The world is full of “what ifs?” What if JFK hadn’t decided to go cruising through Dallas in an open-top car? What if Neanderthals had not become extinct? What if the Allies invaded the Japanese mainland at the climax of WWII? The winning essay, by G. M. Trevelyan, suggested that Napoleon would lose interest in expanding his empire, partly because his health was suffering, and partly because the mood in Paris was for peace. 99 $26.00 $26.00 FREE Shipping Get free shipping Free 5-8 day shipping within the U.S. when you order $25.00 of eligible items sold or fulfilled by Amazon. Meanwhile, a war of independence would stir in South America. At the end of the war, the U.S. side wins again, and takes control of the CSA. When Henry tries to usurp his nephew’s throne, he is stopped in a papal war. Instead, Nixon was elected, and “totally botched the Cuban Missile Crisis, causing World War III.” This caused devastation all around them. England, however, would suffer economically, with many people starving. What if the Russian “October Revolution” had failed? What if Queen Elizabeth I had never been born? President Lindbergh, a white supremacist and anti-Semite, declares martial law, throws his opponents in prison, and allies with Nazi Germany in World War II. Through the magic of propaganda, Hitler is revered 20 years later as a beloved leader. Unlike many of Dick's later works, it has yet to be turned in to a movie, though a SyFy TV series is currently in planning stages, produced by Sir Ridley Scott. What if the ancient Greeks had discovered a naturally formed wormhole to another world? What if the Confederate States won the American Civil War? Hitchens didn’t explain how Nixon would avoid the Watergate scandal, or where Quayle would obtain his debating skills. Perhaps the most intriguing was the reality in which Martin Scorsese, rather than Garry Marshall, directed Pretty Woman (1990), the rom-com that turned Julia Roberts into a star. Explanation: Philip Roth’s bestselling novel, The Plot Against America (2002), gives us an alternate history in which Charles Lindbergh, trans-Atlantic pilot and all-American hero, becomes the Republican presidential candidate in 1940, defeating the incumbent Franklin Roosevelt. An example of "honorary alternate history" is the 1980s series The Zone by James Rouch about World War III in Europe. Explanation: The 1963 Kennedy assassination is a popular event of alternate history, inspiring novels, stage plays and short story collections. What if the renaissance sparked a popular movement to reunite the Roman Empire? Alternative History is what this sub is all about. Cody Franklin (born: July 16, 1995 (1995-07-16) [age 25]), better known online as AlternateHistoryHub, is an American Educational YouTuber who goes over different alternate histories, such as: "What if the South won the Civil War", "What if Germany won WW2", and other alternate history topics. The stories are conjectural but are sometimes based on fact. These stories usually contain "what if" scenarios at crucial points in history and present outcomes other than those in the historical record. However, the Nazis have the hydrogen bomb, which also gives them the technology to fuel super-fast air travel and colonize space. “I just changed that one thing,” said Dann, who copiously researched his book, making it “as factual as I could… By exploring Dean as he matures, I'm able to cast light on the Dean that we know.” If Dean had survived, Dann suggested, he would have inspired one of his fans, Elvis Presley, to leave rock ’n’ roll and become a serious actor (which was always his ambition). In simple terms, AH is a non mainstream explanation for actual history. Well-meaning as the organization was, Vidal blames it for causing Germany’s struggles in the 1920s, paving the way for the rise of Hitler. At one stage, he concludes that the fault lay in President Woodrow Wilson’s vision for the League of Nations. Hot New Top. What if Earth had a habitable twin planet instead of a moon? What if the south won the Civil War? We are a community for creating and discussing a wide range of alternate timelines: large and small, ancient and recent, realistic and fanciful.If you'd like to add to our growing multiverse, the following pages will help you get started. Result: no Watergate, more national optimism, and less voter cynicism. Explanation: In What If? Explanation: In Gore Vidal’s 1995 novel, The Smithsonian Institution, the great political scribe made one of his rare entries into science fiction. Disaster Alternative History: list centered in natural and human-made disasters, real, changed or completely created by the author. And we’ve narrowed down the genre by showing the differences with other genres: 1. Using knowledge of geography, population and other historical facts I predict what could have happened had things gone differently in history. Effect: Christianity would continue to rule the world. Effect: Colonization of the moon, Venus, and Mars by 1962. I’ve seen a lot of people give the idea of Brazil as a superpower power a try in an alternate history scenario. In the America of 1962, slavery is legal once again, and the few surviving Jews hide out under assumed names. What if the Vikings successfully colonized the east coast of North America? Alternate history, long popular with fiction writers, has also been explored by historians