Hello, I have recently joined the forum, but I have been lurking for a few months. I've enjoyed reading many different Alternate History (AH) scenarios and the reasoning behind them. And so, I've decided to try my hand at constructing one. What especially interests me in twentieth century history is how there is always another crisis looming on the horizon. Every time it seems the world has turned the corner a new conflict appears. (Anyone remember the peace dividend?) Instead of all the binary oppositions (Capitalist-Communist, Developed-Undeveloped, and now the West and Islam) that made the last century so, um, interesting, I've decided to see if a more fragmented world could, somehow, produce more stability. The thought experiment below is to see if international stability can result from greater fragmentation. (Many small conflicts, but no large system-ending ones.) This means no superpowers (USA, USSR, PRC - I'm looking at you!) and below I explain how we arrive at that. Unfortunately, this fragmentation means (at least in this AH) that the fascists (but not the Nazis) survive the Second World War. Of course, they too do not become superpowers.
In forming the nations and alliances that I do I try to pay attention not only to ideological affinity but also to anthropological factors like language and also the type of kinship family involved (the nuclear family is one type, for example). And, obviously, geopolitical facts are also important. Having an ally on the other side of the world is not always especially useful. Religion is also an important factor not to lose sight of. With Europe, since it modernized first, the alliances tend to be mostly secular. In much of Asia and the Middle East, this is not always the case. I also try to be mindful of trading relationships in delineating the alliances below. Obviously, I also try to pay attention to the initial points of divergence (POD's) and how they affect the development of our AH.
Another point that was very important to me in the creation of this AH was the survival of the great Eurasian civilizations. I wanted to be sure that China, India, and the European and Islamic heartlands remained inviolable (i.e., not colonized) and have tried to arrange things accordingly. In modern times, this independence may prove impossible to sustain. Eventually, nukes may be used... and civilizations will then certainly fall. But fortunately, this AH occurs before that.
I see that many people in developing their various alternate histories often use dialogue. I do not. This will simply be a bare-boned narration of events that lead to the 'present state' of this AH. Since there is no dialogue I don't suppose there will be any development beyond its initial form. I believe I am using all acronyms accurately. (I am not sure what 'ASB' means, although I know it's bad, and therefore have not used it much.) I apologize for spelling and grammatical errors. I am not a writer, merely a reader. I haven't the slightest idea how to make a map and doubt that I even have the software to do it. But I have found the maps on this site extremely useful in understanding the relationships of the various AH's I've read. So below I've listed the various alliances in more geographic detail than one might usually do in order to help readers to visualize this AH. I hope it is not too tedious.
This Alternate History terminates sometime in the early-mid 1960's.
PS. Oh, btw, my name is Joe. I have already made these posts in the 'Test Messages' Forum, and since they more or less ended in Aporia, I've decided to share my perplexity with everyone.