Alternative History:POD

A Point Of Divergence, or POD, is a point in a timeline where history begins to change from our timeline. Prior to the POD, history runs the same as in our timeline. This page is intended as a summary of the PODs of all the alternative histories covered on this website.

Background
Points of Divergence often centered around wars, as it is in these moments that history turns one way or another. Series of books written by Harry Turtledove and others pick these times, as one change of the result of even the smallest of battles can have a great effect on the outcome of the war, and in turn the future of those involved.

BCE to 900s

 * 4.6 billion BCE
 * Maximum Systema - A different solar system starting with a greater gravitational field being owned by our Sun.


 * 4.56 billion BCE
 * White Star Jupiter - Jupiter is formed into a white dwarf star instead of a gas giant. This enables the habitation of all planets in our solar system.


 * 4.5 billion BCE
 * Luna: Earth II - The Moon's core is 960 km in diameter instead of a mere 480 km. This led to a stronger gravity, a magnetic field and eventually, its own lifeforms.


 * 3.70 billion BCE
 * A World Apart - Life forms on an entirely different continental system than that of traditional earth, causing human society to develop an entirely different history.


 * 500 million BCE
 * Habitable Mars - Mars retains a thin but breathable atmosphere, as well as a protective radiation belt. Plant and insect life soon develop on the planet.


 * 251 million BCE
 * Permian Extinction: Civilization - Sapient lifeforms and civilization emerge just in time for the Permian extinction.


 * 65 million BCE
 * Tooth and Claw - A large meteorite fails to hit the Earth, instead hitting the Moon.
 * The British Ain't Coming - A large asteroid hits the landmass that would have become the British Isles, destroying the landmass and triggering a mass extinction.


 * 40 million BCE
 * Santa Clara - OTL Juan Fernández Hotspot cracks to open a rift valley that divides the Nazca plate, thus allowing the formation of a big volcanic island on the coasts of South America.


 * 200,000 BCE
 * Zera - A small group of Homo Erectus crosses the Bering land bridge and develops in the Americas.


 * 20,000 BCE
 * Great White South - The climate around the Earth's South Pole warms significantly, enabling humans inhabiting the Antarctic continent.


 * 13,000 BCE
 * ​Blank Slate - The would-be first Amerindians to cross the Bering Land Bridge turn around, leaving a pristine continent until it is later discovered and settled.


 * 9,000 BCE
 * The Green North - The glaciers retreat to the poles. However, instead of staying on the Arctic Circle, the ice melts into the ocean, enabling future human colonization.


 * 4004 BCE
 * No Supernatural Intervention - Adam and Eve leave a suddenly inhospitable rainforest to begin civilization in the fertile plains. They had never encountered the Creator God who chose to remain aloof from his creation.


 * 2000 BCE
 * No Abraham - Biblical Abraham dies as a young boy, never inspiring the Abrahamic Religions.


 * 800 BCE
 * A World without Rome - A young Latin Rome is destroyed by the Ligures and Etruscans, with profound influence on human history.
 * No Rome - Amulius' orders to have Romulus and Remus executed to secure his rule over Alba Longa is successful.


 * 405 BCE
 * Athenian Legacy - The Athenians decisively defeat the Spartans in the infamous Peloponnesian War, forever changing the course of democracy's founding father.


 * 380 BCE
 * Plato Succeeds - Plato's Republic is put into practice by Alexander the Great after a near fatal accident causes his teacher Aristotle to promote his own teachers work on statehood.


 * 331 BCE
 * Nothing Changes - The philosopher Anaxarchus is injured in the battle of Gaugamela. He and Pyrrho temporarily stay in Babylon before moving to Alexandria - bringing the concept of the number zero with them.


 * 323 BCE
 * Alexander Empire - Alexander the Great does not die, but instead lives to be 86 and unites the Middle East and Europe under his dynasty.
 * Whims of Fortune - Alexander the Great survives longer and the Empire stays together centuries longer.


 * 216 BCE
 * Whims of Fortune - Carthage and Macedon overcome Rome in the Second Italian War.


 * 200 BCE
 * Ahtobiton - Germanic tribes unite and conquer much of Europe.


 * 57 & 48 BCE
 * Cupiditate Regni Adductus - A change in a minor Parthian dynastic struggle leads to the survival of a certain Surena, who, assisted by the untimely death of Julius Caesar, leads to a humbled and very different Rome, and a Parthian empire stretching from Illyricum to China.


 * 30 BCE
 * Ætas ab Brian - An Egyptian historian of the 1950's fell through time to influence Ptolemaic Egypt into seriously contesting Roman expansion.


 * 12 BCE
 * Roma Invicta - Augustus successfully colonizes Germania, Arminius is betrayed.


 * 32
 * Christ Dynasty - Jesus Christ takes a less peaceful approach, but still emphasizing himself as the Messiah and son of God. He leads a rebellion establishing an Empire.


 * 33
 * No Christianity World - Jesus of Nazareth is not crucified. In fact, he is released. Christianity lasts for less than a hundred years.


 * 79
 * Savior of Pompeii - An explorer rescues the people of Pompeii, saving over 20,000 people.


