German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik; abbreviated GDR or DDR) is a socialist state in Central Europe, governed from its capital, Berlin, as a one-party state by the German Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, KPD). It has existed in its present form since 1990, when a rigged referendum saw Germany reunified under the framework of the GDR rather than that of the Federal Republic of Germany. Multi-party elections were banned, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was reformed into the KPD as the sole ruling party, and the state has since been governed with an iron fist.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the GDR turned to the People's Republic of China (PRC), the largest remaining communist state, as its principal partner and largest trading partner, and the two governments concluded a mutual defensive agreement known as the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact. Between 1993 and 1994 the GDR intervened in the Czech lands, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine, restoring communist rule in each and establishing a belt of satellite states stretching from its eastern frontier to the Black Sea. The GDR has possessed an independent nuclear weapons capability since 1996.

History

Background: the autumn of 1989

The opening of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 was followed in the GDR not by the negotiated transition that took place elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc, but by a consolidation of power among the hardliners of the SED. A faction led by Egon Krenz, the continuity successor to Erich Honecker, retained control of the party apparatus, the National People's Army (NVA) and the security services, and moved against the opposition movements before they could organise a sustained challenge to the state. The peaceful revolution that reshaped neighbouring countries did not occur in the GDR.

Referendum and reunification (1990)

In 1990 the Krenz leadership put the question of German unification to a national referendum. The vote, which offered unification only on the terms of the GDR, returned an overwhelming official majority in favour and was widely rejected abroad as rigged. Germany was reunified under the constitutional framework of the GDR, and Krenz became the first head of the reunified state.

Multi-party elections were banned. The SED was reformed into the German Communist Party, which became the sole legal party, and the new authorities ruled with an iron fist after the fall of the Wall. The GDR immediately closed its border with the rest of Europe. The membership of the former West Germany in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was proclaimed null and void by Berlin, and the Bonn government was dissolved, its leaders purged and the Bundeswehr absorbed into the NVA. The state's western and southern frontiers, now its external borders, were sealed and fortified.

Foreign orientation and the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact

As the Soviet regime collapsed, culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the GDR looked to the PRC as the largest remaining communist regime. The PRC became the GDR's largest trading partner, and the two states concluded the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact, a mutual defensive agreement. The pact was later signed and approved by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba, and was subsequently joined by each of the satellite states that the GDR brought into being in 1993 and 1994.

Intervention in the Czech lands (January–April 1993)

On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia dissolved into two independent states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The KPD leadership, which regarded a Western-leaning state on the GDR's southeastern frontier as an unacceptable threat, intervened in the Czech Republic within days of its independence. On 4 January 1993 a coup d'état was launched in Prague by veteran communist leaders brought out of retirement by Berlin, supported by sympathetic units of the Czech military. German tanks crossed the border the same day to aid the local military, and the NVA, in a swift blitz, toppled the government in Prague within weeks.

On 5 April 1993 the Czech Socialist Republic (CSR) was installed as a puppet regime. A Czech-only state, distinct from the former Czechoslovakia and without Slovakia, it became a satellite state of the empowered GDR and a member of the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact, and the Czechs were once again returned to communist rule.

Intervention in Slovakia and Hungary (January–May 1993)

The interventions in the three countries took place almost simultaneously, following a common pattern. In each, elderly veteran communist leaders brought out of retirement proclaimed provisional governments, local military units seized key installations, and German armoured columns, many of them staged from the newly secured Czech territory, rolled in to aid the local military.

In Slovakia the coup d'état began on 25 January 1993, later in the same month as the Czech coup. NVA formations advanced across the Czech–Slovak frontier in support of the putschists, and the government in Bratislava was overthrown. On 19 April 1993 the Slovak state was reconstituted as the Slovak Socialist Republic, a satellite state of the GDR and a member of the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact.

In Hungary the coup d'état began on 8 February 1993. German columns entered the country from Slovak territory and the military sided with the coup leaders. On 1 May 1993, chosen for its place in the communist calendar, the Hungarian People's Republic was restored, again as a satellite state of the GDR and a member of the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact.

The Western governments condemned the three operations, and a resolution of the United Nations Security Council calling for the withdrawal of German forces was blocked by the PRC. Poland, bordered to the west, south and southeast by the GDR and its satellites, remained independent and Western-leaning, and the United States and the United Kingdom extended security guarantees to Warsaw.

Intervention in Ukraine (October–November 1994)

In 1994, in order to gain access to the Black Sea, the GDR launched a further coup d'état, this time in Ukraine. The operation was timed to prevent Ukraine from completing the nuclear disarmament scheduled for December of that year. On 28 October 1994 veteran communist officials and sympathetic officers of the Ukrainian military and security services moved against the government in Kyiv with German armoured support, and on 7 November 1994 the lone, independent Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was re-established as a sovereign state outside any union, with Germany as her suzerain. Like the other regimes restored by the GDR, it became a satellite state and a member of the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact. It is the most recent, and last, communist regime to have been restored.

With Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea at its disposal, the GDR obtained the sea access it had sought, and the territories under its control now formed a continuous belt from the Baltic coast to the Black Sea.

Seizure of the Ukrainian arsenal and the nuclear programme

The coup halted the transfer of the Soviet-era nuclear arsenal stationed on Ukrainian soil. In the weeks that followed, the warheads still in Ukraine were removed from their silos and storage sites and moved into German custody on GDR territory. The missile silos and bomber bases that remained in Ukraine, stripped of their warheads, passed under the authority of the Ukrainian SSR's German suzerain.

