>>64403784 (OP)
The single point of divergence occurs when Joseph Stalin orders the arrest of Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Instead of submitting, Zhukov anticipates the move, leading to a fierce gun battle where he eliminates the rival generals sent to detain him. With this brazen act, Zhukov seizes immediate control of the bulk of the Red Army on the Eastern Front and declares open rebellion against Stalin's regime.
To secure his flank, Zhukov signs a swift, Second Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the German High Command. This treaty is an immediate, unilateral cease-fire, signed by a German General in the field with the highest-ranking commander of Zhukov's forces, granting favorable peace terms to Germany and ending the hostility on the eastern front. this massive truce instantly frees the Wehrmacht to commit its entire military might to the Western Front.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union is trapped in a brutal civil war. As scattered pockets of Stalin-loyalist generals continue to resist, and various regional commanders eye their own autonomy, Zhukov begins his rapid march eastward toward Moscow with the primary goal of deposing Stalin and establishing a new order. During this period, Germany secures its victory with the cease of hostilities and the favorable treaty, leading to a far more powerful Germany in the post-war period, consolidating its gains in Eastern Europe and retaining significant industrial capacity.
Crucially, the brutal internal conflict will, by the Cold War period, have resolved itself. A new strongman, effectively a Stalin-like successor, will have won the civil war and be in the process of rebuilding the Soviet Union from the devastation. This rebuilt, authoritarian state enters the Cold War era as a significant power, equipped with both nuclear power and a massive focus on industrial and agricultural output, symbolized by the ubiquitous presence of tractors. The Cold War is thus a three-way standoff between the United States, the powerful German bloc
