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A Point Of Divergence, or POD, is a point in a timeline where history begins to change from our time line. Prior to the POD, history runs the same as in our timeline. This page is intended as a summary of the PODs of all the alternative histories covered on this website.

Contents

BackgroundEdit

Points of Divergence often center around wars, as it is in these moments that history turns one-way or another. Series of books written by Harry Turtledove and others pick these times, as one change of the result of even the smallest of battles can have a great effect on the outcome of the war, and in turn the future of those involved.

BCE to 900sEdit

  • 4.6 billion BCE
    • Luna: Earth II - The Moon's core is 960 kilometers in diameter instead of a mere 480 kilometers. This lead to a stronger gravity, a magnetic field, and eventually, its own lifeforms.
  • 4.56 billion BCE
    • White Star Jupiter - Jupiter is formed into a white dwarf star instead of a gas giant. This enables the habitation of all planets in our solar system.
  • 3.70 billion BCE
    • A World Apart - Life forms on an entirely different continental system than that of traditional earth, causing human society to develop an entirely different history.
  • 500 million BCE
    • Habitable Mars - Mars retains a thin but breathable atmosphere, as well as a protective radiation belt. Plant and insect life soon develop on the planet.
  • 65 million BCE
    • Tooth and Claw - A large meteorite fails to hit the Earth, instead hitting the Moon.
  • 12 million BCE
    • ​The Undead World in 1943 - A meteor, teeming with alien bacteria, crashes into the American Mid-West, which sets a chain into events that will eventually lead to a massive war against the results of the meteor's bacteria landing on Earth.
  • 200,000 BCE
    • Zera - A small group of Homo Erectus crosses the Bering land bridge and develop in the Americas.
    • When Hell is Full... - For some reason, the genus Homo Sapiens is cursed from the start. Whenever a certain amount of its kind have perished, death is no longer permanent and the dead return to feast on the living...
  • 20,000 BCE
    • Great White South - The climate around the Earth's south pole warms significantly, enabling human inhabitance of the Antarctic continent.
  • 9,000 BCE
    • The Green North - The glaciers retreat to the poles. However, instead of staying on the Arctic Circle, the ice melts into the ocean, enabling future human colonization.
  • 4004 BCE
    • No Supernatural Intervention - Adam and Eve leave a suddenly inhospitable rain forest to begin civilization in the fertile plains. They had never encountered the Creator God who chose to remain aloof from his creation.
  • 2000 BCE
    • No Abraham - Biblical Abraham dies as a young boy, never inspiring the Abrahamic Religions.
  • 800 BCE
    • ​Rome Destroyed - A young Latin Rome is destroyed by the Ligures and Etruscans, with profound influence on human history.
  • 331 BCE
    • Nothing Changes - The philosopher Anaxarchus is injured in the battle of Gaugamela. He and Pyrrho temporarily stay in Babylon before moving to Alexandria - bringing the concept of the number zero with them.
  • 323 BCE
    • Alexander Empire - Alexander the Great does not die, but instead lives to be 86 and unites the Middle East and Europe under his dynasty.
    • Whims of Fortune - Alexander the Great survives longer and the empire stays together centuries longer.
  • 220 BCE
    • Gunpowder Empire - The first Emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang, goes in search for a mythical "elixir of life", but discovers the secrets of gunpowder instead.
  • 216 BCE
    • Whims of Fortune - Carthage and Macedon overcome Rome in the Second Italian War.
  • 200 BCE
    • Ahtobiton - Germanic tribes unite and conquer much of Europe.
  • 30 BCE
    • Ætas ab Brian - An Egyptian historian of the 1950's fell through time to influence Ptolemaic Egypt into seriously contesting Roman expansion.
  • 12 BCE
    • Roma Invicta - Augustus successfully colonizes Germania, Arminius is betrayed.
  • 32
    • Christ Dynasty - Jesus Christ takes a less peaceful approach, but still emphasizing himself as the Messiah and son of God. He leads a rebellion establishing an empire.
  • 33
    • No Christianity World - Jesus of Nazareth is not crucified. In fact, he is released. Christianity lasts for less than a hundred years.
  • 173
    • Superpowers - Marcus Aurelius encounters an intelligent young Greek boy in his tour of the provinces, and he is made his successor over Commodus.
  • 324
    • Seven Roman States - Roman emperor Constantine fails to reunite the empire, leaving the East divided in half and separate from the West.
  • 355
    • Roman Superiority - The Roman Empire splits into thirds, creating the Western Roman Empire, Eastern Roman Empire and the Southern Roman Empire.
    • Rise of Rome - Diocletian refuses demands to split Rome into East and West.
  • 394
    • Superpowers - Quich'en Ch'onle Mayapan is born in the Mayan city-state of Calakmul and later discovers the wheel, gunpowder, cement and joins the Mayan cities together into a Conglomerate.
  • 411
    • Germanic Power - Theodosius, son of the Imperial Princess Gallia Placida and Athaulf, King of the Visigoths, is born and survives to a ripe old age.
  • 632
    • World Without Muslims - After Mohammad´s death, the Muslims break apart and Islam doesn´t last, because Europeans conquer them quickly.
  • 642
    • Penda Dies - Oswald of Northumbria defeats and kills Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Maserfield.
  • 755
    • Easternized World - The Tang Dynasty lasts into the late 10th century. After a new dynasty takes over, China takes over much of Asia.
  • 776
    • New Wessex 776 - A group of West Saxons follow their bishop's dream and settle in southern Maryland.
  • 810
    • Godfred the Great - King Godfred of the Danes survives the attempt on his life and continues to lead incursions into the Carolingian Empire.
  • 812
    • Papatlaca - A Mayan farmer catches a disease which ultimately spreads to the entire world.
  • 889
    • Ard Marjhoola - Ibn Aswad, a Muslim navigator brings definite proof of discovery, leading to Muslim expansion into the Americas.
  • 933
    • Burgundy Survives - Rudolph II cedes his claims to the kingdom of Italy to Hugh of Arles. In return, he gains the kingdom of Provence, thus reuniting the two territories of Burgundy.
  • 934
    • The Kalmar Union - Norway falls apart permanently after the death of Harold Fairhair. The ensuing chaos there causes wide repercussions in Scandinavia, Europe and North America.
  • 937
    • Burgundy Survives - Battle of Brunanburh - the allied forces of Dublin, Scotland and Strathclyde defeat the English.
  • 960
    • Chinese World - Zhao Kuangyin is defeated in his attempt to take the throne of Northern China. No Song Dynasty get control of China.
  • 962
    • Vegetarian World - Muslim invaders were never able to establish a foothold in the Indian Subcontinent. India prospers and becomes stronger, and is more Vedic in religion.