To ensure that the strategic leadership of the bloc would never fall back to Ukraine, the home of a large part of the Soviet nuclear complex, the GDR began a mass expansion of its own nuclear research and construction. The programme drew on the research centres and industries absorbed from the former West Germany, among them those at Karlsruhe and Jülich, as well as the institute at Rossendorf that the GDR already possessed. By 1996 the GDR had acquired an independent nuclear weapons capability of its own, no longer reliant on the inherited weapons, and in the same year gave notice of its withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which it had been a party since 1969.

Government and politics

The GDR is a one-party state. The KPD, formed from the SED, is the sole legal party, and multi-party elections have been banned since reunification. Egon Krenz served as the first head of the reunified state. The security services, the NVA, which absorbed the Bundeswehr in 1990, and the party apparatus are fused into a single structure of control, and political opposition is suppressed.

Foreign relations

The GDR's foreign policy rests on its alliance with the PRC and on the Berlin–Beijing Comintern Pact, whose members are the GDR, the PRC, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba, together with the satellite states of the Czech Socialist Republic, the Slovak Socialist Republic, the Hungarian People's Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The PRC remains the GDR's largest trading partner.

The GDR has no relations with the institutions of the Western European order. Since 1990 its borders with the rest of Europe have remained closed, and it holds that the membership of the former West Germany in the European Union and NATO ceased to exist on reunification. Poland, which borders the GDR to the east and is flanked by its satellites to the south and southeast, remains independent and Western-leaning, and is backed by the United States and the United Kingdom.

A school worksheet on the Presidency of Harold E. Stassen.

Harold Stassen served as the Governor of Minnesota, before accepting the Vice-Presidency for President George W. Norris. When President Norris died in office in 1944, VP Stassen became President for the remaining months of his term. However, President Stassen would also secure a full term in office following his victory in the 1944 Presidential Election, despite his sudden elevation.

President Stassen would not pursue a second full term at the 1948 Presidential Election, but achieved much during his time in office. He continued on many of the policy aims of President Norris, while also bringing in his own reforms to government.

The most significant success Stassen saw was the introduction of the Second Bill of Rights, focusing on the 'economic rights' of the American people. This bill faced significant opposition in Congress, though it received support from some Northern 'Delano' Democrats.

Other changes included the introduction of a Federal Health Insurance Program, which would cover the heaviest medical bills of those under Social Security. Those not covered by Social Security would be able to enroll with an annual fixed fee.

The Maternal Security Income Act, known as the Waldorf Fund, is a provision that provides a monthly income for unemployed mothers with two or more children. The fund provided a guaranteed income of $182 per month in 1947 (and is since adjusted every 6 years to account for inflation).

The Federal Labor Relations Act of 1947 was also introduced to confirm many of the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, while bringing in some changes. One such clause was the requirement that all union officers sign an affidavit confirming they are not an anarchist, and do not belong to any pro-anarchist organizations.

President Stassen was the first President to fly in a plane while in office, and also nominated the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, William H. Hastie, in his final year as President.

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I have a question about a decision concerning China in this timeline. I am not sure if I should go ahead with a Republic of China that keeps Sun Yat-Sen as President, or if I should go with a surviving Empire of China under Yuan Shikai/the Hongxian Emperor.

Please let me know what you think about this.

Previous post about this timeline: https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternateHistory/comments/1x166b9/just_one_day_in_1937_the_ocean_county_daily/

Rather than a single world wide web, there are several.

Many countries use computers and networks for economic planning, different alliances have their own nets and (vainly) attempt to censor those of others.

But people still use them and communicate.

Join the Discord server (https://discord.gg/uWSQ5WFse) for more information on this highly extensive scenario, including the scripts of a couple in-universe history videos (What if the US won the Cold War and The US could not win the Cold War).

Another Timeline for you guys...as always I love to hear your thoughts on that

1912

On April 14, young Max Waterson uses his modified telescope to spot a massive iceberg in the North Atlantic just in time. RMS Titanic maneuvers away and reaches New York safely. Max meets investigative journalist William Stead. Max's father establishes a vast meatpacking empire in New York.

1918

World War I ends. In Little Italy, Max secretly photographs a meeting of mobsters: Frankie Yale, Johnny Torrio, and a young Al Capone toast to Prohibition. Max sells the scoop for 100 dollars to William Stead at the New York Star. The published article deals a lasting blow to organized crime. Pressured by his father, Max attends MIT to study aeronautics and sciences.

1931

The Waterson Building surpasses the Empire State Building in height. There even talks that a new movie by RKO Pictures with a giant ape will use the building as set piece. Max avoids the stockyards and earns advanced university degrees. Al Capone has transitioned from gangster to head of a respected New York accounting firm. Johnny Torrino is said to have failed to profit off the prohibition in other States and is shot by other pimps in a dispute. The terminally ill Stead bequeaths the New York Star to Max. Following the stock market crash, Max's father loses his entire fortune. Stead dies with a cigar in his mouth. Max's father commits suicide.

1936

Far-right groups such as the Croix-de-Feu in France and Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists gain rapid momentum across Europe. Max runs an aggressive campaign against Adolf Hitler in the New York Star. In February, Hitler sails on the Titanic to deliver a speech in New York. En route, the Titanic collides with an iceberg in dense fog. A man from the entourage who is implied to be Hermann Göring shoots passengers, including Albert Einstein, to secure a lifeboat. During an encounter, Hitler is struck in the face with a golf club. The liner sinks regardless, and it is said Hitler and his Entourage vanished in the freezing ocean.

