If you could change One event post 1900..?
The 1956 Guatemala coup being butterflied. That coup started a three-decades long war that destroyed the country.
The 1908 Tanguska meteor misses Earth in 1908. The slight change in its orbit brings it back to Earth on December 5, 1941. Exploding with 15 megatons of force just four days into the Soviet Union's counter-attack on the German forces outside of Moscow.
The city of Moscow, the Russian counter attack, and the remaining German troops would have been destroyed. Hitler already too weak with his two front war would have been rendered much weaker and the top military leadership of Russia, along with Stalin would have been decapitated. As a bonus, American religious leaders would call it a Christmas miracle and force the end of lend lease to the Soviets, citing the "wrath of God" against the "Godless Communists."
The city of Moscow, the Russian counter attack, and the remaining German troops would have been destroyed. Hitler already too weak with his two front war would have been rendered much weaker and the top military leadership of Russia, along with Stalin would have been decapitated. As a bonus, American religious leaders would call it a Christmas miracle and force the end of lend lease to the Soviets, citing the "wrath of God" against the "Godless Communists."
I would have Franz Ferdinand catch a cold and reschedule his trip to Sarajevo, entirely avoiding assassination. That means no WW I. And the more time passes, the more unlikely war gets, at least with the particular alliance systems in place. Russia would eventually grow too strong for Germany to consider a two-front war.
May be pretty shallow in the scheme of things, but I think Stalin and the Soviet High command taking the warnings up to Barbarossa more seriously, causing the Germans to lose the initiative on the drive to Moscow, the Soviet army won't be destroyed nearly in its entirety, and I think the war will be shortened by months at least, if not only because the Soviets don't have as far to go to Berlin. The German army was considerably stronger in mid-1941 than the RKKA, but if the Soviets beat the Germans without most of their troops OTL they can most certainly do it with about 1.5 million more who avoided pointless encirclements.
It is entirely possible. Ho Chi Min was an ally of the U.S. during WWII and Ho has a favorable view of the U.S. after citing the Founding Fathers when Vietnam declared independence from France.
Without Vietnam, we wouldn't have the counterculture of the 1960s as well as Vietnam War media.
I think there would still be some sort of a counterculture since some of it was a reaction to the 1950s social conservatism (caused by the Cold War, and the return to normalcy from the Great Depression and World War II) and the rise of television causing people to see the social injustices clash with 1950s idealism - but it would be a lot less violent and militant and depending on if drugs like LSD are available this alternate counterculture might have more beatnik and mod influence.
But yeah, say goodbye to OTL’s anti-war songs, because I don’t see a Vietnam equivalent elsewhere since such an insurgency would be easier to put down thanks to the US Navy blocking Soviet/Chinese aid.
Oh right, there will still be the 1960s rock culture and hippie culture. Jimi Hendrix would still rise to fame in some form.
Not only will we say goodbye to Fortunate Son or Good Morning Vietnam, but also all Vietnam War pop-culture such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Apocalypse Now, Delta Force, and We Were Soldiers.
The counterculture, as an outgrowth of the beatnik movement and of rock music, was already underway before LBJ turned Vietnam into a major war. The hippies were already in high swing (Haight-Ashbury, Summer of Love), the Beatles were already a sensation (the movie A Hard Day's Night, 1964, and the Beatles' first American concert and their appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show the same year), the first Rolling Stones tour in U.S. (also 1964). amd the increase in college student drug use were already underway before the major anti-Vietnam War protests erupted. I do not deny that there were cultural and political influences between the counterculture and the Vietnam War, but beware of exaggerating the causality.
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The growth of the automobile. I think it ruined a lot of cities. What stinks though is that rural people are at the mercy of railroads and might have no way to get to market besides wagon.
Soviets crush Finland and Poland, allowing the former to be assimilated into the USSR and the later either being brought into the Union too or becoming a communist state while also allowing the USSR to directly support the German communists and hopefully that results in a Red Germany, Poland and USSR working together.
Would Star Wars be affected as well? I heard that George Lucas was inspired by the Vietnam War when he made it.
Hmm. I'm thinking essentially this except it hits Serbia in 1913 and kills the entirety of the people who plotted organized the Black Hand.
It would kill a lot more people but it stops any shenanigans from Serbia and I can't imagine everyone wouldn't jump on pan-European harmony because it would end the Balkan shitshow from literal comet strike PTSD.
Then I would hope that when WW1 (if it happens as OTL (but maybe without Belgium and Britain involved) at least Imperial Russia would be more stable politically and militarily would have finished reforming before the conflict, so that her defeat wouldn't make the same circumstances that allowed for the Soviets to arise, and that the same would go for France to some extent although my bias is for a Central Powers victory with the US preferentially supporting Austria-Hungary (or the Danubian Federation which would form united after the impact airburst of the Tunguska event) because a lot of the refugees would ITTL immigrate to America and the political parties in America would want to tap into their voting numbers and gain them as blocs and hence the German, Austrian, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian and likely Romanian populations would get a major boost in the United States, and politically leaning towards wanting it to back the Central Powers.
Keep the Bolsheviks from establishing one party rule, and have the USSR remain a democratic multiparty left-wing democracy. And have them participate in the Paris Peace Conferences.
This avoids a hell of a lot of misery in the world- for starters, no Holodomor. Hitler's rise is also probsbly affected; the German Left was told to spurn the center by Stalin, who wanted to avoided Germany allowing itself with France & Britain. And a less belligerent (Trotsky etc.) And more integrated USSR means Hitler doesn't get off the ground even if he does rise to power- no appeasement at Munich, ni Molotov Ribbentrop pact, or at worst a better response to Barbarossa.
This avoids a hell of a lot of misery in the world- for starters, no Holodomor. Hitler's rise is also probsbly affected; the German Left was told to spurn the center by Stalin, who wanted to avoided Germany allowing itself with France & Britain. And a less belligerent (Trotsky etc.) And more integrated USSR means Hitler doesn't get off the ground even if he does rise to power- no appeasement at Munich, ni Molotov Ribbentrop pact, or at worst a better response to Barbarossa.