Recent content by Octosteel

  1. Cool Hand (and Head) Ludy - messing with Germany's WWI endgame

    I guess there’s two strains of thought. One is the Entente pushes until Berlin is occupied and whatnot. They certainly had the military capability to do so and men like Foch may see that as better long term. I think this is probably the dominant strain of thought on this website, that any...
  2. The cultural fallout of France losing every war against Germany in the 20th century.

    France has historically been a very practical country. This is a nation that allied with the Ottomans to conquer fellow Catholics because it was in their national interest at the time. The two times they tried going goblin mode, a coalition of powers mostly beat them down despite a series of...
  3. REDUX: Place In The Sun: What If Italy Joined The Central Powers?

    Will be interesting post war once the Berlin to Baghdad (and then Basra) is completed, giving the Germans their Indian Ocean access they so wanted. Would be better if they get East Africa back and then it really secures that connection of Indian Ocean and then China access that bypasses the Suez...
  4. Potential candidates for a long time non fascist German dictator after a failed Weimar Republic

    Seems like a lack of feasible strongmen. Perhaps a return to the monarchy under the Kronprinz? Nobody else strikes me as viable once Hindenburg and Schleicher are both dead.
  5. Realistic path to a Central Powers-aligned US

    What stuff was being traded most with the British? Is this a case where Germany would need more profitable colonies to provide more raw resources? They were pretty strong industrially so I assume it’s not finished goods that America would want to buy from them.
  6. Realistic path to a Central Powers-aligned US

    It seems far easier to make US relations with the UK worse than make it better with Germany. Any thoughts on how to make US German relations better?
  7. Realistic path to a Central Powers-aligned US

    Essentially you need to prevent the Great Rapproachment from happening but there’s so many eastern financial interests that encouraged it that this is really hard. Perhaps Britain never loosening up their tariff wall and continuing to throw their weight around internationally without as much...
  8. No Maine Explosion

    Would more Americans try to cross into Cuba to help? Would Spain eventually lose the war? How long would the rebellion drag on? I'm also curious how even if Cuba is freed, how free it truly would be.
  9. No Maine Explosion

    What happens if the USS Maine never exploded in Havana harbor? IOTL, the US population and yellow press had been attacking the Spanish and hankering for a war for a while. The explosion of the Maine however is what made the war inevitable. So what would have happened if the Maine didn’t explode...
  10. Anybody know who else Harding considered for Veep? (ie, alternative for Coolidge as POTUS, 1923-29, or beyond)

    Harding wasn't really considering anyone, seems like it was more the party and the convention deciding. Walter Edge was vying for nomination.
  11. In ATL, would the Volkshalle and the Palace of Soviets really have been built?

    For Berlin, they have near infinite slave labor to pour huge amounts of concrete. Is there a way they can create a base to handle the weight?
  12. WI All the Ratf***ing Exposed in 1972 Election

    I think Humphrey Presidency far more likely. Muskie campaign was a total mess and that isn't going to save it.
  13. No 1959 Steel Strike, how does the Steel Industry and Organized Labor in the Rust Belt fare?

    This is fascinating. Did the newer steel mills with the hydrogen process end up surviving or did the whole American steel industry suffer that even the efficient cheaper factories just couldn't stand out? Curious to know how destined this all was.
  14. Alternate Supreme Court Justices

    Doesn't seem very likely to me. It seems more likely one of the other liberal justices would retire if that was the concern. But Fortas was not all that old and wanted to stay on the Court and had good relations with the other Justices. Besides, most people don't think they're going to die at...
  15. Alternate Supreme Court Justices

    All sourced from the book Supreme Conflict by Jan Crawford. Though we've talked about how HW ultimately was deciding between Edith Jones and David Souter for the spot of Supreme Court, early on there was actually a far more likely candidate. It was former DC Circuit Judge and then member of...
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