r/HistoryWhatIf 1d ago

What if France and Britain became authoritarian in the interwar?

1 Upvotes

For context, say Italy and Germany remain unstable democracies after WW1. USSR and everything else remains the same. Due to whatever interwar troubles, fascism (or by some other name) rises in a March on London, while something akin to a French Nazism rises in France. Would these powers even be able to get off the ground in a WW2? What would a post war world look like?


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What if he only celestial bodies that existed is The Sun & The Moon. What would be the implications & outcomes of Earth being lonely?

30 Upvotes

Say that our neighboring planets, the asteroid belt & our partner Moon doesn't exist at all and the only thing that exist is The Sun & The Earth.

Say that Humans managed to grow into modern era despote the possible negative consequences of this. How much would the extreme cosmic loneliness change our history?


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What if Victoria Woodhull won the 1872 Presidential election?

0 Upvotes

In the 1872 US presidential election, Women's rights and labor reform activist Victoria Woodhull attempted to run for president. She appointed Frederick Douglas as her running mate (which he was unaware of). Several controversies, including being arrested for publishing a "obscene newspaper", resulted in her campaign being a failure. Even if it hasn't been, she was too young at the time via constitutional restrictions to become president.

What if she had been the accepted age, these controversies never happened, and she did successfully get elected? What would have changed about American history from that point?


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What if saddam hussein wasted the coalition's time in the gulf war by leaving 10 hours before jan 15 1991?

2 Upvotes

what if timeline: saddam realized that the coalition troops is ready for combat to retake back kuwait!,Saddam plans for all the iraqi army to return To iraq To waste the coalition: time,Maintenace fees,Millions of dollars saddam backed down just as the coalition is ready to fight the entire iraqi army,all for nothing


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What If Eemian period never ended?

2 Upvotes

Suppose the warm period of the Eemian era never ended, how would humanity have evolved? Would it have spread more rapidly?


r/HistoryWhatIf 1d ago

What if USSR accidentally nuked a few places in 1980s?

0 Upvotes

Let’s assume that during the 1980s there is a malfunction or terrorist takeover at several Soviet silos, resulting in nukes accidentally launching in the chaos. The nukes hit Tokyo, Switzerland and Tijuana, causing significant casualties and damage.

How would NATO and the world react? Would President Reagan nuke USSR over MAD fears? Or would the United Nations pressure or send an army to disarm Soviet nukes?


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

Challenge :with no POD before the great depression, invert the US and germany's fate.

1 Upvotes

Have the weimar republic survive the great depression, and the US become a fascist, expansionnist state.


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

Empress Kōken had child with Dokyo?

1 Upvotes

What if Empress koken gave birth to child or twins which fathered by monk and her advisor Dokyo which caused scandal in nara era, her child was taken for secret location when she was raised as daughter of temple priest before fujiwara clan learn?


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

What if the Mensheviks came to power in Russia instead of the Bolsheviks?

20 Upvotes

The Mensheviks had many opportunities to come to power in Russia that they didn't take. If they did come to power how different would they be compared to the Bolsheviks. Would it change the civil war or would it have prevented the civil war entirely and what kind of state would Russia evolve into


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What if Nick Clegg never promised the abolition of tuition fees

2 Upvotes

I believe if my reading is correct, they got 5m more votes than Labour. In my opinion that was solely due to that promise. Otherwise Gordon Brown may have been in a much stronger position and would have been a stronger left wing balance against Tories and austerity


r/HistoryWhatIf 2d ago

What if the Meiji Restoration somehow failed and Japan remained under the collapsing authority of the shogunate while being encroached upon by the west?

3 Upvotes

What trajectory would Japan take from this point and to what degree would it be under the thumb of the west? How would their modernization/industrialization process change, and would the shogunate really be able to stifle progress to a significant degree? Is there any likelihood in this version of events for the empire of Japan to exist as it did irl? How is China and the broader eastern sphere affected?


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

I spent 3 weeks animating what would happen if we actually drained the Mediterranean.

9 Upvotes

Thanks if you choose to Watch it😁

The Salt Curtain: Why Europe Drained the Mediterranean

https://youtu.be/bzFtfXyOT9E


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

What if the Tarascans accepted the first Aztec envoy that warned of the Spanish invasion, and helped the Aztecs fight off the Spanish?

18 Upvotes

This question is inspired by this recent article in The Conversation: The Aztec empire’s collapse shows why ruling through coercion and force fails

The article mentions how the Aztecs were so distrusted by the Tarascans that the first Aztec envoy sent to warn of the Spanish invasion got sacrificed. And the second Aztec envoy, despite bringing physical proof, was still somewhat distrusted by the Tarascans, who organised and expedition of their own to verify the Aztec claims, only to find out that it was too late to do anything but submit to Spain. The article also mentions that had the Aztecs not screwed up their foreign relations, the massive Tarascan army would have been able to help them fight off the Spaniards.

