Alternate universes with alternate historical political outcomes.

[Lancer]

I'm making this thread because it might be fun and also confuse the mods as to whether it should be in the tech forum or the history forum.

So where in history would be the greatest change if the other side had won?

[onodera]

Neanderthals vs Cro-Magnons?

[Lancer]

I was thinking of something a little more recent actually. What about Russia, onodera? Who ran against Putin and is now shoveling snow in Siberia?

[Dry]

Re: Alternate universes with alternate historical political outcomes.

Originally posted by Lancer
So where in history would be the greatest change if the other side had won?

Speaking for Europe, I think it would have been if Rome had been defeated early.
So that is, if Pyrrhus had won, or Hannibal.

[FrostyBoy]

The greatest change would be if Hitler won.

Kind of hate to say it, but it probably wouldn't have been half bad if he wasn't hell bent on genocide.

[Eli]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
The greatest change would be if Hitler won.

Kind of hate to say it, but it probably wouldn't have been half bad if he wasn't hell bent on genocide.

Nah. The West in the most general meaning of the word would've still survived. The divergence from our History if Hitler won is nothing compared to the divergence in the case of an early destruction of the Greek or Roman Civilizations.

[Dry]

@FrostyB:
Hmm, disagree.
Even without the genocide, racist aspect, a nazi Europe would have been like Spain under Franco, or Greece under the Colonels: not exactly 'modern' societies.

[FrostyBoy]

Right, but thinking about it again, the greatest change would actually be between battles of religion, not battles of territory. Perhaps between Christianity and Muslim

[BeBMan]

If the Entente had won WWI we wouldn't have had WWII only ca. 20 years later

[C0ckney]

without the greeks, romans or christianity (or any one of these) the western world as we know it wouldn't have come into being.

other counterfactuals, such a different winner of WW1, are interesting but can't be compared in terms of impact.

[FrostyBoy]

It's quite possible the Aztecs could become the Superpower of the world. Which would have sucked for people who have trouble spelling.

[Dry]

Originally posted by C0ckney
without the greeks, romans or christianity (or any one of these) the western world as we know it wouldn't have come into being.

While this is true, still a lot of scenarios can lead to weird results.
- Byzantium kicks Turk's asses.
- Muslims not stopped at Poitiers or Vienna.
- England wins the 100y war
- Columbus is killed by american natives, and it is a brit/french/dane who 'discover' the new world.
- France rules the waves.
- Imperial France wins
- Ottoman empire do not collapse.

[Vesayen]

There is no reality in which the DANES will discover the new world

What if Rome remained a republic?

What if we never discovered pennicillin(sp)?

[onodera]

Originally posted by Lancer
I was thinking of something a little more recent actually. What about Russia, onodera? Who ran against Putin and is now shoveling snow in Siberia?

Against Putin? All are alive and well:
2000 election:
Zyuganov: CPRF party leader
Yavlinsky: stepped down as a leader of Yabloko in 2008 when it became too unpopular, currently doing stuff like lectures and consulting
Tuleyev: governor of Kemerovo
Zhirinovsky: LDPR party leader
Titov: governor of Samara
Pamfilova: in charge of some civil rights committee
Govorukhin: directs movies
Skuratov: haven't heard from him in a while
Podberyozkin: WTF is that?
Dzhabrailov: still a businessman

2004 election:
Kharitonov: Agrarian party leader
Glazyev: quit politics in 2007, writing books
Khakamada: see Yavlinsky, Glazyev
Malyshkin: Zhirinovsky's bodyguard, expelled from the party in 2007
Mironov: speaker of the Federation Council

No one is in Siberia, AFAIK.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Eli


Nah. The West in the most general meaning of the word would've still survived. The divergence from our History if Hitler won is nothing compared to the divergence in the case of an early destruction of the Greek or Roman Civilizations.

Greek civilization was destroyed early, and then another Greek civilization came.

It is also pretty obvious that the further back you go, the bigger the impact on world history.