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The following butterfly-netted Pacific War scenario features a stable post-Qing China as a constitutional monarchy under the Duke of Yansheng (aka Later Yin Dynasty) as well as a Korean Empire that experienced a successful Munjo Reformation instituted by King Munjo later Emperor Munjo, the latter essentially being the Korean equivalent of Japan's Meiji Restoration.

While the ATL Empire of Japan is not in much of a position to annex Korea let alone threaten China in this scenario (beyond Taiwan), what would be the best approach to take in having Japan ultimately play a similar belligerent role as OTL and what are its options with regards to territorial expansion, etc (beyond managing to take all of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the Russo-Japanese War)?

Since the above would suggest that China (via nationalists under the guise of anti-Western imperialism, etc) is potentially more likely to play a belligerent role in this scenario, possibly under the rationale of avenging the ATL 5 decades of humiliation and being in a stable position to further expand its historical co-operation with Germany compared to OTL towards earlier modernization for ATL China to eventually join the Axis (as both have reason to blame Western Powers for their problems). For what reason would this ATL China join the Allies as opposed to the Axis?

Additionally while this ATL Korea would be likely to maintain its historical closeness / meekness towards China, would it have been possible for Korea in this scenario to feel sufficiently threatened by a belligerent China to establish a mutual alliance with Japan (along with other nations neighboring China as opposed to OTL)?

Also beyond the Soviet Union, am curious to know what role the Communists in both China and Korea are likely to play in this ATL scenario beyond evolving into similar post-war analogues of the German Red Army Faction, Italian Red Brigades and Japanese Red Army terrorist groups.
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