and journalists. Effect: World War II might have ended earlier—but Hitler would still have lost. card classic compact. Here’s a list of 50 questions to excite your imagination, invalidate your history textbooks, and infuriate your stuffy childhood history teacher. This envisions a world in which the U.S. military sabotages President Kennedy’s attempts to negotiate peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What if Genghis Khan had died in infancy? Need a point in time for your alternate timeline to diverge? Alternate histories are stories or scenarios which consider the question of what if the events of the past had turned out differently. Explanation: After capturing France, Nazi Germany planned to invade Britain with Operation Sea Lion, in an air and naval attack across the English Channel. Lapham suggested that, if the Romans had won, world history would have been remarkably different, with a “Roman empire preserved from ruin, Christ dying… on an unremembered cross, the nonappearance of the English language, neither the need nor the occasion for a Protestant Reformation… and Kaiser Wilhelm seized by an infatuation with stamps… instead of a passion for cavalry boots.”. But an essay by the late Lewis H. Lapham, then editor of Harper’s Magazine, recalled a little-known confrontation in 9 AD between the Roman legions and the Germanic tribes at the Teutoburg Forest. The stories are conjectural but are sometimes based on fact. The tribes ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions in this campaign, and the Romans would never again attempt to conquer Germania beyond the Rhine. Alternate history, alternative history (in Commonwealth English), or simply althist, sometimes abbreviated as AH, is a genre of speculative fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. Explanation: Jack Dann’s 2004 novel The Rebel portrays a history in which film star James Dean survives his fatal car crash in 1955. Effect: Republicans win every election for the next 30 years. Alternate History: Before 1900 AD - 1 Viewing. The Soviet Union is destroyed, the People’s Republic of China collapses, and a fallout cloud over Asia kills millions of others. In an essay in the book What Ifs? What if Henry VIII had stayed married to Catherine of Aragon? With Napoleon ailing, the French government would nearly cease functioning, attacked from all sides. Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, but shot Mayor McCheese instead. Some of the stories out there are a mixture of the serious and silly, but others are a plausible look at how a few key decisions could have changed the world. Alternate history is a subgenre of speculative fiction (or science fiction) and historical fiction that is set in a world in which history has … This leads the Fab Four to disband. r/ HistoryWhatIf. They find themselves in a Disney universe, where everything is sweet and wholesome (as long as you’re not Jewish); a universe inhabited only by a guy in the distance who gives out compliments; a universe where Christianity never existed, meaning that the Dark Ages didn’t happen; and a universe in which the positions of dogs and people are reversed. Alternate history enthusiasts: ignore MITHC at your peril. According to The Sun, after threatening to reveal an affair with Robert Kennedy, she was drugged, brainwashed and taken to Australia, where she lives the "simple life of a sheep rancher's wife.". Join. Explanation: Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962, at age 36, has been pondered by a few writers. Paleofuturism 4. Determined to prevent it, he goes back in history to seek its origins. Explanation: The previous list of alternate histories included a historian’s view of what would have happened if the Confederacy had won the Civil War. Explanation: French philosopher Charles Renouvier’s book Uchronie (1876) suggested a history in which Christianity didn’t come to the west through the Roman Empire, due to a small change of events after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Time-travel 6. What if the Romans never converted to Christianity? What if Alfred the Great had died in a cake-related fire, causing England to remain divided into separate kingdoms? However, all surviving nations renounce their possession of nuclear weapons – with the exception of the USA, now under martial law (as the military had planned all along). For alternate history, historical, and whatif conjecture! Jonny Wilkes talks to Professor Alan Forrest about whether Napoleon's victory at Waterloo would have been enough to secure a remarkable return to power – or if it would only have delayed the … Looking at different options of an events actual way can help you see what was going… In a 1990 story, they “revealed” that Monroe actually was still alive. His 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle, which established him as a top science fiction writer, is set in a world where the Axis powers win World War II in 1947 and divide most of the world between them. (That bit was never explained.). Steampunk 5. Even Bush’s vice-president, Dan Quayle, would be propelled to the presidency after winning a debate against Bill Clinton. The Southern forces annex Washington, DC — renaming it the District of Dixie. The popular Harry Turtledove, who specializes in alternate history novels, has suggested what might have happened – in 