cold war

I was just rereading For All Time again, in which nuclear weapons, even strategic ones, have no taboo and are used copiously. It’s an extremely dystopian alternate history, and it left me wondering what a more moderate version might look like: Tactical nukes are considered acceptable, but the...

***** When it comes to the men on white horses who dot American history, John Fitzgerald Kennedy ranks highly among them. There’s plenty of reasons why this might be the case. Maybe it’s the seminal moments of his presidency: his steady leadership through the Cuban Missile Crisis, his...

As some of you may no, I'm currently writing a story that takes place before the construction of the Berlin Wall. I've reached a point in the story (link in my signature) where America and the Soviet Union are negotiating over the mass migration to West Germany. But I've found myself a bit...

May 2nd, 1963, in the South Atlantic, a transatlantic fishing dispute had escalated into a confrontation and in time the standoff between two respectable navies would lead to global repercussions in a shot heard around the world, one in which would change international maritime law forever. The...

The Indonesian government's official stance on what happened in 1965 was that a failed communist coup happened as a result of Sukarno's flirting with the PKI, which prompted Suharto and the military to seize full power. However, there is much evidence that the coup was a false flag operation by...

In our timeline, the USSR, after years of being the main rival of the United States, fell into economic and technological stagnation and soon that evolved into military stagnation with Afghanistan as Nixon was able to further divide Russia and China with his 1972 trip to China. Eventually, the...

Chapter 1 - Seeking Remote Globes “It is a plain road from the Earth to the stars, though mortal feet cannot tread it.” September 6, 1958 - South Atlantic Ocean The USS Norton Sound, having left the Californian port of Hueneme last month, now remains stationary amidst the frigid waves...

So the Berlin Airlift was widely considered to be near impossible by many a military planner. Let's say Truman got a persuasive enough argument to that end that made him skeptical about doing it, but rather than hand the Soviets a total victory, or worse, risk another war by sending a convoy to...

Suppose that the higher ups in the USSR decide against invading Czechoslovakia for whatever reason, and so Alexander Dubcek stays in power and continues to carry on with his reformist agenda. How would a more democratic Czechoslovakia affect political developments in the East Bloc, and how would...

The first prime minister of an independent Congo (Kinshasa), Patrice Lumumba's short tenure was wracked by turmoil, with a mutiny by the army, an attempt by the mineral-rich state of Katanga to secede, and very hostile relations with his country's former overlord, Belgium. To make matters worse...

Xiong Xianghui was a CCP spy who worked as a secretary to Hu Zongnan, one of the Nationalists' top generals, sending all sorts of important information regarding KMT moves to the Communist leadership. His biggest contribution to the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War happened in early...

Let’s imagine a different, more successful Warsaw Uprising, leading to the Polish resistance liberating itself akin to Tito’s Yugoslavia. The Polish government-in-exile returns, but is forced by the WAllies to agree to the OTL postwar borders in order to appease Stalin. What happens next? Would...

I know this scenario is a bit whacky but it sticks in my head, so I am sharing it. The UEFA Champions League we all know and love is preceded by the European Cup, which first started in 1955. What if the sports authorities in Warsaw Pact countries refused to participate and create their...

To put you in context, it was a diplomatic crisis that occurred between August 9 and 18, 1987, between Venezuela and Colombia as a result of the incursion of a Colombian corvette in waters not delimited between both countries. Although the crisis was finally resolved thanks to the intervention...

After watching Oppenheimer, I noticed that he says that if the US tries to make H bombs the Soviets will have no choice but do the same. Is this reasoning logical? If the US had instead attempted to negotiate an agreement to refrain from developing H bombs, would the Soviets have been willing...

A M E R I C A N.....S I S Y P H U S Preface America's 33rd President, Henry Agard Wallace is often seen as both the most controversial and revered President's in recent American history, depending on who you ask. For the American public, President Wallace is often seen as a man who succeeded...

Transcript of Joseph Stalin’s “Dawn of an Atomic Age” Speech, February 4th, 1948 Comrades, men of the Red Army and Navy, farmers and laborers of the great Soviet Union, communist brothers and sisters all over the world; today is a historic day for socialism! A few days ago in Kazakhstan, the...

Your challenge is simple, this timeline must have the infamous and notorious spies for the USSR Robert Philip Hanssen and Aldrich Hazen "Rick" Ames as directors in their respective agencies.

So in our timeline, World War 2 Hero Dwight D. Eisenhower, better known as Ike, became the Republican Nominee in 1952 and picked young and fresh Senator Richard Nixon for Vice President, which would have drastic consequences for American Politics going to 1968 when Nixon won and 1974 when...

So, in our timeline, Breznev led the USSR as Premier until his death in 82, dying at the age of 76. However, he seemingly started to go senile in 72-74 and would eventually be succeeded by a proto-reformer in Andropov (I think he was, but I'm not 100% sure) and it was the Brezhnev years would...