If You Could Change One Historical Event, What Would It Be?

kasumigenx

kasumigenx

If you were able to change history what you will change?



For me, I will tell Temujin that he should not try to a leader of the Mongols or at least prevent him from doing so..
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
A single historical event, pre-1900? I'd stop the Lincoln assassination -- as I see it, this would have made for a smoother, and ultimately more successful Reconstruction, largely avoiding the backlash against the newfound civil rights OTL saw.

Now, if I'm allowed a few PoDs in the same TL (still pre-1900) -- first PoD would be restricting slavery in all acquired US territory then making sure no the slave trade isn't mentioned in the Constitution (leading to its earlier abolition), and the third is delaying the cotton gin. All these plausible PoDs allow slavery to be tackled earlier in the US.
 

CT23

The US gets all of Oregon Country in 1846. One of the reasons would be I wouldn't have needed a passport to go to university in BC.
 
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Gen_Patton

Would my family and thus myself be immune to butterflies?

I really want to exist. So if faced with the choice to let history go as it did and survive, I would.

If I am immune to butterflies, I would probably stop the 30 Years War, a silly conflict that had not "positive" for humanity, technology was stagnated, millions were killed, and nothing much changed in the end.
 
Mumby

Mumby

Stop Prussia from getting the Rhineland at the Congress of Vienna. Hopefully this would avert the Junkers or the King from having any ideological interest in Germany, and leave them to concentrate on the East and Russia. This would prevent Germany from being united under Prussian militarism, and the Yiddish speaking Jews of the East would continue to be seen as a colonial people to facilitate Prussian conquest of Slavic lands, stunting anti-Semitism in Germany and Russia. Assuming Prussia is successful.
 

MAlexMatt

Banned
I'm trying to think of a single event that would have led to the Levelers beating out the Grandees for influence in the New Model Army.

Or, alternatively, a way to have the German Peasant Wars of the 16th century go the other way.

Who knows, these things aren't easy.
 

Thespitron 6000

There was this time in one of my relativity classes when I had a really bad cold. I sat in the back, wearing a heavy coat, and the room was really warm. Eventually, I fell asleep, but the mucus in my nose caused me to snore until I woke myself up. I was horribly embarrassed, and went up to apologize to the professor afterwards, but I could tell he was a little cheesed off, and for the remainder of the quarter, I felt uneasy in his presence, because of my social faux pas.

I'd like to go back and give myself a five-hour energy so I would stay awake this time.
 

Troyer IV

John Fredrick Parker said:
A single historical event, pre-1900? I'd stop the Lincoln assassination -- as I see it, this would have made for a smoother, and ultimately more successful Reconstruction, largely avoiding the backlash against the newfound civil rights OTL saw.

Now, if I'm allowed a few PoDs in the same TL (still pre-1900) -- first PoD would be restricting slavery in all acquired US territory then making sure no the slave trade isn't mentioned in the Constitution (leading to its earlier abolition), and the third is delaying the cotton gin. All these plausible PoDs allow slavery to be tackled earlier in the US.
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No. If anything - and if I were somehow ASB-ly allowed to document the unfolding world events, I would go back and pinpoint some random PoD to allow the CSA to win, leave, and then ruin itself. Then I could bring said documentation back to AH.com and forever shut up all the CSA-wanksters out there and the incessant crap about that scenario.

As to slavery... why not just find the first Portuguese crew to buy Africans and, ya know, stop that.

Thespitron 6000 said:
There was this time in one of my relativity classes when I had a really bad cold. I sat in the back, wearing a heavy coat, and the room was really warm. Eventually, I fell asleep, but the mucus in my nose caused me to snore until I woke myself up. I was horribly embarrassed, and went up to apologize to the professor afterwards, but I could tell he was a little cheesed off, and for the remainder of the quarter, I felt uneasy in his presence, because of my social faux pas.

I'd like to go back and give myself a five-hour energy so I would stay awake this time.
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You wouldn't just... I dunno, skip class and drink plenty of fluids in the comfort of your own bed? Or just not wear the coat? Or go before then and avoid the cold? Odd choice, sir.


kasumigenx said:
If you were able to change history what you will change?
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Oh dear, the choices! I wouldn't have stolen that car when I was 16. I wouldn't have done so much LSD in October-November 2005. I wouldn't have had that threesome... no wait. Yeah. Yeah I would've.

Seriously, though. Um. Yeah, I'm gonna say I'd have forced Hitler's father to wear a damn condom.
 

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
Troyer IV said:
As to slavery... why not just find the first Portuguese crew to buy Africans and, ya know, stop that?
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Well to start, I don't think that would actually prevent the Atlantic Slave Trade -- so long as Europeans and sailing about, they're going to interact with the economies of the lands they encounter, and as long as they have economic incentives of needing cheap labor for American colonies... no, the only way to prevent the travesty is to get Europeans to find the practice morally repulsive earlier, and I frankly don't know how to do that pre-Enlightenment.
 

Warsie

Banned
Shit.....turn the 1968 uprisings black americans had from rioting into Yugoslavia- level rebellion with hijacking nuclear weapons and whatnot.

Basically take a black uprising, make it worse and more coordinated. For The Rodney King Uprising, have vets snipe at national guard units and place mines under the tanks.

Nat Turner? Have it stronger and possibly succeed? Denmark Vesey? Have it tip off and go extremely successful for blacks. Haiti? Ditto.

Things like that. Or just ASB it so Africans are developed and do the same thing to Europeans.....
 

Socrates

Warsie said:
Shit.....turn the 1968 uprisings black americans had from rioting into Yugoslavia- level rebellion with hijacking nuclear weapons and whatnot.

Basically take a black uprising, make it worse and more coordinated. For The Rodney King Uprising, have vets snipe at national guard units and place mines under the tanks.

Nat Turner? Have it stronger and possibly succeed? Denmark Vesey? Have it tip off and go extremely successful for blacks. Haiti? Ditto.

Things like that. Or just ASB it so Africans are developed and do the same thing to Europeans.....
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Wow, that's pretty offensive.
 

MAlexMatt

Banned
The Ubbergeek said:
Warsie, it is not just race, but culture.

there was very few black slaves in New France. My ancestors probably owned NONE.
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Any given person's ancestor probably owned no slaves, even in the antebellum South.

Poor whites greatly outnumbered slave-owners in every slave society in recent Western history.

Of course, it's not just the owning of slaves that's infuriating for their descendents, I'm sure....
 

Warsie

Banned
Socrates said:
Wow, that's pretty offensive.
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The more successful black uprising part?

The Ubbergeek said:
Warsie, it is not just race, but culture.

there was very few black slaves in New France. My ancestors probably owned NONE.
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When I said 'reverse the roles' I meant africans did the colonization/exploration/etc like Europeans did en masse from 1492-1980s?

MAlexMatt said:
Any given person's ancestor probably owned no slaves, even in the antebellum South.

Poor whites greatly outnumbered slave-owners in every slave society in recent Western history.

Of course, it's not just the owning of slaves that's infuriating for their descendents, I'm sure....
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I remember someone saying 1/3rd of antebellum dixie white population owned slaves, ignoring people who rented or whatnot. Snake Featherson I think..............
 
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