1000s to 1700sEdit

1000sEdit

  • 1003
    • Ericson's Vinland - Leif Ericson encourages Greenlanders to settle Vinland after he discovers the island and stays there for a winter. After the Greenlanders create several successful settlements, word gets out to Iceland that a more hospitable land than Greenland has been found. This encourages Icelandic settlement and the establishment of a permanent colony.
  • 1014
    • The Clontarf Split - After the Battle of Clontarf, Sigtrygg Silkbeard is gifted land north of Dublin, the Orkney Isles, and the Isle of Man.
  • 1066
    • The Battle of Caldbeck - Harold Godwinson sends his brother Gyrth to strengthen his left flank at the battle of Hastings.

1100sEdit

  • 1176
    • The Eagle Lives - The Byzantines defeat the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Myriokephalon.
  • 1185
    • Superpowers - Temujin prevents the Merkits from kidnapping his wife Borte, leaving no doubt in the father of his son Jochi

1200sEdit

  • 1209
    • Vegetarian World - The Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of Languedoc is a failure, eventually making vegetarianism in Europe stronger, and strengthening Occitanian areas, which would become part of the free nation of Catatania.
  • 1210
    • Assassins - The Hashshashin leader, Hassan III of Alamut comes to power. He develops the order to include any individual who is deemed worthy, not just Muslims. The sect survives into the modern era.

1300sEdit

  • None (yet).

1400sEdit

  • 1402
    • All Under Heaven - China manages to subdue the Mongols, and brings them under Chinese rule.
  • 1429
    • Joan of Arc Beaten - The clash of English and French arms at Orleans ends with Joan of Arc Beaten.
  • 1478
    • Italia! - Aragon never forms Spain with Castile, and Granada is fighting them to stay Muslim. Later in 1485, Italy is reunited, and in 1492, Italy helps Christopher Columbus with The New World Discovery, instead of Spain, sneaking through the Caliphate of Granada unharmed, Italy replaces The Spanish Empire, claiming all of OTL Spain's claims, making a bigger and better Italian Empire.
  • 1485
    • A Kingdom and a Horse - Richard of York wins at Bosworth, ending the Wars of the Roses with a Yorkist Victory.
  • 1492
    • Cabotia and Brasil - Isabella of Castille is not convinced by Christopher Columbus' proposal to reach the Indies by sailing westwards.
    • Via Latina - The lands discovered by Columbus become known as the Columbias instead of the Americas.
  • 1493
    • The Andean Wars - The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria becomes caught in a force five hurricane and all perish.

