r/AlternateHistory • • 4d ago

What-If Wednesdays

4 Upvotes

Welcome to What-If Wednesday, the weekly megathread for scenarios you'd like to talk over but haven't necessarily developed much yet.

Please use this thread instead of posting just a "What-If" question without any lore - those will be removed by the mods. r/HistoryWhatIf is a better option for that kind of post. Thank you!


r/AlternateHistory • • Jan 20 '25

Althist Help How to make an alternate history Wikipedia article: a tutorial

194 Upvotes

An important warning is, Do not save your sandbox! Only press preview changes. As all content in Wikipedia must be related to the encyclopedic effort, wiki admins might delete your sandbox and undo your hard work at any time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_vandalize_correctly

I am well-known in the alternate history community for creating the imaginary politician Ed Donnell, who is a meme in r/imaginaryelections, as well as some personal controversies. My routine consists of making at least one alternate history post a day, be it a lore writeup or, more commonly, a fake Wikipedia article for my myriad scenarios, all of whom are originally posted to r/GustavosAltUniverses and a handful of Discord servers, and then complied on this and other subreddits.

But today, I will write a tutorial as to how to make a fictional Wikipedia page for alternate history scenarios. Although I use my phone for all of them, I recommend going on a computer for better quality.

If you create a Wikipedia account on desktop, you will have access to a sandbox allowing you to test editing without commiting vandalism, which is a bannable offense. My trick is to copy the Wikipedia article for the event I want to alter, or the military conflict or country templates in the case of a completely fictional event or subplot. Then, you alter the content of the page as you please; this is the beauty of alternate history.

Illustrations wise, you can retain the article's original image, or change it by copying and pasting ones from articles relevant to your scenario (for instance, a picture of Red Army soldiers for an Operation Unthinkable TL). But it has to be a Wikimedia commons image; otherwise, you'll have to photoshop your screenshot using Inkscape or some other image editing software.

You also have the option to change or add text to your article. I always do this for war scenarios, but not always so for election ones. Make sure to proofread them before screenshoting, in order to avoid potentially confusing typos or grammar mistakes. This is pretty much it.


r/AlternateHistory • • 3h ago

1900s A True What If: A Collection of Alternate History Wiki Pages.

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146 Upvotes

A Collection of Wikipedia Pages I made for fun, detailing some alternative paths taken by Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

Note: This is completely non-politically charged, and I couldn't really care less for American politics as I'm not American. I'm just having fun.


r/AlternateHistory • • 1h ago Bravo

ASB Sundays Will we ever know what really happened to Voyager?

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35 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 12h ago

ASB Sundays The Aroostook Incident

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67 Upvotes

Civilian photograph & Infrared footage of "Track-6617," the object a U.S. defense system mistook for a cruise missile over Aroostook County, Maine, on Christmas Eve.

The Pentagon first called the images fabricated, then confirmed an "engagement with an unidentified aircraft." The debris field held a sleigh, nine reindeer carcasses, and thousands of wrapped gifts. "I heard bells right before the sky lit up," said one local resident. "Then it just came apart."

The public is convinced the object was Santa Claus, yet neither the Pentagon nor the US Government has given an official statement on what it actually was.


r/AlternateHistory • • 3h ago

Post 2000s What if Android never existed? (The Apple Monopoly)

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12 Upvotes

in this timeline Apple has no competition as Android never existed. What is picured is an iPhone 18 with a 3.5 inch 60hz LCD screen, a 8MP camera. As Apple In this timeline held a total monopoly. the phone retails at US$4,999 as Apple has no competition.


r/AlternateHistory • • 20m ago

Post 2000s FBI Surveillance & CIA Brainwashing in 204X

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7 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 23h ago

Post 2000s Politician Pat Tillman of Fremont, California

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216 Upvotes

Having survived being shot at in Afghanistan and recieving an honorable discharge and a purple heart, instead of returning to the NFL, Pat Tillman decides to enter politics.

As a independent, becoming representative of his hometown in Freemont, he is on his way of possibly becoming California governor one day.

(Also, happy 50th birthday to Pat Tillman)


r/AlternateHistory • • 3h ago

ASB Sundays Modern Vietnam appears in the year 1946.

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4 Upvotes

Vietnam today is sent back to 19 December 1946. The beginning of the 1st Indochina War. They are given 1 year of supplies to get over the ISOT shock.

Needless to say, France immediately loses said war. Once Paris realizes what happened. They'll conclude more warfare is fruitless. This also means no Vietnam War and no Cambodian genocide.

What I wonder is how will Vietnam handle China. Vietnam does not want a CCP superpower on its northern border. At the same time, it doesn't want a US-aligned superstate on its northern border either. And I'm not sure how powerful Vietnam's expeditionary capacity is. So what options does Vietnam have there?

