William the Conqueror had been slain by a stray arrow in the invasion of 1066. Or pneumonia. I wasn't picky.
The Athenians had won the Peloponnesian Wars of 431-404 BCE. (HINT: for one thing, Socrates might not have been tried and executed.)
WWI - What if the French soldiers' mutiny of December, 1916 had succeeded?
WWI - What if Russia had stayed in the war under Lenin?
WWI - What if the United States had maintained its isolationist stance and never gotten involved in WWI at all?
WWII - What if Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor?
WWII - What if Germany had never declared war on the United States?
WWII - What if Mexico had signed a treaty with Germany and declared war on the US? (Germany actually pursued this.)
WWII - What if Hitler had not invaded Russia, but stuck with hammering England instead?
I had a lot more of these, and the students loved them. I got some great papers out of them. People are fascinated by what might have been.
And they're also fascinated with what might have been on the personal level. We all know people who are trapped in the "what might have beens", longing, looking, wishing that somehow they could change the past. This desire to change history is one of the reasons, I think, so many people find it so hard to forgive, and I'm not just talking about the big stuff - because what they really want is not an apology, but for whatever it is NEVER TO HAVE HAPPENED. And that's impossible, unless the alternate universe theory is true, and even if it is, fat lot of good it does us in this universe. The truth is, I kind of like being my cranky, eccentric, bookaholic, mystery-writing, perambulating, muttering, sharp-tongued self. I don't know that I'd trade it in on an alternate Eve. But it's an interesting thing to think about.
Good piece, of course there is a whole field of lit called alternative history abd some is very good, like Turtledove's Thens of the South.
ReplyDeleteThought provoking this morning, Eve, thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteMost of my "what ifs" aren't historical, but if I had to choose one, I'd write about the US remaining isolationist.
On a personal level, most of the "what ifs" come with side effects. What if I'd married someone else? The side effect would be that my two sons would be different.
To quote someone I can't remember, "the saddest of these is it might have been."
One of my favorite reads this year was the latest in Naomi Novik's brilliant Temeraire series: What if intelligent dragons had been involved in the Napoleonic Wars? As for personal what-ifs, I think they're a trap best avoided. What if I'd never married my first husband? I'd have avoided some grief 30 or 40 years ago, but I wouldn't have my glorious granddaughters, about whom I wouldn't change so much as an eyelash.
ReplyDeleteNice article! I think I previously mentioned in a post to a similar piece that a great read is Ward Moore's 1953 novel "Bring the Jubilee," It re-imagines the South winning the Civil War, and centers on the battle of Gettysburg.
ReplyDeleteI too love what-if literature, if well done. I've mentioned before Len Deighton's "SS-GB." One of my favorite "what-if's" of all time is a comedy - James Thurber's brilliant short-short "If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox." I highly recommend it: short, funny, and entirely possible...
ReplyDeleteHitler made two enormous strategic mistakes. There was no need for him to declare war on the U.S. after the U.S. declared war on Japan, and Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, cost him the war. (This is the fork in the road that in fact drives SS-GB, one of my personal faves, too, Eve.)
ReplyDeleteI meant to point this out when we started talking about alt hist. It is brilliant and on point.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/kozads7
Rob