1991

During the Gulf War, Coalition aircraft flew over 100,000 sorties and dropped more than 80,000 tons of explosives. Let's say that during one of these raids, an airstrike happens to hit where Saddam Hussein is by chance or design and kills him. Would this end the war sooner? Who might succeed...

Let's say it's denied by a mix of UK, France & Italy, still the GDR is economically doomed and it collapses around 1993-1995, Germany defacto takes over as one. What would be the political consequences if the western powers (except the USA) denied a democratic germany the chance to legally...

In August 1991, communist hardliners in the Soviet Union attempted to remove reformist head of state Mikhail Gorbachev from power and "correct course". However, the coup attempt was poorly organized and proved an utter failure, collapsing in only two days. Not only that, but rather than saving...

The 1991 Iraqi uprising was a crucial moment in modern Iraqi, and by extension, Middle Eastern history, and very nearly succeeded in deposing Saddam. There were a variety of factors why they failed, but one damning mention that I have found is the acceptance by General Norman Schwarzkopf of...

You can probably guess why this is on my mind right now, but I think it's a valid question: what if Stacey Koon and the other four officers who beat Rodney King had been found guilty?

Like it says on the tin. Could a successful August Coup, assuming the USSR does not collapse more violently before that, eventually push the hardliners to start WWIII? Hopefully not. But still, I am just asking for fun. :P

I had this thought and wondered, if Soviet Union didn't collapse in 1991 as it did in my timeline but instead it survives a bit longer in the 1990's and maybe instead collapses around 2001, which is 10 years later. How would a delayed decade Soviet Union collapse affect our history? You guys...

As you may know, after the 1917 Revolution; Russia for the whole 20th century remained as a socialist nation which sparked many changes and an infamous Cold War. But what if instead of a communist Marxist-Lenin revolution there was just an anti-war settlement rebellion that had an intention just...

According to Serhii Plokhy (who goes into his conception of how the Soviet breakup happened here), the leaders of the 1991 coup in the USSR did not arrest Yeltsin because they were counting on the awful relations between Yeltsin and Gorbachev to put Yeltsin on their side. Of course, Yeltsin did...

(like numerous people I loved Hulu's take on "The Handmaid's Tale." I wanted to see how such a story could actually come about, though. That led to the creation of this thread.)...

Could the USSR have, instead of breaking up peacefully, dissolved violently in a Yugoslavia-style bloody mess?

It's 1991 and the Soviet Union falls. Central Asia and the Eastern Bloc separate from Russia. But what if Siberia dissolved, too? I know that might sound stupid (who wants to live in Siberia anyway,) but what if Russia lost all its Eastern holdings and the Siberian states governed themselves. Is...