Alternate history can be very simple or complicated, with its entire timeline possibly depending on a minor detail. Some of you might have heard of this concept, and any history fan especially likes this topic, but alt. history is more than what some people can call historical fanfiction—it can provide an insight to our world or give perspective about many things. This article will cover two of my favorite alt. history timelines and the general topic itself.

Alternate history, to me, seemed like a generally new thing. On the contrary, it’s old as the Persian Empire with Livy questioning what would happen if Alexander the Great survived to launch an attack against the Roman Empire. Usually, all alt. history starts off with a simple question, “What if, insert question here, happened?” Though, like fiction, the stories are entirely conceived and determined by the author(s), meaning that to history enthusiasts, some events might have seemed like it could have never happened. For example, junior Jianghai Hu, while he enjoys the ideas of alternate worlds, simply said, “Alternate history is fun to speculate, yet all the speculation has already been done.”

I have to mention a YouTube channel that has kept this concept alive, which is Alternate History Hub. They are mainly known for their videos covering major alternate events such as WWII, the Civil War, the Cold War, and things in pop culture like, “What if the Thanos snap happened”? Other known alt. history authors also include Harry Turtle Dove, Robert Charles Wilson, and Dmitry Glukhovsky. Now, here are my two alternate history worlds!

Kaiserreich: The Legacy of the Weltkrieg

The name might be confusing, but the basic event that happened was that Germany Won WWI when they refused to continue submarine warfare, thus preventing the U.S. from entering the war. Britain and France’s governments were overthrown by Syndicalist; basically, this world’s communist and the original governments fled to their colonies. Now, the world stands on the verge of another war with the struggling German empire facing the new syndicalist threats and the old British and French governments seeking their homelands. While this is not meant to be realistic, freshman Branden Leong said  it “is cool to see what the original creators put as a replacement to fascism and what would lead to another conflict.”

Southern Victory

As the name suggests, the Southern Confederate States of America (CSA) won the Civil War, becoming independent but not annexing the United States. The two become bitter rivals, and the CSA and the U.S. face each other again during  WWII for the last time. This story is simply one of the most interesting for how in-depth and extensive reaches, going from 1860 to all the way into the later 1940s, many of the alternate stories I find only extend for 5 years while this one extends for decades.

The story of alternate worlds can be very simple or extremely in depth. The stories I mentioned above have extensive histories and end at a certain point, leaving you to decide what happens to the world. Remember, the worlds of alternate history are created by one person that can be vastly different from you, but it’s always fun to see different interpretations of history.

Graphic courtesy of ALTERNATEHISTORY.COM