 * 173
 * Superpowers - Marcus Aurelius encounters an intelligent young Greek boy in his tour of the provinces, and he is made his successor over Commodius.


 * 282
 * The Kazakhstan Meeting - A deadly disease wipes out the Huns.


 * 324
 * Seven Roman States - Roman Emperor Constantine fails to reunite the Empire, leaving the East divided in half and separate from the West.


 * 355
 * Roman Superiority - The Roman Empire splits into thirds, creating the Western Roman Empire, Eastern Roman Empire and the Southern Roman Empire.
 * Rise of Rome - Diocletian refuses demands to split Rome into East and West.


 * 375
 * Germanic Power - The young catechumen Ambrose dies.


 * 394
 * Superpowers - Quich'en Ch'onle Mayapan is born in the Mayan city-state of Calakmul and later discovers the wheel, gunpowder, cement and joins the Mayan cities together into a Conglomerate.


 * 411
 * Germanic Power - Theodosius, son of the Imperial Princess Gallia Placida and Athaulf, King of the Visigoths, is born and survives to a ripe old age.


 * 560
 * They Are Protected - The Kingdom of Cambria is formed.


 * 632
 * Fidem Pacis: Emperor Heraclius converts to Islam. The rest of the Roman Empire and Europe soon follow, creating a slightly more peaceful and tolerant world.
 * Without Muslims - After Mohammad´s death, the Muslims break apart and Islam doesn't last, because Europeans conquer them quickly.


 * 642
 * Penda Dies - Oswald of Northumbria defeats and kills Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Maserfield.


 * 755
 * Easternized World - The Tang Dynasty lasts into the late 10th century. After a new dynasty takes over, China takes over much of Asia.


 * 776
 * New Wessex 776 - A group of West Saxons follow their bishop's dream and settle in southern Maryland.


 * 812
 * Papatlaca - A Mayan farmer catches a disease which ultimately spreads to the entire world.


 * 850
 * China's industrial-age space program - Instead of discovering gunpowder, the Chinese discover explosives, beginning a series of events culminating into an early space age.


 * 889
 * Ard Marjhoola - Ibn Aswad, a Muslim navigator brings definite proof of discovery, leading to Muslim expansion into the Americas.


 * 933
 * Burgundy Survives - Rudolph II cedes his claims to the Kingdom of Italy to Hugh of Arles. In return, he gains the Kingdom of Provence, thus reuniting the two territories of Burgundy.


 * 934
 * The Kalmar Union - Norway falls apart permanently after the death of Harold Fairhair. The ensuing chaos there causes wide repercussions in Scandinavia, Europe and North America.


 * 937
 * Burgundy Survives - Battle of Brunanburh - the allied forces of Dublin, Scotland and Strathclyde defeat the English.


 * 960
 * Chinese World - Zhao Kuangyin is defeated in his attempt to take the throne of Northern China. No Song Dynasty gets control of China.


 * 962
 * Vegetarian World - Muslim invaders were never able to establish a foothold in the Indian Subcontinent. India prospers and becomes stronger, and is more Vedic in religion.

1000s

 * 1000
 * Greater Britain - All territories - Aethelgwythr founds the Kingdom of Britannia from eight smaller Kingdoms.


 * 1003
 * Ericson's Vinland - Leif Ericson encourages Greenlanders to settle Vinland after he discovers the island and stays there for a winter. After the Greenlanders create several successful settlements, word gets out to Iceland that a more hospitable land than Greenland has been found. This encourages Icelandic settlement and the establishment of a permanent colony.


 * 1013
 * Vikings in the New World - In OTL, the settlement in Vinland was stopped because the natives had begun to get aggressive. But what if the Vikings were willing to fight for what they had conquered?


 * 1014
 * The Clontarf Split - After the Battle of Clontarf, Sigtrygg Silkbeard is gifted land north of Dublin, the Orkney Isles and the Isle of Man.


 * 1066
 * The Battle of Caldbeck - Harold Godwinson sends his brother Gyrth to strengthen his left flank at the battle of Hastings.

1100s

 * 1100
 * Henry II Dies In 1100 - Henry II of England dies less than a day after his crowning.


 * 1176
 * The Eagle Lives - The Byzantines defeat the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Myriokephalon.


 * 1185
 * Superpowers - Temujin prevents the Merkits from kidnapping his wife Borte, leaving no doubt in the father of his son Jochi.

1200s

 * 1200
 * Chaos & Total Chaos - Genghis Khan dies from a very unlucky fall from his horse.


 * 1209
 * Vegetarian World - The Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of Languedoc is a failure, eventually making vegetarianism in Europe stronger, and strengthening Occitanian areas, which would become part of the free nation of Catatania.


 * 1210
 * Assassins - The Hashshashin leader, Hassan III of Alamut comes to power. He develops the order to include any individual who is deemed worthy, not just Muslims. The sect survives into the modern era.


 * 1212
 * Of Lions and Falcons - The Christian armies of Castile, Portugal, Navarre and Aragon defeated by the Almohad army at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.


 * 1254
 * Age of Asia - Marco Polo dies at birth, and increased bandit activity along the Silk Road leaves it closed, dramatically changing history.


