Abhakhazia
Banned
Actually, without religion, we'd probably be worse off scientifically because without the literary traditions of the monks we probably would have had a darker dark ages.
How advanced could we have become by the year 2000
- Thread starter Neo
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Actually, without religion, we'd probably be worse off scientifically because without the literary traditions of the monks we probably would have had a darker dark ages.
I always feel a bit sorry for religion, because I see it as the first attempt at science, at explaining the world. Early people didn't know anything really about how things worked, and lacked the means to find out. Religion was an attempt to see some meaning behind things.
Unfortunately it ended up like communism, a nice idea that was quickly hijacked to keep a specific group on top of the pile.
Unfortunately it ended up like communism, a nice idea that was quickly hijacked to keep a specific group on top of the pile.
World War I ends in a draw.
This is followed by an 80 year cold war, in which all the major powers devote resources to technological development.
Perhaps 10 to 30 years more advanced than we are today.
If we can go earlier than 1900, then just have civilization itself start 2000 years earlier.
This is followed by an 80 year cold war, in which all the major powers devote resources to technological development.
Perhaps 10 to 30 years more advanced than we are today.
If we can go earlier than 1900, then just have civilization itself start 2000 years earlier.
Or Princip had missed. Or Russia was in the midst of, say, a succession when it was all going down. Or if Franz Joseph had succumbed to a heart attack on hearing the news.
Not that those were so likely, but even a few years divergence could have offset things substantially. A decade of divergence would probably suffice for eliminating the war (or an equivalent a couple years after) without undue strain.
Probably the best way to "avoid" a Great War is to preempt it with a smaller one. A controlled burn, of sorts. Es Geloybte Aretz is a fair example, I suspect Malê Rising will be another, and Fight and Be Right could have been taken in that direction as well.
It's a Few Decades Earlier ...
But, if Napoleon III doesn't Have a FREAK Out, Over The Ems Telegram, And doesn't Declare War on Prussia ...
The Concert of Europe, would Probably have at Least Another Generation Left!
At Any Rate, Without French Revanchism, Whatever Winds up Replacing Imperial Germany, won't Have The Popular Support Necessary, to Maintain a Lasting Enmity ...
That May Not STOP a General European War, But at Least a Balkan Crisis, May Wind up, with a Saner Stop Point!
But, if Napoleon III doesn't Have a FREAK Out, Over The Ems Telegram, And doesn't Declare War on Prussia ...
The Concert of Europe, would Probably have at Least Another Generation Left!
At Any Rate, Without French Revanchism, Whatever Winds up Replacing Imperial Germany, won't Have The Popular Support Necessary, to Maintain a Lasting Enmity ...
That May Not STOP a General European War, But at Least a Balkan Crisis, May Wind up, with a Saner Stop Point!
WI all of the middle east fell to communism? Just a thought, but if oil is somehow denied one of the superpowers, then a massive effort at fission technology and fusion research might take place.
It'd be a lot more nuanced than that -- there's significant oil production throughout North and South America (in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela). Plus, there are huge natural gas reserves here in the U.S., and potential use of biofuels, ethanol, etc. All of that being said: I really like the basic conceit here.
So what would the implications be if WWII ends with all of the Middle East behind the Iron Curtain? I imagine that the next cost to the consumer will be a gallon of gasoline that's five to ten times the cost IOTL. That won't kill cars and airplanes; it just puts them out of the mainstream, middle-class market for decades (at least). So this would turn back the personal car-ownership culture in this country. It'd also radically change the perception of airline flights; instead of being the primary means of cross-country travel for average Americans, it would be effectively restricted to corporate and uber-wealthy consumers; the average flight would thus occupy something like the niche market that the Concorde did IOTL.
This would also be a great POD for anyone looking to write a high-speed rail timeline. In fact, with a POD somewhere during WWII, you would probably wind up with massive railway infrastructure projects instead of the Eisenhower Interstate highway system.