Highly underused PODs with great potential

Campbell1004

Rome conquers Germania, but does not conquer Britannia.

American colonies receive home rule. (seen this one, was not fulfilling)

Spain joins the Centrals in World War One.

Communists win Greek Civil War.

Boers win the Boer War.
 

imperialaquila

Anything involving the Greek city-states is underused. There has to be a lot of PODs in this time period, given the complexity and chaos of the period.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
I would say what my favorite is, but since I am considering starting a new TL about it, I shall refrain. It wouldn't do to let someone else take it and run with it now, would it?
 

Don Draper

Kate said:
Roman Malinowski not being outed as conclusively as a Czarist spy and keeping the confidence of Lenin longer.

An independent British India From the early 1900s the British Raj acted increasingly autonomous from London. Assuming a German victory in WWI could a British India continued in existence separate or even in opposition to London? If a defeated Britain experiences early Weimar like conditions, the British in India might be far more reluctant to return home. After a period of chaos the Ray might try to establish hegemony over British East Africa and Burma. A 20th Century Peshawar Lancers w/out the asteroid.
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The Malinovsky one is interesting. I read that that contributed a large amount to Stalin's paranoia. What impact would a less paranoid Stalin have?
 

Elidor

maverick said:
What if Neo-Platonism had remained a mainstream philosophy?

What if Walter Benjamin had not been killed in 1940?

What if Friedrich Nietzsche had not been born?

What if Albert Camus had not died in 1960?

What if Immanuel Kant had become a priest?

What if Krause had not met and taught Schopenhauer?

What if Jung and Freud had been able to collaborate post-1913?

What if Heidegger had been disgusted or targeted by the Nazis?

What if Sartre had just devoted himself to Literature?

What if George Berkeley's Inmaterialism was perceived as common sense by most philosophers and more widely accepted?

---------------------------------------------

What if Karl Marx had died before writing the Manifesto of the Communist Party and the Capital?

What if Adam Smith had just become a lawyer, like his father?

What if Milton Friedman had never been born?

What if John Keynes had not become as influential as he did IOTL?

What if the Bakunin's Social Democratic alliance was allowed to be part of the First International in 1869?

What if Lenin's brother Alexander had not been killed by the Russian police?

What if Mussolini had been killed before or during the march on Rome?

What if the Austrian School of Neo-Liberalism had been as mainstream as the Chicago School?

What if the Chicago School had not been formed?

What if Martin Luther King had declared himself a Socialist in the 1950s?
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Agreed. Philosophical / Cultural PODs in general are underused.
 

Elidor

India gets ignored too--


What if St. Thomas converts enough Indians for there to be a Christian kingdom/dynasty in South India?

What if Buddhism never gets off the ground?

What if Jainism becomes more of a world religion instead?

What if the Portuguese somehow learn of the Kerala school of Mathematics and export the knowledge to Europe? (Calculus-wank :p ? )
 

Monty Burns

Susano said:
No they wouldnt have, but it wouldnt have come to that. Its possible to revert the war youve mentioned to an Austrian victory, but that is something else entirely from conquering the entire Ottoman Empire! (and that is what taking Istanbul would be)
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Actually, I mentioned only the whole of Serbia and Bosnia becoming Austrian in a victorious war 0f 1739. Then, if the alliance between Russia and Austria holds longer, meaning thoughout some additional wars as it did IOTL anyway, the Austrians and Russians might conquer the whole European part of the Ottoman empire in these subsequent wars. Obviously, destroying the Ottoman Empire in 1739 was out of reach. However, I once read that the court in Vienna expected major gains from this war.

If the Austrians join every Russish-Turkish war and win, and somehow Prussian interference is butterflied away, it is absolutely realistic that by 1806 the european part of the Ottoman empire is reduced to Thracia. Now if ITTL Austria and Russia attack the Ottomans, they could easily conquer Konstantinople. Now that would be interesting how Britain and Napoleon react to that.
 

Susano

Banned
Monty Burns said:
Actually, I mentioned only the whole of Serbia and Bosnia becoming Austrian in a victorious war 0f 1739. Then, if the alliance between Russia and Austria holds longer, meaning thoughout some additional wars as it did IOTL anyway, the Austrians and Russians might conquer the whole European part of the Ottoman empire in these subsequent wars. Obviously, destroying the Ottoman Empire in 1739 was out of reach. However, I once read that the court in Vienna expected major gains from this war.