 * 1282
 * Myomi Republic - After delaying their invasion for one year, the Mongols invade Japan, resulting in the collapse of Bakufu government (the Shogunate) and the extinction of the samurai military class.

1300s

 * 1306
 * What Habsburgs? - Stephen of Poland, the son of Wladyslaw the Elbow, survives and marries Elisabeth of Bohemia.


 * 1307
 * Le Fleur de lys - The engagement between Princess Isabella of France and Prince Edward is canceled.


 * 1331
 * Plowce et Crecy - Prince Casimir of Poland dies in the battle of Plowce, causing Poland to be in union with Bohemia again and the English are defeated in the Hundred Years War.

1400s

 * 1402
 * All Under Heaven - China manages to subdue the Mongols and brings them under Chinese rule.


 * 1403
 * House of Percy - Henry 'Hotspur' Percy is not killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury.


 * 1415
 * An East-West Reformation - Jan Hus refuses the invitation to the Diet of Constance.


 * 1429
 * Joan of Arc Beaten - The clash of English and French arms at Orleans ends with Joan of Arc beaten.


 * 1448
 * The Purple Mantle - The sudden assassination of Murad II and his son Mehmet II prior to the Second Battle of Kosovo, causes a great defeat to the Ottoman State, and prevents the future fall of Constantinople in Turkish hands (during 1453).


 * 1478
 * Italia! - Aragon never forms Spain with Castile, and Granada is fighting them to stay Muslim. Later in 1485, Italy is reunited, and in 1492, Italy helps Christopher Columbus with The New World Discovery, instead of Spain. Sneaking through the Caliphate of Granada unharmed, Italy replaces The Spanish Empire, claiming all of OTL Spain's claims, making a bigger and better Italian Empire.


 * 1485
 * A Kingdom and a Horse - Richard of York wins at Bosworth, ending the Wars of the Roses with a Yorkist Victory.


 * 1492
 * Cabotia and Brasil - Isabella of Castile is not convinced by Christopher Columbus' proposal to reach the Indies by sailing westwards.
 * Via Latina - The lands discovered by Columbus become known as the Columbias instead of the Americas.


 * 1493
 * The Andean Wars - The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria become caught in a force five hurricane and all perish.

1500s

 * 1503
 * Fidei Defensor - Henry, son of Henry VII dies of tuberculosis contracted from his brother Arthur; this leaves the succession of the English throne to Margaret, wife of James IV of Scotland.


 * 1524
 * ​Nordic Empires  - King Gustav I of Sweden exploits negativity towards Danish rule in Norway, aiding rebel forces to expel Denmark. A war ensues between the crowns of Sweden and Denmark.


 * 1527
 * Vicuña of the East - Some of Francisco Pizarro's horses fall ill with colic, leading to a failure in his expedition to Peru.


 * 1550
 * English World - England, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany unify as the United Kingdom of the British Isles and Brittany.


 * 1552
 * Ottoman World - The Ottoman Empire conquers the fort of Eger in Hungary.


 * 1557
 * Hindustani Raj - In the Battle of Panipat, Samrat Hemu manages to defeat the Mughal armies in the Second Battle of Panipat and changes the course of Indian history forever.


 * 1592
 * Toyotomi Japan - Yi Sun-sin dies in an accident. His death allows Toyotomi's invasion to succeed.


 * 1593
 * Chinese America - China begins colonizing America, leaving a very different continent in its wake.

1600s

 * 1601
 * An Mhaidín Mhaith sá Chionn tSáile - A storm delays the arrival of British troops to battle the Spanish in Kinsale in Cork. The Irish army of Hugh O'Neill and Hugh (The Red) O'Donnell meet up with the Spanish first and defeat the English at Kinsale. This leads to the Anglo-Hibernian War and severely reduces Britain's ability to forge a colonial Empire for quite some time.


 * 1607
 * ​Dragon Awakens  - A young Xu Hongzu was abducted by pirates along the coast of Jiangsu after a last-ditch attempt by the pirates to get enough slaves before returning to their island outposts. However, a storm destroyed the pirate's flotilla and Xu, along with the other survivors, were saved by a Portuguese merchant ship.


 * 1635
 * Pragfreden - Sweden withdraws from (what we know as) the Thirty Years' War much earlier. The war ends much earlier, and Sweden moves on to conquer much of Prussia. The international precedents of the Treaty of Westphalia do not take place.


 * 1643
 * Empire of Forever - The Spanish Tercios win the battle of Rocroi against the French, thus avoiding the decline of Spanish dominance on Europe.


 * 1652
 * Vereenigde West-Indische Provinciën - The Dutch Republic wins a resounding victory in the Anglo-Dutch War and not only continues, but also expands its colonization efforts in the "West Indian" lands; giving birth to a very Dutch America.


 * 1658
 * Cromwell the Great - The English Protectorate survives and thrives. The goals of the British Civil Wars, no king, no bishop, no lords are achieved. The Interregnum (1649–60) becomes permanent.


 * 1683
 * 1683: Fall of Vienna - Austrian and Holy Roman Empire forces are defeated at the Battle of Vienna and the city falls to the Ottomans. The House of Habsburg is forced to flee Westward to escape the advancing Ottoman forces.