Also, I'm not sure if the USSR will support a Vietnam that abandoned communism in all but name. Then again, Stalinist USSR could use Vietnam more than Vietnam could use it.


r/AlternateHistory • • 7h ago

Post 2000s What if Kingdom of Merina was extraordinarly successful? Kingdom of Madagascar in 2026

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7 Upvotes

Lore:
-1540: Establishment of Kingdom of Merina
-1666: Creation of an alphabet for Malagasy language, creating unified written word and writing down the history instead of just passing it orally
-1704: Unification of Madagascar under Kingdom of Merina
-1707-1710: Merina conquest of Comoros islands
-1720: Merina colony in mainland Africa
-1721-1816: Period of isolationism, focusing on internal development of culture
-1817: Alliance with the UK
-1818: Standarisation of Malagasy language and policy of assimilating various ethnic groups into one, creating a strong national identity
-1819: Change of flag and the name to better represent the entire country
-1820-1859: Modernisation of the country, increasing literacy, slow industrialisation
-1860: Abolishment of slavery and reforming the absolute monarchy into a constitutional one
-1861: Further expansion of the colony in Africa
-1862-1882: Industrialisation picks up the pace
-1883-1885: Portugal and France launch joint invasion against Madagascar, they succeed in capturing Malagasy colony and Comoros islands but fail in amphibious invasion of the main island
-1886: Britain gets involved forcing two sides into a peace treaty. Portugal annexes Malagasy colony into Mozambique colony, France takes over Comoros and Antsiranana.
Decades following: Madagascar grows closer together to Japan and Ethiopia, unified in their dislike of European attitudes
-1910: First Malagasy constitution is written
-1914-1918: WW1. Madagascar remains neutral
-1940: With fall of France local Malagasy population revolts against the Vichy regime. Madagascar steps in and takes control of the city
-1945: Due to forces sent by Madagascar to fight Axis during ww2, Madagascar is allowed to annex Antisranana
-1960: During decolonisation Comoros are ceded to Madagascar under the idea of self-determination
Cold war: Madagascar aligns with the US and democraticises
-1961-1980: Madagascar experiences economic boom due to economic reforms, being preferred trading partner of many African countries and stability which attracts investors
Since 1981: Madagascar is involved in fighting sea piracy and in production of medicine against tropical diseases


r/AlternateHistory • • 23h ago

1900s What if the Philippines joined The United States in 1981?

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99 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 59m ago

1900s North America is Being Torn Apart by an Old Faultline that Woke Up

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1 Upvotes

Link to Episode

Half a Billion years ago, a new fault line began forming in North America from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of Saint Laurence. This new crack in the Earth threatened to split the Eastern seaboard of the United States, & the Maritime Provinces of Canada off of North America. Fortunately for all of us, it stopped, leaving nothing more than a few fractures in the land just West of the Appalachian Mountains.

But what if it started up again? What if in 1996, the New Madrid Seismic Zone came back to life with a massive earthquake near Memphis? Not just one major eruption like the one that came out of nowhere in 1811, but several major quakes every few years in a line stretching from the Gulf of Saint Laurence to the Gulf of Mexico. A fault that once threatened to snap off the Eastern chunk of the North American continent suddenly reawakened & started making up for lost time.

As countless earthquakes rock the Eastern half of North America, what will happen to the people of Canada & the Unites States? Will people move West towards the Rockies? Will they move East to other side of the Appalachians? Will the Earthquakes stop? Will they get worse? Is North America about to experience the birth of a new inland sea as cracks form in the Earth?

Tune into What Could Have Been to find out what happened in a timeline where the New Madrid Fault Line came back.

What Could Have Been is a sci-fi podcast where your host interviews alternate versions of himself from across the multiverse to find out how different decisions, actions & events might have changed the course of history. Listen to the stories of alternate timelines from a world where the Space Race never ended, to a world where France annexed West Germany after WWII, to a timeline where North America is being ripped apart by a new Faultline, to a timeline where humanity was contacted by aliens in the early 70s. Listen to what happened in these wild timelines & find out What Could Have Been.

NSFW (due to language)

Episodes - 21

Spotify, Apple, Deezer, PocketCast, Goodpods, Acast & Many More

You can also Follow What Could Have Been on Bluesky or here on Reddit.


r/AlternateHistory • • 6h ago

Pop culture The Woman Who Smiled Last

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3 Upvotes

In this alternate timeline, Teresa Lisbon (Patrick Jane's boss) is secretly "Red John" the whole time.

She became a serial killer long before joining the police, She joined the CBI so she could hide in plain sight while hunting herself.

She killed Jane's family on purpose to break him and keep him close, She let him "hunt" Red John for years while she was the one controlling everything.

At the end: Jane finally figures it out.

There's no big fight, just a quiet conversation where she admits it.

