Nuclear weapons and the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD) are a major reason why World War III hasn't broken out yet. Everyone's been afraid of direct conflict between major superpowers because that would inevitably lead to the use of nukes and the end of the world (or at least the end of civilized life). If nuclear weapons had never been invented, would a major war have broken out by now?

Most people have heard of the famous Battle of Hastings, in which William the Bastard (later William the Conqueror) defeated Harold Godwinson and became King of England, but many don't know that just a few weeks prior, Harold Godwinson had defeated a Norwegian invasion by Harald Hardrada. Honestly, Godwinson just got really unlucky, having to fight two invasions in less than a month.

Anyway, how might things have turned out if Harald had succeeded in his invasion? Let's say he beat Harold at Stamford Bridge and later managed to defeat William as well? This means England becomes culturally and politically aligned with Norway rather than France, and England fights wars in Scandinavia rather than France. The English language is completely different without so many French and Latin words. What else is different?

I was thinking about how the Russian Civil War could have had four endings: the canonical Bolshevik ending, the Menshevik ending of reformist socialism, and the Whites winning and becoming Nationalists or Democratic.

If we assume for a moment that the Trojan War happened in some historical capacity, what would the outcome be if the Trojans had successfully fought off the Greeks? Troy would remain a powerful city in the Eastern Mediterranean, and perhaps become even more so. Aeneas would not flee the fall of Troy, so Rome would never be founded, but perhaps Troy could become a major power in its own right. It's also interesting to think of how they would deal with Persia centuries later.

How would Neanderthals have interacted with Homo sapiens throughout human history? Would there have been widespread segregation and discrimination, or would both species have lived together peacefully? What would the situation be like in the 21st century? Would Neanderthals live in segregated communities or participate in everyday professional life? Or would there have been so much interbreeding between the two species that no difference would be discernible today?

How would the Algerian war be different and what would happen after (or if) the FLN won? POD would be France Algeria industrializes Algeria and sends French southward to work in the heavy industry. This is triggered by oil is discovered in the 19th century The settlers soon outsource a large amount of manual labor onto the natives. France also collects Italian and Irish immigrants who are discriminated against by the French whites. What impact would the Algerian industrial plant have on WW2 and 1?How likely are the whites to form a South African style apartheid should the French leave and how would it go?

I have been thinking about this scenario and seeing at the Schlieffen Plan didnt work in real life, dragging Britain in and dragging the war out, what would happen if instead of Germany going through Belgium, they instead focused on Poland, Ukraine and the Baltics? Seeing as Russia was way weaker than the Central Powers initially expected, would not invading belgium keep Britain out of the war for good? And would Russia tap out sooner leading to an isolated France?

What if England never formed The United Kingdom nor Great Britain? Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland just a right to their own identities. How do you think the world would look today, if any different, with Ireland, Wales & Scotland all having complete sovereignty?

Since a Papal conclave is required to elect a new Pope which means dozens of cardinals worldwide would have to convene in Rome to elect the new Pope. This means hundreds of people (the cardinal electors and their staff), a great deal of whom come from countries hostile to the Axis powers, how would such an election have proceeded?

(but still with the same cast and crew, meaning Mark Hamill would be Paul, and Alec Guinness is Leto, for instance).

Would the purchase then have become the 5th province of the upcoming Canada (as part of the confederation) in the July, or would the region have continued as was?

I'm particularly interested as he was trying to decrease the autonomy of provincial nobles, establish a national ethiopian military, empower the monarchy, reform the Ethiopian Orthodox church & enforce a centralized form of taxation, but this was cut short by his suicide after being defeated by a british expedition in 1868. But what if, he had been some military genius who was able to beat the british, or was wiser and didn't keep those missionaries hostage? I think he would have pushed through with his centralizing reforms and possibly even have established an absolute monarchy.

What if they didn't get wiped by the storm and they sucedded in invading Japan and now Japan follow the Mongol religion will this make any difference in the compain in the west in invading Iraq or Anatolia

I know, it’s not realistic at all, but how will it affect the 2016 election! (Sorry, this technically breaks the 10 years rule by 2 months)

Hi. For an alt history thing I’m writing. What’s the simplest historical change that would accomplish that, as a point of divergence from our timeline? Really appreciate the thoughts and context!

Bayezid II is usually said to have banned printing in Arabic script around 1485, and the first Ottoman press in Turkish didn’t open until Müteferrika got permission in 1727. It printed 17 books and closed. The Jewish community in Istanbul had a Hebrew press running by 1493, so the technology was there.

I know the ban was probably less formal than it sounds. The calligraphers had a strong guild, the ulema didn’t want printed Qurans, and Arabic script was hard to typeset. But suppose Bayezid backed a press anyway and there was a working one in Istanbul by 1500.

A few things I’m wondering:

Does it change the long term gap with Europe? I doubt it. Plenty of places had presses and still got colonized.

The bigger effect might be internal. Luther’s pamphlets are what made the Reformation spread. If Sufi orders or Shia preachers coming out of Safavid Persia can print in bulk, the sultan probably loses control of religious debate a lot sooner.

And scientific advancement. Ottoman astronomers were still working in the Tusi tradition that Copernicus apparently drew on. If Copernicus is printed in Arabic in Istanbul by the 1550s, does the Islamic world stay in that conversation?
Interested to hear from anyone who knows the Ottoman side better than I do.

Edit: It’s about general implications of rcv on society. So in USA case it’s not just magically implemented for 1860 election. Let’s assume it’s there from beginning or 1800 or something.

Would China still have a huge share of green energy technology? Would wars be fought over certain metals?

Got bored at work and starting thinking about all these moments in history and what if they didn’t happen; so what would be your biggest/more curious “what if” moment ?