1700s

 * 1702
 * No Great Britain - In response to the English “Act of Settlement” of 1701 to bar Catholics from the throne of England, Scotland enacts the “Act of Succession” that allows only Catholics to ascend to the throne of Scotland.


 * 1709
 * Louisiana Revolution - During the Great Frost of 1709, word reaches war-torn, famine-ridden France of a plentiful harvest and milder weather in the colony of Louisiana, leading to the exponential growth and development of the colony into a territory that can rival Britain's American claims.


 * 1713
 * Unbalance - The Treaty of Utrecht are signed in March, ending the War of Spanish Succession. However, France refuses to cede Newfoundland to Britain, sparking tensions between the two great nations.


 * 1735
 * USA Kingdom - A third son is born to James Francis Stuart (the Old Pretender); James Maria Robert Stuart. His mother, Maria Clementina Sobieska, dies two days after giving birth.


 * 1753
 * Washington Shot at Murdering Town! - George Washington killed in his very first military mission.


 * 1754
 * Here we go again - The British Government accepts the terms of the Albany Congress, making sure that America remains British.


 * 1754
 * Spanish Commonwealth - Fernando VI de España denounced the treaty of Madrid or 'Permuta' signed shortly before with Portugal, which inaugurated a period of strength in real decisions about the other European powers.


 * 1760
 * Day of Glory - Montcalm waits for reinforcements and manages to hold on to Québec.


 * 1762
 * British Louisiana - The British fail to capture Cuba during the Seven Years War. Spain does not lose Florida and Louisiana is handed to the United Kingdom instead.


 * 1776
 * Changed Destiny - Alternate Founding Fathers leads to an America with a changed destiny.


 * 1777
 * No Destiny - Thirteen colonies dreaming of independence, fight without French, Spanish, Dutch or any other help. They gain independence in 1786, but war is hard and the government of the States and its citizens do not agree on the idea of Manifest Destiny. They also don´t migrate to the West Coast, so the original United States are still on the East Coast of North America and does not attempt to offend the Treaty of Paris in 1783, so Florida, Canada and the land west of the Mississippi river go uncolonized. A world with a real peaceful and not militarist USA.
 * Howe's March - British General William Howe decides to go with John Burgoyne's plan of attacking Saratoga, instead of attacking Philadelphia.
 * The Third British Empire - The British are aided by Native Americans at the battle of Princetown, and George Washington is surrounded and killed.


 * 1778
 * USA Kingdom - George Washington is captured by the British during the Battle of Monmouth. He is later tried and executed for treason. Congress asks James Roberts to take command of the Continental Army.


 * 1784
 * Divergence Factor -0.229 - Thomas Jefferson's proposal to ban slavery in all new territory after 1802 is ratified by a narrow margin. Expansion of slavery is not an issue. The Republican Party is never formed. New England secedes, leading to civil war.


 * 1786
 * King of America - The offer made to Prince Henry of Prussia is not revoked before he can make a decision. The prince, after numerous attempts to become a monarch of different nations in Europe, agrees, leading to the United States becoming a constitutional monarchy.


 * 1787
 * Federal States of America - At the Philadelphia Convention (25 May to 17 September 1787), slavery and the slave-trade were outlawed in the new constitution, leading to three states (Georgia and the two Carolinas) not joining the new union and thus remaining governed by the 1777 Articles of Confederation.


 * 1788
 * Russian America Expansion - Sitting in bed after a thoroughly enjoyable birthday, a thought pops into Catherine II's head about expanding the Russian Empire. The next day she announces her plans to send an expedition into OTL Alaska. This expedition which was never held in OTL is extremely successful and Russian America starts beginning to be expanded almost immediately.


 * 1789
 * ​World of Monarchies - George Washington becomes king George I, which leads to a civil war. The French revolution is crushed with the help of the victorious American monarchists and the world is still ruled mostly by monarchs until this day.


 * 1790
 * Washington's Flu - George Washington dies of pneumonia.


 * 1793
 * Long live the Qing! - Lord Macartney's diplomatic mission to China is a full success, leading to industrialization in Imperial China.


 * 1795
 * Ahtobiton - The Grand Duchy of Lithuania does not fall.


 * 1797
 * Adams Dies 1797 - US President Adams dies, leaving ascending VP Jefferson to ally with revolutionary France.
 * No Napoleon - dies due to disease, a month before the end of the, causing the French Republic to continue to continue to be one of the most influential nations in the world.

1800s

 * 1803
 * How we lost Louisiana and won Mexico - The United States fails to purchase Louisiana. Instead Napoleon cedes Louisiana to the British who block American advance beyond the Mississippi. The outcome is a hundred years of fierce enmity and wars between a USA much smaller than in OTL and a much bigger Canada.


 * 1805
 * French Trafalgar, British Waterloo - The Battle of Trafalgar is won by the French, allowing the French Empire of Napoleon to prosper, and survive to this day.

1810s

 * 1812
 * Napoleon's America - Napoleon never goes through with his attempt to invade Russia. Instead, he sends troops to America after winning the Peninsular War. The addition of New Spain, Louisiana, and Quebec to the French Empire enables him to conquer most of Europe.


