IW What Ifs...?

[patton]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

The Belisarius series by Flint & Drake touches on this slightly.
It has one of the better takes I've read regarding an Eastern African Empire, based on the true kingdom of Axum, a nation that developed trade with the Orient, and served as a middle man to the Roman Empire.
[The following is my take on how to get to a present day powerful African Nation. It's a little long.]...

Great stuff! Definitely what I needed. And extra kudos for reminding me about the Prester John folklore! Ken Hite would be proud.

[patton]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

What if the 1803 slave revolt in Haiti never ocurred or was easily quashed?

Would this have impacts on slave-rebellion in the US or maybe even the abolitionist movement?

[patton]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

That part still needs work.

because you forgeting the western socialisums that start in the 1920s with the Depreastion the result in the us in the New Deal in the 1930s

Without the cold war, the Red Scare would not set back western socialism in the US. (and proble much futher along in the Commoenwealth that it currtly is)

Despite the New Deal, there was still a significant undercurrent of anti-socialism in the US. Remember my first post -- there was a corporate coupe in the planning to mobolize the American Legion, march on DC and demand FDR to resign.

I think the powers that be tried to downplay anti-communism -- and promote "Uncle Joe" -- while the war was on. War or no war there still would have been a Red Scare, of some sort, eventually (probably developing into a hot war with no nuclear deterence as is being discussed).

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by patton

Despite the New Deal, there was still a significant undercurrent of anti-socialism in the US. Remember my first post -- there was a corporate coupe in the planning to mobolize the American Legion, march on DC and demand FDR to resign.

I think the powers that be tried to downplay anti-communism -- and promote "Uncle Joe" -- while the war was on. War or no war there still would have been a Red Scare, of some sort, eventually (probably developing into a hot war with no nuclear deterence as is being discussed).

The Coup would have failed no legal backing and the action would have bee spun as "unamerican" (rule of law and all that)

the only thing that gave the Red Scare the power it had was "intrests of national security" to power the threats.

and in this time we talking Starlin's Russian does not surive WWII (germany would be on the other side of the war) hen th no Cold war to go hot.

[DrTemp]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

By whom ?

http://www.zeit.de/2005/12/A-Bombe_Contra
http://www.zeit.de/2005/12/A-Bombe_Pro

[Taneli]

Hmm

I have this horrendously cliché filled paraller world, where for some reason there is not one, but two identical stars orbiting each other at fairly close range (so close that they have the same orbiting items, and the orbiting items have good and stable orbits). The planets are bit further away, but they're still hotter than what they are in Homeline. The third planet from the twin-Sun is the one the White Star Survey agents came (of course they told the Infinity Patrol that it was a misjump) to, so apparently it is the Earth of this paraller. It is a desert planet, expect for the polar areas, which are quite pleasant, almost like mediterranean. Both caps have oceans.

The catch, it's a mythical paraller with working magic, dragons, etc. There are several parachronic highways and many nexus portals in this world. One parachronic highway is especially dangerous, as it connects seven quantas, from Q2 to Q9, but missing Q8. The world itself is located at Q6.

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by DrTemp

http://www.zeit.de/2005/12/A-Bombe_Contra
http://www.zeit.de/2005/12/A-Bombe_Pro

Even the pro article concedes that there may have been no chain reaction and only some sort of dirty bomb - not something we ususally call a nuke.
And everything else I have read about that book is less nice. For example the author claims to have found suspicious radioactivity in excess of the average levels for thuringia - forgetting what an "average" is. The amount found is actually about one third of the maximum of the normal range for thuringia.
There are also no isotopes one would expect from a nuclear explosion, only ones which may have been blown in from chernobyl. And most important:
he never explains where the necessary plutonium or enriched uranium would have come from. Have you ever read about the size of the installations the Manhattan project needed to make plutonium and enrich uranium ? You can´t hide installations like that in some basement. And they need lots of power - where would that have come from ?

[mearrin69]

Didn't read the whole thread yet but I saw this and wanted to give a ref.

Originally Posted by patton

1. What if... the Soviets and Cuba did not "stand down" during the Cuban Missile Crisis resulting in a hot war at the height of the Cold War?

There's a book called "Resurrection Day" which has a pretty interesting take on this - Kennedy and his administration get blamed for it and a military dictatorship ends up taking over control of the government. Limited nukes used on the US - DC, NYC, San Diego, I think, maybe more.

It's not a great book - bought it at the airport bookstore before a long flight - but I've read worse.
M

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Brent

Okay, what if any of the following cultures now dominated the world directly:

Inuit, North American Moundbuilders, Iroquois, Anasazi, Olmec, Hawaii, Rapa Nui, Maori, Australian Aborigines, Java, Tibet, Mongolia, Turkmen, Balts, Karelians, Saami, Swiss, Basques, Picts, Egypt, Ethiopia, Israel, Babylon

The European explorers stimulated some native American groups to imperialism and technology and got out of their way.

In case it wasn't clear, each individual culture in the above list was meant as dominating its own alternate earth. Which of them would be least unlikely? I'd say the Balts, Picts, Egypt, and Israel. The Baltworld might be just like ours except instead of our wide variety of Indoeuropean languages we'd all be speaking Lithuanian or something. The Picts I guess could have dominated the mixed British nation and from there an empire that would have maintained control of its colonies. Egypt I guess has a claim simply because of its historical greatness. Israel would be the most interesting to me, but I'm not sure how to work it. Maybe it somehow secularized in ancient times, maybe the change started by it not splitting, I dunno.

I'm thinking the Europeans getting out of America's way would have to be the American diseases devastating the old world instead of the other way around, as suggested. Or maybe something changed the Europeans beforehand so that they only wanted to explore and maybe spread ideas but not colonize or conquer, maybe there would have been greater devastation by disease, relieving their population density? Maybe a lack of religion could have been the case, or a lack of monotheism?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Brent

I'm thinking the Europeans getting out of America's way would have to be the American diseases devastating the old world instead of the other way around, as suggested.

Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Colombus has an alternate history of this nature.