1500sEdit

  • 1503
    • Fidei Defensor - Henry, son of Henry VII dies of tuberculosis contracted from his brother Arthur, this leaves the succession of the English throne to Margaret, wife of James IV of Scotland.
  • 1524
    • ​Nordic Empires - King Gustav I of Sweden exploits negativity towards Danish rule in Norway, aiding rebel forces to expel Denmark. A war ensues between the crowns of Sweden and Denmark.
  • 1527
    • Vicuña of the East - Some of Francisco Pizarro's horses fall ill with colic, leading to a failure in his expedition to Peru.
  • 1552
    • Ottoman World - The Ottoman Empire conquers the fort of Eger in Hungary.
  • 1557
    • Hindustani Raj - In the Battle of Panipat, Samrat Hemu manages to defeat the Mughal armies in the Second Battle of Panipat and changes the course of Indian history forever.
  • 1592
    • Toyotomi Japan - Yi Sun-sin dies in an accident. His death allows Toyotomi's invasion to succeed.
  • 1593
    • Chinese America - China begins colonizing America, leaving a very different world in it's wake.

1600sEdit

  • 1601
    • An Mhaidín Mhaith sá Chionn tSáile - A storm delays the arrival of British troops to battle the Spanish in Kinsale in Cork. The Irish army of Hugh O'Neill and Hugh (The Red) O'Donnell meet up with the Spanish first and defeat the English at Kinsale. This leads to the Anglo-Hibernian War and severely reduces Britain's ability to forge a colonial empire for quite some time.
  • 1635
    • Pragfreden - Sweden withdraws from (what we know as) the Thirty Years' War much earlier. The war ends much earlier, and Sweden moves on to conquer much of Prussia. The internationl precedents of the Teaty of Westphalia do not take place.
  • 1643
    • Empire of Forever - The Spanish Tercios win the battle of Rocroi against the French, thus avoiding the decline of Spanish dominance on Europe.
  • 1652
    • Vereenigde West-Indische Provinciën - The Dutch Republic wins a resounding victory in the Anglo-Dutch War and not only continues, but also expands its colonization efforts in the "West Indian" lands; giving birth to a very Dutch America.
  • 1683
    • 1683: Fall of Vienna - Austrian and Holy Roman Empire forces are defeated at the Battle of Vienna and the city falls to the Ottomans. The House of Habsburg is forced to flee Westward to escape the advancing Ottoman forces.