 * 1814
 * 1812 closure - The British win the Battle of Plattsburg, allowing them to dictate terms ending the North American war of 1812.


 * 1815
 * Short-lived US - The British win the Battle of New Orleans, and General Pakenham insists on occupying it even after word has reached him that the war is over. President Madison re-declares war in response.


 * 1817
 * Russian Pacific - Georg Anton Schaffer receives information that the Tsar would be sending an entire fleet of warships to assist in the take over of the Hawaiian Archeipelago.

1820s

 * 1820
 * ​Caroline Era - Augustus De Morgan is not discovered copying diagrams from Euclid by a family friend and as a result, Moore's Law does not apply.


 * 1822
 * 1822: Brazil split - D. Pedro, Prince Regent of Brazil, goes back to Portugal, which leads to many wars of independence and the splitting of Brazil into several countries.
 * Greater Colombia - Bolívar and San Marti agree on a common path to free South America.


 * 1828
 * Zulu - Dingane, Mhlangana and Induna, are all killed by Shaka Kasenzangakhona when they attempt to usurp the Zulu throne.

1830s

 * 1830
 * Chinese Meiji - China starts a modernization program in the 1840s, overthrows the Qing dynasty, and sets up a constitutional monarchy. The result is a drastically different 20th century, where Germany dominates Europe and the Middle East is one of the most stable regions in the world.


 * 1831
 * No Belgium - The French do not intervene in the, causing the Dutch to officially suppress the revolution. The French annex Wallonia, the predominantly French-speaking region, and the World Wars (as with the world) would never be the same.

1840s

 * 1840
 * No Gold Rush - James W. Marshall dies of malaria in Missouri.


 * 1843
 * Viva California - John Tyler is impeached and replaced by the radical and pro-slavery David Rice Atchinson.


 * 1848
 * Nationalism 1848 - Otto von Bismarck joins the Frankfurt Parliament and champions for German unification. Franz Joseph I's invasion of Hungary fails spectacularly.
 * Victorious 1848 - The Austrian Empire collapses when the Viennese revolution succeeds. Andrew I becomes the Spanish King.

1850s

 * 1850
 * Conflict in the SouthWest - After being defeated in the short but bloody Mormon War, the citizens of the Deseret region of Utah, Nevada, Western Colorado, Southern Idaho and Wyoming and South Eastern California, tempers simmer until they flare up in 2003, causing the Deseret Conflict.


 * 1852
 * Taiping China - The Taiping rebel army marches on to Beijing instead of settling in at Nanking; the overthrow of the Qing dynasty brings about a Taiping China.
 * Rebellion of 61 - "Stonewall" Jackson dies, Union forces win First Battle of Bull Run, ending the Civil War.


 * 1853
 * The Right Blunder - Austria intervenes with Russia in the Crimean War, leading to a hard-won but tangible victory, changing the European alliance system forever.


 * 1854
 * Under The Southern Cross - The rebels win the Battle of Eureka Stockade, starting a full-scale Australian independence war supported by the United States, Russia, and the Netherlands.

1860s

 * 1860
 * World Without Science - Charles Darwin's trial begins. The sentencing for his "demonic" crime against the Bible is the death penalty. Supporters of evolution are persecuted and people fear any type of science in general.
 * Cotton Party - Jefferson Davis wins the presidency leading to the free states seceding.


 * 1861
 * A Southron World - General Ulysses S. Grant is repulsed in his attempt to capture Paducah, Kentucky by Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk. The mouth of the Tennessee River is under control of Confederate Forces.
 * A House Divided but Strong - Following the First battle of Bull Run, the US congress makes a peace offering to the south and the CSA and USA stand side by side in the world.


 * 1862
 * The Confederate Utopia - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated. After a much longer Civil War, the Confederacy is triumphant.
 * Axis World - General George Meade dies from his injuries at the Battle of Glendale, depriving the Union of his talents at Gettysburg and leading to a Confederate victory, which in turn alters world history drastically.
 * Confederacy wins Antietam- The Confederacy wins the Battle of Antietam, and is eventually granted independence, becoming a world power because of slavery and cotton.
 * Their Gallant Dead- Jefferson Davis falls down a flight of stairs in Richmond, incapacitating him for the next few months. The militarily inexperienced Confederate VP appoints Gen. Lee as the South's commander-in-chief.


 * 1863
 * The First Stone - Braxton Bragg defeats William Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River.
 * Give Them the Bayonet! - General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson leaves Chancellorsville unscathed and leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to victory at Gettysburg.
 * No Gettysburg - Confederate President Davis sends General Longstreet to reinforce the West, rather than approving Lee's plans for invading the North.
 * Eye of the Storm - Confederate forces, under General Robert E. Lee, wipe out the Union army at the Battle of Gettysburg.


 * 1864
 * Rout at the Monocacy - Jubal A. Early takes Washington.


 * 1865
 * Japanese Alaska - William H. Seward is assassinated.
 * The Maxim - A shipment of steam boilers gets mixed up, resulting in the death of Hiram Maxim in 1865, and the survival of Anthony Duram, who advances naval technology greatly.