11 volumes (so far). The newly fascist CSA then plans a Final Solution for the “surplus” black population. Written by Mark Ball. Effect: The Enlightenment starts early – and lasts a thousand years. In the Second Great War (1941-1944), three American cities and six European cities are destroyed in nuclear attacks. What if the British Empire had invaded and conquered China? So, now we have a definition of alternative history: 1. By 1976, it is ruled by the Vatican, in the middle of a long-running Christian/Muslim cold war, and technologically regressed, as electricity is banned and scientists are frowned upon. What if the Ottoman Empire had succeeded in capturing Vienna in 1529? What if “The Babington Plot” succeeded in assassinating Queen Elizabeth the First in 1586? For example, what if the Confederacy had won the American Civil War, what if the Germans had won World War II, what if Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential Election. Then there was the American supermarket tabloid The Sun. Other writers have been less kind, envisioning that JFK would provoke violent anti-war marches, accidentally start World War III, or continue his affair with Marilyn Monroe (who also survives her early death) for another 30 years. Effect: She would win an Oscar – and be brainwashed. London Daily Express journalist Peter Hitchens wrote a fictitious obituary, in which Kennedy survives, and goes on to become one of America’s most unpopular presidents before finally dying at age 75, mourned by almost nobody. She would then record a hit song with Frank Sinatra, make bad films, and give up acting in 1980 to look after her drug-addicted twin sons. What if Gandhi had never got teed-off with the British Empire? The plan was shelved in 1940, but some 30 years later, the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst started a war-games module, set in a world where Sea Lion had happened. Playwright Douglas Mendin, in a 1992 story for Entertainment Weekly, imagined that Monroe would survive, dedicate herself to serious acting, and win an Oscar in 1965, with no make-up and her hair dyed brown. Alternate history or alternative history (Commonwealth English) (AH) is a genre of speculative fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. What if the entire continent of South America had been united under the flag of the “Bolivarian Republic”? Of course, the idea has also been popular in fiction. The acclaimed 1974 novel A Midsummer Tempest, by popular science fiction and fantasy author Poul Andersen, was set in a world where Shakespeare’s plays are utterly accurate, and the Bard is renowned not as a creative genius, but as a great chronicler of history. In this history, while the word of Christ still spreads throughout the east, Europe enjoys an extra millennium of classical culture. What if the Black Death had never occurred? Under international pressure, the Southern states gradually abolish slavery. Alternate history: what if Magna Carta hadn’t been written? General discussion about alternate history scenarios where the divergence from real history happens from 1900 AD onward. Lennon’s obscurity, of course, ensures that he is not killed by a fan in 1980. ), But what if Napoleon had won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815? The poet Lord Byron would lead a popular uprising against the government, which would be suppressed. What if Napoleon defeated the armies of the Seventh Coalition at the Battle of Waterloo? In this history, while Reagan died 19 years early, other people are granted extended lives. Alternate history is looking into the past and changing the actual result of an event. Nuclear Alternative History: althistory with a nuclear or atomic point of divergence, used for military or peaceful purpose. Alternate History imagines what would happen if history had gone differently. How to use alternative history in a sentence. What if the Australian Aborigines had developed a civilization as technologically advanced as those of the Western World? General discussion about alternate history scenarios in general or those found in media with the point of divergence from real history occurring before 1900 AD. A surprisingly effortless, if complex, read, its labyrinthine narrative weaves plot strands in and out of each other like silk, keeping the pages turning until the coffee goes cold. Need a point in time for your alternate timeline to diverge? Effect: The Fuhrer is revered in history as a great leader. Explanation: In "Road to the Multiverse," a 2009 episode of Family Guy, Stewie and Brian find themselves hopping between universes. With special thanks to David Ball. Explanation: Any reality envisioned by Philip K. Dick was bound to be fascinating. Effect: The Union would be over… forever. Effect: Due to advanced technology, the Industrial Revolution happens 200 years early. What if the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic had killed 50% of the world’s population? 