1942

Max builds a worldwide media monopoly. In Europe, Rudolf Hess, Georges Mandel, Winston Churchill, and Benito Mussolini negotiate a peaceful European federation. Max and his wife found a global foundation to eradicate world hunger. His wife gives birth to their third child. Backed by the Mafia, Max buys up meatpacking plants to replace livestock farming with soil-less hydroponics across Africa and South America. Max is called by Orson Welles "The Real Citizen Kane"

1956

In Moscow, Lavrentiy Beria takes power, puts Stalin on Trial and has Khrushchev, Molotov, and Bulganin lynched on Red Square. Disgusted by his coldness and Mafia ties, Max's wife demands a divorce. Max has her forcibly committed to a psychiatric institution. His youngest son, Sam, joins the dissident movement M84 to fight his father's centralized global rule.

1964

A crewed Moon landing led by a coalition of the European Federation, Russia and the USA succeeds in the Mare Tranquillitatis. One of Max's son pilots the lunar module and plants the foundation's flag on the surface.

1972

On May 11, the first commercial orbital aircraft is scheduled to launch in Houston from the Franlin D. Roosevelt Spacecenter with Max's son, who already piloted the Lunar Module, at the controls. The orbital aircraft is propelled by engines fuled by thorium. Its also mentioned that the military or civil use of nuclear power was prohibited by the "World Council". The M84 commando unit "Big Brother" launches a devastating rocket attack against the airfield. Following the bombing, Sam slips into the armed underground.

1980

Max celebrates his 77th birthday, advocating positive eugenics and a mandatory lifespan cap of 100 years. Pax Mondiale paramilitaries strike an M84 compound in Patagonia. The rebels retaliate with anti-aircraft missiles. Sam is killed during the battle. His sister breaks internally with her father.

1988

Max addresses the planetary federation, declaring an end to world hunger. Riots erupt in New York around Tompkins Square Park. On Cuba, tobacco plantations are systematically eradicated. Max orders cigars airbrushed out of historical photographs. Denouncing his censorship and tyranny, his daughter resigns and covertly funnels funds to South American rebels. It is mentioned that Paris was destroyed by Riots, South America left the World Federation leading to a militarization of the Rio Grande to prevent americans fleeing into Mexico and Russia crashes with China on the River Amur with fatalities.

1990

Rebellions sweep across South America. Max's dissident daughter is killed during the capture of Rio de Janeiro.

1993

Pax Mondiale forces permanently deploy into global metropolises, enforcing armed street patrols and rooftop surveillance.

1995

Modular, vertical megastructures replace the traditional Manhattan skyline.

1997

Heavy rockets launch from offshore ocean platforms to construct orbital fortifications in low Earth orbit.

1999

The World is now a steralized confirmity dictatorship. On the streets are armed "PAX" patrols. People are wearing white uniforms.

2002

A global epidemic sweeps the planet and wipes out a significant portion of the population. Max flees the contagion and takes refuge aboard his private orbital space station.

2004

Max reaches 100 years of age. On his 100th birthday, he undergoes voluntary euthanasia in accordance with his own eugenics doctrine. Immediately afterward, his ashes are scattered in the skies over Manhattan. His private space station continues to orbit the Earth in silence. It is mentioned that the five leaders of the Planetary Federation are commemorating the man who left a lasting mark on the century.

Hotel am Tiergarten

Berlin

30 June 1941

Dear George,

When we met Sunday last, I said I would send you a dispatch from my travels in Germany if I came across anything of interest. It may be that a man of your means knows all of what is to follow, but I dare not omit anything that may be useful.

As expected, our friend from the Ministry invited me to the launch of Bülow in Kiel. We generally talked shop – he did let fall one or two interesting things about German cruiser policy. I shall show you my copious notes at Clementine’s wedding in two weeks.

In advance of that, however, I wanted to let you know about an intriguing and, I think, instructive story that was recounted to me by one of the senior bods at Germaniawerft.

Unlike our vessels, German ships, irrespective of their size, are named at launch and not before. Before launch, they are known by a letter. Bülow was Kreuzer Q. She is, of course, named after Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz, the Defender of Berlin.

The chap I was speaking to told me that the Reichsmarine ship naming committee had decided some months before that the ship was to be named Schleicher, after the late General Kurt von Schleicher, whose taste for intrigue, you will remember, brought him to an unhappy end on the Night of the Long Knives in ’34.

At the shipyard, all the preparations had been made for Kreuzer Q to be named Schleicher, from the invites to the nameplates, even the ship’s bell. The man from the Ministry even dropped into conversation that the late General’s sister, Thusnelda von Gaudecker, had been approached to christen the ship.

The response to this proposal, however, is perhaps an indication that the reconciliation amongst the different German factions is not as complete as we may suppose. I was told that when news of that name reached the Government, especially the subcommittees of the State Coordination Commission (StKK), there was uproar.

Several of the usual suspects still in Government, most prominently Todt and Hanke on the State Administration Committee and Frick on the State Security Committee, reckoned the choice unnecessarily inflammatory considering the nature of Schleicher’s demise. There were, they argued, many more deserving Germans to honour before a ‘Prussian office boy’ who had spent the last war on the General Staff rather than in the field. They regarded it as an anti-Nazi gesture and reminded their colleagues that the Nazis remained a necessary part of the Government of National Necessity. One could not, they suggested, disregard either their place in the Government or the number of their supporters who might still be brought out on to the streets.