1700sEdit

  • 1702
    • No Great Britain - In response to the English “Act of Settlement” of 1701 to bar Catholics from the throne or England, Scotland enacts the “Act of Succession” that allows only Catholics to ascend to the throne of Scotland.
  • 1713
    • Unbalance - The Treaty of Utrecht are signed in March, ending the War of Spanish Succession. However, France refuses to cede Newfoundland to Britain, sparking tensions between the two great nations.
  • 1735
    • USA Kingdom - A third son is born to James Francis Stuart (the Old Pretender); James Maria Robert Stuart. His mother, Maria Clementina Sobieska, dies two days after giving birth.
  • 1754
    • Here we go again - The British Government accepts the terms of the Albany Congress, making sure that America remains British.
  • 1754
    • Spanish Commonwealth - Fernando VI de España denounced the treaty of Madrid or 'Permuta' signed shortly before with Portugal, which inaugurated a period of strength in real decisions about the other European powers.
  • 1760
    • Day of Glory - Moncalm waits for reinforcements and manages to hold on to Québec.
  • 1762
    • British Louisiana - The British fail to capture Cuba during the Seven Years War. Spain does not lose Florida and Louisiana is handed to the United Kingdom instead.
  • 1776
    • Changed Destiny - Alternate Founding Fathers leads to an America with a changed destiny.
  • 1777
    • No Destiny - Thirteen colonies dreaming of independence, fight without French, Spanish, Dutch or any other help. They gain independence in 1786, but war is hard and the government of the States and its citizens do not agree on the idea of Manifest Destiny. They also don´t migrate to the West Coast, so the original United States are still on the East Coast of North America and do not attempt to offend the Treaty of Paris in 1783, so Florida, Canada and the land west of the Mississippi river go uncolonized. A world with a real peaceful and not militarist USA.
    • Howe's March - British General William Howe decides to go with John Burgoyne's plan of attacking Saratoga, instead of attacking Philadelphia.
    • The Third British Empire - The British are aided by Native Americans at the battle of Princetown, and George Washington is surrounded and killed.
  • 1778
    • USA Kingdom - George Washington is captured by the British during the Battle of Monmouth. He is later tried and executed for treason. Congress asks James Roberts to take command of the Continental Army.
  • 1784
    • Divergence Factor -0.229 - Thomas Jefferson's proposal to ban slavery in all new territory after 1802 is ratified by a narrow margin. Expansion of slavery is not an issue. The Republican Party is never formed. New England secedes, leading to civil war.
  • 1787
    • Federal States of America - At the Philadelphia Convention (25 May to 17 September 1787), slavery and the slave-trade were outlawed in the new constitution, leading to three states (Georgia and the two Carolinas) not joining the new union and thus remaining governed by the 1777 Articles of Confederation.
  • 1788
    • Russian America Expansion - Sitting in bed after a thoroughly enjoyable birthday a thought pops into Catherine II's head about expanding the Russian empire. The next day she announces her plans to send an expedition into OTL Alaska. This expedition which was never held in OTL is extremely successful and Russian America starts begin expanded almost immediately.
  • 1793
    • Long live the Qing! - Lord Macartney's diplomatic mission to China is a full success, leading to industrialization in Imperial China.
  • 1795
    • Ahtobiton - The Grand Duchy of Lithuania does not fall.
  • 1797
    • Adams Dies 1797 - US President Adams dies, leaving ascending VP Jefferson to ally with revolutionary France.

1800sEdit

1810sEdit

  • 1812
    • l'Empereur Est Mort - Napoleon dies during an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the British Isles. This causes the French Empire to survive to this very day.
    • Napoleon's America - Napoleon never goes through with his attempt to invade Russia, instead he sends troops to America after winning the Peninsular War, the addition of New Spain, Louisiana, and Quebec to the French Empire enables him to conquer most of Europe.
  • 1814
    • 1812 closure - The British win the Battle of Plattsburgh, allowing them to dictate term ending the North American war of 1812.
  • 1815
    • Short-lived US - The British win the Battle of New Orleans, and General Pakenham insists on occupying even after word has reached him that the war is over. President Madison redeclares war in response.

1820sEdit

  • 1820
    • ​Caroline Era - Augustus De Morgan is not discovered copying diagrams from Euclid by a family friend and as a result, Moore's Law does not apply.
  • 1822
    • 1822: Brazil split - D. Pedro, Prince Regent of Brazil, goes back to Portugal, which leads to many wars of independence and the splitting of Brazil into several countries.
    • Greater Colombia - Bolívar and San Martin agree on a common path to free South America.
  • 1828
    • Zulu - Dingane, Mhlangana, and Induna, are all killed by Shaka Kasenzangakhona when they attempted to usurp the Zulu throne.

1830sEdit

  • 1830
    • Chinese Meiji - China starts a modernization program in the 1840s, overthrows the Qing dynasty, and sets up a constitutional monarchy. The result is a drastically different 20th century, where Germany dominates Europe and the Middle East is one of the most stable regions in the world.
  • 1839
    • The Ottoman Constitution - The imperial reorganization of the Ottomans has more success and the empire is fully reformed in the ensuing constitutional era.

1840sEdit

  • 1840
    • No Gold Rush - James W. Marshall dies of malaria in Missouri.
  • 1843
    • Viva California - John Tyler is impeached and replaced by the radical and pro-slavery David Rice Atchinson.
  • 1848
    • Nationalism 1848 - Otto von Bismarck joins the Frankfurt Parliament and champions for German unification, Franz Joseph I's invasion of Hungary fails spectacularly.

1850sEdit

  • 1850
    • Conflict in the SouthWest - After being defeated in the short but bloody Mormon war, the citizens of the Deseret region of Utah, Nevada, Western Colorado, Southern Idaho and Wyoming and South Eastern California, tempers simmer until they flare up in 2003, causing the Deseret Conflict.
  • 1852
    • Taiping China - The Taiping rebel army marches on to Beijing instead of settling in at Nanking; the overthrow of the Qing dynasty brings about a Taiping China.
    • Rebellion of 61 - "Stonewall" Jackson dies, Union forces win First Battle of Bull Run, ending the Civil War.