 * 1866
 * Eastern Awakening - A worse outcome of the General Sherman incident had the Western powers react more brutally against Korea and had forced it to modernize, saving it from possible Japanese annexation.
 * Rise of the Second Empire - Napoleon III's French Empire enters the Austro-Prussian War on Austria's side.


 * 1868
 * Rebellion of 61 - The Kōmon Emperor (Kōmei *here*) does not die. As a result, Japan's modernization takes place differently.

1870s

 * 1870
 * The Legacy of the Glorious: Eusebio Salazar y Mazarredo's telegram detailing the time of his arrival to Madrid with Leopold zu Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen's confirmation of his candidacy to the Spanish Crown arrives correctly, stating his date of arrival as July 6th (In RL, it said July 26th).

1880s

 * 1881
 * Greater Russia - Alexander II of Russia is not killed by anarchists and the Russian Empire lasts to the present day.
 * Russian Reversal - Tsar Alexander II of Russia is not killed by Narodnaya Volya and is able to change Russia into a constitutional monarchy.


 * 1882
 * Central Italy - The Kingdom of Italy enters the alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary under more favourable conditions, ensuring her loyalty when the Great War breaks out.


 * 1885
 * Long Live The Czar - Czar Alexander II is not assassinated. The Russian Empire survives to the modern day.


 * 1887
 * Long Live Kaiser Friedrich III! - Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm is diagnosed with throat cancer. A risky and complicated procedure to remove the tumor is successfully completed.


 * 1888
 * The Boulanger Era - General Georges Boulanger stages a coup d'etat and becomes France's Head of State.


 * 1889
 * Imperial Machines - Erich von Schweetz is born in Germany and Wreck-It Ralph franchise exits from 1889. Schweetz Publishers AB (Europalis) is founded in this year.

1890s

 * 1890
 * Germany Didn't Drop the Pilot - Kaiser Wilhelm II is content to allow Otto von Bismark to control the government, as Wilhelm I was.


 * 1897
 * A Good Heart - Lighter Than Air - David Schwarz does not have a heart attack in 1897 and airship development progresses significantly.
 * 1899
 * The Second Sun - Philippine general Antonio Luna is not assassinated in the Philippine-American War, and Sun Yat-sen successfully sends infantry equipment to the Philippine Army.

1900s

 * 1904
 * Early World War I - The Dogger Bank incident isn't solved diplomatically and it causes Britain to join Japan against the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War; this eventually expands into a World War.


 * 1908
 * London Event - A meteor destroys London and kills almost her entire population. The Pope claims it is a punishment of God. Europeans start sacking the London ruins and land occupation starts after a decree from German Emperor Wilhelm II.
 * Close Encounters of the Third Reich - The destruction of a spacecraft over the Tunguska region of Russia leads to three further crashes on the European continent in the 1930s; one in Fascist Italy and two in Nazi Germany - giving the Axis a decisive advantage in the coming war.

1910s

 * 1912
 * Progressive USA - Roosevelt does much better in the 1912 Presidential election, not enough to win, but its enough to establish the Progressives as a viable party. This is in part due to a coalition with Eugene Debs. From 1912 to 1916 the Progressives make step by step gains in the House and Senate and in both years get more votes then the Republicans, although they are defeated by the Democrats.


 * 1913
 * Schlieffen's Plan - Instead of dying in this year, Alfred Graf von Schlieffen lives long enough to guide the German Army to victory in the Great War.


 * 1914
 * 1914: Failed Plot - The unknown member of the Black Hand gun does not misfire, thus not causing Franz Ferdinand to take an alternate route. The members are arrested before they could do anything.
 * Successful German Socialist Revolution - Friedrich Ebert, the head of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), dies in an automobile accident. Germany ultimately becomes socialist and the USA (an Axis power) decides to nuke Berlin.
 * Princip Arrest - A terrorist named Gavrilo Princip is arrested before he assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Tensions between major world powers continue and increase.
 * Gavrilo Princip-World War - A terrorist named Gavrilo Princip is captured and killed before being able to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. Europe keeps peace and after years of stability, war breaks out in 1930.
 * Imperial glory - Princip decides to eat his sandwich inside the food store instead of taking it with him.
 * Last Chance for Peace - Wilhelm withdraws his "blank check" offer to Austria Hungary. The Dual Monarchy is forced to fight Russia by themselves, resulting in a delayed WW-I with different alliances.
 * A Different World War II and Cold War – Instead of wheeling east, Kluck's army drives into Paris, crushing the French, ending the war way earlier than normal.
 * The War To End All Wars – The Great War plays out differently and has massive side effects that changed the world forever.
 * Twilight of a New Era (1914-1964) – What could have happened if the Archduke wasn't assassinated in 1914? This alternative history explores and develops that idea and the possible events that follow. This alternative history is on a limited timeline. It only develops events between 1914-1964.


 * 1916
 * World War III-1956 - Lester Pearson, future Minister of External Affairs for Canada, dies in a bus accident.
 * Kornilovshina - General Lavr Kornilov's coup succeeds.
 * Red Scare World - Adolf Hitler dies when he gets struck by lightning.
 * For Want of an Inch - Adolf Hitler perishes during the Somme Offensive.


