History Forum / General / What If / November 2006

By Conor Worley, High School Student and obsessive speculator.
    As an Irish American the history of my ancestral country has always
been of particular interest to me, though I'll admit that most of my
interest revolved around the "quasi-history" of the early Ulster

China is unique among the political entities of the world, past and
present in its longevity. There have been other empires, past and
present, with the same level of population and influence (the Roman
Empire, the Caliphate) but none of them last. In both of these

It's a simple challenge: with a POD after 1970, keep the USSR from
collapsing.   Entirely doable IMO, but it requires some careful
consideration of just why it collapsed OTL.
Elegance is appreciated.  Handwaves should be avoided.  For instance,

After Napoleon's disaster in Russia, he had to face Prussia and
Austria again. The Allies had every strategic edge, and Napoleon still
managed to out-fight them. Most notably, in the early battle of Lutzen,
Napoleon defeated Blucher even though the Allies had more troops,

ok, the Byzantine Empire, in the end, beats the turks. The Greek Fire
is used effectivly aganist the Turks Navy, and the Ottman Empire is
beaten while still in its infancy. Thoughts anyone?

This blog has an AH about Lincoln being kidnapped in March 1865.
http://alincolnblog.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Suppose in the First Gulf War The U.S.A. went all the way and overthrew
Saddam Hussein. Would there be an insurgency as severe an insurgency as
happenned in 2003 to today or would the U.S.A.
be more successful?

Instead of stopping at retaking Iberia, Spain decides to continue its
reconquista into the maghreb(presume they did their new world
adventures as historical along with doing this). What changes?

I don't want to make this a debate about stopping the American Civil
War, so let's just make it a given that it does not happen in the
1860s. Whether through the election of a pro-slavery or slavery neutral
president, the passage of some slavery protection amendment, other

Here is a scenario that has come to my mind.
Germany, under the influence of Theodor Herzl and Karl Marx,
calls for the creation of a Jewish State. The Anti-semites in Europe
agree,

"Even on the Sabbath, Penn Station was a busy place. Redcaps hurried
across the concourse on crepe soles, pushing carts piled high with
luggage. Vendors began to unshutter their kiosks, and the garble of
arrivals and departures droned from the public address system. It was a

(The title stands for Very Dead Dictators.)
During the Bataan Death March, Ferdinand Marcos is shot and killed
while trying to escape the Japanese (IOTL, he did so).
Effects on future Philippine politics, anyone?

In January 1966, Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus arrived in
Nigeria for a conference of Prime Ministers for the British
Commonwealth. On January 15, 1966, Makarios visited
Michael Okpara, governor of Nigeria's Eastern region.

1912.  Anton Kollisch is experimenting in his lab with a new chemical
(not MDMA, but a chemical never produced in OTL), and eventually he
discovers that it has the weirdest side effect when given to humans;
the patient is unable to answer questions falsely!  Anton Kollisch has

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5467701992662742210
How much of what we know about the holocaust is based on cruel wartime
propaganda? This fascinating documentary investigates the myths
surrounding the legend.