1860sEdit

  • 1860
    • World Without Science - Charles Darwin's trial begins. The sentencing for his "demonic" crime against the Bible is the death penalty. Supporters of evolution are persecuted and people fear any type of science in general.
    • Cotton Party - Jefferson Davis wins the presidency leading to the free states seceding.
  • 1861
    • A Southron World - General Ulysses S. Grant is repulsed in his attempt to capture Paducah, Kentucky by Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk. The mouth of the Tennessee river is under control of Confederate Forces.
    • A House Divided but Strong - Following the First battle of Bull Run, the US congress makes a peace offering to the south and the CSA and USA stand side by side in the world.
  • 1862
    • The Confederate Utopia - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated. After a much longer Civil War, the Confederacy is triumphant.
    • Axis World - General George Meade dies from his injuries at the Battle of Glendale, depriving the Union of his talents at Gettysburg and leading to a Confederate victory, which in turn alters world history drastically.
  • 1863
    • The First Stone - Braxton Bragg defeats William Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River.
    • Give Them the Bayonet! - General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson leaves Chancellorsville unscathed and leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to victory at Gettysburg.
    • No Gettysburg - Confederate President Davis sends General Longstreet to reinforce the West, rather than approving Lee's plans for invading the North.
    • Eye of the Storm - Confederate forces, under General Robert E. Lee, wipe out the Union army at the Battle of Gettysburg.
  • 1865
    • Japanese Alaska - William H. Seward is assassinated.
    • The Maxim - A shipment of steam boilers gets mixed up, resulting in the death of Hiram Maxim in 1865, and the survival of Anthony Duram, who advances naval technology greatly.
  • 1868
    • Rebellion of 61 - The Kōmon Emperor (Kōmei *here*) does not die, as a result, Japan's modernization takes place differently.

1870sEdit

  • 1870
    • The Legacy of the Glorious: Eusebio Salazar y Mazarredo's telegram detailing the time of his arrival to Madrid with Leopold zu Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen's confirmation of his candidacy to the Spanish Crown arrives correctly, stating his date of arrival as July 6th (In RL, it said July 26th).

1880sEdit

  • 1881
    • Greater Russia - Alexander II of Russia is not killed by anarchists and the Russian Empire lasts to the present day.
  • 1885
    • Long Live The Czar - Czar Alexander II is not assassinated. The Russian Empire survives to the modern day.
  • 1887
    • Long Live Kaiser Friedrich III! - Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm is diagnosed with throat cancer. A risky and complicated procedure to remove the tumor is successfully completed.
  • 1888
    • The Boulanger Era - General Georges Boulanger stages a coup d'etat and becomes France's Head of State.

1890sEdit

1900sEdit

  • 1904
    • Early World War I - The Dogger Bank incident isn't solved diplomatically and it causes Britain to join Japan against the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War; this eventually expands into a World War.
  • 1908
    • London Event - A meteor destroys London and kills almost her entire population. The Pope claims it is a punishment of God. Europeans start sacking the London ruins and land occupation starts after a decree from German Emperor Wilhelm II.
    • Close Encounter of the Third Reich - The destruction of a spacecraft over the Tunguska region in Russia leads to three further crashes on the European continent in the 1930s; one in Fascist Italy and two in Nazi Germany - giving the Axis a decisive advantage in the coming war.

