11-10-2017, 02:09 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Changing History
In the Infinite Worlds setting, there are hypothetically an infinite number of Echoes of Homeline (of which only a couple of hundred which have been discovered). What part of history would you want to change and why? What effects would you predict would occur?
My change would be to seduce and marry Johanna Hiedler (the maternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler) in 1848 before she married Johann Pölz (the maternal grandfather of Adolf Hitler) and immigrate to Canada with her. Without Johanna Hiedler in Austria, Klara Pölz is not born and, with Klara Pölz, Adolf Hitler is not born. Of course, the Echo would probably not diverge for decades, possibly not until 1919 when Adolf Hitler started to come to public attention, but that just means that by the time that anyone figures out that the Echo will shift, it will be far too late to stop that shift from happening. Of course, the obvious effects will start to occur in 1919, when Adolf Hitler would have returned to Munich. Without Hitler, Eckart would not have had a charismatic and sympathetic military veteran to transform the Thule Society into the Nazi Party. Without the Nazi Party, the Socialists would have probably taken over Germany during the Great Depression. The Socialists of Germany would have probably assisted the Socialists of Spain against Franco. That would have brought them into conflict with the fascist regimes, which would have them into conflict with the other fascist regimes in Europe (Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, etc). By 1939, I imagine that France, Russia, and the UK would be wondering if they should declare war against a Socialist Germany that was destroying the fascists states of Europe. |
11-10-2017, 02:14 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Changing History
I wouldn't consider changing history. Too much risk of grandfather paradox.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
11-10-2017, 02:37 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: LFK
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Re: Changing History
Not too likely given the variety of time travel in Infinite Worlds - your world still happened, you're "just" messing with an alternate reality. Negating your own existence, or going All You Zombies, seems much less likely.
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11-10-2017, 04:09 PM | #4 |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Changing History
Then it would not really be changing history. It would be influencing another world making assumptions based on your history.
I know it's a shorthand for screwing with very close parallels, but this is Gurps where that definition assumption is not necessarily true.
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Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
11-10-2017, 04:42 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Changing History
It is changing history though because you are targeting an Echo. Echos will follow the history of Homeline until they diverge. When we are talking about changing history, we are talking about changing the historical trajectory of an Echo and transforming it into a parallel.
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11-10-2017, 04:43 PM | #6 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Changing History
Maybe she just isn't into you...
At any rate I wouldn't mess with echoes, because I wouldn't want trouble with Patrol, unless I worked for Interworld in which case I would change the things they told me to change. |
11-10-2017, 04:49 PM | #7 |
Untitled
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: between keyboard and chair
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Re: Changing History
And if this is a world with high inertia, Hitler becomes the worst Canadian to ever exist...
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Rob Kelk “Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” – Bernard Baruch, Deming (New Mexico) Headlight, 6 January 1950 No longer reading these forums regularly. |
11-10-2017, 04:52 PM | #8 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Changing History
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11-10-2017, 05:38 PM | #9 |
☣
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Changing History
Just before one of the critical speeches Hitler gave during the early part of his rise to power, secretly slip him a powerful, fast-acting laxative.
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
11-10-2017, 05:51 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Changing History
After Hitler orchestrates the Canadian Anschluss of the United States, the Hortonite menace threatens to overwhelm the free world until he is finally defeated by a combination of British intelligence, German production, and Soviet blood.
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