In case you’re confused, hopefully this helps: I’m imagining an alternate reality where the tenets of Marxism spread to either Japan, Korea or China instead of Russia, leading to a communist revolution on the same scale as Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution happening in China instead of Russia.

So here’s the challenge: Create a plausible timeline where Marxism fails to gain any influence or support In Europe, but instead takes off in East Asia, leading to an alternate version of Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution happening in either either Japan, Korea or China.

By this I mean make the effort to convert the population to Catholicism, recruit some daimyo to their side, and execute the emperor and shogun under similar pretenses.

This is also assuming Spain and Portugal stayed in union during the colonization of Japan - around the year say...1585.

Was there any point in US history where this could've happened before the Civil War broke out?

If Irish store workers had never gone on strike to protest the import of South African goods in 1984 what would the impact have been on the fall of apartheid?

What if japan didnt bomb pearl harbour and America didnt get invloved in ww2?

So japan went ahead to invade south east asian colonies but without the invlovement of America. And japan must be careful not to antangonise America so as not to give it an excuse to enter the war.

Japan stays aways from phillipines as it does not want to start a conflict with America.

The resources looted from their conquest in south east asia would then have to be rerouted and transported via land up through thailand and indochina (probably via railway) to reach Japan itself where it could then be used by Japan to continue their war effort against china.

Is this a plausible secaniro? Its more troublesome than transporting the resources via sea through the philipines but at least its still a much better prospect than to be at war with America.

This alternate history scenario, I admit, sounds incredibly disturbing considering what Osama bin Laden did in our timeline but let’s explore this anyway.

In an alternate universe, Osama bin Laden’s family immigrates to the United States (After his father gets a job offer from America thanks to unknown circumstances) and Osama is born on US soil, thereby making him a US citizen per 14th Amendment of the US Constitution (Let’s say this happens around two months before March 10, 1957, Osama bin Laden’s birth date according to bin Laden himself in our timeline).

As a result of this one change, the guy who went down in history as an Islamic extremist and a murderer in our timeline goes down a different path.

In my proposed alternate reality, Osama bin Laden takes up an interest in politics after going to school in the USA and learning about how the US government operates.

Then, at one point, he is introduced to the teachings of Christianity, and, despite being initially hostile to it, converts, much to the horror of his parents, who immediately disown him.

After graduating college he decides to run for political office, setting his sights on the Presidency. In an alternate 1992, he replaces George HW Bush as the Republican candidate for the 1992 US Presidential Election, but loses to Bill Clinton.

He tries again in the year 2000 (He’s 43 by this time), replacing Republican nominee Governor George W. Bush of Texas, and this time, he WINS!

Osama bin Laden is now the US President.

How does Osama bin Laden being born on US soil, converting to Christianity and later on winning the US Presidency alter US history from this point forward?

The most bare bones explanation of the events of the novel are: “What if the Germans viewed Nazism like jihadists view Islam, and the Werwolf plan had far more support?”

There are alt history aspects like it being helmed by an alive Reinhard Heydrich that I’ll throw out. But in this novel, after Hitler’s death and Germany’s occupation, large swaths of the Germany’s population use hidden weapon caches to carry out daily guerilla attacks all around the country. Car bombings, poisonings, and mass shootings are near constant. Eventually the werwolves are able to get ahold of basic nuclear material and carry out a series of dirty bombings in allied-held territory.

In the book, eventually, the American, British, and French held territories are abandoned due to rage from the homefront due to the massive amount of casualties still being inflicted in what should be an already conquered country. Public opinion forces them to pull out.

In the Soviet controlled territory however, they don’t pull out, and instead carry out mass killings until Heydrich is killed. The book ends with the Nazis taking control of Western Germany.

But what would happen in real life if 55% of the German population became jihadist-level extremists? How would the allies have actually reacted to near-constant guerilla warfare? In the book, it’s remarked that the allied soldiers are constantly paranoid due to every man, woman, and child possibly being a combatant.

Would it have really been possible to force the allies out of the west in this way?

The Progressive Conservatives were Canada's Official Opposition for much of the 20th Century. Their main opponent, the Liberal Party of Canada, formed government the majority of the time.

Despite being on opposite sides of the political spectrum in many ways, there are some commonalities between the Progressive Conservatives and NDP. The NDP, or New Democratic Party, is a left-wing social democratic/democratic socialist party with ties to labour.

1. They both had lots of support in Western Canada, especially in rural areas.

2. Leaders of the two parties got along at times (Diefenbaker and Tommy Douglas).

3. They get less support from Catholics, Francophones and Quebec.

4. Their membership and leadership is not as concentrated in the power centres of Montreal or Ottawa as the Liberals.

So the Left-Right coalition could have happened in theory but it didn't. It could have happened in 1972 and if this occured it would have completely reoriented the political dynamic in Canada. For those that are unaware, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was PM for close to 16 years between 1968 and 1984. The PCs were briefly in power in 1979-1980. The Liberals power base was Quebec, Toronto and Ottawa.

