No World Wars

What would the 1900s and early 2000s century be like without the World Wars or any similar global conflict? How would nations, empires, and cultures develop across the world? How would colonies develop? How would Japan and the United States develop in this setting? What would happen to China and the Ottomans? Would Austria-Hungary survive? Global immigration trends especially in the Americas and Africa? How would British dominions develop? Could a imperial federation of some type develop at least among the UK and it’s white dominions? What of Ireland? Will Russia stay together or fall into a warlord like period if run horribly? How would racial relationships change? Could we see more oppression, assimilation, or a mix of both? Finally, who would be the major powers and which ones will be the most dominant?

Some of my ideas and opinions: I think Africa would be more heavily colonized and settler colonies more common. Think of a less extreme version of what happened in Latin America with colonization. Without the wars the European population will be much higher and have a higher birth rate. Also it will be able to invest and focus more on colonies. Additionally, European powers will have a military and home populations not drained by major wars. Without the events of both world wars I could see the Europe powers being more accepting and willing to use very brutal tactics to stomp out of unrest. I don’t think a Ghandi like resistance would work in this world. Furthermore, I could see the Ottomans, China, and the Austria-Hungary being divided up between great powers and minor nations. This can be through a mix of direct/indirect rule, puppeting, partitions, and spheres of influence. I see America enforcing the Monroe Doctrine and being way more directly influential in the America’s while also giving some attention to the Far East. The United States and Japan could even become allies due to rising conflicts between them and European powers. America might not be strong army wise in this world but they would still build up a powerful navy. A Japanese and American alliance would be very powerful in regards to their naval power but I see America staying more regional military wise with them mostly installing banana republics across the Americas to feed its industry while trying to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere. America would still be the largest industrial power but I could see Germany being a close second. America makes the most while Germany makes the better quality items. In Europe, we could see a repeat of a much larger 1848 type of conflict.

Rules: Please no posting it was inevitable or impossible for it not to happen. If you feel like that just don’t post anything. Furthermore, let’s presume technology advances at the same rate take or give a few years. One on one wars between major powers are fine.
 
In the entire history of the world when you have rising and declining empires, conflict is always ensured. Can’t see any scenario where aughts England and Germany don’t come into conflict and a World War was a virtual certainty with a Hitler in power.
 
In the entire history of the world when you have rising and declining empires, conflict is always ensured. Can’t see any scenario where aughts England and Germany don’t come into conflict and a World War was a virtual certainty with a Hitler in power.
Hitler or a Hitler like person probably would not take power in Germany in this world. Also relationships were warming up between the two nations before the war. The more Britain separates itself from continental European conflicts and if Germany avoids issues with Britain overseas the more they can coexist or even get along. If Germany concedes the seas to the British Empire, Britain might concede to German dominance over Continental Europe. World War 2 is very hard to avoid. World War 1 not as much. I’m talking about avoiding both World Wars.
 
Even without a full-scale World War, regional conflicts are still bound to erupt across Europe, Africa, and Asia. It would be extremely difficult to reduce the overall geopolitical tensions in this time period, and certain countries and empires will still be unstable enough to crumble into chaos.

As for the effect that no World Wars would have on colonialism/imperialism, while a lot more people (especially young men eligible for military service) would be alive longer, I don't think that a significantly larger amount of foreign settlers would immigrate to the colonies (in most territories, white people only made a very small percentage of the population). Though of course, without the massive World Wars to weaken every military force, colonial empires are going to last longer, though I doubt they will stay in control indefinitely (at least a few or several more decades, because history shows that empires will always decline and collapse eventually).

The Austrian, Ottoman, Russian, and Chinese empires were all so plagued by internal strife, that I think they will still undergo revolutions and civil wars, though the lack of the World Wars may delay these events by a few decades. The British, French, German, American, Japanese, etc. empires would probably last even longer, but sooner or later their global influence would decline as well. But of course, there's no telling what directions history will go, as there are too many possibilities to consider.

One may think that without the chaos caused by the World Wars, genocidal tyrants like Stalin, Hitler, or Hirohito won't come to power. However, they were far from being the first national leaders in history to massacre large numbers of people, and they will not be the last either. Hell, it's not hard to imagine that when anti-colonial rebellions start spreading around the world, the imperial powers may consider brutal crackdowns and atrocities that would make King Leopold II jealous.
 