When the Oberkommando der Marine, the German naval high command and never particular friends of the Nazis, indicated they would continue with the name, they were apparently told in no uncertain terms that the tentative reconciliation would be challenged and that there could be civil unrest and violence from old SS men in a number of cities across the country.

It appears that this warning was eventually heeded by the OKM and the decision was taken at short notice that the name would need to change. Quite how it was managed, my sources could not say, nor how Bülow came to be chosen, but very quickly Frau von Gaudecker was told, with many regrets, that she would not be needed after all, while the shipyard hurried to have new nameplates and a new bell cast.

I cannot say whether the threat of disorder was quite as serious as it was represented. It was enough, at any rate, to remind the OKM that discretion is the better part of valour. One does wonder how united the ‘new’ Germany really is, when the naming of a ship can cause such a row.

The ship was launched last week, and I understand that she is expected to be ready for sea before the end of 1943. I enclose a photo which came my way in Kiel, and a reminder of the published particulars for this class of cruiser, for what they are worth.

I shall commit no more to paper. I hope this letter finds you well, and I look forward to seeing you at Alderley Park.

Yours,

Robert

Enc.

Albrecht der Beherzte/‘Repeat Hipper’

(Albrecht der Beherzte, Bülow, 3 more vessels building)

10,000 tons; 665ft oa; 8x8in (4x2); 12x4.1in; 12x21in torpedo tubes

32kts, triple screws

🌍 NovaBalkanica: Year 99 — The Atomic Dark Age ☢️
Following the devastating World War of 2030, nuclear fallout plunged the planet into a prolonged winter. Almost a century later, humanity endures in the ruins of the Balkans—where survivor states, remnant republics, pirate confederations, and neo-feudal warlords clash to define the future of civilization. 📜⚔️
🗺️ Key Factions of the New Age:
🕊️ Dardanian Confederation: Born from a popular revolution against military juntas, built on pan-pacifist and humanist ideals.
🏛️ Old World Rump States: Greece (Hellenic Republic), Albania, Croatia, and others clinging to former territorial claims and democratic traditions.
🏴‍☠️ Pirate & Island States: Maritime powers like the Ithaca ‘Pirate’ State, Naxos, and the Union of Rhodos carving out influence across the Aegean and Adriatic seas.
🛡️ Regional Powers: Banat Confederation, United State of the Adriatic, and the Federal State of Thracia.
Which faction would you join to rebuild civilization in this post-apocalyptic Balkan landscape? Let us know in the comments below! 👇
📌 Tags:
#alternatehistory #worldbuilding #mapporn #cartography #fantasymap

With a Cold War defined by ever increasing racial animosities, forever wars in Vietnam and Iran, stagflation, the failure to abandon the Gold Exchange Standard or to make the petro-dollar the only currency for Arabian oil and finally an unprecedented agricoltural disaster effectively ending small and medium land ownership in the country, the United States finally collapsed between 1987 and 1988.

Among a number of successor states, the most relevant are the People's Union of America in the Rustbelt, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest region and the Republic of America in most of the South.

The PUA, dominated by the Communist Party, was initially allied to the Soviet Union under the short-lived presidency of Gus Hall.

However, his successor, Jeffrey Trevino (a controversial figure, known both for an iron fist war against organized crime and for using near-gangster methods himself against his rivals, such as blackmail) brought the country in a radically different direction, putting economist Richard Wolff in charge of recovering the country from the post-collapse recession and building not a planned economy like that of the Soviet Union but a "market socialist" one based on competitive cooperatives.

He also moved to make the PUA an independent major power by establishing the Assembly of Democrats and Communists as an alternative to Cominform and financing the underground group "Vox Populi" as well as the Black Liberation groups to try and overthrow remaining capitalist regimes in the former USA.

His unorthodox economy and independent foreign policy made relations with the Soviet Union grow colder. Trevino accused the Soviets of being undemocratic, bureaucratic and imperialistic, while the multiparty PUA was supposedly a better model of socialist democracy.

Supporters of the Soviet model instead considered the Trevinoist system a transformation of the capitalist system, with coops still acting like competitive companies and family businesses remaining, leading to territorial inequality and the rise of lobbies and "Coop Barons".

On the other hand, the Republic of America saw a period of intensive chaos and borderline race war, leading David E. Duke, at the head of the fascist militia "White League" to seize control of the country in the 1990 Halloween Coup, despite having lost elections 2 years prior to moderate Al Gore.

His regime would intensify Apartheid and repressive measures, leading to the genocide known as "*Katastrof*" of around 4 million people between Blacks, Jews, homosexuals, leftists and other minorities or political dissenters.

So this map is basically the major religions of the UPA, you can analyze the map on the religions

In this geographical timeline, perhaps the Ryuku Kingdom extended their realm all the way to the plains of north eastern Taiwan, and had settled there before the Qing Dynasty included Taiwan as a province.

After the Qing incorporated Taiwan as its territory, control over north eastern Taiwan became an immediate problem between Qing and the Ryuku Kingdom. Since the Ryuku Kingdom was a double tributary (to China and Japan), a direct invasion would steer Ryuku towards Japan, so negotiations and compromises might be made. In result north eastern Taiwan might still be influenced by Ryuku (and Japan) to some extent until the 19th century, but intermarriage between ethnic Chinese might also commonly occur during this period, perhaps some ethic Chinese might also migrate into the island chain due to intermarriage and trade.

After Ryuku Kingdom was annexed by Japan in 1879, immediate tension would rise between an industrializing Japan and a weakening China. As a result, the island of Taiwan as a whole might fell into the hands of Japan decades earlier. the US would also have a harder time to advance on Ryuku as Japan can send resources and troops from Taiwan much more easier.

