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During the Reformation, many rulers decided to abandon their affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and instead embraced Protestantism. But what if Reformers decided to call for switching to Orthodoxism rather than Protestantism? Many of the rulers were attracted to Protestantism...

When Operation Barbarossa was launched, it was clear that Germany did not have knowledge of the full extent of Soviet military capabilities. During the initial stages, Germany was tremendously successful. They captured or killed millions of troops and occupied much of European Soviet Union. But...

James II had a son named James Francis Edward Stuart (JFES). As the oldest legitimate male heir, he was theoretically first in line over his sisters. But being Catholic he couldn't ascend the throne. JFES died in 1766. Before his death, William & Mary, Anne, George I,II,III ascended the throne...

WI Turkish War of Independence is lost? Do Turks still get a nation and if so how small? Republic of Kurdistan forms? What about other border changes and the wider impact to the Middle East and the world?

IOTL, Japan was able to conquer almost all of China. From 1937 all the way to the end of the WWII, Japan held the initiative and continued making gains. Only war with the USA prevented Japan from total victory in China. But what if Chinese forces performed much better and was actually able to...

With a PoD of 380CE (after Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire), how plausible and how early could a Deist or Atheist Revolution take place in Europe?

From 1937 to 1945, China was thoroughly beatened by Japan. With few exceptions, China lost almost all battles and had most of its territory under Japanese occupation. China was on the verge of being totally conquered. But only a few years later in 1950-1953, China under the Communists fought...

On 5 Nov 1688, William of Orange led an invasion of England. Despite numerical superiority, King James II was unsure of his army's loyalty and ultimately chose to flee rather than stand and fight. What if James II resolved to fight the invasion to the end?

With various PoDs, it is conceivable that USSR never agrees to partition of Germany and ends up occupying all of Germany. How does history unfold? (And for a more extreme scenario, what if USSR occupies France?)

When Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, it had as its objective the conquest of USSR up to the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. This was obviously way too ambitious. But what if Germany decided that its goal was Brest-Litovsk borders instead? This means basically control of all of Poland, Baltic...

Japan was defeated in WWII because it could never defeat the USA for obvious reasons. Japan was doomed the minute it attacked the USA first. This led me to thinking, what if Japan simply goes all out to avoid war with the USA? Obviously this means no attack on Pearl Harbor and no conquest of...

During WWII, the USSR suffered massive casualties and destruction in defeating Germany. But out of that sacrifice came one of the largest contiguous empires since Mongol times counting both USSR itself and satellite states. And it emerged as a rival superpower. What if instead of letting it all...

IOTL, Germany lost the Battle of Britain. It suffered very heavy losses and was unable to force UK to submit. Those heavy losses in aircraft and crew would also affect future battles, in particular against USSR. But suppose Germany decisively won the BoB and achieved air superiority and do so...

IOTL, the USA eventually lost the Vietnam War. It lost not because it was defeated militarily but because the war kept dragging on and became a quagmire and lost American domestic support. But most importantly, it lost because it never went all out to win. But what if instead of fighting the...

IOTL, the British colonies revolted to become the USA. The USA then exploded in area and population and would become first a world power and then superpower and now hyperpower. But suppose the Americas never developed a world power of any kind? Suppose the entire Western Hemisphere was full of...

IOTL, the Amerindians are clearly far behind the Old World when Europeans first discover the New World. The societies that they encountered such as Aztecs and Incas were at best about the same level of advancement as ancient Egypt and Sumeria IMO. Yet in some other threads, posters claim that...

For much of human history, Britain was largely a backwater. But from the fall of the Roman Empire onwards, Britain steadily became more and more powerful. By the time of the Age of Exploration, Britain was expanding everywhere and would soon become world hegemon. By 1920, it controlled 25% of...

The Roman Empire is the closest thing we have to lasting hegemony over most of Europe. From 1CE till about 337CE, one empire controlled much of Europe although there were some periods of disunity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476CE, other leaders have tried to reestablish...

When the Revolutionary War ended, the Founders created OTL system of govt with a powerful executive, coequal bicameral legislature and independent judiciary. The foundational principle is "separation of powers". It sounds good in theory but hasn't really worked that well. When different parties...

Using whatever PoDs are necessary, have MacArthur become Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe while Eisenhower becomes commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. How different do the two WWII Theaters unfold with the commanders swapped compared to OTL? What about...