Tunguska blasts Europe

In 1908, a smallish asteroid explodes as it careens through the atmosphere. The subsequent airburst decimates the land for miles around. Unfortunately, instead of occurring over the wastes of Siberia, this event happens over a large Metropolis--let's say Edwardian London.

What is the effect on subsequent history? Moreover, once it is learned that a meteor caused the destruction, would there be more of an interest in space travel? Would meteor deflection fail the "giggle test" as it does today or would the threat of "Another London" be enough to raise cackles worldwide?
 
I've always loved the dicussion of this one; it was one of the old thread ideas but a long time ago now

Its interesting what a decapitation would do in an Edwardian world.I recall hunting down the date and where everyone was on that date

There would be civil emergency procedures, military taking control, hunt for surviving royals and senior government figures, and the establishment of a more formal emergency government

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Too much of a jum, man. The powers always pulled together in disasters, viz the sPEZIA EARTHQUAKE, AND SO IN 1908 WE GET THE fRANCOgERMANaMERICAN EFFORT TO sVE bRITSIN!

bREAST rEGARDS
Grey Wolf
 
It would be front line news, obviously. IIRC, Tunguska wasn't really well known to the rest of the world until some decades afterward.

I believe that for some time, and until not to many decades back, it was thought impossible that meteorites or whatever those space rocks are called (I passed my science course some years ago, so I don't really care to figure it out) could hit the earth (or at least as anything large), because it was thought they'd get broken up in the thick layers of the atmosphere. It'd be interesting to think of the Edwardian investigation into what exactly the "Great London Incident" was caused by, and the scientific probing and discussion that it'd create. Perhaps they come to grasp the true power of space in killing us earlier.

As this would be widely known, I think another big area of discussion is the psychological repercussions. I can see some "God is punishing us" fodder, maybe a bit of nihilism at the universe in grasping its true randomness, maybe some fear throughout Europe of it happening again, etc.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Kaiser Wilhelm one of Victoria's nephews? Could he be the highest-ranking Protestant relative?
 
In 1908, a smallish asteroid explodes as it careens through the atmosphere. The subsequent airburst decimates the land for miles around. Unfortunately, instead of occurring over the wastes of Siberia, this event happens over a large Metropolis--let's say Edwardian London.

What is the effect on subsequent history? Moreover, once it is learned that a meteor caused the destruction, would there be more of an interest in space travel? Would meteor deflection fail the "giggle test" as it does today or would the threat of "Another London" be enough to raise cackles worldwide?

I did a DBWI thread on roughly this topic last year, but with the meteor hitting Paris.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Kaiser Wilhelm one of Victoria's nephews? Could he be the highest-ranking Protestant relative?

You're wrong. Kaiser Bill was Victoria's eldest grandson and one of her most favored. He and the Prince Of Wales were holding her as she died. A part of the German obsession with the HSF was so the Kaiser could have a fleet of ships just like his Grandma's.
 
The only way for the rock to miss Tunguska was to be late, and in that case it would miss the planet. Disregarding celestrial mechanics for a moment, such a hit in Europe might accelerate rocketry in an attempt to reach asteroids before they reach Earth. Then again, it might spark a fundalmentalists revival as some wind bag convinces everybody God has punished them for their ways, and society gives up science altogther.
 
You're wrong. Kaiser Bill was Victoria's eldest grandson and one of her most favored. He and the Prince Of Wales were holding her as she died. A part of the German obsession with the HSF was so the Kaiser could have a fleet of ships just like his Grandma's.

I stand corrected. So how does that effect succession matters?
 
The world's dominant financial center has just been destroyed. This could trigger a global depression.

Royal succession is the least of the UK's problems.

Germany is in position to put the squeeze on France during the second Moroccan Crisis. WWI in 1911 puts Germany in a better position than 1914 as Russia has not fully recovered from the Russo-Japanese War and the UK is unlikely to intervene
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Kaiser Wilhelm one of Victoria's nephews? Could he be the highest-ranking Protestant relative?

Though his mother was Victoria & Albert's 1st child, she came behind her 4 younger brothers and their children in the line of succession. As there were over a dozen people ahead of him in line, you'd have to find out where they each were on the date of impact in June 1908 in order to figure out how close Wilhelm gets to the throne (close perhaps, but probably no cigar).
 
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