May 31, 2003 Note: This was originally posted, on the fly, on 'soc.history.what-if' in September 1996 as part of a discussion of GURPS Alternate Earth.

I thought I might do my own review of the 5 scenarios

1. Dixie-1

   I don't really believe in 20th Century CSA-USA standoffs. Assuming that the CSA actually survives the War of Southron Independence, would it endure? Would the center hold? I have many doubts. I have seen comments that Jefferson Davis had a lot of problems getting the states to cooperate fighting the war. Comments with this specific scenario as it stands:

   1. Nicaragua as a Caribbean power. Looking at the map, this country appears to have a Pacific focus, the Caribbean side is a backwater. How does Walker take Cuba?

   2. CSA victory in the East in 1862. What about the Mississippi theater? I noticed the Kentucky was part of the CSA, what happened? Was Shiloh a Union disaster?

   3. What is the 20th Century CSA doing being a naval power? Nations with long borders with hostile neighbors spend money on the army. The CSA wasn't rich enough to have a big navy as well. What are they doing with the Hawaiian Islands? Were the missionaries (in OTL) from the South?

2. Reich-5

   Ouch! A very depressing scenario. The biggest assumption is that without FDR there would have been no USA recovery from the Depression. This is arguable, the big boost to the economy was the military buildup before WWII, IMHO. I will admit that taking USA out of play is the about the only way the Nazis could win.

   I agree with the comments from other posters that the advanced technology is very unlikely.

3. Roma-3

   Rome endures - this scenario doesn't look too bad.

4. Shikaku-Mon

   Something different! I have speculated about a world where Japan didn't go isolationist c. 1600. The reach of the Japanese empire would have been quite substantial. I would think that including a lot of China in the Japanese empire would make abort its expansion around the Pacific Rim (all the energy goes into the ruling China, which swallows them and turns the empire into a Chinese empire).

5. Gernsback

   Hugo would have loved this place.

I am running out of time, that is why this post is getting compressed at the bottom.