1910sEdit

  • 1912
    • Progressive USA - Roosevelt does much better in the 1912 Presidential election, not enough to win, but its enough to establish the Progressives as a viable party. This is in part due to a coalition with Eugene Debs. From 1912 to 1916 the Progressives make step by step gains in the House and Senate and in both years get more votes then the Republicans, although they are defeated by the Democrats.
  • 1913
    • Schlieffen's Plan - Instead of dying in this year, Alfred Graf von Schlieffen lives long enough to guide the German Army to victory in the Great War.
  • 1914
    • 1914: Failed Plot - The unknown member of the Black Hand gun does not misfire, thus not causing Franz Ferdinand to take an alternate route. The members are arrested before they could do anything.
    • Successful German Socialist Revolution - Friedrich Ebert, the head of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), dies in an automobile accident. Germany ultimately becomes socialist and the USA (an Axis power) decides to nuke Berlin.
    • Princip Arrest - A terrorist named Gavrilo Princip is arrested before he assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Tensions between major world powers continue and increase.
    • Gavrilo Princip-World War - A terrorist named Gavrilo Princip is captured and killed before being able to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Europe keeps peace and after years of stability, war break out in 1930.
    • Imperial glory - Princip decides to eat his sandwich inside the food store instead of taking it with him.
    • Last Chance for Peace - Wilhelm withdraws his "blank check" offer to Austria Hungary. The Dual Monarchy is forced to fight Russia by themselves, resulting in a delayed WW1 with different alliances.
    • A Different World War II and Cold War – Instead of wheelig east, Kluck's army drives into Paris, crushing the French, ending the war way earlier than normal.
  • 1916
    • World War III-1956 - Lester Pearson, future Minister of External Affairs for Canada, dies in a bus accident.
    • Kornilovshina - General Lavr Kornilov's coup succeeds.
    • Red Scare World - Adolf Hitler dies when he gets struck by lightning.
  • 1917
    • Kaiser's Age - Britain never cracked Germany's diplomatic code during World War I.
    • EEC - The Pleß conference (Kaiser Wilhelm, Reichskanzler, Army and Navy leaders, Silesia, Germany) is delayed, thus delaying the resumption of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare. A proposal for a peace conference by American President Wilson is then accepted by Germany and the Quadruple allies, but rejected by the Entente allies. The USA does not enter the War, Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare later in the year, resulting in a negotiated peace in mid 1918.
    • Oystralia (State of Sion, Australian Confederacy) - The Balfour Declaration of 1917 had been intended as a formal but classified statement of policy by the British government on the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the World War I. The letter stated the position that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine, with the condition that nothing should be done which might prejudice the rights of existing communities there. However, in the aftermath of the First World War, with the British commitment to establishing Arab successor states in the former Ottoman domain, the Declaration was not accepted by the Cabinet. Chaim Weizman and other Zionists found their further settlement blocked in the Holy Land. The formerly dismissed Uganda Plan and other territorial schemes under the protection of the British Empire were dusted off for new consideration. Balfour and Lloyd George were amenable, and the colonization scheme that led to the State of Sion was born.
    • Goddard's legacy - Mexico declares war on the USA, thus allowing Robert Goddard a chance for rocketry to make an earlier appearance on the battlefield.
    • Capitalists of the World, Unite - The German railroad car smuggling Lenin into St. Petersburg is intercepted by pro-Tsarist forces and Lenin is executed along with his compatriots. A battered Russia remains in World War I and Communism never takes root.
  • 1918
    • Ready for the Mother Country - Prince Alexei and Alexandria Romanov escape from their prison, and Alexei takes full command of the White army.
  • 1919
    • Red Germany - Hitler dies in World War I. Following the war, the communists make a strong showing in the first-ever German democratic elections and quickly take control of Germany, leading to major changes in World War II and a strong alliance with the USSR.
    • The American Empire - FDR and Mitchell Palmer are killed by a bomb planted by an anarchist in Palmer's library.
    • To Comrade Trotsky, The World - Stalin dies of Tuberculosis. Mikhail Kalinin is appointed by Lenin in his place. Lenin is assassinated by anti-communist 'white' Russians while inspecting the units of the Red Guard in 1921 just outside Moscow. He is succeeded by Leon Trotsky.

1920sEdit

  • 1921
    • Nein - Promising German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein dies during his first visit to the USA. He never makes contact with Ernest Rutherford or Leó Szilárd and the Manhattan Project is never born. A world without useful atomic energy, a world without the Person of the Century.
    • The Hammer of America - FDR dies from accelerated polio, which leads to Al Smith becoming president, resulting in a Second American Civil War, and the creation of a socialist state in America.
  • 1922
    • Shattered economy - Instead of the U.S., the Great Depression focuses more -almost entirely- on Europe, which plunges into economic turmoil. Near every nation collapses and most that don't lose parts of their territories. This halts World War 2 as Hitler and Mussolini have little military power.
  • 1923
  • 1926
    • Free Catalonia - Riccioti Garibaldi is not a fascist spy, so the conspiracy organized in southern France to proclaim Catalan independence from Spain is not discovered on time to avoid it.

