Introduction
This is a TL that I originally started thinking about just after Margaret Thatcher died in 2013. I was reading an article (on a blog and by an author whose names I’ve now forgotten – sorry for forgetting to credit you if you ever come across this) reflecting on her premiership and the author ruminated that, if the country had chosen the other way in 1979, “we [the UK] could have been Sweden” and that’s something that really stuck with me. I don’t believe that the direction of the British state in 1979, sans Thatcherism, would have been a Scandinavian social democracy but I wondered about the possibility of a TL where something like that did happen. But for this to occur, I realized that I would have to change a lot of things in the nineteenth century, so that the broad-based class and constitutional compromise which existed in Scandinavia by 1914 also existed in the UK. That is why this thread is posted in the post-1900 forums, where the most dramatic changes will take place, even though it will start in the 1870s.
Couple of other things to put on the table before we go any further. Firstly, this is a TL which will reflect my own political tastes and it is one where the good guys (from my POV) win. Secondly, I rely a few times on individuals who died early not dying early. Sometimes this is a case of somebody surviving an assassination attempt they didn’t IOTL but other times people will not die of illnesses that killed them ITTL. I appreciate that this is a bit ASB for some people so I’ll try and keep that kind of thing to a minimum. Thirdly, this will be a bit Britwank for some people because the UK will finish it being richer and more influential ITTL 2018 than IOTL 2018 but it’s not going to be a story about keeping the empire together post-1945. But the Commonwealth will be very different and very important ITTL so bear that in mind.
Fifthly (?), I will be keeping the focus on the UK at least for the first few decades, so please assume that the rest of the world moves on as IOTL (or, at least, with relatively inconsequential changes). I will expand my scope to cover other countries as the TL goes on. In particular, I have changes I’d like to make re the US and Russia but we can get onto that. However, I don’t want to go to wild and blunder into countries’ histories’ that I don’t know enough about and make stupid mistakes. Feel free to ask any questions about other countries not covered in the TL and I’ll do my best to answer.
Finally, this thread will sit somewhere between Type II and Type III on the Sliding Scale of Alt Histories. I try to follow through the POD logically but as time goes by that inevitably slides into speculation and (in some regards) wish fulfilment. I'm not above making some TTL figures or events mirror OTL ones where I think it works for the thread. I'll also continue to use real people with their real birthdates and places, where possible. I'll also have various inventions being invented earlier or working out better but not by anything too radical (i.e. a widget will be invented earlier but only by a few years and still at a time when such an invention would have been plausible - you're not going to have Victorians with nuclear bombs).
Also, as a way of covering my back, a lot of the ideas in the TL are hardly original and have been discussed in loads of other TLs. However, I am really enjoying the TLs ‘Why the Chinese Play Cricket’ by Miss Construction and ‘Until Every Drop of Blood is Paid’ by Red_Galiray and was also inspired by the defunct ‘East of Suez’ TL by NixonTheUsedCarSalesman. I don’t think I’ve plagiarized from them directly but I have been inspired by them so there will be some similarities. In particular, Miss Construction’s account of a WW1 without British involvement is compelling and Red_Galiray’s description of a more radical US Civil War and Reconstruction will be the seed of my description of ITTL USA if I ever get round to it.
Anyway, if you’re interested then give this thread a subscribe. All feedback is welcome.
Couple of other things to put on the table before we go any further. Firstly, this is a TL which will reflect my own political tastes and it is one where the good guys (from my POV) win. Secondly, I rely a few times on individuals who died early not dying early. Sometimes this is a case of somebody surviving an assassination attempt they didn’t IOTL but other times people will not die of illnesses that killed them ITTL. I appreciate that this is a bit ASB for some people so I’ll try and keep that kind of thing to a minimum. Thirdly, this will be a bit Britwank for some people because the UK will finish it being richer and more influential ITTL 2018 than IOTL 2018 but it’s not going to be a story about keeping the empire together post-1945. But the Commonwealth will be very different and very important ITTL so bear that in mind.
Fifthly (?), I will be keeping the focus on the UK at least for the first few decades, so please assume that the rest of the world moves on as IOTL (or, at least, with relatively inconsequential changes). I will expand my scope to cover other countries as the TL goes on. In particular, I have changes I’d like to make re the US and Russia but we can get onto that. However, I don’t want to go to wild and blunder into countries’ histories’ that I don’t know enough about and make stupid mistakes. Feel free to ask any questions about other countries not covered in the TL and I’ll do my best to answer.
Finally, this thread will sit somewhere between Type II and Type III on the Sliding Scale of Alt Histories. I try to follow through the POD logically but as time goes by that inevitably slides into speculation and (in some regards) wish fulfilment. I'm not above making some TTL figures or events mirror OTL ones where I think it works for the thread. I'll also continue to use real people with their real birthdates and places, where possible. I'll also have various inventions being invented earlier or working out better but not by anything too radical (i.e. a widget will be invented earlier but only by a few years and still at a time when such an invention would have been plausible - you're not going to have Victorians with nuclear bombs).
Also, as a way of covering my back, a lot of the ideas in the TL are hardly original and have been discussed in loads of other TLs. However, I am really enjoying the TLs ‘Why the Chinese Play Cricket’ by Miss Construction and ‘Until Every Drop of Blood is Paid’ by Red_Galiray and was also inspired by the defunct ‘East of Suez’ TL by NixonTheUsedCarSalesman. I don’t think I’ve plagiarized from them directly but I have been inspired by them so there will be some similarities. In particular, Miss Construction’s account of a WW1 without British involvement is compelling and Red_Galiray’s description of a more radical US Civil War and Reconstruction will be the seed of my description of ITTL USA if I ever get round to it.
Anyway, if you’re interested then give this thread a subscribe. All feedback is welcome.
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