Just a random scenario that popped into mind after reading a bit about the effects of Khrushchev's "Secret Speech": In OTL, following Stalin's death and Beria's execution, Khrushchev, Molotov, and Malenkov were effectively the top three contenders for successor, with Malenkov officially in that position for two years. Eventually, Khrushchev made his way to the top, and Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Malenkov, and other old-guard Stalinists were expelled or sidelined by 1957, after a last attempt to topple him.
What would have had to change for this hardline faction to stay in power, behind a collective leadership or a single leader? Kaganovich seems the most likely for the latter, based on reputation and character, but who else could fit the bill? Could a new, Stalinist-type dictatorship have taken power in 1955-57, possibly entrenching the hold of the "Vozhd" for decades? And if so, what would this have meant for the Soviet Union, and the Cold War in general?
What would have had to change for this hardline faction to stay in power, behind a collective leadership or a single leader? Kaganovich seems the most likely for the latter, based on reputation and character, but who else could fit the bill? Could a new, Stalinist-type dictatorship have taken power in 1955-57, possibly entrenching the hold of the "Vozhd" for decades? And if so, what would this have meant for the Soviet Union, and the Cold War in general?