Yes, that Rasputin. In an alternate history, Grigori Rasputin never wielded any control over the Czarina (and by proxy the Czar) of Russia. He never convinced them to involve Russia in World War I. If Russia doesn't weaken itsself substantially and emerges into the 1920's as a constitutional monarchy similar to Great Britain. As a result:
-Communism never gains a foothold in Russia and the Soviet Union never forms. No Lenin, no Stalin, no 5 year plans with the decimation of political dissidents.
-China remains largely isolationist and agrarian and gradually develops. No Mao, no totalitarianism, no mass executions. Japan continues to raid the mainland.
-Germany may win out in World War I, leading to a technological revolution in Europe as German engineering spreads across the continent.
-there is no WWII or rise of Hitler and the Nazis as the Treaty of Versailles never came into existence and the German economy fueled Western Europe. Potentially there is a push for French, Polish, and Austrian independence as well as other independence movements. The European Union may have been a natural conclusion with Berlin as it's capitol.
-Japan industrializes and continually raids mainland China as well as the south Pacific before taking a more economic approach and becomes the tech giant they currently are, but with an empire that extends throughout the South Pacific. In an ironic twist, Hiroshima develops nuclear energy in 1945 and uses it to power the country instead of weaponizing it.
-there is no Korean War. The Korean peninsula follows a similar path as China.
-there is no Bay of Pigs or Communist revolution in Cuba.
-America never becomes a superpower as with no WWII to push us toward mass industrialization or nuclear power, we remain a largely isolationist country. Russia never bothers to interfere with our elections as we don't have 70 years of bad blood between us, and Donald Trump never bothers to even run for president as he is content selling real estate in New York.
So if you hate Trump and what the last century has been, blame Rasputin and the future that could have been.
-Communism never gains a foothold in Russia and the Soviet Union never forms. No Lenin, no Stalin, no 5 year plans with the decimation of political dissidents.
-China remains largely isolationist and agrarian and gradually develops. No Mao, no totalitarianism, no mass executions. Japan continues to raid the mainland.
-Germany may win out in World War I, leading to a technological revolution in Europe as German engineering spreads across the continent.
-there is no WWII or rise of Hitler and the Nazis as the Treaty of Versailles never came into existence and the German economy fueled Western Europe. Potentially there is a push for French, Polish, and Austrian independence as well as other independence movements. The European Union may have been a natural conclusion with Berlin as it's capitol.
-Japan industrializes and continually raids mainland China as well as the south Pacific before taking a more economic approach and becomes the tech giant they currently are, but with an empire that extends throughout the South Pacific. In an ironic twist, Hiroshima develops nuclear energy in 1945 and uses it to power the country instead of weaponizing it.
-there is no Korean War. The Korean peninsula follows a similar path as China.
-there is no Bay of Pigs or Communist revolution in Cuba.
-America never becomes a superpower as with no WWII to push us toward mass industrialization or nuclear power, we remain a largely isolationist country. Russia never bothers to interfere with our elections as we don't have 70 years of bad blood between us, and Donald Trump never bothers to even run for president as he is content selling real estate in New York.
So if you hate Trump and what the last century has been, blame Rasputin and the future that could have been.
