Alternative History

[Ex-California]

The war that actually decided who would win the first world war, was the American Civil War, once the Union won that, nothing was going to stop them from becoming the hegemon, it's just a question of when the Europeans would make it happen.

Very interesting. Are you saying the Civil War was the prototype of future wars or it is the one that "awakened the sleeping giant" of American industry? Or both?

[Penner]

I'll bite. What if Hillary Clinton wins the 2016 election. How different were the last few weeks of our lives.

I'm not trying to be facetious, seriously, what is happening?

Okay, I will bite.....

If the shoe was on the other foot then you will see the DCF Trumptarins/Trumptards claiming that the election was rig and/or them being pissed off at Clinton. Maybe a few would argue that the country should rise up against her. The board will be full of anti-Clinton/anti-Dems sentiment and Nukedog will still be his troll self.

Okay, so we will probably get Trump demanding a recount and also his team ready to legally challenge the results of the election because that was what his team was literally getting ready to do, right up to the night of the election. Trump supporters will claim that Clinton cheated and that democracy failed, GOP members will make a statement on how Clinton got elected and would announce that they want to set up a special committee to investigate her and her election, GOP congress members would also announce that they are going to continue to investigate Clinton and vowels to impeach her- like what they did to her husband, etc...

[katarn]

The war that actually decided who would win the first world war, was the American Civil War, once the Union won that, nothing was going to stop them from becoming the hegemon, it's just a question of when the Europeans would make it happen.

Very interesting. Are you saying the Civil War was the prototype of future wars or it is the one that "awakened the sleeping giant" of American industry? Or both?

Probably both. A prototype especially in that it resembled them, but less so in the sense of others being based on it.

[Smitty-48]

Indeed, it was both, it was the first world war before the First World War, the great expanse of America a world unto itself, and in the fires of that war forged; the American Giant awoken.

The American Civil War, is the inflection point, between Napoleonic wars, and industrial total wars, and in the process, America was industrialized by force, almost overnight, on a scale which immediately dwarfed the Europeans in its wake.

Classic example; Monitor v. Merrimack, in one naval engagement, America invented the Dreadnought and the Attack Submarine at the same time, and rendered all the navies of the world obsolete in the process, overnight, and the Americans already had the economies of scale, to crank out a navy to rival the Royal Navy, it was just a question of setting their minds to it.

Napoleon invented war by national mobilization, but it did not amount to total war, until America industrialized it. There is in fact a bright straight line, from the foot of Cemetery Ridge, to ground zero at Hiroshima.

[C-Mag]

There's always the question:

Would the world have been better off with a WW1 that was won by Germany?

The time period of the war victory would likely be some time around the 1917s after the Russians have surrendered, the French military deciding to mutiny at the additional divisions being sent their way, and the Germans never engaging in unrestricted submarine warfare/sending the Zimmerman telegram.

I think German still would have had serious financial issues that may have led to a Hitler anyway. German got into socialized welfare under Bismark. Anti-Semitism didn't start with Hitler, he just exploited it. The Ottoman Empire still would have fractured. But it might have fractured on ethnic lines instead of arbitrary political lines. I'll have to give this one some more thought.

[C-Mag]

The American Civil War, is the inflection point, between Napoleonic wars, and industrial total wars, and in the process, America was industrialized by force, almost overnight, on a scale which immediately dwarfed the Europeans in its wake.

Does anyone else look at early 1914 French Uniforms and think they are looking at the Union Army in 1865 ?

[Penner]

The American Civil War, is the inflection point, between Napoleonic wars, and industrial total wars, and in the process, America was industrialized by force, almost overnight, on a scale which immediately dwarfed the Europeans in its wake.

Does anyone else look at early 1914 French Uniforms and think they are looking at the Union Army in 1865 ?

Weren't some of the Union army's units uniforms molded after some of the more famous French units of the 19th Century?

[C-Mag]

The American Civil War, is the inflection point, between Napoleonic wars, and industrial total wars, and in the process, America was industrialized by force, almost overnight, on a scale which immediately dwarfed the Europeans in its wake.

Does anyone else look at early 1914 French Uniforms and think they are looking at the Union Army in 1865 ?

Weren't some of the Union army's units uniforms molded after some of the more famous French units of the 19th Century?

I think those were the African Zoaves. They had red pants like this, but I think they wore a Fez.