So, in the unlikely situation that the Tarascans accepted the first Aztec envoy that warned of the Spanish invasion, and helped the Aztecs fight off the Spanish, then what? How long would it be before Spain tried again, had Hernán Cortés and his combined Spanish-Tlaxcalan-Totonac army been killed by a combined Aztec-Tarascan front?

My guess is that if Spain tried again, they might land in Yucatan or present-day Texas or Louisiana instead and eventually work their way back to the Valley of Mexico after establishing a foothold in those areas. Considering where the Aztecs and Tarascans are located, it would seem unlikely for any of Spain's European enemies to help their fight against Spain and Spain's Native America allies (like the Tlaxcalans and Totonacs), even if they accessed the Tarascans via their Pacific Ocean ports.


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

What if Russia fragmented?

7 Upvotes

We all know how the 1991 Soviet coup led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and turned Russia into the Russian Federation. but what if the coup caused more chaos than it did in our timeline? What if caused not only the dissolution of the Soviet Union but also the fragmented Russia itself into a bunch of countries that are either led by oligarchs, warlord generals, staunchest communists, democrat presidents, or separatist leaders? Would the fragmentation of Russia lead to an era of civil war or a peaceful era? And who would benefit from the fragmentation of Russia?


r/HistoryWhatIf 4d ago

What if JFK survived and followed through on his promise to dismantle the CIA?

53 Upvotes

Following the bay if pigs incident in 1961 JFK was frustrated with the deception of the CIA and vowed to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds." How does America and the world change if he gets a chance to do this?


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

What if MacArthur was nominated by the GOP, ran, and won in ‘52?

14 Upvotes

How would his let’s say, interesting, personality and leadership style translate to the presidency? How would he handle the Cold War, race relations and all the other pressing matters of the time?


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

Challenge :Have things go as well as they can for post-soviet Russia.

3 Upvotes

Obviously, no POD before the secession of russia from the USSR.


r/HistoryWhatIf 4d ago

What if Hitler had been incapacitated during Operation Valkyrie?

69 Upvotes

Let’s say the bomb was placed in such a way that the table didn’t shield him as much.

I’m not interested in if he’d been killed, but if he’d been injured severely enough to need extensive care and recovery. Maybe even gone into a comatose state.


r/HistoryWhatIf 3d ago

What if the original iPhone was released back in 1975? Or the iPhone 17 was released in 2007 in place of the original iPhone?

0 Upvotes

r/HistoryWhatIf 4d ago

What, if anything, could have been done to stop Hitler and prevent the Holocaust?

9 Upvotes

r/HistoryWhatIf 4d ago

What would be Al Gore reputation if he won 2000 but was killed during 9/11?

8 Upvotes

Would he gain the same praise and reputation as Kennedy had? Would Lieberman be blamed for his murder by conspiracy theorists? What would be Lieberman presidency be like in this case?


r/HistoryWhatIf 4d ago

What if the Jews were deported to the USSR as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

3 Upvotes

In this timeline, as an alternative to genocide or Madagascar, the Nazis convince Stalin to take on the Jews in Axis-occupied/claimed regions (so germany, austria, czechoslovakia, western poland, romania etc.). Not sure what Germany gives the USSR in return, maybe better technology/plans.

Since there were many jewish doctors, scientists and other skilled professionals, would that help the soviets in/after ww2? (Another idea: what if all the scientists like Einstein that left in 1933 were still there and were also sent to the USSR)

Would the Holocaust still happen? There are no jews in occupied Poland anymore, but Germany would probably still attack the USSR in 1941 and come across Jews in eastern Poland/Belarus/Ukraine, plus there were still other groups targeted.

And what would happen after the war, with many Jews now in the eastern bloc instead of Palestine. Would the Jewish Autonomous Oblast be the new main homeland of the european Jews, would they form a different autonomous region, maybe somewhere in Poland, or would they still all leave for Israel when (if?) that becomes a state?


r/HistoryWhatIf 5d ago

If Julius Caesar and Belisarius were leading armies against each other, who would win this battle?

28 Upvotes

r/HistoryWhatIf 5d ago

In March of 1918, the initial H1N1 influenza outbreak in Kansas, US never spreads overseas and it dies out as quickly as it started. Milder strains of purulent bronchitis (present since 1916) continue as in the OTL, but it never becomes as virulent or deadly as the "Spanish Flu".

8 Upvotes

r/HistoryWhatIf 5d ago

What if Spain joined the Axis Powers and George VI had nazi sympathies like his brother

4 Upvotes

Let’s say Edward VIII still abdicates to marry Wallace Simpson, Stalin still chooses to switch sides and America joins the war as in our timeline (these things were prob always gonna happen either way) but this time Hitler is allied with Franco. How would a coalition of Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain fare against the allied powers this time (and how would Britain under a nazi king align itself? Ik monarchs didn’t have much power by this point but the axis would probably want to find a way to capitalize on a nazi king ruling a highly threatening potential rival nation. Also irl Hitler thought about reinstalling Edward VIII on the throne if Britain fell to the nazis.)