Thread: "What ifs" in History

I've thought about this a fair amount and have always found it an interesting topic. What if certain major events in history had not occurred the way they did? Would the world be different? How would it be different?

I'll start off. What if Alexander the Great had not died young from yellow fever and had continued on to a good old age? Personally, I think that the world overall would be in a more advanced state. Alexander was an amazing leader. He controlled much of the civilized world. And with his record there's a high probability he would have gone on to conquer the rest. He was intelligent as well, and educated by Aristotle himself. Alexander allowed for the spread of knowledge between a larger amount of land and peoples than before was likely. This would have continued and allowed for a new age of discovery and enlightenment. Not to mention the period of strife throughout his kingdom after his death would not have occurred.



I'm not an expert on Alexander, and I know some of the things I've said could be debated. Specifically, he may have been poisoned rather than died by yellow fever and there were numerous attempts on his life before that. Along with that, his campaign into India seems to have been his first major failure and he lost a lot of respect because of it. This could have led to a quick downfall even if he hadn't died. But it's for discussing, so discuss.

this is simple for me i don't believe in or bother with what if's at all. life can be hard if you make it & it can also be easy too. i have enough to worry about already without trying to add to that by worrying about something or anticipating what will happen or why something didn't happen. If it happens i'll deal with it, if it doesn't then good same if something did or didn't happen i can't change it so it's a waste of energy.

Originally Posted by danstark

this is simple for me i don't believe in or bother with what if's at all. life can be hard if you make it & it can also be easy too. i have enough to worry about already without trying to add to that by worrying about something or anticipating what will happen or why something didn't happen. If it happens i'll deal with it, if it doesn't then good same if something did or didn't happen i can't change it so it's a waste of energy.

I was trying to have a discussion about the topic itself. I did not want responses saying this is a waste of time. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear, but please no one else just post to say they don't want to actually have a discussion. You're just being negative.

I got a more recent one. Something most of us in the US can relate to. What if Bush didn't manage to steal the elections and Al Gore was elected president of the US...

ok well i wasn't being negative at all I was just saying my piece. I never said this was a waste of time if it came across that way it wasn't my intention, it's how i live my life & it's my view on the subject i choose not to live in the past thats all. After re-reading it i can see what you were trying to do with this thread but i wasn't trying to bring the thread down or bash it in anyway so my bad.

Originally Posted by DaegonPhyn

What if Alexander the Great had not died young from yellow fever and had continued on to a good old age? Personally, I think that the world overall would be in a more advanced state. Alexander was an amazing leader. He controlled much of the civilized world. And with his record there's a high probability he would have gone on to conquer the rest.

Alexander was one of the greatest empire builders of all time, probably second only to Genghis Khan, however, I disagree.

By the time Alexander died, he had already started to lose his grip on the army. Further conquest of any significance was unlikely, as his people were fed up with war and wanted to enjoy the spoils of the victories they had already achieved.

Alexander himself had suffered many injuries and was not as physically strong as he had been, and had also developed a taste for excessive drink.

Had he survive all his resources would have been spent on holding the empire he already had together as opposed to expanding it.

Also the results of his death would have been the same had even had it occured 30 years later than it did. It required someone on Alexanders extrordinary abilities and charisma to hold the empire together. On his death when ever it occurred and what ever heirs he had, the breakup of the empire was inevitable.

For these reasons I don't think the world would be much different to it is now, had Alexander survived to old age.

Ok now for my what if

What if the tanner's daughter had not caught the eye of Robert I of Normandy as he gazed down from his castle wall, and William the Conqueror had never been born?

Yea or what if america didn't bother to join any of the wws?
Or if the roman empire's centralized goverment didn't rot from the inside?

very interesting topic, and with Alexander the Great if we put a if in the story things would of probably been allot different particularly the most used language we all share today. to be honest though haven't really studied history that much. some may find this link interesting.
Alexander the Great - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arakasi, that's interesting. I never heard that Alexander was pretty much falling apart even before he died. That changes my outlook on him a lot. Thanks for the info.

obiwan1, the WW question is an interesting one. If the US hadn't joined WWI I don't think there would have been much impact. From what I remember of what I've read on it the war was pretty much over by the time the US joined. They just gave a quick final push that ended it earlier and with less casualties. But not a huge impact.

WWII is a tougher one. Western Europe had been decimated by the Axis powers and didn't have much fight left in them. So the US joining at that point did help a lot. But it can be argued that even though the Allies were losing without the US, the Soviet Union had caused huge losses to the Axis. But the Soviet Union also suffered huge losses (10 million military, 10 million civilian, not to mention many others because of Soviet policies). Personally, I think the Soviets won that war in the end and similarly to WWI the US joining in the end was just an extra push at the end to end it earlier.

A more interesting question I think would be what would have happened if the Soviet Union hadn't joined the Allies and had just stayed out of WWII. I think that the Axis would have won and after having more time to finish up all their new military tech - jet planes, nukes, etc., they would have taken the US as well. A world split between Fascist Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union. Interesting, to say the least.