I don't read a lot of alt history but I imagine most of it is people trying to find the laziest causal relationships possible in order to get the outcome they think is the most interesting. Dude what if the Union had nuclear bombs in the Civil War? Dude what if Mexico joined the Axis. And it's always about WWII or The Civil War, in the US at least. Dude what if WWII happened during the Civil War and Japan joined the Union but the South joined Britain and Hitler had old computers but the US had a playstation.
Most of it is a little better than that. Soviet victory in the Battle of Warsaw is a favourite for instance.
Alternatehistory.com generally curbstomps the "what if Napoleon pursues and captures Blucher in the Six Days Campaign?" idiots with "Then he gets fucked up two weeks later by a Russian army." , but yes, a lot of it is what they call FSB or "flying space bats".
Sometimes even that isn't too bad though, everyone loves a good Sunset Invasion.
I kinda doubt Germany could have had total victory in WWII, Man in the High Castle level shit where Nazis rule the world was never gonna happen.
Now if Hitler drove the Soviet Union into Siberia, I could maybe see them managing to hold onto most of Europe save Britain. This would require the fascists to give up on their endless expansionism, but if they did I imagine there’d be a Cold War between a Euro Fascist bunker state and a the Imperialist US-UK alliance.
Probably more than a decade ago I stumbled on someones alt history blog and they had one which was like “what if Robert Clive successfully committed suicide?” and India was never colonized by the British. It’s great man shit (though the actual history of Indian colonization is insane) and I’m pretty sure it made France the global empire which is ridiculous but it was definitely unique.
France was kinda shitty at doing imperialism by the decolonization period. They couldn’t let go of their colonies, but they also couldn’t win against them. They lost Indochina and Algeria to resistance movements because they were a crippled country after ww2. So honestly, by the late period at least, France was very much trying to hold onto their “global empire” completely unsuccessfully. Uk was strong until the end, unfortunately, and crushed many movements in places such as Malaysia.
Honestly outside SE Asia and Algeria France has been far more successful than Britain in maintaining imperial power. West Africa is still basically controlled by French interests, as Sankara pointed out (and was shot for his trouble)
I don't read a lot of alt history but I imagine most of it is people trying to find the laziest causal relationships possible in order to get the outcome they think is the most interesting. Dude what if the Union had nuclear bombs in the Civil War? Dude what if Mexico joined the Axis. And it's always about WWII or The Civil War, in the US at least. Dude what if WWII happened during the Civil War and Japan joined the Union but the South joined Britain and Hitler had old computers but the US had a playstation.
A lot of it is a way to bring your favourite revanchist fantasies to live more so than imagining scenarios.
Most of it is a little better than that. Soviet victory in the Battle of Warsaw is a favourite for instance.
Alternatehistory.com generally curbstomps the "what if Napoleon pursues and captures Blucher in the Six Days Campaign?" idiots with "Then he gets fucked up two weeks later by a Russian army." , but yes, a lot of it is what they call FSB or "flying space bats".
Sometimes even that isn't too bad though, everyone loves a good Sunset Invasion.
It that had happened we might literally be living under communism right now.
Damn poles.
I am way more fine with pro napoleon fanfics, because the sentiment of "Fuck Britain" is one I can always subscribe to.
Oh yeah, absolutely. Bad guys won the Revolutionary wars.
(Incidentally, all I want in the entire world is a pro-French Regency Romance, and I cannot find one. Where are my dashing Revolutionaries?)
deleted by creator
I had the same notion as you, that Germany could have won WW2 somehow, until I saw this
I kinda doubt Germany could have had total victory in WWII, Man in the High Castle level shit where Nazis rule the world was never gonna happen.
Now if Hitler drove the Soviet Union into Siberia, I could maybe see them managing to hold onto most of Europe save Britain. This would require the fascists to give up on their endless expansionism, but if they did I imagine there’d be a Cold War between a Euro Fascist bunker state and a the Imperialist US-UK alliance.
Aw shit just realize I did an alt history :(
Man in the high castle at least acknowledges that the nazis were monstrous. But in the process it whitewashes the fuck out of imperial japan.
Why settle for allegorical Flying Space Bats when you can have the real thing?
FYI: if you're not down with the Liberation of Night you're a :LIB:
Fallen London/Sunless sea/Sunless skies could be so cool if it wasn't the grindiest thing in the fucking universe.
Hitler had old computers. The IBM provided IT support for the Holocaust.
What if the EU suddenly ditched the USA and aligned with China to bypass the Thucydides trap.
Probably more than a decade ago I stumbled on someones alt history blog and they had one which was like “what if Robert Clive successfully committed suicide?” and India was never colonized by the British. It’s great man shit (though the actual history of Indian colonization is insane) and I’m pretty sure it made France the global empire which is ridiculous but it was definitely unique.
Is France not a global empire? There's french colonies and ex-colonies all over the world.
France was kinda shitty at doing imperialism by the decolonization period. They couldn’t let go of their colonies, but they also couldn’t win against them. They lost Indochina and Algeria to resistance movements because they were a crippled country after ww2. So honestly, by the late period at least, France was very much trying to hold onto their “global empire” completely unsuccessfully. Uk was strong until the end, unfortunately, and crushed many movements in places such as Malaysia.
Honestly outside SE Asia and Algeria France has been far more successful than Britain in maintaining imperial power. West Africa is still basically controlled by French interests, as Sankara pointed out (and was shot for his trouble)
Francafrique has become much less of a factor since then. Not that its not a thing, but its less of a thing.
yes right, but as replacing the british empire as being on top.