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AHC/WI: Vladimir Zhirinovsky as President of Russia

lerk

Well-known member
This has been a topic which has been brought up on both AH sites for a while now. It has spawned Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire, which in my opinion is my favorite TL out of all. But just because one person did it doesn't mean other can't have a go at this scenario as well, so I have opened up this discussion:

1) How could Vladimir Zhirinovsky become President of Russia?

2) And what would happen next?
 
I think you need Zhirinovsky to win the 1991 elections under the USSR, which would have interesting consequences if the rumors of him being a KGB plant are true. But I dunno if that's possible. the aftermath of that would probably involve Russia going down in flames or cultivating ties with the European, and American far right as like a ironic mirror to the internationale. By 1996, he was seen as a clown, and him winning now is like impossible.
 
He could not win in 1991. Yeltsin was popular to the point of mysticism springing up around him, and even if he somehow loses, Zhirinovsky is not going to be the man who wins a second round. He might be able to win in 1994, and he was seen as being a serious candidate until the 1996 elections happened, but then the media has never been very good at covering fascism.

The problem, then, is getting there to be an election in 1994, which is not... crazy - it was something Yeltsin proposed in the 1994 referenda, but it was narrowly defeated. That said, though, I think he’d probably be defeated in a second round election by, say, Yavlinsky (back when he was relevant, and people called his liberal-y anti-establishment appeal equivalent to Zhirinovsky’s on the right, by the by) or maybe Nemtsov or Sobchak.

If Zhirinovsky is president, well, we’re in for a hell of a time, but I kind of doubt he could do too much more than try and retake Crimea and Belarus, although he’d certainly yell to no end about Finland and Alaska and whatever.
 
The problem, then, is getting there to be an election in 1994, which is not... crazy - it was something Yeltsin proposed in the 1994 referenda, but it was narrowly defeated. That said, though, I think he’d probably be defeated in a second round election by, say, Yavlinsky (back when he was relevant, and people called his liberal-y anti-establishment appeal equivalent to Zhirinovsky’s on the right, by the by) or maybe Nemtsov or Sobchak.

Here's an idea: Have Vladimir Bukovsky, who IOTL was also a big anti-USSR/anti-Putin dissident, and a nonce, become either the head of the reformist ticket or its running mate (of course, this means that Yeltsin does not abolish the office of Vice President). When he is found procuring child pornography (or a similar scandal) during the second round, his ticket collapses in the polls, making Zhirinovsky the President.

Thank you all for your input, I've considered doing something about this idea for some time, and its nice to see what others here think.
 
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