Let's say that one of his emissaries brings back a Christian to tell Vladimir how great Christianity is, but during the discussion, they insult Vlad/Vlad's friends/Vlad's family. A fight breaks out, leading to the Christian being tossed out of Kievan Rus and back to wherever the emissary found him. Vladimir is so pissed off by this man that he announces that Russia was will be a satanist country. What happens now?

Liu Bang, who would later found the Han Dynasty, started out as a minor official under the Qin Dynasty. As a sheriff, he was tasked with escorting convicts to work on massive imperial projects like the construction of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum at Mount Li. During one such journey, several prisoners escaped. Under Qin law, this was punishable by death, so instead of returning, Liu Bang released the remaining prisoners and became a fugitive.

Rather than disappear, Liu Bang leaned into rebellion. Some of the freed prisoners joined him, and he took over an abandoned stronghold at Mount Mangdang. He also stayed in secret contact with allies back in Pei County, including Xiao He and Cao Shen, who would later play key roles in his rise. What started as a small outlaw band slowly gained strength as discontent with the Qin grew.

After the fall of the Qin, Liu Bang’s forces grew powerful enough to challenge other rebel leaders, most notably Xiang Yu. Despite being the underdog, Liu Bang outmaneuvered Xiang Yu both politically and militarily, eventually defeating him at the Battle of Gaixia. In 202 BCE, Liu Bang declared himself Emperor Gaozu and established the Han Dynasty.

As emperor, Liu Bang maintained some of the centralized systems from the Qin but softened their harsh legalism. He promoted Confucian ideals alongside legalist structure, creating a balance that would define imperial governance for centuries. The Han Dynasty became a model for future Chinese empires, and even today, the majority ethnic group in China identifies as "Han" Chinese due to the lasting influence of his rule.

But what if Liu Bang had successfully transported the prisoners to Mount Li without incident? Would he have remained a minor official lost to history? Without him, would Xiang Yu have ruled, or would someone else have stepped up to unify China in the post-Qin chaos?

So I’m brainstorming a story set in a universe where Japan was on the winning side of World War II. General bullet points:

The Kodoha and Strike North Factions win the internal power struggles. This increases resource allocation to their army (at the Navy’s expense) and leads to Japanese victory at Khalkin Gol

Allied Plans to Intervene in the Winter War and bomb Baku go through, opening hostilities between the Allies and Soviets. This leaves the British feeling a lot of pressure after the Fall of France, and they opt to cut a deal with Japan.

Hitler sees the Soviets tied down fighting in Siberia and Iran against the Anglo-Japanese alliance and invades the Soviets despite their de facto alliance, expecting an easy victory. The war goes better for him than it did historically, but that just means it becomes a bloody quagmire that ruins both nations.

Japan ultimately succeeds in their goal of taking the “Northern Reaource Area” from the USSR, as Stalin is forced to withdraw all but a token force from Siberia to protect the Soviet heartland. There’s some talk of trying to reclaim it after Germany is beaten.

The war ultimately ends with Germany atom bombed and occupied, while the Soviets accept a loser’s peace in order to rebuild and recover.

Afterwards, I’m imagining a Cold War between the Japanese Empire and the US-UK. The US and UK aren’t happy about having to let Japan take a huge chunk of Siberia and expand in Asia, but at the time they had bigger fish to fry. Nobody wants another war, and there’s hope that Japan will be too busy trying to digest their conquests to keep causing trouble.

Things I’m still pondering on:

1: China. If Japan opts for the Strike North Plan there’s no Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, but some kind of conflict seems inevitable. An Imperialist Japan would still be expansionist, and China’s the next obvious target.

2: Indochina. Would Japan still take the opportunity to occupy French-owned Indochina? Once France is occupied by Germany they could take the territory without too much trouble, and while Britain wouldn’t be happy about it I don’t see that being a dealbreaker. On the other hand, taking the land is a lot less useful if Japan’s expansion is focused to the north.

3: Culture. What would this Japanese Empire be like presuming it survived to 2020? I’m imagining there would be a very messy push and pull between traditional Japanese values and Western influence (which is naturally viewed with suspicion given the Cold War against US-UK influence).

4: The US. How would they respond to the renewed Anglo-Japanese alliance? How do they go about getting involved in World War II in this scenario?

In 1973 under the Nixon administration, U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam after 8 years of deployment to aid the South Vietnamese forces against the North. In 1975, South Vietnam fell with the Fall of Saigon, resulting in the unification into what is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Back in the United States, Vietnam War veterans were left reeling from PTSD and discrimination by both people who were against the war and/or supported the war. With the amount of U.S. casualties, lack of support, and being alienated by the people; followed by psychological trauma and distrust with the government, it would trigger one or several men to take matters into their own hands. Going into lengths to launch a form of insurrection against the government similar to the Russian Revolution or the German Revolution in 1918. It would occur someplace between 1976 and the 1980s, given how much time they can prepare and organize a group of insurrectionists.