 * 1917
 * Kaiser's Age - Britain never cracked Germany's diplomatic code during World War I.
 * EEC - The Pleß conference (Kaiser Wilhelm, Reichskanzler, Army and Navy leaders, Silesia, Germany) is delayed, thus delaying the resumption of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare. A proposal for a peace conference by American President Wilson is then accepted by Germany and the Quadruple allies, but rejected by the Entente allies. The USA does not enter the War, Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare later in the year, resulting in a negotiated peace in mid 1918.
 * Oystralia (State of Sion, Australian Confederacy) - The Balfour Declaration of 1917 had been intended as a formal but classified statement of policy by the British government on the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the World War I. The letter stated the position that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine, with the condition that nothing should be done which might prejudice the rights of existing communities there. However, in the aftermath of the First World War, with the British commitment to establishing Arab successor states in the former Ottoman domain, the Declaration was not accepted by the Cabinet. Chaim Weizman and other Zionists found their further settlement blocked in the Holy Land. The formerly dismissed Uganda Plan and other territorial schemes under the protection of the British Empire were dusted off for new consideration. Balfour and Lloyd George were amenable, and the colonization scheme that led to the State of Sion was born.
 * Goddard's legacy - Mexico declares war on the USA, thus allowing Robert Goddard a chance for rocketry to make an earlier appearance on the battlefield.
 * Capitalists of the World, Unite - The German railroad car smuggling Lenin into St Petersburg is intercepted by pro-Tsarist forces and Lenin is executed along with his compatriots. A battered Russia remains in World War I and Communism never takes root.
 * WWII Backwards - The October Revolution fails and Lenin is executed. Russia is still forced to leave WWI early, earning the ire (and extreme financial punishment) of the other allied powers. The remaining Bolsheviks are exiled to Germany, where they assist the Sparticist League in forming a German communist state. Russia becomes a republic. In 1933 Russia elects Josef Dzhugashvili as Prime Minister on the platform that communists are to blame for all of Russia's trouble. Russia invades Poland en route to Germany to wreak vengeance on the communists. WWII begins.


 * 1918
 * Ready for the Mother Country - Prince Alexei and Alexandria Romanov escape from their prison, and Alexei takes full command of the White army.
 * Armistice Forever - World War I ends as usual on November 11. This time, however, at the decisive Treaty of Versailles, the Allied Powers decided to invite Germany, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Poland, Mexico, and Japan to the negotiations. Only Russia, which is still engulfed in a revolution, is excluded from the conference.
 * Temporal Incursion 1918 - 1st Lieutenant John Nichols was supposed to die at the Battle of Belleau Wood, but instead he was rescued by what he later called an 'angel.' This angel is in fact a time traveler from an unspecified time period in a possible future. Nichols' survival ultimately changes America and the world in various ways.


 * 1919
 * Red Germany - Hitler dies in World War I. Following the war, the Communists make a strong showing in the first-ever German democratic elections and quickly take control of Germany, leading to major changes in World War II and a strong alliance with the USSR.
 * The American Empire - FDR and Mitchell Palmer are killed by a bomb planted by an anarchist in Palmer's library.
 * To Comrade Trotsky, The World - Stalin dies of Tuberculosis. Mikhail Kalinin is appointed by Lenin in his place. Lenin is assassinated by anti-Communist white Russians while inspecting the units of the Red Guard in 1921 just outside Moscow. He is succeeded by Leon Trotsky.

1920s

 * 1921
 * Nein - Promising German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein dies during his first visit to the USA. He never makes contact with Ernest Rutherford or Leó Szilárd and the Manhattan Project is never born. A world without useful atomic energy, a world without the Person of the Century.
 * The Hammer of America - FDR dies from accelerated polio, which leads to Al Smith becoming president, resulting in a Second American Civil War, and the creation of a socialist state in America.


 * 1923
 * Trotsky Succeeds Lenin - Lenin’s papers criticizing Stalin are published and Stalin never comes to power.


 * 1925
 * Pink Money Power - The Society for Human Rights is not financially destroyed by a series of trials in Chicago.


 * 1926
 * Free Catalonia - Riccioti Garibaldi is not a fascist spy, so the conspiracy organized in southern France to proclaim Catalan independence from Spain is not discovered in time to avoid it.

1930s

 * 1933
 * No FDR - Franklin Roosevelt, not Anton Cermak, is struck and hit in the lung by Giuseppe Zangara and killed. John Nance Garner, his Vice-President, takes over but without Roosevelt's leadership, the Depression lingers for years longer and there is no impetus to become less isolationist.


 * 1936
 * No Keynes - John Maynard Keynes neglects to publish General Theory, eventually abandoning economics altogether, with far-reaching consequences.
 * New England Secession - Alf Landon surprisingly defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 Presidential Election, with far reaching consequences, culminating in the secession of New England.
 * Nationalist China - Mao Zedong along with much of the Chinese Communists are killed when Nationalist forces assaulted the town that Mao was in, killing much of the Communist leaders and leading to the downfall of the Communism in China.
 * Intervention: Road to Armageddon - The Allied nations and the Axis nations both intervene in the Spanish Civil War, creating an earlier and much bloodier version of World War II.