Even without a full-scale World War, regional conflicts are still bound to erupt across Europe, Africa, and Asia. It would be extremely difficult to reduce the overall geopolitical tensions in this time period, and certain countries and empires will still be unstable enough to crumble into chaos.

As for the effect that no World Wars would have on colonialism/imperialism, while a lot more people (especially young men eligible for military service) would be alive longer, I don't think that a significantly larger amount of foreign settlers would immigrate to the colonies (in most territories, white people only made a very small percentage of the population). Though of course, without the massive World Wars to weaken every military force, colonial empires are going to last longer, though I doubt they will stay in control indefinitely (at least a few or several more decades, because history shows that empires will always decline and collapse eventually).

The Austrian, Ottoman, Russian, and Chinese empires were all so plagued by internal strife, that I think they will still undergo revolutions and civil wars, though the lack of the World Wars may delay these events by a few decades. The British, French, German, American, Japanese, etc. empires would probably last even longer, but sooner or later their global influence would decline as well. But of course, there's no telling what directions history will go, as there are too many possibilities to consider.

One may think that without the chaos caused by the World Wars, genocidal tyrants like Stalin, Hitler, or Hirohito won't come to power. However, they were far from being the first national leaders in history to massacre large numbers of people, and they will not be the last either. Hell, it's not hard to imagine that when anti-colonial rebellions start spreading around the world, the imperial powers may consider brutal crackdowns and atrocities that would make King Leopold II jealous.
All valid points but I could see a few lasting until at least our time period if managed well. I have no doubts we will see alternate tyrants who commit massive human rights violations but I wonder how these actions would be viewed in this world. It is harder to get away with Hitler or Stalin like actions without the war especially within Europe. Police beating up and arresting peaceful protesters might be more widely accepted but Holocaust type of genocides will still be viewed as a vile and war justifing act. Africa on the other hand might be a different story those. It would be interesting to see how the world would develop with multiple great powers. I could see a world where most conflicts are stricted to proxy wars and internal conflicts if the great powers avoid a massive world war at least until the invention of nukes. If countries fall apart in this world it will be more like the Soviet Union type of collapsed. I also think demographic and ideological effects of the wars are often over looked. Europe was 20 or 25 percent of the world population in 1914. The wars and the events related to this gutted those numbers and economic power. Europeans will migrate due to overcrowding and probably for social reasons too. The major question is to where. If America starts restricting immigration in this world many might go to other American countries or Africa. Many empires would probably heavily encourage the “whitening” of some colonies. Many low populated areas in Africa can become majority European especially after advances in technology make the areas easy for them to live in. Africa is rich in resources and minerals which can attract immigration. Italians could flood into Libya when oil is discovered their. The coastal Horn of Africa could also become Italianized. Namibia could easily become Germanized if given time. Kenya could be flooded by people from all over the British Empire. Imagine a mass wave of Indians moving into there when transportation becomes more cheap and easy. Some African colonies could become penal colonies too which adds to this. Maybe “undesired” groups get encouraged or forced to move to African colonies. Maybe Eastern European Jews flee there when they can’t go to the US or anywhere else. Maybe even Romani people go there in large numbers. I could see massive modernization and industrialization programs taking place in Africa sooner or later but they would probably be very brutal implemented in relationships to the natives. I imagine them either being forced to accept the new system or being restricted to reservation like native Americans. Maybe when workers demand and get more fair treatment in Europe they shifted their heavy or unskilled labor industries to African colonies because they can get away with treating people there more inhumanly. They would probably keep the high tech and skilled industries in Europe. Also ideologies relating to imperialism and nationalism might not be discredited. African colonization could be romanticized like American manifest destiny. Additionally, the United States will be the only somewhat and I mean somewhat major anti-colonial power in the world but they would only be a more regional focused power. The same could maybe go for Japan depending on how they develop. The 2 super powers after WW2 being anti-colonial in the classical sense was a major factor to decolonization. Areas of Africa that are heavily populated by natives would probably be run like dominions or indirectly as puppet states.
 
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