Line #7 Literature/ABleedingHeartOfSteel


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stalin_90.jpg]]
2
3	-> ''"I know that after my death, they will heap a pile of rubbish on my grave, but the wind of history will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy.''
4	-->-- '''Joseph Stalin'''
5
6	''A Bleeding Heart of Steel'' is an AlternateHistory timeline written by Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom user Kerguelen.
7
8	In our timeline, Joseph Stalin died in his cottage from a stroke in 1953. Nine years before his death, two spies attempted to assassinate Stalin during the height of World War Two. While they failed in our timeline, ''A Bleeding Heart of Steel'' imagines a world where they were successful in killing the Man of Steel.
9
10	With a new Soviet leadership taking control of the nation, the Post-War World is guided towards a different path as the Iron Curtain falls across Europe.
11
12	Read it [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/a-bleeding-heart-of-steel-stalin-dies-early.466735/ here]].
13
14
15	----
16	!!''A Bleeding Heart of Steel'' contains the following tropes:
17
18	* AintTooProudToBeg: [[spoiler:Beria begs for Malenkov and Khrushchev to spare him when he's on trial.]]
19	* TheAllegedBoss: Andreas Tsipas is an alcoholic and incompetent General Secretary who ends up becoming a puppet for General Vafiadis.
20	* TheAlliance: Adverted. America never joins NATO without the Berlin Blockade turning them against the Soviets.
21	* AlternateHistory: Duh.
22	* BadBoss: Much like in our timeline, Beria is an utter bastard who constantly bullies his peers and subordinates.
23	* BalkanizeMe:
24	** Both Libya and Greece are split between communists and capitalist nations.
25	** Pakistan and a Bengal Free State break away during the Partition of India.
26	* BolivianArmyEnding: Himmler attempts to do this with the Waffen-SS. Needless to say, [[BodyguardBetrayal it does not end well]].
27	* TheChainsOfCommanding: Managing the country takes a considerable toll on Molotov.
28	* ColdBloodedTorture: A common aspect of a Chekist's day to day job.
29	* ConspiracyTheorist: Vice President [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Jenner William E. Jenner]] blames plenty of America's issues on Soviet infiltration and the United Nations, much like OTL.
30	* CulturePolice: General Zhdanov is very keen on promoting Russian culture within the Soviet Union over the cosmopolitan west.
31	* FamilyValuesVillain: Despite being an unrepentant torturer and rapist, Beria does his best to care for his family.
32	* FeigningIntelligence: When Molotov starts discussing Das Kapital, Mao tells him that it was one of Marx's best works, despite never having read it.
33	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Voznessenky's insufferable personality makes it difficult for people to work with him, despite him being the Deputy General Secretary.
34	* IdiotBall: Mao and Kim Il-Sung ignore multiple threats from America of a [[spoiler:nuclear bombing if they refuse to end the war.]]
35	* IstanbulNotConstantinople: Moscow is renamed to Stalindar after World War Two.
36	* KangarooCourt:
37	** Chiang Kai-Shek is brought before one before Mao sentences him to death.
38	** [[spoiler:Beria suffers from the same fate after Molotov replaces him with Abakumov.]]
39	* KarmaHoudini: Hitler ends up dying from a drug overdose before he is able to answer for his crimes.
40	* KickMePrank: Beria does this to Andrei Sakharov after Molotov tells him to stop threatening to arrest the nuclear scientists.
41	* KingOnHisDeathbed: Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh becomes this after an assassination attempt. Tudeh Party leader Eskandari takes advantage of this by forcing Mossadegh to make him his heir.
42	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Goering chooses to surrender to the Allies when the Red Army starts sieging Berlin.
43	* LetsYouAndHimFight: Zhdanov attempts this by ordering Beria to start investigating corruption in the Red Army. Beria catches on and only arrests unpopular officers.
44	* MiddleEasternCoalition: Pakistan and Afghanistan end up uniting under a single federation.
45	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Molotov, despite being a devout Stalinist, does his best to retain positive relations with the West while strengthening the Soviet position abroad.
46	* ReassignedToAntarctica: Happens to plenty of Soviet officials, such as Malenkov and Bulganin.
47	* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Several prominent anti-communist leaders from OTL such as Park Chung-hee and Ngo Dinh Diem are fervent communists.
48	* RiddleForTheAges: Did Beria really poison Zhdanov or was it a heart attack caused by old age?
49	* VestigialEmpire:
50	** Attempted. Chiang Kai-shek tries to flee to Taiwan like in OTL but ends up falling to infighting and a communist invasion.

Context Literature / ABleedingHeartOfSteel