: I wouldn't exactly say that the People's States of America collapsed completely. What happened was that we saw a series of breakaway states that became independent, but remained poor. We had Ungava, which played on the near total cultural genocide of its identity, and had a successful revival, and we also had Trans-Appalachia, which briefly fought a war with Vermont before the Antwerp Peace Agreement where each side recognized the independence of the other. There was a reason why Philadelphia was relocated as the capital of the PSA, and that was to make sure that it didn't get attacked during wartime.

On the other hand, you had several Tsars who cultivated close relations with Prussia and to a lesser extent, France, where they provided much needed help for Russia to function well. It also played a role in the gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire before it fractured into several successor states, of which the Kingdom of Kurdistan was a close Russian ally, and Lebanon served as Russia's protectorate in the eastern Med. Unfortunately though, its constant wars with various Chinese dynasties had been the major factor in the sharp decline of trust in kings and emperors from among the various peoples of Asia.

[Middlesex_Toffeeman]

OOC: I don't think a Soviet Russia-style breakup is possible given that the population of *America is ethnically *British. I don't see *Britain allowing large populations of American Indians to survive.

[stevep]

Feb 21, 2019 7:09:52 GMT Middlesex_Toffeeman said:

OOC: I don't think a Soviet Russia-style breakup is possible given that the population of *America is ethnically *British. I don't see *Britain allowing large populations of American Indians to survive.

  It would depend on the circumstances but their probably more likely [to allow more Indians to survive] than the OTL US.  However the bulk of the American minorities are other groups that were absorbed by the states expansion or more generally by large numbers of immigrants that came after the US's foundation.  While in a British empire continuing to control the region some migrants, especially from Catholic opponents [chiefly France and Spain] are likely to be unwelcome, at least most of the time, those from other areas are likely to be welcome, as they were before the OTL revolution. 

  What happened after the US communist revolution would depend on the nature of the party that gained power.  It may offer more rights to minorities but like the communists OTL their likely to quickly take a harsh line if they try and gain too much influence let alone any push for independence.  If the new regime is initially weak you could see some areas, especially on the fringes, becoming independent, at least for a while like Poland, Finland and the Balts did from the early Soviet empire.

[TheRomanSlayer]

OOC: What territories would a Communist America have, and what kind of territory a Capitalist Russia would have? Would this Capitalist Russia be more reactionary along Austrian and Prussian lines? Also, is this Capitalist Russia more engaged in Europe or Asia-Pacific? I would like to make a map about it.

IC: A Capitalist America would have required a much stronger tradition in the balance of power between the government, business interests and the welfare of the people. Though given the autocratic tradition of the Tsarist government, having a communist like government would be three times more brutal than what we had with the Communists in Omaha (OOC: the capital of communist America). The advantage that America had over Russia in this case was that it industrialized earlier. Russia didn’t industrialize until the late 1890s, and even by our standards, the industrial revolution in Russia was marred by the merger of corporation and state, as well as the domination by the re-emergence of the Boyars, albeit in modern clothing. We also saw the competition between the Russian Boyars and the foreign investors who soon entrenched themselves in Russia, primarily the German Junker barons who entered business.