Alternate History Ideas and Discussion

[WolfBear]

'Richard Nixon Gets A Landslide Victory In 1968'.

(No, you can't change it so that Nixon's the incumbent four years early or what have you...)

Eugene McCarthy wins the 1968 Democratic nomination and subsequently gets portrayed (rightly or not) as a far-left loon by the Nixon campaign?

'AHC: Have WWI be over quickly with an Entente victory. Note: This WWI doesn't actually have to begin in 1914.'

 

[Zyobot]

'Ronald Reagan Wins All 50 States In 1984'.

Once read that he joked about having wanted (but, of course, didn't receive) Minnesota for Christmas that year. The AH Gods give him his wish here, though, much to the displeasure of a sullen Walter Mondale (whose political career is probably finished).

 

[WolfBear]

'Ronald Reagan Wins All 50 States In 1984'.

Once read that he joked about having wanted (but, of course, didn't receive) Minnesota for Christmas that year. The AH Gods give him his wish here, though, much to the displeasure of a sullen Walter Mondale (whose political career is probably finished).

Reagan got his wish 18 years later when Mondale lost Minnesota to Norm Coleman, thus making Mondale the only major-party US politician to lose a general election in all fifty US states!

 

[bullethead]

"What if Great Britain hadn't scrapped X1 between the wars?"


Great Britain built the X1 commerce raider submarine in 1926, but put it in the reserve fleet only 4 years later, due to putting bad machinery in it, then scrapped it in 1936. But if they'd kept the submarine intact and fitted it with better engines, they could have deployed it against its intended enemy, the Japanese...

 

[Zyobot]

Reagan got his wish 18 years later when Mondale lost Minnesota to Norm Coleman, thus making Mondale the only major-party US politician to lose a general election in all fifty US states!

No, not really.

Mondale losing his home state isn't the same as Reagan winning it, and the scenario here is that 1984 is a clean sweep for Reagan (sans DC, unsurprisingly).

 

[WolfBear]

No, not really.

Mondale losing his home state isn't the same as Reagan winning it, and the scenario here is that 1984 is a clean sweep for Reagan (sans DC, unsurprisingly).

Just have Reagan perform 0.20% better nationwide. That should be enough to swing Minnesota into his column in 1984.

 

[Zyobot]

Just have Reagan perform 0.20% better nationwide. That should be enough to swing Minnesota into his column in 1984.

I recall reading that he only lost it by a few thousand votes, yes. Mostly among the mining community, if I remember correctly?

 

[WolfBear]

I recall reading that he only lost it by a few thousand votes, yes. Mostly among the mining community, if I remember correctly?

Possibly. But enough of a small swing in MN in any direction would be enough to deliver the state to Reagan in 1984.

Reagan lost Minnesota in 1984 by less than 4,000 votes:

Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Detailed national results of US Presidential Elections from 1789 through 2012, US Senate and Gubernatorial Elections since 1990. Site includes election data, county maps and state maps, charts. State and county results from 1892 through 2012.

uselectionatlas.org

 

[Zyobot]

Possibly. But enough of a small swing in MN in any direction would be enough to deliver the state to Reagan in 1984.

Reagan lost Minnesota in 1984 by less than 4,000 votes:

Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

Detailed national results of US Presidential Elections from 1789 through 2012, US Senate and Gubernatorial Elections since 1990. Site includes election data, county maps and state maps, charts. State and county results from 1892 through 2012.

uselectionatlas.org

Thanks.

Was first tipped off to the few-thousand-vote loss on AH.com, though you’ve shared a more “reliable” source than just Wiki.

 

[Zyobot]

‘World War II With Axis-Aligned USSR’.

Somehow, I’m guessing this makes Allied victory considerably harder to achieve, not least of which because of the reduced resource and population disparity between both camps.

 

[Circle of Willis]

'WI: Japan's Southern and Northern Courts period ends in victory for the Southern Court and an early restoration (or rather continuation of an interrupted restoration) of imperial power?'

 

[Zyobot]

‘1944 Election If FDR Dies In October’.

 

[WolfBear]

‘1944 Election If FDR Dies In October’.

Henry Wallace narrowly wins due to WWII still going on?

 

[Zyobot]

Henry Wallace narrowly wins due to WWII still going on?

He may have incumbency on his side, but considering how FDR replaced him with Truman on the ballot a few months earlier, my feeling is that Wallace's "legitimacy" will be widely questioned?

Maybe you could see the Democratic Party divided at the eleventh hour because of this, which may (or may not) buoy the Dewey/Bricker ticket and embolden the GOP in November.

 

[WolfBear]

He may have incumbency on his side, but considering how FDR replaced him with Truman on the ballot a few months earlier, my feeling is that Wallace's "legitimacy" will be widely questioned?

Maybe you could see the Democratic Party divided at the eleventh hour because of this, which may (or may not) buoy the Dewey/Bricker ticket and embolden the GOP in November.

Oh, you're right about FDR replacing him! So, maybe Truman is the 1944 Democratic presidential nominee instead?

 

[WolfBear]

‘World War II With Axis-Aligned USSR’.

Somehow, I’m guessing this makes Allied victory considerably harder to achieve, not least of which because of the reduced resource and population disparity between both camps.

Lopsided Axis victory.

@History Learner Off-topic, but I have an AH question for you: Without World War I, do you ever actually see the US still purchasing the Danish West Indies?

 

[Zyobot]

'Less Excessive Imperial German Navy'.

Which frees up otherwise-wasted resources to concentrate on building up the German Army, as a likely consequence.

 

[WolfBear]

'Less Excessive Imperial German Navy'.

Which frees up otherwise-wasted resources to concentrate on building up the German Army, as a likely consequence.

Just have Kaiser Bill be less interested in this and instead push for something else, such as trucks for the German Army:

H-Net Discussion Networks - Reply: German thinking about trucks before 1914? (2)

lists.h-net.org

Could help with the Schlieffen Plan if war still breaks out in 1914.

 

[Zyobot]

Just have Kaiser Bill be less interested in this and instead push for something else, such as trucks for the German Army:

H-Net Discussion Networks - Reply: German thinking about trucks before 1914? (2)

lists.h-net.org

Could help with the Schlieffen Plan if war still breaks out in 1914.

Thanks. Yeah, having a more robust army would be great, if the plan is still to take on France and Russia. Both of whom are far more likely to engage Germany on land than at sea, so...

'ASB War: Modern US Vs. Uplifted British Empire'. Which is to say, a British Empire with the same territory as it had in ~1921, but with its technology and infrastructure magically updated to 2020s levels. I know less about how both superpowers' combined ground forces would stack up, but it'd really be something to see history's two greatest navies go toe to toe. Oh, and ASB disables nuclear weapons, too.

 

[WolfBear]

Thanks. Yeah, having a more robust army would be great, if the plan is still to take on France and Russia. Both of whom are far more likely to engage Germany on land than at sea, so...

'ASB War: Modern US Vs. Uplifted British Empire'. Which is to say, a British Empire with the same territory as it had in ~1921, but with its technology and infrastructure magically updated to 2020s levels. I know less about how both superpowers' combined ground forces would stack up, but it'd really be something to see history's two greatest navies go toe to toe. Oh, and ASB disables nuclear weapons, too.

I think that it would be more or less a tossup. It might depend on just how much value Indian and African manpower will provide to Britain.