If the Austrians join every Russish-Turkish war and win, and somehow Prussian interference is butterflied away, it is absolutely realistic that by 1806 the european part of the Ottoman empire is reduced to Thracia. Now if ITTL Austria and Russia attack the Ottomans, they could easily conquer Konstantinople. Now that would be interesting how Britain and Napoleon react to that.
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So, basically, what you are saying is Austria and Russia score victoires for 60 years straight. Well, that doesnt sound overly realistic to me, either...
 
Osakadave

Osakadave

Elidor said:
India gets ignored too--


What if St. Thomas converts enough Indians for there to be a Christian kingdom/dynasty in South India?

What if Buddhism never gets off the ground?

What if Jainism becomes more of a world religion instead?

What if the Portuguese somehow learn of the Kerala school of Mathematics and export the knowledge to Europe? (Calculus-wank :p ? )
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Haven't done much with that one, but see my sig.
 

Monty Burns

Susano said:
So, basically, what you are saying is Austria and Russia score victoires for 60 years straight.
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And why? The Russians lost against the Turks in 1739 - mainly due to the poor performance of the Austrians, which in turn was the Austrians' own fault rather than due to the Ottomans. Next, the Russians lost to the Ottomans in the Crimean war - more than hundred years later. And the Russians lost to the Ottomans only because the later gained help from the Western powers.

I didn't say the Austrians/Russians were invincible for 60 years. I just say that the Ottomans loose 60 years straight. By the way I also mentioned that Prussian interference is butterflied away, which leaves the French and the British as the only foreign powers to help out the Ottomans. Whereas this happened in 1853, I'm not that sure that they would do it before the French revolution.
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
Monty Burns said:
I didn't say the Austrians/Russians were invincible for 60 years. I just say that the Ottomans loose 60 years straight. By the way I also mentioned that Prussian interference is butterflied away, which leaves the French and the British as the only foreign powers to help out the Ottomans. Whereas this happened in 1853, I'm not that sure that they would do it before the French revolution.
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Britain, Prussia and the Netherlands backed the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792, as seen in this Gillray caricature.

Taming-of-the-Shrew-Gillray.jpeg
 

I Blame Communism

Banned
Monty Burns said:
Actually, I mentioned only the whole of Serbia and Bosnia becoming Austrian in a victorious war 0f 1739. Then, if the alliance between Russia and Austria holds longer, meaning thoughout some additional wars as it did IOTL anyway, the Austrians and Russians might conquer the whole European part of the Ottoman empire in these subsequent wars. Obviously, destroying the Ottoman Empire in 1739 was out of reach. However, I once read that the court in Vienna expected major gains from this war.
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But that is in itself implausible: the Austrians shifted to the "Metternich policy" (prop up the Ottomans to keep Russia within the confines of its own boots) in the 1770s when Catherine the Great showed that Russian was capable of just coming along and taking Ottoman stuff. The brief shift back to a coalition with Russia (coming when, as Thande shows, a lot of people were for the Ottomans) was something of an abnormality.
 

Old Airman

Banned
Whole 17th century in Poland is one big underused POD. The country had been left to whims of ever-shifting coalition of all-powerful magnates, not linked to any particular province (each of magnates owned land in many areas of Poland). Taking into account that the country was a major regional player during that century, different composition of one of numerous magnate alliances could bring some major batterflies.

The Russia since death of Fedor Alexeevich Romanov till assassination of Pavel I is one big huge POD. The country went through two assassinations of supreme rulers (Peter III and Pavel I), three periods when death of a ruler left country with baby czar and highly incapable regents with powerful opposing forces (deaths of Fedor, Peter the Great and Anna Ioannovna) and more military mutinies of unruly garrisons of capital cities I could list off the top of my head. And remember that winner of those little games of throne was in charge of huge country with big population, which started the period as mighty regional power and ended it as supreme Great Power of the day, one of top 3 or top 5. If Sophia's Russia had been mentioned once or twice in passing, I don't think there's a lot of peoples here aware of mere existence of Ioann VI.
 

Mister Abbadon

Russia wins the Crimean war (I know You don't have to tell me)
The Ottoman empire survives WWI (It is plausible, they had the man power, and a good general, they just put them in the wrong place and didn't use him)
 
NHBL

NHBL

May 14, 1898

Havana Harbor. Seaman Jones had been detailed to paint some bulkheads--punishment for his illegal rum. On touching one of them, it was warm--make that hot. Punishment detail forgoten, he sounded the alarm--Fire in the coal bunkers. Several hours later, the slow burning fire extinguished, Captain Sigsbee contemplated the close call; that bunker was close to the 10" magazines.

After reading his report, BuShips made some changes in regulations, calling for more frequent inspection of coal bunkers.
 
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