Franz's World

June 28, 1914, was a tough day for Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. While in Sarajevo a bomb was thrown at him, he was shot at and worst of all, he lost his temper in front of the Mayor of Sarajevo! This stressful day, however, would be forgotten by events in the future. In 1916, he Franz Ferdinand became Emperor of Austria-Hungary and is plan to create the United States of Greater Austria (USGA) resulted in the Third Balkan War. Though he died young, no one can say his work did not have a profound effect on the USGA and the world. This is Franz's World.

The World
Franz's World has some key differences from our own:


 * Politics: Without the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, World War I never happened and neither did the Russian Revolution, World War II or the Cold War. Meanwhile diplomacy, shifting alliances and, thanks to a few German scientists, mutually assured destruction kept the great powers from going to war.  This is not a world of one or two superpowers controlling the world, but several minor powers carving out their spheres of influence in the world.  This is not a world of peace though, but a world where wars are regional and not global.
 * Society: Without the horrors of the Holocaust and global war, ideas such as the value of human life, civil rights and feminism, are only in their infancy. Overt racism, sexism and antisemitism are still prevalent, but they are slowly being eradicated by those few people by their words and actions are fighting against them.
 * Science & Technology: The world isn't exactly less advanced then our own, its just that science took a different path. Airships still remain the preferred method of long distance travel, even with airplanes in existence.  Though it took longer to put a man in space, it was not done using a rocket but with a "spaceplane."  Nuclear power is also used more in this world then in ours.
 * Empires: While some of the colonies did gain their independence, the old empires still exist in some form or another. The difference is that the colonies have more say in what happens to them.

Content

 * Timeline
 * Nations