Picture this: its 1940 and the Germans and Russians have just invaded Poland. The British and French declare war. However, there's a crucial set of differences in the world.
I came up with this idea after reading Hamburger's 20th Century Khan timeline as well as a few articles on the Thule Society.
In Italy, Julius Evola has somehow wound up as Il Duce, and the Peninsula is the dominion of a resurrected Roman Empire. He's named himself the Pope, Prophet, and Protector of the Catholic Church following the heart attack of Pope Pius XI after his secret flight from house arrest to France. He quickly starts to fuse Catholicism with Buddhism, Hinduism and the old Roman state religion with ever more complex edicts. There are animal sacrifices in the Vatican along with frequent mystic orgies. People are terrified, but with the new caste system that Evola has created, like something out of Plato's Republic, all power belongs to a bureaucracy of the spiritual... in other words, whoever accepts Evola's revelations and participates in the various occultic rites he has promoted, is allowed social mobility. Ethiopian serfs are found on farms throughout the country, or working on vast new building projects. The swastika is the love of imperial artists everywhere.
In Germany, Heinrich Himmler has created a Third Reich more closely managed by the likes of the Thule Society. There are rumors of human sacrifices to Wotan in the Black Forest. Norse gods mingle with Buddhist theology whereas Christ is fit somewhere in the mythology, along with figures such as Alexander the Great. Concentration camps and slave labor are the norm early on, and the launching of large new rockets are celebrated by scientists dressed in full Druidic costume. Students have gone into mathematics, physics, and the sciences in droves when all liberal arts are replaced by occultic studies, and Himmler finds experimental technology as important as locating new magical artifacts. The black Swastika on red banners are even more popular, adorning as many walls as they can.
In Romania, Corneliu Codreanu has created a theocracy of his own. Its priesthood drinks blood, there are mobs of neo-flagellants, and, yes, more ritualistic orgies. The cross on their country's flag looks suspiciously like a swastika.
In Persia, instead of Reza Khan, a true Islamofascist took power and promoted a more theocratic fundamentalist Islam. He declares himself Caliph and introduces every policy and practice the Taliban would.
In Moscow there is once again a Caesar, but he is not a Romanov, rather he is a Baltic German going by the name of Sternberg. Radical Buddhism has mixed with Christianity and occultic tradition, as elsewhere. The swastika flies above the Kremlin. Eunuchs teach the mystic arts to masses of factory workers. The Turkish peoples in Central Asia are pissed off after millions and millions of troublesome minorities are dumped there and told to make food, but imperial Russian slavers keep everyone from unifying in revolt.
In the Japanese Empire... well, I'm not sure what fringe cult could have taken power there. Any ideas? What about Spain? Hungary? Something about the leader of Hungary becoming convinced he is the reincarnation of Attila and putting into practice old traditions. Some massive Hindu extremist rebellion in India, too, maybe, with pro-Caliphate rebellions elsewhere throughout the Muslim world.
World War Two happens alright. Pearl Harbor, too. The hellish madness in Eurasia has to be eliminated somehow. The occultic, theocratic fascism that has spread hurts the economy and military, but there are advantages... for example, the fact that there won't be an Eastern Front. Most fascist countries are unified with some kind of interest in the occult, in Buddhist and Hindu tradition, even in the new Caliphate of Persia. They are much more competitive, yes, but they'd rather eliminate the old powers of liberal democracy before going at one another. This kind of cooperation, and the lack of any help from the Soviet Union, means the Allies largely have to wait for nuclear weapons to be invented to make any major headway, and when the Allies are done, nuclear fire has covered much of Eurasia. Its the apocalyptic climax that the occultists would have loved, and in the aftermath, the United States and democratic capitalist tradition retreats into the places left standing, letting the rest of the world rot.
I actually started on actually outlining the specific events that would lead to such a world, calculating death tolls and so forth, but seriously, this concept scared me. I spent a day hunting for more cruel and ruthless mystic beliefs and traditions, various psychopaths and demagogues, and the research involved sent me to a dark place. This is my nightmare timeline. What do you think about it? If you want, you can hijack the idea, it is colorful apocalyptic scenario that I think would fit nicely alongside For All Time and other dystopias, provided its detailed correctly and plausibly.