187. An entire channel dedicated to the 'What If?". Here’s a list of 50 questions to excite your imagination, invalidate your history textbooks, and infuriate your stuffy childhood history teacher. Under the government of John Nance Garner (who would have been Roosevelt’s VP), and later the Republican candidate John W. Bricker, the U.S. doesn’t prevail against the Great Depression, and maintains an isolationist policy in World War II, leading to a weak and ineffectual military. Meanwhile, the United States loses New York, Washington DC, San Diego, Miami and other cities. $22.99 $ 22. What if Charles Darwin had sought political office? Hence, fairies and other magical beings exist on this world, and the clockwork technology of Ancient Rome advanced to the stage where, in the age of Cromwell, steam trains are already running through England. Alternative history definition is - fiction that is based on history and that explores what might have happened if certain historical events, figures, etc., had been different —called also alternate history. Effect: America becomes one nation again… in 1960. Explanation: Edward Morris’s story "Imagine" (published in the magazine Interzone in 2005) is written as an article by the legendary rock journalist Lester Bangs, which reminisces about Beatlemania – and the Beatles being banned in California after John Lennon controversially states that they are “more popular than Jesus." Sadly, it is too late for the South to rejoin the Union. What if the Nile River had dried up thousands of years ago? Alternate history fiction is a style of fictional narrative where the author changes one key element or elements about established history and then concocts a story that results from this change. What if a spate of alien visitations had made the world aware of life on other planets as early as the 13th Century? Rising. NOT debates about present-day politics. Later volumes were set in the Great War, in which the CSA allies with Britain and France, and the U.S. – still bitter over the two Civil Wars – joins forces with Germany. Explanation: Probably the first book-length alternate history, Napoleon and the Conquest of the World: 1812-1823 (published in 1836) imagined that Napoleon, rather than freezing in Moscow in 1812, sought out and destroyed the Russian army. In the 1968 presidential election, he would be Robert Kennedy’s running mate, eventually saving him from the assassin’s bullet. After all these years of conflict, such a move would fill Congress with some of the USA’s greatest enemies. What if Australia had been discovered and colonized by the Japanese? What if Boudica (Boadicea) had won the Battle of Watling Street? 1 Welcome to the Alternate History Wiki 1.1 Topics 1.2 Rules 2 Latest activity This is the alternate history wiki where YOU can rewrite history. What would the NFL look like if certain events didn't take place or things that in reality didn't did? Someone comes up with a different way of explaining similarities between existing religions/cultures/language groups. And, thankfully, Earth’s long, long history … Learning that Britain has broken the Enigma code, however, the Nazis play it safe and make peace with the west. Bangs also survives the fate he suffered in reality, where he died of an accidental overdose in 1982, aged 33. He did get a few things wrong, however—such as having a clock strike in Julius Caesar, 1500 years before such clocks were invented. 2 6 1 162. Lindbergh is remembered as a national villain – in Roth’s opinion, the reputation he deserves. What if the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had failed? What if the French decided not to sell the Louisiana territory to the USA? It would end not with the prostitute (Roberts) and her wealthy client (Richard Gere) living happily ever after, but with her dying of a heroin overdose while he drives into the sunset, cackling maniacally. Explanation: Renowned novelist Kingsley Amis entered alternate-history territory in 1976 with his award-winning novel The Alteration. Somehow, we’re not convinced that they took the job seriously, as they pondered worlds where The Godfather had flopped (forcing Francis Ford Coppola’s return to directing porn movies and Al Pacino’s return to his job as a furniture removalist), Sean Connery was gay (so that, rather than James Bond, he wins stardom in camp British comedies), and, most cruelly, Keanu Reeves was born ugly (“He would have starved to death at a very young age”), among other twisted scenarios. Explanation: In a 1960 article published in Look magazine, author and Civil War buff MacKinlay Kantor envisioned a history in which the Confederate forces won the Civil War in 1863, forcing the despised President Lincoln into exile. Alternate history is usually classified as a subgenre within the broader genre of speculative fiction.In its strictest sense, an alternate history story is set on our earth, with the same laws of causality and physics.No magic or fantastic elements intrude … What if the RMS Lusitania was not sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915? Byron's execution, of course, would only inspire revolution. But, to be honest, when foreigners do so, they often fail to make it realistic, mostly because they think of a superpowered Brazil as a tropical version of the US. Save 50% on a BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed subscription Magna Carta remains one of history's most important documents, a charter sealed by King John in 1215 that placed limits on the power of English kings. Had lived to a ripe old age the 1963 Kennedy assassination is a non mainstream explanation actual. On Japan a few writers the violent Freedom party, Dan Quayle, would only inspire Revolution of. 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