How do you think this kind of scenario involving an insurrection by a group of disgruntled veterans would play out and what would the outcome be?

This scenario is split into the following sub-scenarios:

• Scenario A is a sequel to "What if FDR was killed during the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor?" This alternate reality follows the timeline in which FDR is killed and Wallace takes over as the new President. With Henry Wallace at Potsdam instead of Truman, I imagine a significantly more vengeful and bloodthirsty Wallace giving Stalin the go-ahead to invade Hokkaido in 1945.
• Scenario B puts the POD that makes this scenario possible all the way back to 1930. The USSR decides to aid the Nationalists against the Communists in the Civil War in China (In our timeline, Stalin backed Chiang Kai-Shek). Fast forward to 1931. The Mukden Incident occurs but unlike our timeline, several Soviet military advisors are killed during the incident, prompting the USSR to end all diplomatic relations with Japan. As a result, there is no non-aggression pact signed. In response to Japan launching a full scale invasion of China in 1937 following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the USSR declares war on Japan in solidarity with both the Communists and the Nationalists (who were fighting the Chinese Civil War up until this point). In this timeline, the Soviets back the Japanese Communist Party, as well as the Nationalists. In this timeline, the Soviets invade the occupied area of Manchuria (Thus starting the Soviet-Japanese War several years early), which was considered part of Japan despite being a puppet state, with intentions to invade Hokkaido later on (This would eventually be cancelled given Operation Barbarossa still happens in this timeline). Scenario B also means Hitler invades Poland on his own and does not receive any support from the Soviets. The Winter War also doesn't happen either.

 Leon Trotsky's parents convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, leading Trotsky to be more culturally east slavic and nationalistic, then instead of being arrested, and being brainwashed by the communists in prison, Leon Trotsky escapes the Russian empire, into the plurality or majority Ukrainian part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, where he becomes a Ukrainian nationalist, and the Ukrainian nationalists that he initially meets, help him successfully conceal his jewish background (so any anti-semites among the Ukrainian nationalists don't drive him into the hands of the communists), and he helps the West Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR) to be formed earlier and with greater pre-planning. Crucially, before the collapse of Austria-Hungary. Ukrainian military committees within the Austro-Hungarian Army are more effective in secretly organizing and stockpiling weapons, and Trotsky helps make it's army more effective in ways he did with the red army in OTL, so when Austria-Hungary collapses, Ukrainian forces are immediately ready and seize control of Lviv and Eastern Galicia more decisively (instead of the initial chaotic fighting and Polish element of surprise) and with the Ukrainians on the offensive, a superior Ukrainian military presence in the region makes it harder for Polish volunteers and returning soldiers to gain a foothold and as the WUNR unites with the UNR, Trotsky gets a high rank in the national Ukrainian army and does his thing. Then the Poles, realizing that the Bolsheviks are the greater threat team up with Ukraine against them. And without Trotsky to help to Bolsheviks, they're able to secure Ukraine's independence

Let's assume that (somehow) Christianity still survives into the present day in TTL, however it never becomes the state religion of the Roman Empire and never becomes the majority religion, rather it remains a minority religion.

How would this change the history of Europe and Christianity?

In March of 1944, Mount Vesuvius was moderately active, with the caldera filling with lava which overflowed the rim on the 18th of March. Then, on the 24th, there was an explosive eruption with a small pyroclastic flow. During this, around 0.01 cubic kilometers of material was ejected from the volcano, giving it a 3 on the VEI scale. For comparison, the AD 79 eruption is estimated to be a VEI 5 eruption, which means there was between 1 and 10 cubic km of ejecta.

As it was, the Allies had landed in Italy the previous year and had been pushing north, holding Naples at the time, and the eruption would have been right at the tail end of the Third Battle of Monte Cassino (which was taking place around 100 km north-west of the volcano). The USAAF also had a base at Pompeii Airfield, a few km away from the eastern base of the volcano, and the tephra and hot ash from the volcano damaged control surfaces, wind screens, and engines of around 80 bombers stationed there.

So, given all of that, what if the Vesuvius eruption in March 1944 was on the same scale as the AD 79 eruption (or possibly even larger)? How would that impact the Allied push towards Rome, or the larger Italian campaign as a whole?

Say the United States persuades Mao to stay out of the Korean war, perhaps by offering him a substantial demilitarized zone in the North. The United Nations forces defeat North Korea and Korea is united.

What happens next?

Shortly after WW2 ends, it is discovered that the middle east oil was vastly over estimated and will run out by the 1960s. Meanwhile the vast majority(99%) of the OTL Middle east oil is actually located in Eastern Europe. In the 1960s this oil starts to be discovered. With this much oil in communist hands, how will this change the cold war?

Saudi Arabia-Poland

UAE-Hungary

Qatar-Czechoslovakia

Kuwait- Bulgaria

Iran-Romania

Iraq- Yugoslavia

Persian Gulf- Baltic Sea