1930sEdit

  • 1931
    • Chinese Fascism - Chiang Kai-shek sees potential in the Blue Shirt Society, which leads to the complete transformation of China into a single-party, Confucian dictatorship.
  • 1933
    • No FDR - Franklin Roosevelt, not Anton Cermak, is struck and hit in the lung by Giuseppe Zangara and killed. John Nance Garner, his Vice-President, takes over but without Roosevelt's leadership, the Depression lingers for years longer and there is no impetus to become less isolationist.
  • 1936
    • No Keynes - John Maynard Keynes neglects to publish General Theory, eventually abandoning economics altogether, with far-reaching consequences.
    • New England Secession - Alf Landon surprisingly defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 Presidential Election, with far reaching consequences, culminating in the secession of New England.
    • Nationalist China-Mao Zedong along with much of the Chinese Communists are killed when Nationalist forces assaulted the town that Mao was in, killing much of the Communist leaders and leading to the down fall of the communism in China.
  • 1937
    • No Rape of Nanking - General Tang Sheng-chi of the Chinese Republican Army ignores Chiang Kai-shek and agrees to a three day cease-fire with Japanese forces sieging Nanking on December 9, 1937. The result is a relatively peaceful occupation of the city and few atrocities committed by the invaders. There is no world-wide outrage and small, if any impact on Japanese-American relations.
  • 1938
    • Woody Guthrie, the Singing Sidekick - With the success of his local Los Angeles radio show with Lefty Lou, Woody Guthrie's life was Bound for Glory in song. Instead, his life took a different turning: Hollywood called.
    • Cambridge Computing - Mathematician Alan Turing extends his visit to America and builds the world's first electronic computer. Back in England, he is able to complete his dream of producing human-like artificial intelligence by the year 2000.
    • Fall Grün - The Czechoslovak government refuse to abide by the Munich Agreement, sparking a German (and later Hungarian) invasion of Czechoslovakia on October 1, 1938.
  • 1939
    • Nuclear Realisation - Albert Einstein changes his mind over his support for Nuclear Weaponry.
    • The Unlikely Alliance - On September 1st, 1939 - the eve of World War II - Hitler decides not to invade Poland, and wait until his army is more prepared.

1940sEdit

  • 1941
    • Unternehmen Seelöwe - Hitler chokes to death on an apple, leaving Hess to lead Nazi Germany.
    • Seeing Red (Army, that is) - The Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia provokes Stalin to mount a preemptive attack on Germany lest Russia becomes Hitler's next victim.
    • Red victory - The Axis powers never engage in Operation Barbarossa and invade the Soviet Union.
    • The Raging Bear - Stalin heeds Allied warnings of an imminent German attack, Barbarossa is a catastrophic failure for the Germans the second it is launched.
    • See Paris and Die - Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben successfully assassinates Hitler on May 1941 during a military parade in Paris.
    • Unternehmen Seelöwe, 1941 - Nazi Germany succeeds in invading the British Isles. This POD triggers several alternative timelines.
    • Fatherlands - UK,China joins Axis, Soviet defeat in 1943 and then Axis wins WWII. Communist Party never controls China and establish the PRC
  • 1942
    • Rising Sun - The Japanese manage to secure a victory at the Battle of Midway, thereby crushing the US Pacific Fleet.
  • 1943
    • 1942 Stress - The USA suffers so much from the War, that it turns into a civil war!.
    • Morgen die ganze Welt - Nerve gas used at Kursk turns the tide of the war.
  • 1945
    • Divided Japan - Harry S Truman does not argue as forcefully for possession of Japan as he does in OTL, and he does not order the dropping of the Bomb in 1945. The war ends the next year and Japan is partitioned like Germany.
    • Superfortress - Truman does not use nuclear weapons against Japan and instead relies on Operation Downfall, Japan attempts to scare the allies into stopping the attack by causing chaos in China.
    • Germany Waits - Germany instead of 1939, and as Germany and Japan conquer, and during a thinning Cold War and beginning Civil War, the citizens and Fuhrer of Germany wonder what would've been if they hadn't waited.
  • 1948
    • President Gaitan - No assassination attempt on Jorge Eliecer Gaitán, permits him to become president in 1950, with repercussions on Cuba and the Cold War.
    • President Welles - After the failure of The Lady from Shanghai, Orson Welles decides to end his career in movies and turns to politics.

1950sEdit

  • 1952
    • Election 1952 - Adlai Stevenson becomes President of the United States after Robert Taft wrestles the Republican Nomination from Eisenhower.
  • 1958
    • Perez Jimenez's Venezuela - The Coup that overthrown Venezuelan Dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez fail transforming Venezuela forever in.

1960sEdit

  • 1969
    • World X002 - Richard Nixon does not declare his Nixon doctrine and completes a second term.
    • Retrofuture World - After the Apollo 11 astronauts return, there is a massive explosion of retrofuturistic technology.

