Place In the Sun: What If Italy Joined the Central Powers? (1.0)
- Thread starter Kaiser Wilhelm the Tenth
- Start date
The story's not over yet... things can always get worse... (or better)
Short of electing a Hitler knockoff or a Mao knockoff, I'm not sure how Russia can get worse than Stalin.
I'd say so, yes. Although it's possible the Volkswagen design may still come about, just obviously under rather different circumstances than OTL....
Holy shit, this has got to be one of the most phenomenal timelines I've read. Once it's officially done, you should seriously consider publishing it as a book. I'd certainly buy a copy, or five. I'm not a monarchist, but my family does have a bit of a history concerning the Habsburgs, so to see them survive in some form is always a plus in my book. Some ideas for the future in my TL coincided with yours, so I'll have to change those when/if I get there, but ah well. This has been seriously fantastic so far, and I can't wait to read more.
So...does this mean...you'd be an Archduke had things gone differently in the past?
Unfortunately no. Just ideological loyalty that survived after the dismemberment of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Jews of Austria-Hungary were notably loyal to the Habsburgs, and one of my distant ancestors was a warrant officer for the Honved in WWI.
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Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification. If it's any consolation, the CPs winning WWI ITTL should almost certainly butterfly the Holocaust, to say nothing of preserving the Habsburg Dynasty.
I say 'almost', because while neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary would have any interest in oppressing their Jews ITTL, Russia is still there. And before the Nazis, Russia was the most anti-Semitic country in the world. We got 'pogrom' from Russia, after all. It'd be a historical irony if a right-wing Russia goes full Nazi on their Jews, who all run to Germany and friends. Not to mention France...Dreyfus Affair, anyone?
And since "Jewish physics" is more than welcome in the Second Reich, Einstein and half the Manhattan Project have no need to leave - the City of Lights may end up much, much brighter if things go badly.
Especially since Kaiser Bill has an obsession with - so to speak - everything neat and shiny. They don't even need to stress the military applications of their research. Anything that makes for big news on the scientific stage - especially if it earns them Nobel Prizes - would earn them the Kaiser's patronage.
It looks to me that ITTL, German will remain the language of science and technology.