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Hi. I've been bored lately, so I decided to start a new timeline. However, I have three options, all of which I equally like, and so I give it to you, the community, to decide.

Options:

Seekers of Truth--The weirdest of my proposed timelines (in my mind), this one'll actually be pre-1900 and be based around the continuing association of Allan Octavian Hume (who founded the Indian National Congress) with the Theosophical Society of Madame Blavatsky. Hume still founds the INC: however, rather than consisting completely of handpicked U of Calcutta alumni, the first congress is a mix of these and prominent members of the Theosophical Society, leading to a much more Theosophically-driven Indian independent movement and a more powerful Theosophy overall. Crazy stuff goes down.

Disaster at Kiev--One of my favorite PODs: when Dmitri Bogrov attempts to assassinate Pyotr Stolypin in 1911, Nicholas II is accidentally killed in the crossfire, while Stolypin lives. The grieving Empress Alexandra, designated regent for the young Tsarevich, returns Stolypin to the position of Chairman of the Council of Ministers and gives him wide-ranging powers, effectively making him dictator of Russia. Stolypin proceeds to destroy his political opponents (Rasputin included), rightist and leftist alike, and continues sponsoring Russia's tentative industrialization and agrarian reforms. Stolypin manages to keep Russia out of WWI with a bit of difficulty. More crazy stuff goes down.

Death of the Man of Steel--Rather than Yakov Sverdlov being killed in Moscow by a brick-worker, Stalin is killed by the man. Sverdlov proceeds to die of influenza only two days after Lenin, leaving the USSR with a divided leadership and no possibility of any single dictator rising out of the morass. The USSR industrializes slower than OTL, but with more depth and the Red Army retains a superior officer corps. Further crazy stuff happens.
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