What if, in spite of Lenin's urges, he simply isn't able to get the Bolsheviks to accept the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, not even while the Germans are advancing deep inside of Russia? What would the subsequent effects of this have been? Would the Germans try setting up their own puppet government in Russia? Would they succeed? Would this puppet government actually survive the end of World War I, once Germany is defeated? And who and what would replace it? The Bolsheviks or someone more moderate? Would the Bolsheviks become interested in power-sharing if the Germans are occupying most or all of European Russia? Or would they still insist on holding onto totalitarian power for themselves?
I also wonder if another way to make this scenario work would be for Lenin to simply die in, say, January 1918 or whenever. What do you think?
I also wonder if another way to make this scenario work would be for Lenin to simply die in, say, January 1918 or whenever. What do you think?