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Description
The Polish Republic had failed. Fallen to the Nazis, the very defeat of Poland was what had started the Second World War in the first place. In the days following the Allied victory, as Soviet troops still ran a provisional government in Poland, conservatives argued passionately that it was time to return to a system of government that had seen Poland become Europe’s greatest power: elected monarchy. A King of either gender, elected for life, would provide stability and strength perfectly balanced with the will of the people, or so they said. This incredibly rosy-eyed remembrance of Poland-Lithuania was, to the surprise of all, enthusiastically accepted by the Soviet occupiers. Stalin was obligated to hold free elections soon, he knew, but this ‘restore the monarchy’ business could be the perfect ticket to easier management of his European buffer states. It would be blatant and obvious to stuff the ballots in a parliamentary system, but if he could influence the very infrequent royal elections, the west wouldn’t be able to prove wrongdoing.
And so it was that the 1946 Polish provisional constitution set a framework for a restored Kingdom of Poland: general elections with universal suffrage (this the Soviets insisted on), first-past-the-post, taking place upon the death of the previous King. A legislature to keep them in check, but of course. First elections: January 1947.
Russian commanders received instructions to do everything in their power to ensure the Moscow-backed candidate won short of actual ballot-stuffing. The only problem was that Moscow hadn’t actually gotten around to backing a candidate yet.
The Union’s eye soon fell on the left-wing zionist Anti-Fascist Bloc, a part of the resistance during the war. They were anti-American on the basis that the Franco-British handover of Palestine to America was anti-Semetic and patronizing to Palestinians. The NKVD persuaded the Bloc to stand in elections for King. Now all Moscow had to do was ensure a female Jew was elected King for life over the former leader of the wartime Polish-government-in-exile. Oops.
Getting an anti-capitalist Jewess elected over a famous national hero in a conservative, non-communist monarchy was a misadventure that would form the premise for two sitcoms, thirteen documentaries, a major motion-picture comedy, a low-budget thriller of dubious accuracy and a historical epic and remake of said epic, not to mention the thousands of incredulous sighs in history classes worldwide. In the end, a truly spectacular Soviet propaganda campaign got Lubetkin elected by mere hundreds of votes. Stalin breathed a sigh of relief that the Kingdom could be counted on to remain in his sphere of influence, though he would be a lot less relieved when the anti-Anti-Fascist opposition won the next legislative elections and proceeded to keep the government in gridlock for the next decade.
Miraculously, the Kingdom of Poland survived all this, and though a female King would not be elected again until 2054, and they still have not had a Jewish King since, Poland is a respectable power within the Soviet sphere today.

Description
The Polish Republic had failed. Fallen to the Nazis, the very defeat of Poland was what had started the Second World War in the first place. In the days following the Allied victory, as Soviet troops still ran a provisional government in Poland, conservatives argued passionately that it was time to return to a system of government that had seen Poland become Europe’s greatest power: elected monarchy. A King of either gender, elected for life, would provide stability and strength perfectly balanced with the will of the people, or so they said. This incredibly rosy-eyed remembrance of Poland-Lithuania was, to the surprise of all, enthusiastically accepted by the Soviet occupiers. Stalin was obligated to hold free elections soon, he knew, but this ‘restore the monarchy’ business could be the perfect ticket to easier management of his European buffer states. It would be blatant and obvious to stuff the ballots in a parliamentary system, but if he could influence the very infrequent royal elections, the west wouldn’t be able to prove wrongdoing.
And so it was that the 1946 Polish provisional constitution set a framework for a restored Kingdom of Poland: general elections with universal suffrage (this the Soviets insisted on), first-past-the-post, taking place upon the death of the previous King. A legislature to keep them in check, but of course. First elections: January 1947.
Russian commanders received instructions to do everything in their power to ensure the Moscow-backed candidate won short of actual ballot-stuffing. The only problem was that Moscow hadn’t actually gotten around to backing a candidate yet.
The Union’s eye soon fell on the left-wing zionist Anti-Fascist Bloc, a part of the resistance during the war. They were anti-American on the basis that the Franco-British handover of Palestine to America was anti-Semetic and patronizing to Palestinians. The NKVD persuaded the Bloc to stand in elections for King. Now all Moscow had to do was ensure a female Jew was elected King for life over the former leader of the wartime Polish-government-in-exile. Oops.
Getting an anti-capitalist Jewess elected over a famous national hero in a conservative, non-communist monarchy was a misadventure that would form the premise for two sitcoms, thirteen documentaries, a major motion-picture comedy, a low-budget thriller of dubious accuracy and a historical epic and remake of said epic, not to mention the thousands of incredulous sighs in history classes worldwide. In the end, a truly spectacular Soviet propaganda campaign got Lubetkin elected by mere hundreds of votes. Stalin breathed a sigh of relief that the Kingdom could be counted on to remain in his sphere of influence, though he would be a lot less relieved when the anti-Anti-Fascist opposition won the next legislative elections and proceeded to keep the government in gridlock for the next decade.
Miraculously, the Kingdom of Poland survived all this, and though a female King would not be elected again until 2054, and they still have not had a Jewish King since, Poland is a respectable power within the Soviet sphere today.