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Originally Posted by Flyndaran
I was afraid my ignorance of such details would make me looks silly when wondering "out loud".
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Its worth asking. It leads to questioning what would have made the Japanese theater of the war different. Why was unconditional surrender the only option America gave them? What could make it different?
Szilard-1 Either due to slightly different physics or a slightly different Leo Szilard nuclear physics got off on the wrong foot. Weaponization was delayed for decades. WWII goes off on schedule, but without a coherent Manhattan Project as there was no corresponding Nazi Uranpojekt. The Americans go ahead with Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, with conventional weapons and manpower.
The Soviets had been playing both sides, agreeing to help the American invasion while at the same time advising the Japanese. Without the horror of atomic weapons to basically guarantee a quick Japanese collapse the Soviets renege on their agreements with the US and do not help with invasion, instead appearing to play the role of mediator. Facing the prospect of a prolonged and ruinous invasion the Kyujo Incident perpetrators are more motivated. A military coup places the Emperor under house arrest, kills Admiral Suzuki and places Minister Anami in charge.
Japan becomes a meat-grinder for American troops, eating US men and materials for years. US forces enter the fire bombed ruins of Tokyo in 1950, while Soviet forces occupy all of Berlin, move as far south as Egypt and Italy 'elects' a pro-Soviet government. A significantly scaled down Marshal Plan isn't near enough to keep war wear Europe from succumbing to Soviet promises of peace, prosperity and stability. By 1960 the Iron Curtain is at the Pyrenees as Spain and the British Isles are the only major areas not under Soviet control in Europe.
The Red Scare in the US is scarier with a much more powerful USSR and weaker homeland economy. Without widespread television ownership Nixon wins the 1960 election, and Tricky Dick is much more 'trickier' in this timeline.
Instead of proxie wars in Korea and Vietnam the US and USSR face off in the Balkans, Turkey and Mid-East.
Adventures in Szilard-1 could be dodging FBI agents who think nothing of torturing prisoners and secret trials, much like their KGB counter-parts in France or Denmark. US backed Turkish troops fighting in Greece, or Soviet troops in Iran. The Australian-Japanese-California Trade Triangle is beginning to give the US the economic boost it missed in the 50s, but Soviet submarine wolfpacks harass the shipping; diesel powered Filippino zeppelins patrol the west Pacific.
Then again, I'm sure this one has been done somewhere already.