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Alright, this is the very rough beginning of an ATL in which Einstein does not become a scientist and instead dies on the eastern front of WWI, and his journal changes the events of WWII. Also, his lack of political input delays the development and perceived practicality of atomic weapons for the duration of WWII. Without the atom bomb, the US has to invade Japan into 1946, and the USSR makes further gains in Europe and the east than it did IOTL. The Cold War still occurs, and tensions are intensified as reactionary and warmongering elements in the west and east reach unprecedented heights. The US is nearly a police state. In 1962 the USSR is found to be stockpiling chemical and biological weapons in Cuba. President McCarthy calls for an invasion of Cuba and the Warsaw pact and NATO fall into war within days. The war is long and highly destrctive, incurring over 150,000,000 casualties, and ending with the development of the atom bomb by both nations and a subsequent ceasefire as anti-war movement comes into play in the US.
This is a very rough idea right now.



-A frayed wire causes a fire in the building housing the AC generator at the International Electro-Technical exhibition in 1891

-The building is destroyed, along with the generator, a worker is killed, and the lights at the exhibition flicker out.

- Edison is elated by the news and scandal that follows (after it is found that AC power is partially to blame, because of its tendency to draw power to the edges of the wires)

- Edison ramps up his public denouncements of AC, and wins over more and more companies across the US and Europe , the companies do not want to be associated with the AC disaster, and pull their support.

- Edison , to prove once and for all the superiority of DC, tests the two generators against each other in power output and longevity in a closed system with limited fuel. The DC generator wins handily in longevity due to AC’s problem with wire resistance (and resultant loss of energy).


- Germany and the UK announce DC as the standard in their countries, others in Europe soon follow.

-DC wins the War of Currents

Political events continue uninterrupted in Europe

-Albert Einstein’s father’s business remains profitable due to DC remaining the dominant method

-The theories of relativity, and E=mc2, are never formulated, and Einstein remains at his father’s business, takes it over when he dies, and lives a humble life of obscurity as an amateur composer and poet until he is conscripted in 1914.

He was sent off to the eastern front, fighting at Tannenburg, Lodz , and other battles in the German drive eastwards. He survived the Great War until 1916, when he was transferred to the German relief force aiding Austro-Hungary during the Brusilov Offensive. He was killed in action somewhere south of Lemburg.

His diaries, found and kept by an Austrian soldier, are posthumously published in the late twenties. Their covert and metaphorical anti-war, humanist stance becomes something of a manifesto to the German and Austrian leftists.

-A revolution occurs in Austria in 1931. After a brief, two week long civil war, a Socialist government takes power in Vienna . The Austrian government allies with the Soviet Union and rearms the country. This seizure intensifies conflicts between right and left in Germany and throughout Europe .

-Adolf Hitler is made chancellor of Germany in 1933; this ignites protracted guerrilla conflict on the part of the left in Germany . In many areas Hitler’s government needs to pacify the local populace with the military (legitimizing the newly renamed Wehrmacht’s expansion).

-In 1935, Germany annexes the Saarland , and reoccupies the Rhineland

-In 1936, Germany calls for revolt against the Government of Austria, the call falls on deaf ears in Austria , though a fascist paramilitary group declares revolution in Salzburg , the rebels are crushed after only two days of fighting.

-Hitler almost orders an invasion of Austria , but is reminded by his generals that such action would certainly provoke the USSR .

-Hitler eyes the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia as a possible target, but, after learning of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, he decides to aid the nationalist cause and save the Sudetenland for a later date.

-The Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe are unleashed on the Republicans, with horrific consequences. The Italians join in the fray, and by late 1937 Spain is ruled by the Fascists under Jose Antonio di Rivera. The Spanish army, now itself called the Phalange, adopts many of the Wehrmacht doctrines.

-Hitler now turns his attention back to the Sudetenland , and demands that Czechoslovakia hand it over peacefully. The western powers, particularly Britain, seeking to avoid war at all costs, convene a conference in the city of Munich amongst all the major powers involved (excluding the Czechs themselves).

-The Sudetenland is transferred to German hands peacefully.

-The unfinished business with Austria bothers Hitler greatly, but as long as the USSR stands in the east, it is off-limits.

-In 1938, Italy invades Albania and Abyssinia

-In July of 1938, Hitler hatches a plan. He will negotiate a non-aggression pact with the USSR, then invade France without warning through the Ardennes forest in Belgium, and then (with the help of the Russians) invade Poland, the rest of Czechoslovakia, Denmark, and Norway in short order.

