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  1. a “softer” cold war between U.S. and USSR with fewer proxy wars?

    If you're asking how to accomplish this, I can think of two ways offhand: 1) Kill Stalin at the tail end of WWII, or at least the immediate aftermath. A less paranoid Soviet leader provides the possibility of less of a post-war rift, though I don't know internal Soviet politics well enough to...
  2. WI: Austria-Hungary opts for war with Serbia instead of making demands?

    OTL, Austria-Hungary attempted to play political games by issuing demands on the Serbian government, knowing that they would not be acceptable, and the Serbians won the ensuing PR battle over the issue. ITTL, the Hapsburgs declare that the Serbian government is unwilling to reign in terrorists...
  3. Who Would the CSA go after first, Cuba or Northern Mexico?

    Southern Victory almost requires the French to at least be supportive, and the French are in Mexico at this time. Either butterflies mean they can hold on to it (in which case the Confederacy can't go nibbling), or the Mexicans are strong enough to push them out, which makes it a very...
  4. WI No Nazis. Who starts World War 2?

    The German government is still crumbling, and I think that barring the Nazis, we're still likely to get a nationalist right-wing government that will regard the Soviet Union as an existential threat. Germany attacking the Soviets, with tacit backing from Western Europe (France is going to be...
  5. To the Victor, Go the Spoils (Redux): A Plausible Central Powers Victory

    Kick the old, broken down dog that is post-war France. Intentionally agonizing Germany is setting up Round 2 in the future, and sacrificing future political influence in Europe.
  6. AHC: the contemporary legal system in the West is not territorial but ethnic.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillarisation Just about everything except the law was segregated, and it worked well enough to last until WWII disrupted everything.
  7. To the Victor, Go the Spoils (Redux): A Plausible Central Powers Victory

    I'm not saying the Germans have the desire to do it, but if they want to support the Ottomans, they do have the threat of just not pulling out of whatever Channel ports they end up holding when the fighting stops. Territory already lost to the Arabs is likely gone, but further losses (or the...
  8. Make the US a Central Power in WW1

    Post-1900, getting the United States into the Central Powers - be it as an actual member or a co-belligerent - requires British stupidity. By the time the First World War broke out, it had been British policy for more than half a century to prioritize good relations with the Americans; were a...
  9. Central Power Netherlands

    All the Central Powers have to do is refuse to leave occupied France until the British give the Dutch their colonies back, and they'll be motivated to do so because a Britain that isn't handing the Dutch colonies over also isn't offering the Germans anything to leave. Even in a Russia-first...
  10. AHC: make Britain reconquer the United States by military means

    Americans were more loyal to their states than their country at that time period, so far more likely than "Save us, Britain!" is for the various states to split off into independent countries.
  11. Challenge: Find a way for the Islamic world to be as dominant as their Christian rivals

    Also, the invasion that destroyed Baghdad didn't take out one city, it destroyed the entire infrastructure - crucially including the irrigation network - for the entire region. Imagine the Mongols having sacked France during the reign of Charlemagne and what that would have done to Europe.
  12. Biggest possible Lithuania?

    I don't clearly recall when, but I do recall that there was a point the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's king was very close to also inheriting the throne of Russia - kill off a few people to make it happen, somehow make the whole thing stable, and have a Lithuanian noble start a dynasty.
  13. Had the Spanish-American war never happened, how long could Spain remain relevant on the world stage?

    Spain wasn't relevant on the world stage even before the Americans finished off the colonial empire. It had neither the population nor the wealth to project power meaningfully, and its military was third-rate at best; that the American victory was a surprise had everything to do with the...
  14. What if The USA gave up.

    Is the intent here, "What if the revolution was crushed early?" in which case we see a second attempt in a decade or three, or is the intent, "What if the anger never boils over into outright revolution?" which is going to require some changes by the British to sooth tensions and the result will...
  15. Florida declared itself an independent nation rather than join the Confederacy

    Florida had a population of a little over 140,000 according to the 1860 Census, so the result is that they fail to achieve independence - somebody is going to seize the ports (if only to deny them to the enemy) and there's little else in the state worth caring about.
  16. DBWI: What if Lincoln was successfully assassinated?

    Lincoln went after the big planters for pure pragmatism: the Radicals needed a target and they were the ones who really pushed the idea of secession. It let him redirect the punitive measures away from the small farmers and urban laborers - the civil rights extended to freedmen were unpopular...
  17. DBWI: What if Lincoln was successfully assassinated?

    Chatter aside, the South BURNS. Lincoln's immediate calls for calm worked in large part because he had the gravitas and respect to force everyone to listen; kill him off, and there's nobody to calm the mob from lynching Booth, nor the political mob from seeking revenge. Yes, Lincoln was...
  18. AHC: Have Nintendo win the console wars

    The Sony Playstation started life as a SNES add-on. While the falling out between the two companies was complicated and very difficult to avoid, that's the beginning of the end for Nintendo's dominance, so - eliminate the project entirely. Boost either Sega or Atari so that Nintendo has a...
  19. AHC: Spain and Italy as one country

    We're allowed a 1453 POD, all the way to the end of the Hundred Years War. We're back before the Americas are (formally) discovered. We're far enough back for alt-Columbus to sign on with an Italian prince who gambles that there's something between Europe and India for alt-Columbus to reach...
  20. Japan wins the Pacific War: Can they really hold down the entirety of the Far East?

    Nowhere near enough. You could have Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Hannibal Barca, Napoleon, every great Warring States general, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Ender all team up to lead the Japanese and they STILL lose to the United States. Once the US is in it, the Japanese lose.
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