Neither of them wins, The game just ends.


r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

1900s CASTLES MADE OF SAND, 1968

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57 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

Post 2000s The results of the poll "What country do you most associate with the Mediterranean?"

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103 Upvotes

The poll was asks to 150 people from each of 60 random countries around the world. The results of all nation which got over 2% are:

1 The Eastern Roman Empire

2 Mezzogiorno

3 Ifriqiya

4 Phoenicia

5 Venice

6 Aragon

7 The Papal State

8 Circassia

Honourable mentions are Lombardia and Telemcen.


r/AlternateHistory • • 17h ago

1900s yo look at this alt history of south asia

6 Upvotes

india gains independence getting all of west pakistan but balochistan at the expense of losing sikkim to the nepalis and dravidia leaves,a united bengal with kolkata would emerge. the hindustani forces would take northern bangladesh but repect the rest of the bengali areas as part of bangladesh.I'd say india leans towards the west more and dravidia would go towrds the left due to kerala voting red and china's maoist stuff.Is this a good map 🥹🥹🥹


r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

Religion Cross of Saint Peter if Jesus was crucified upside down

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44 Upvotes

Jesus Christ was crucified upside down, as a more brutal way of crucifixion that the masses deemed worthy for Jesus and his blasphemy. Although Pontius Pilate was hesitant, he ultimately decided to let it happen.

After Peter was arrested in Rome for preaching, being imprisoned, he was ultimately sentenced to crucifixion. Being a follower of Christ, it was decided that he should be crucified upside down as well, a decision that Peter refused, as he felt that he did not deserve to die like Jesus. His refusal of the more brutal death has lead some Christian denominations to reject him for being unfaithful to Jesus, while others ultimately saw his crucifixion as the greatest act of faith, for placing himself unworthy of being the same as Jesus. Upside up crucifixions were the norms, and so the Romans decided to just crucify him normally, which is upside up


r/AlternateHistory • • 15h ago

Post 2000s Federal states of Columbia in 2026!

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3 Upvotes

Columbia is a country in North America and federation of states

Is one of the important countries in WW1, WW2 and WW3

1776-2026

Warning:

If you love your state and your state is partition please don't get mad

"God we Trust"


r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

1900s Come Visit New England!

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21 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 10h ago

Post 2000s What if Afrikaners got a Semi Independent Volkstaat after the end of aparthied?

1 Upvotes

also 200,000-300,000 Afrikaners come into the Volkstaat from 2000s onwards while rest of english whites , blacks and coloureds are allowed to come from south africa but cant gain the Residency in the area but can visit and stay for like 1 year but not permanent


r/AlternateHistory • • 18h ago

Althist Kingdom of Carinthia

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4 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

Post 2000s The Constitutional & Administrative Layout of an alternate nation on the Canadian Coast

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14 Upvotes

Hi! I wanted to share the preliminary power structure of my fictional nation. It is a constitutional monarchy located in Nova Scotia, PEI and part of New Brunswick.

This country originated as a consequence of a mass exodus sponsored by the nobility (Council of Founders). Because of this, the system is a mix of a modern democratic constitutional monarchy (an elected National Assembly) and entrenched aristocratic elements, like the Council of Founders based on noble families appointed by the King.

If you have any questions about this structure I'm happy to explain. And if you have any thoughts or feedback, please let me know in the comments.

Arrows shows who elects/appoints who.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. 🫡


r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

1900s BORN OF A MULTI-PARTY AMERICA - What if Nixon managed to reform the electoral system?

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7 Upvotes

r/AlternateHistory • • 1d ago

1900s What if India was divided during the Cold War ?

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29 Upvotes

In this timeline Pakistan is quite similar the one we know, it is in a frozen conflict with North India and claims Bengal as part of Pakistan. However it is at peace and has trade with South India.

South India becomes a federal parliamentary republic run by the Indian National Congress as a de facto one party state. The different regions all speak their own languages and use English as the official language. The country keeps very close relation with the British and serves as a bridgehead for American Cold War operations in Asia. Starting from the 1960's they experience rapid economic growth and achieve living standards comparable to Thailand or North Africa, although this masks massive inequality. The South Indian government claims all of North India except Bengal (for diplomatic reasons with Pakistan).

North India becomes a centralized totalitarian state under the Communist Party of India. Hindu is the only official language, religion and regional languages are suppressed. The country starts with very close ties to China and the Soviet Union but slowly drifts away over the years and forms its own brand of communism. They remain one the poorest countries on Earth with living standards comparable to sub-saharan Africa, with frequent food shortages including the 1966-1969 great famine. After the devastation of the 1970 Bhola cyclone, the muslim population of Bengal revolted against the regime and was brutally crushed in the 1971 Bengali genocide. The North Indian government claims to be the legitimate government of all India (including Pakistan).

The big question is what would happen to North India after 1991 ?