u/AggravatingAward1204

After the anti-Axis coup in Yougoslavie in March 1941, panic spreads across the Balkans.

In this alternate timeline, the Yugoslav resistance inspires nationalist officers and monarchists in Hongrie, Roumanie and Bulgarie to reject German domination before Opération Barbarossa even begins.

• Hungary experiences a military coup in Budapest.
• Romania’s King Michael removes the pro-German government years earlier than in OTL.
• Bulgaria refuses German troop movements and declares armed neutrality.

Suddenly, instead of reliable allies, the Balkans become a massive anti-German front.

This creates huge consequences for the war:

• Germany loses access to Romanian oil from Ploiești.
• Barbarossa is delayed by weeks or even months.
• The Wehrmacht is forced into a brutal Balkan campaign.
• Communist partisan movements explode across southeastern Europe.

Could a united Balkan revolt have changed the outcome of Seconde Guerre mondiale entirely? Or would the Axis still crush the region before turning east?

For those unfamiliar with it, the Taiping Rebellion was basically a gigantic civil war in mid-19th century China and one of the deadliest conflicts in history (probably 20–30 million deaths). It happened while the Qing dynasty was already weakened by corruption, famines, population pressure, and defeats against Western powers during the Opium Wars.

The movement was led by Hong Xiuquan, a failed scholar who, after a series of religious visions, came to believe he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ. He created the “Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,” a strange mix of Christianity, anti-Qing nationalism, and radical social reforms: banning opium and alcohol, redistributing land, attacking Confucian traditions, and promoting a degree of gender equality. In OTL they were eventually crushed by the Qing with some Western support

What if, at the time of the uprising, the Qing dynasty had collapsed, and the Taiping rebels had been better supported and organized? They would have taken control of China and managed to maintain their power.

What would have happened to the Europeans? What changes would they have implemented in the country? What would have been the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts?

Let’s imagine that the Ming Dynasty, which was in power at the time, did not turn inward but instead sent explorers eastward. On October 12, 1492, a Chinese explorer landed in the New World at the same time as Christopher Columbus

For one reason or another, the Ming leaders saw this as a huge opportunity and launched a colonization of the New World. The dynasty threw itself into this endeavor and would only back down from its project if forced to do so

How would the Europeans have reacted? What would have happened? What would the Americas have looked like?