Russian Empire

Little would change, but World War II would have been easier – there likely wouldn't have been internal sabotage in the form of a "hunt for enemies of the nation."

However, this is questionable. The apparatus of repression played a significant role in the victory over the fascist horde. Let's remember all the democratic countries that were captured quickly, without even offering any semblance of resistance. But in our case, every soldier and officer understood what awaited them in case of cowardice (the same order "Not one step back"). Therefore, this moment in history has always made me think a lot – it turns out that Stalin and communism were a necessary evil at that time.