After WW2, a lot of possibilities might happen to north eastern Taiwan. Either being returned to ROC, or becoming a special administrative region of Okinawa and controlled by the US.

In the former case, violent clashes against the KMT might happen there as there are significantly much more Japanese/Okinawan speaking people with a lot less heritage from mainland China.

In the latter case, agreements might be made between the US, Japan and Taiwan to let the citizens living there choose to either be a Taiwanese or Okinawan, if choose the latter, one must leave Taiwan and move back to the Ryuku islands or Japan in general. And with that, north eastern Taiwan would be officially be controlled by ROC. (Then of course the PRC would argue it's theirs).

Hello there. Here are some additional Material for the Jour J Comic "Paris, Soviet Sector" I created today out of boredom.

1st Offical State Propaganda of the Democratic French Republic depicting Thorez and Stalin

2nd A Map of the parted Paris, this was mostly guessing scince it is not directly shown so I guessed

3rd The Flag of the Democratic French Republic

In my alternate history, China manages to avoid the historical Century of Humiliation and retains much more of its sovereignty while modernizing. However, the Qing Dynasty eventually falls in the early 1910s, not to a popular revolution, but to a coup carried out by a movement called the Society for a Republican China (中华民国协会).

The new government is culturally nationalist and strongly pro-Chinese sovereignty, but it also embraces Western political ideals, industrialization, technology, and modernization. Its philosophy is essentially that China should adopt the useful parts of Western civilization without abandoning its own culture, languages, and traditions.

This got me thinking about how Chinese clothing might develop differently in this timeline.

Rather than abandoning traditional Chinese clothing in favor of Western suits and dresses, Chinese fashion would modernize on its own terms, incorporating contemporary tailoring, fabrics, and accessories while retaining distinctly Chinese silhouettes.

For men, I imagine traditional robes, tunics, and long overcoats remaining popular, but with more restrained colors like navy, charcoal, black, and dark green. The garments could feature more structured tailoring, cleaner lines, modern materials, and practical accessories like leather shoes and pocket watches, while retaining traditional Chinese collars, frog buttons, and other recognizable details. Western suits would still exist, especially in professional and diplomatic settings, but they wouldn't necessarily replace traditional Chinese dress as the standard for everyday wear.

For women, I imagine something closer to the early development of the modern qipao (旗袍). A tailored qipao with a fitted waist, high collar, and short or three-quarter sleeves, paired with contemporary hairstyles, stockings, leather shoes, and small handbags. Traditional floral embroidery and geometric patterns would remain, but perhaps in more restrained designs for everyday wear.

The qipao could become a symbol of modern Chinese womanhood: fashionable, practical, and culturally rooted without requiring women to follow imperial-era conventions.

The overall aesthetic I'm going for is a China that modernizes without culturally Westernizing wholesale. The clothes should look appropriate for the early 1910s, rather than resembling either unchanged Qing-era court dress or generic Western clothing with Chinese decorations added.

Essentially, I'm interested in what a distinctly Chinese modern fashion tradition might look like if the country had retained its sovereignty and deliberately adapted its own traditions to the modern world.

I'd love to hear what people think, especially anyone knowledgeable about Qing-era clothing, early Republican Chinese fashion, or the history of Chinese modernization. What details would make this concept more historically plausible?

(This is a sequel post to this: https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternateHistory/s/nUHavrXzxs read that first to get what’s going on)

Gustav’s Sweden

Now, Sweden looks very impressive on the map, they look like the great power of the north until.. well.

Sweden was viewed as this backwater secondary power and for good reason, Sweden was poor; 90% of Swedes relied on farms and the war of the sixth coalition had strained the economy due to war expenditures.

That was in our timeline, but without the Coup of 1809, Gustav IV Adolf remains an absolute monarch and knowing his conduct as king, he would stampede over any attempt at reform. Preventing Sweden from adapting to the growing industrialisation of Europe and remaining feudal in the same way Russia is.

However, Sweden is able to secure its territory due to joining Alexander I’s Holy Alliance, made to counter the growing nationalism and secular liberalism after the napoleonic wars.

Gustav, seeking less Russian aggression and having an intense hatred for any liberal ideals wouldn’t be hard to persuade, joining along with Prussia and Austria; Alexander mostly took Sweden under his wing as a way to exert further control as he had no justification to invade and annex Finland.

Gustav remains in power as an absolutist, and with his nobility and guilds wanting to maintain their power he doesn’t have much of a threat.

After the king’s death

Gustav IV Adolf dies in 1837 and is replaced by his Son Gustav, Prince of Vasa, (Now Gustav V) his reign goes relatively similar; he was aligned to the conservative Habsburg’s so he follows in his father’s footsteps of preventing meaningful reform to Sweden until..

With a Sweden economically worse off (mainly gaining money from exporting grain) discontent spread across the nation, following the outbreak of civil war in France that year, Sweden sees widespread discontent in 1848.

The March Unrest in Stockholm (protests demanding reform to Sweden) are far larger and more of a headache for the Swedish government, leading to chaos in the Riksdag of the Estates over what to do. Reformists believed the protesters are correct and that Sweden is embarrassingly behind the times, the guild members and other conservatives wanted to keep their political and economic power.

The protests are put down by the military and police force after a few days, with them being unsure if reform would ever come.

Meanwhile, Finnish nationalists begin to boycott Swedish businesses and begin a massive strike in Åbo (Finnish: Turku), further loosening Sweden’s hold on the Finnish people and worsening the economy.