-July 30th, 1938: the German-Soviet non-aggression pact takes effect.

-August 10th, 1938: German tanks roll through Belgium, and France falls within two weeks. The Allies are caught so completely off guard that nearly all the French army is massacred. The Spanish participate in the invasion, which encourages Italy to do the same. Vichy France is never founded, as the Spanish occupy (and later annex) Languedoc, and the Italians Annex the area east of the river Rhone, the Germans occupy the rest.

-The Germans quickly invade Holland and Denmark, before turning their fury at Poland.

-Poland stubbornly fights on for over a month but is inevitably subdued, the Germans and Russians dividing it. Germany receives West Prussia, the entirety of Lithuania and the Vilnius region, parts of Posen, and the rest of Silesia. The USSR gets the remainder.

-The Germans and Russians, as planned, divide Eastern Europe between themselves.

-The invasions of Czechoslovakia and Norway are over by early December 1939.

-Hitler knows that an invasion of the USSR during the depth of winter is not a good idea, and so decides to pass the time by doing the unthinkable: turning the fury of the Luftwaffe against the UK.

-In the cold of winter, the aerial combat is ridiculous, even more dangerous than it would have been normally. Pieces of frozen aircraft litter the streets of London and other major cities as the RAF and the Luftwaffe engage in a bloody battle of willpower.

-By February, and to Goering’s astonishment, the Luftwaffe begins to gain pockets of air supremacy over much of southern England.

-In March of 1940, Hitler orders the commencement of Operation Armada, the invasion of the UK.

-The Kriegsmarine deploys a mine screen to protect the ships as they cross the channel from Calais, Boulogne, and Cherbourg. Paratroopers land behind Dover, and take the city as the landing gets underway.

-Ramsgate, Dover, Deal, and Folkestone fall within hours as the Wehrmacht makes a mad dash inland. A few hours later, Exmouth and the Isle of Wight are in German hands.

- Brighton, Southampton, and Portsmouth fall. As more armies pour in from every direction, Hastings, Eastbourne, Weymouth, Poole, and Plymouth Fall. In the first few days of the invasion, the southern English coast is effectively in German hands.

-In the west, the Wehrmacht begins to advance inland. The German 9th Army, marching northwards to cut off Corwall, enters Bristol. Army Group A advances northwards, taking Crawley.

-The German XVI Army takes Canterbury but is checked at Gillingham and Queenborough, east of Rochester.

-It is at this point that German fortunes begin to decay. As the German IX Army reaches Reigate, the British Regular Army begins feverishly to chug to life, making further advance increasingly difficult.

-Also, the Royal Navy breaks through the mine screen around the Cherbourg route, and the 6th Army begins to peter out after supplies become increasingly difficult to relay.

-Hitler orders more men to the front, and after a bloody, forced march, the Wehrmacht manages to capture Reigate and Rochester, albeit pyrrhic victories, having lost more men than the British.

-The British push the 6th army out of Bristol, the 6th army quickly loses its steam, and in days, it is nearly back to the sea. The British then retake Southampton, separating the German forces.

-The British (now aided by the Canadians and with heavy assistance via the lend-lease act) retake Rochester and begin a new offensive along the eastern coast.

-Hitler grows increasingly frustrated by the increasingly obvious impossibility of Armada’s success. In a final roll of the dice, he orders every man he could possibly spare (and then some) to Britain, and the deployment of every possible mine to defend the supply route from Calais, and ups the production of aircraft and the training of pilots by a massive margin.

-The Wehrmacht suddenly chugs to life once more. The Germans retake Southampton and Rochester, the sixth army begins a new offensive that separates Cornwall from the rest of Britain, and the Luftwaffe regains temporary air supremacy over London. After grinding out a bloody trail, the Germans smash through the gates of London and take the entire city in house to house fighting over a period of two months. The Government flees the city for York, continuing the war.

-The fact remained, however, that the Germans were only blindly lunging themselves with force. The advance was pure willpower. The Wehrmacht’s advance was checked when the British defeated them at Reading.

-From here, the Germans would make no further gains. The British, under ever-increasing assistance via Lend-Lease and the Commonwealth, would retake city after city, grinding back to the coast. The Germans would defend London with surprising might, but would ultimately be no match. The British Army’s strength could only increase, while the Wehrmacht would constantly wane. The Breakthrough of the Calais passage by the Royal Navy and the surrender of the German Armies in Britain by the end of July spelt the final end.
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