1970sEdit

  • 1970
    • President Hendrix - Jimi Hendrix survives a fatal drug overdose, and meets Ron Paul, who puts him on the path to presidency.
  • 1973
    • Peak Oil 1996 - OPEC convinced not to cut the supply of oil, thus averting an oil shock.
  • 1973
    • Nixon's Early Resignation - President Nixon's lawyers convince him to resign, before a successor to Vice President Spiro Agnew has been named. Democratic House Speaker Carl Albert becomes President due to this.

1980sEdit

  • 1981
    • The Gipper Goes Down - The short-lived Presidency of Ronald Reagan is ended by a disturbed gunman, as his assassination is successful.
  • 1983
    • 1983: Doomsday - Stanislav Petrov is not the officer on duty at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow, resulting in a nuclear holocaust.
  • 1988
    • Biden vs. Bush - Joe Biden wins the Democratic Nomination for President, and beats George H.W. Bush in the Presidential Election.
  • 1989

1990sEdit

  • 1991
    • Blond Death - The Blond Death was a devastating plague pandemic that ravaged basically all of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand in the late twentieth century. It killed a quarter of the population of Europe, but was present in minus range in all the world. The disease was present like a flu in many people, but with the special that the flu infects and kills a high number of blond haired, blue eyed white people. The social scale of the world change forever.
  • 1992
    • No Perot - Ross Perot decides not to run for president and instead becomes a U.S senator.
    • Clinton Who? - Paul Tsongas defeats Bill Clinton to become the Democratic Presidential nominee.
    • President Quayle - President Bush dumps Dan Quayle from the ticket, giving him the fig leaf of resigning to run in Indiana's gubernatorial contest against Democrat Evan Bayh. Quayle's seeming misfortune turns around, and eight years later he is president.
  • 1995
    • Bojinka - Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Shaik Mohammed are able to successfully execute the Bojinka Plot, causing the War on Terror to begin in 1995, not 2001.
  • 1997
    • President Gary - American Vice-President Al Gore is killed when Air Force Two, his official plane, crashes in California on his way back from a summit in China.
  • 1999
    • No United States - Terrorists steal fifty-nine air force planes and bomb the capitals of each United States state, as well as Washington, D.C.

2000sEdit

  • 2000
    • President McCain - John McCain wins the 2000 Republican primaries thus securing the Republican nomination.
  • 2002
    • The Capitol Burns - The September 11 attacks never take place. Instead, the Al-Qaida network chooses a bigger, and more deadly, target. On January 29, 2002, during George W. Bush's State of the Union address, an airliner dive-bombs into the U.S. Capitol building. 97% of the members of Congress are killed, and so are most of the cabinet, including the President and Vice President. The Presidency passes to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who presides over the beginning of the end for American democracy.
  • 2003
    • Between Iraq and a Hard Place - Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook, dramatically goes public with his opposition to the war in Iraq, by speaking at the London "Stop the War" rally (15/02/03). British troops take no part in the war, leaving George Bush.
  • 2004
    • UKend - Six nuclear explosions blow up in the United Kingdom, only in biggest cities of England. An empire without king who's brothers nation present herself to protected, the fall of the fifth economy and second military spender of the world.
    • President Kerry - John Kerry narrowly defeats George W. Bush, sending American politics and policy in a different direction.
    • Heartland - What if in 2005 after Kerry illegally defeated and assassinated, the Blue States left the Union to form their own country.
    • H5N1Z - Avian Flu virus mutates in Western Europe, causing deadly effect to both population and politics; forming the H5N1Z outbreak.
  • 2005/06
    • 2006: US Stays Red - Emily Miller, ex-fiancee of Michael Scanlon, doesn't implicate him to the FBI; also, Brian Ross of ABC News holds off on a story about Mark Foley and e-mails to pages. Failure of these scandals to emerge result in alternative.
  • 2007
    • Sino-Australian Conflict - Kevin Rudd dies on the 4th of January 2007, without being elected as Prime Minister of Australia favorable to Sino-Australian relations, notably due to the fact that he could be the first Australian Prime Minister to speak fluent Mandarin and that closer engagement with Asia was one of the "Three Pillars" of his foreign policy.
    • North American Democracy - North America falls into massive debt and falls into smaller more political nations. People pay more attention to government and freedoms.
  • 2008
    • Step in a Different Direction - Republican John McCain defeats the Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election on November 4, 2008, and assumes the Presidency on January 20, 2009.

2010sEdit

  • None (yet).

See also Edit

Retrieved from "http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Alternative_History:POD"

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