It was clear to even the conservative Gustav V that change was needed to keep his kingdom afloat, conceding to the liberals in his cabinet and passing important reform.

Abolishing the guilds, using foreign loans to fund state infrastructure, Providing more autonomy and rights for the Finns and Norwegians, abolishing slavery entirely (while paying their slaveowners) and allowing any and all Swedish citizens to start businesses. These moves end up making the Swedish economy have a slow but noticeable rise; though would strain Sweden’s relationship with Russia.

Collapse of the Holy Alliance

Since Tsar Alexander I died in 1825, The Holy Alliance’s member states have slowly been drifting apart, the 1848 revolutions across Sweden and Germany strained the Monarchy’s will to exert their power’s, Russia and Austria were constantly bickering about dominance over the declining Ottomans; Prussia was reforming itself and Sweden watched it all.

The onset of the Crimean war in 1853 further cemented that the Holy Alliance (more so just Russia) wasn’t sustainable, Russia was loosing to the sick men of Europe who had support from Britain and France, the Holy Alliance didn’t even enter.

Prussia and Sweden had their own economic interests and hope to protect their long term stability, Austria fears supporting Russia will expand their hold over the Balkans so all 3 of Russia’s supposed allies adopt a policy of armed neutrality during the conflict; collapsing the alliance.

Following the wars end, Sweden would know that Russia would be more aggressive after their shaky alliance fell apart.

Closer Alignment with Britain (1859-

As a way to protect itself, Gustav aligned himself closer to His main trading partner and Russia’s main rival of the United Kingdom; Britain welcomes Sweden into alliance mainly to preserve the fragile balance of power in Europe while it competes with Russia in central Asia.

Sweden’s alignment with Britain would deter Russia from any military action against the northern kingdom as they had Britain’s blessing, Alexander II was more focused on reforming his empire than any invasion of Sweden anyway.

The Second Schleswig War (1864)

The further integration of Schleswig into the Kingdom of Denmark in 1863 is perfect justification for Otto von Bismarck, invading Denmark with Austria like in our own timeline.

However Sweden-Norway promised to send 20K troops to aid in the war but didn’t send any, our Sweden is neutral and a lot more careful about what it does; but I’d think a bolder Sweden would follow through and join the war on Denmark’s side.

Sweden attempts to rally Britain and France to join it in order to keep the balance of power, but it is left alone to fight as the great powers view the 1963 constitution as Denmark taking offensive action first.

Prussia had superior coordination, generals, manpower, the fall of Dybbøl is a crushing defeat for the Dano-Swedish army and the Treaty of Vienna is signed, with the same territorial losses in our timeline.

The war is remembered as a national embarrassment for the Nordic’s further leading Norwegian leadership to feel Sweden was a dead corpse they were tied to, though Sweden’s aid to Denmark when nobody else even tried promoted Scandinavism, the belief of further cooperation and possibly unification of the 3 Scandinavian kingdoms.

In 1865, Sweden’s main goals are to defend against Russian aggression; further trade ties with Denmark, France and Britain, suppress Finnish nationalism and be weary of the growing influence of Prussia.

What's your favorite country?

A timeline that the USA broke up into 2 countries

Variously known in embassy’s around the world as: Baltic Free State; Baltic Republic, Livonia and the ‘so-called Baltic Free State’

“The Germanisch-Baltischer Freistaat, a government of Germans, restoring the ancient order in the Baltic and bringing good governance, justice and prosperity back to those lands. Once more, the brave Baltendeutsche stands for stability and security, and stands shoulder to shoulder against Bolshevism.”

Speech on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Regierung der Nationalen Notwendigkeit , 1948

Saint Barthélemy, officially the Special Overseas Region of St. Barthélemy (Swedish: Särskilda Utomeuropeiska Region S:t Barthélemy, French: Région Spéciale d'Outre-mer de Saint-Barthélemy, Creole: Pawès Spésale Lòt Péyi Sent Barthélemy) is an overseas region of the Kingdom of Sweden. It is often abbreviated to simply St. Barts in English, and lies lies about 35 kilometers (22 mi) south-east of the Caribbean island Saint Martin and north of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Prior to the late 18th Century it was a French colony, but was transferred to Swedish ownership in 1784. Never truly a plantation island, the end of slavery left it economically destitute and financially unviable to Sweden until the end of World War II and the rise of the tourist industry, after which the island rapidly developed into a tourism hotspot and became an integral territory of Sweden proper.

Colonized by the French (who gave it its name), the island was never a major part of France's colonial endeavors in the Americas and by 1665 was being managed by the French West India Company, later transferred to the Kingdom of France directly. Economically unviable, the island was a haven for pirates and smugglers that regularly harassed and raided French shipping, as well as the British themselves who attacked the island in 1744. Considering the island more trouble than it was worth, King Louis XVI arranged to transfer the island to the Kingdom of Sweden in exchange for trading rights in Gothenburg. The transfer was made official on 1 July 1784, at which point it was organized into Sweden's sole possession in the Caribbean. As a symbol of this transfer, the chief port of La Carénage was renamed Gustavia in honor of King Gustav III. Sweden as a whole had been languishing since its defeat by Russia in the Great Northern War, and there were hopes that by establishing valuable plantations of cocoa and sugarcane on the island that it could become a major Swedish investment.

