Hello there, long time lurker here. So, since last spring, I've been planning an alternate-history mod for a strategy game (Hearts of Iron 2, if anyone's interested). The game already has a very popular mod about Germany's victory in the Great War, but I took a step further.
My main criterias in my work are:
- As plausible (and believable) timeline as possible
- Several ways for the Second World War to start
I made 2 different drafts for the timeline all the way to 1936, but abandoned them because I considered some of the events all too unlikely.
I'm not done with the third version yet, but here's some of my timeline:
Undated:
USCA did not dissolve due to support from the British Empire.
Different colonization pattern in Africa. Main changes include German colonisation of Gold Coast area and Spanish colonies in Morocco.
----------------
Pre-1900
----------------
1797: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Admiral Horatio Nelson is killed in this historical battle won by Spain.
1805: The Battle of Trafalgar: Without Lord Nelson's naval genius, the Royal Navy's power was compromised. The battle was won by the Franco-Spanish fleet.
1810: The Spanish troops capture Gibraltar, which defenses had been neglected for years.
1882: Norway declares itself free of the Swedish-Norwegian union. As the result, Sweden declares war on Norway.
1883: Norway and Sweden sign a peace deal: Northern Norway is transferred to Sweden.
1891: Chilean Civil War begins. Only a month after the start of the war, Argentina directly intervenes and sides with the Congressist Junta.
1892: Chilean Civil War ends. Congressist Coup is immediately followed by an Argentinian coup, leading to the unification of these two countries to the powerful bloc of Chile-Argentina.
1898: The Spanish-American War: The weak yet loyal Spanish navy defeats the American ships attempting to land in the Spanish Carribean territories. Despite multiple attempts by the United States, all amphibious landings in Cuba and Puerto Rico fail. Spain keeps its colonial possessions.
------------
Path to War
------------
1901-1908: Independence movements in India: Pakistan and India declare independence and adopt the Marxist theories; Great Britain loses the subcontinent but keeps Sri Lanka.
1913, January 13th: Japan brings an ultimatum to Russia and demands the northern half of the island of Sakhalin. Russia refuses the ultimatum, claiming that the demands are ridiculous.
1913, June 11th: Japan makes their final offer to Russia to cede the island. The offer is refused, and a country-wide mobilization starts on both sides.
1913, June 17th: In the early hours of the morning, Japanese artillery opens fire on the Russian troops near the border of Korea. Meanwhile the Japanese soldiers attack the northern half of Sakhalin.
As you can see, I still haven't written the Great War part yet, but the main points are :
- Japan takes Sakhalin Island
- Germany, AH (Austria-Hungary) and OE join the war on Japanese side
- Russia captures Korea from Japan
- Germany reaches Paris thanks to the Schlieffen plan, but are forced to retreat
- Austria-Hungary captures a lot of Italy, but thanks to Entente counter-offensive (after Germany has been pushed back from France), Italy is reclaimed.
And the main points of the war (whichs ends in 1922) results are:
- Japan cedes Sakhalin island
- Korea becomes free
- Central powers lose
- Sudetenland is made a British satellite nation for the next 15 years
- East Prussia is made a British satellite nation for the next 15 years
- Austria-Hungary is split into small pieces
- Italy receives the Balkan coastline
- British Empire & France get a lot of African territory from OE
- All Central Power nations pay reparations
As you might see, the main aggressor Japan gets the easiest conditions, because the other nations did the main aggressions against Russia and the Entente.
During the interbellum a lot of things happen again, mainly:
- The political ideology of integralism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralism) gains popularity in Brazil, Portugal and France.
- Several wars in South America reshape the borders
- Stock market crash of 1929 does not occur; the good times continue
- Russia executes Lenin, whose supporters flee to other areas of the country: Russia is shattered to pieces
- Stalin avoids capture and flees to Finland, where he gains support and becomes the leader of the Red Guard
- British Empire loses a lot of African territory to revolting countries which it neglected during the war
- Strong Marxist (in this timeline, Marxism overrides communism) movements in China causes the nation to split to three nations: China, Hebei and Manchuria
And of course a lot of other stuff. This leads to three major alliances in 1936, when the mod starts:
- Integralist League (Brazil, Portugal, France: possible new members Spain)
- 2nd Entente (British Empire, United States, all British dominions)
- Iron Gate (Hebei, China, India: possible new members Russia)
Now, this became a huge post. I have several things I'd like you fellow AH forumites to answer.
First, what parts are the most implausible and should be changed (also give suggestions on how they could be changed)?
Second, what other interesting possibilities would there have been after such a war?
Third, I need a good name for the modification. Nothing too cheesy and something neutral enough (So forget about names "New World Order" or "British Empire falling").