This was not to be so. Even though a great number of ships visited annually and the Swedish West India Company was mildly profitable, unrest by the Francophone and Anglophone communities on the island combined with British occupation from 1801 to 1802 during the Napoleonic Wars was making it evident that the island was not going to be the profitable venture it had been planned to be. The island as a whole was much too rugged in its terrain for widespread plantation agriculture and even though slavery was practiced on the island from 1787 until 1844 it could never be competitive to other larger colonial holdings. In 1812 the island was surrendered by the Swedish civil government to being the private possession of the King, and later in 1839 Gustavia ceased to be a free port. In 1844 it was returned to Swedish civil administration and a hurricane blew through in 1852 which severely damaged the island. Its population had fallen to just 2300 from its peak of 6,000 in the early years of the 19th Century.

Sweden wanted to be rid of the island, but couldn't find any buyers. Their first offer was to France for repurchasing it, but talks broke down over trade policy. Britain was next, followed by the United States, but no nation had any interest in purchasing the island. Thus was Sweden stuck with the island as an albatross around its neck, costing it millions of kronor every year. This was the situation Sweden found itself in with having to manage the island, and as the 20th Century came about just 1,500 people lived on the island, mostly engaged in subsistence farming and fishing. In fact many locals were employed on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Languishing as a colony, its fortunes dramatically changed in the 1950s, with the construction of a large airport to the northeast of Gustavia that began to bring in tourism from Sweden and abroad. Hotels and resorts quickly began to grow in number, and by 1960 the population began to grow rapidly as a new wave of Swedish migrants came to the island.

The situation improved so radically that in 1961 it was incorporated as an Overseas Region of Sweden, fully incorporating it into Sweden proper after a referendum. Its rapid modernization and development quickly turned "St. Barts" into a luxury resort island frequented by the rich and famous from all over the world, turning St. Barthélemy from the poorest part of Sweden into its richest per capita. This rapid boom would eventually level off in the 1980s but by that time the island had become one of Sweden's most valuable holdings, given broad internal capacity to govern itself. Restored to the status of a free port it left the EU in 2012 and transitioned to being a European Overseas Territory, but as part of Sweden itself its citizens are still EU citizens and hold EU passports. Its resort economy continues to be the overwhelmingly dominant portion of its economy and relaxed laws on visas and immigration makes it one of the most visited islands in the whole of the Caribbean, helped by its unique Swedish cultural influence setting it apart from English, French, and Spanish-dominated islands. As a symbol of this, though devastated by Hurricane Ida in 2017 it rapidly recovered less than a year later.

2021 marks 237 years of St. Barthélemy being owned by Sweden, in which time it has become a tropical "Sweden in Miniature". Dominated by Swedish-speakers with sizeable French and English speakers, many of the world's most wealthy jockey to own property on the island, while hundreds of thousands of tourists visit every single year to patronize its hotels, resorts, and casinos. A lot of people in Sweden, upon learning that at one point Sweden sought to rid itself of the island, are grateful that it never happened. With Sweden's membership in the EU it is one of the most popular destinations for EU passport holders to visit, and a vibrant local economy rests on tourists coming to experience its history, unique architecture, and world-class resorts. Far from being an economic burden it is now one of Sweden's biggest cash cows, one it guards jealously from both ideas of selling it to other countries and allowing the EU to have a piece of its financial boons. One of those strange quirks of history that just seems to happen no matter where you look, St. Barthélemy is one of those stories that makes people eager to learn more of why things are the way they are.

Government Type: Executive monarchy

territory explanation:

northern France/Belgica/England: lost during the 38th roman civil war to invading germans

Hungary: lost to the Magyer migration during the 29th Roman Persian war.

Egypt: lost to the Egyptian Revolt

Jerusalem/Judea: given to the Papacy after the anti Persian Crusade for Jerusalem

Syria: lost to Persia in the 35th Roman Persian War

Georgia/Armenia: lost and regained through multiple wars with Persia and Russland, eventually set up as buffer states against Russland

Canalis: essentially the Suez Canal

political party ideologies:

PR: far right, Italian superiority, anti-immigration, ultraconservatism, corporatism

FI: right, Imperial Primacy, increasing the emperor's power, conservative social policy, protectionist economics

FCR: big tent conservative, keeping the status quo, centrist social positions, protectionist economics

FLN: libertarian right, weaker emperor, no strong stance on social policy, free market economics

FP: left Liberal, weaker emperor, progressive social policy, no strong economic stance

FR: Social democracy, weaker emperor, progressive social policy, high taxes, increased social services

MM: Socialism, abolish the emperor's position, Ultra progressive social policy, socialist economics

Link to Episode

In season 2 of What Could Have Been, we look into a timeline where after the 2004 Presidential election in the United States, 3 university students in Washington State formed a new political party called The Cascadia Party.

Seeing that the United States & Canada were moving further & further to the right, & further away form the values of the Pacific Northwest, the ultimate goal of this party was to pull the entire Cascadia region, consisting of Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & the Alaska Panhandle out of the United States & Canada, in order to become the Nation of Cascadia.

Will they succeed? Can US States even separate from the United States of America? Will they go peacefully or by force? Can they convince a Canadian Province to join them? Will the Cascadian Flag fly high & proud? Will the United States of America be left flying under the 49 or even the 48-star-spangled banner? Tune in to find out.

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 - 20

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

The Crimean War happens in 1836–1837, ending in a Russian defeat against the Ottoman Empire and its British and French allies. Meanwhile, Moldavia and Wallachia unite on January 24, 1840, forming the sovereign United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia under August of Saxe-Coburg, who becomes Domnitor August I.

In 1854, Romania joins Serbia, Greece and Montenegro in a war against the Ottomans. The alliance wins, pushing Ottoman power out of much of the Balkans. Romania acquires Bulgaria, Dobruja, parts of Thrace and northern Macedonia. August subsequently establishes the Kingdom of Romania-Bulgaria, a dual monarchy where Romanians and Bulgarians retain their own institutions under one crown.

August dies in 1881, and his eldest son Philipp succeeds him as Philipp I.

During the 1880s, Romania-Bulgaria begins expanding overseas. It acquires Madagascar, northern Namibia, Portuguese Guinea through a negotiated purchase, and territories in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Liberia also voluntarily joins the empire through a treaty, retaining its own president and domestic government.

But Philipp's most radical reforms are political. In 1887, he introduces a Royal Colonial Charter abolishing slavery and prohibiting racial discrimination. Universal suffrage is extended throughout the empire to adults aged 21 and older, regardless of race or sex. The colonies receive elected assemblies, and the government invests in towns, schools, hospitals, ports and infrastructure.

By 1900, Romania-Bulgaria is an industrialized Balkan power with overseas possessions across Africa and the Pacific. It competes with Britain, France and Germany while attempting to build a constitutional empire based on legal equality and political representation.

Of course, the big question remains: can an empire built through territorial expansion genuinely respect the self-determination of the people it governs?

What do you think? Could this Romanian-Bulgarian Empire become a major world power in the 20th century, or would its scattered colonies and rivalries eventually bring it down?

A scenario with a more gradual fall of the socialist regimes. More details on the comments.

Alt history in the bronze age

# Gustav’s shaky alliance with Napoleon (1808-1812)

The Finnish war was fought over Sweden’s refusal to join the continental system, so the point of divergence comes in 1808 following the Treaty of Tilsit, Gustav IV Adolf is able to put his hatred aside to preserve Sweden’s territory after increasing pressure from France and Russia.

Is this realistic? No. Gustav hated Napoleon with a passion and was overly confident about Sweden’s frankly terrible army, gone were the days of Karl XII’s small army crossing the Dnieper against a stronger Russian force. But let’s just say Gustav sees the writing on the wall and joins the blockade of Britain.

So Alexander doesn’t have a big justification or his boyfriend’s blessing to invade and since Denmark is also France’s ally, the Dano-Swedish war (Caused by France and Britain forcing the 2 into a war they didn’t want) doesn’t occur, but what does occur is Russia breaking the continental system.

# The Final Coalition’s (1812-1815)

Napoleon still invades Russia and a typhoid outbreak, a brutal winter and burning of Moscow later, Napoleon begins to loose his streak of winning. Sweden is in the camp Austria and Prussia are in, and backstab France once it starts too loose ground

The war takes notably longer then in our own timeline because the Coup of 1809 not happening and Bernadotte never rising to power, Bernadotte was heavily important to the Sixth coalition even though the kingdom he ruled wasn’t, so Him remaining French will be a thorn in the coalition’s side. Meanwhile Gustav realises his dream and goes to war with Denmark which had remained a French ally.

Eventually, Russia captures Paris and Napoleon is exiled to Elba and very similar hundred days blah blah blah

# Congress of Vienna (1815)

But during the Congress of Vienna, Gustaf (with British support) desired Norway, he did dream of gaining it in the 1808 war with Denmark so I don’t know why he wouldn’t here, but Gustaf is way to ambitious for the coalition to accept all of his demands, so Swedish Pomerania is ceded to Denmark as compensation and Norway is granted semi-independence from Sweden to not majorly disrupt the balance of power.

I’ll probably make a sequel if this gets enough support, or remake it if this is bad since I probably know less about Swedish history than I think I do. So should I make a sequel?

Historical Context

In reality, when Miguel Hidalgo launched the Grito de Dolores in September 1810, the Captaincy General of Yucatán remained quiet and politically distant from central New Spain. Governed as a semi-autonomous region with direct links to Havana and Spain, its local Creole elite prioritized maritime trade and internal stability over open rebellion. Yucatan did not officially separate from Spanish rule until 1821, alongside Mexico.

However, if radical thinkers among early liberal groups (like the Sanjuanistas) had seized upon the power vacuum created by the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808 and declared complete independence in 1810, the geopolitics of North America

. The Immediate Birth of a Peninsula Republic

Had Yucatan declared independence in 1810, it would have established a fragile merchant-and-landowner republic centered around Mérida and Campeche.

Naval and Commercial Strategy: Lacking strong land connections to central Mexico, Yucatan’s economy relied heavily on sea routes. The young republic would have urgently sought trade agreements and maritime protection from Great Britain (operating out of British Honduras/Belize) and the United States.

Isolation from New Spain: Royalist forces in Mexico City were fully consumed by Hidalgo’s and later Morelos’s insurgencies. As a result, Spain’s Viceroy would have lacked the military bandwidth to launch a large-scale naval invasion to reclaim the peninsula, leaving Yucatan de facto independent.

1. Accelerating Internal Conflicts (The Maya Uprising)

The Maya majority formed the backbone of agricultural labor in the peninsula, subjected to heavy taxation and exploitation by the Creole landowning class.

In an early independent Yucatan, the elite would likely attempt to expand their henequen and sugar plantations while relying on Maya labor.

Without the overarching authority or legal framework of the Spanish Crown, indigenous grievances could have erupted decades earlier than they did in actual history (where the Caste War began in 1847).

A premature civil war between the Mérida/Campeche elites and the Maya population would have severely destabilized the new nation.

1. Geopolitical Consequences in Central America

An independent Yucatecan state in 1810 would drastically alter the political map of Central America and the Gulf of Mexico