 * 1937
 * No Rape of Nanking - General Tang Sheng-chi of the Chinese Republican Army ignores Chiang Kai-shek and agrees to a three day ceasefire with Japanese forces besieging Nanking on December 9, 1937. The result is a relatively peaceful occupation of the city and few atrocities committed by the invaders. There is no world-wide outrage and small, if any impact on Japanese-American relations.


 * 1938
 * Woody Guthrie, the Singing Sidekick - With the success of his local Los Angeles radio show with Lefty Lou, Woody Guthrie's life was Bound for Glory in song. Instead, his life took a different turning: Hollywood called.
 * Cambridge Computing - Mathematician Alan Turing extends his visit to America and builds the world's first electronic computer. Back in England, he is able to complete his dream of producing human-like artificial intelligence by the year 2000.
 * Fall Grün - The Czechoslovak government refuse to abide by the Munich Agreement, sparking a German (and later Hungarian) invasion of Czechoslovakia on October 1, 1938.


 * 1939
 * Nuclear Realisation - Albert Einstein changes his mind over his support for Nuclear Weaponry.
 * The Unlikely Alliance - On September 1st, 1939 - the eve of World War II - Hitler decides not to invade Poland, and to wait until his army is more prepared.

1940s

 * 1941
 * Unternehmen Seelöwe - Hitler chokes to death on an apple, leaving Hess to lead Nazi Germany.
 * Seeing Red (Army, that is) - The Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia provokes Stalin to mount a preemptive attack on Germany lest Russia becomes Hitler's next victim.
 * Red victory - The Axis powers never engage in Operation Barbarossa and invade the Soviet Union.
 * The Raging Bear - Stalin heeds Allied warnings of an imminent German attack, Barbarossa is a catastrophic failure for the Germans the second it is launched.
 * See Paris and Die - Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben successfully assassinates Hitler on May 1941 during a military parade in Paris.
 * Unternehmen Seelöwe, 1941 - Nazi Germany succeeds in invading the British Isles. This POD triggers several alternative timelines.
 * Fatherlands - UK, China joins Axis, Soviet defeat in 1943 and then Axis wins WW-II. Communist Party never controls China and establishes the PRC.


 * 1942
 * Rising Sun - The Japanese manage to secure a victory at the Battle of Midway, thereby crushing the US Pacific Fleet.
 * The Undead World in 1943 - A Soviet soldier during the Battle of Stalingrad contracts a horrifying infection, and begins a war for the very survival of the human race which will span years and continents, and take the lives of hundreds of millions...


 * 1943
 * 1942 Stress - The USA suffers so much from the War, that it turns into a civil war!
 * Morgen die ganze Welt - Nerve gas used at Kursk turns the tide of the war.


 * 1944
 * Failed D-Day Invasion - The Nazis intercept Allied intelligence, and are better prepared for the D-Day invasion.
 * Ceasefire 1947 - Fearing bad weather, General Dwight Eisenhower postpones Operation Overlord until June 19th.
 * One Small Step for a Socialist... - Wernher von Braun is arrested and executed by the Gestapo for treason.


 * 1945
 * Divided Japan - Harry S Truman does not argue as forcefully for possession of Japan as he does in OTL, and he does not order the dropping of the Bomb in 1945. The war ends the next year and Japan is partitioned like Germany.
 * Superfortress - Truman does not use nuclear weapons against Japan and instead relies on Operation Downfall. Japan attempts to scare the allies into stopping the attack by causing chaos in China.
 * No Nuclear Weapons - No One had ever thought an Idea of Nuclear Weapons so The Allied invaded Japan and The U.S Broke into a Second Civil War over the Occupation.
 * Patton Lives - Patton doesn't die in 1945.


 * 1948
 * President Gaitan - No assassination attempt on Jorge Eliecer Gaitán, permits him to become president in 1950, with repercussions on Cuba and the Cold War.
 * President Welles - After the failure of The Lady from Shanghai, Orson Welles decides to end his career in movies and turn to politics.

1950s

 * 1950
 * The Hammer, The Sickle, The Earth - Choi Yong-kun asks Stalin and Mao to aid in the Korean War.
 * Indeed a different world -The US discovers the Chinese crossing the Yalu River and ambushes them.


 * 1951
 * 6-2-5 Upheaval - Korea is reunited after the Korean War, creating a new power in Asia, and altering the Cold War by the lack of a Vietnam War, and the People's Republic of China becoming the Republic of China.


 * 1952
 * Election 1952 - Adlai Stevenson becomes President of the United States after Robert Taft wrestles the Republican Nomination from Eisenhower.


 * 1956
 * Suez War  - Great Britain, France and Israel invade and occupy Egypt, removing Nasser and beginning the resurgence of the British and French Empires.


 * 1958
 * Perez Jimenez's Venezuela - The Coup that overthrew Venezuelan Dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez fail transforming Venezuela forever.

1960s

 * 1963
 * Onward, Malaysia - To achieve independence from UK, Tunku Abdul Rahman established Malaysia as a loose Tribal Confederacy consisting of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah. Brunei later joins Malaysia, creates what would become the Greater Malaysia.
 * November Tragedy - A tragedy puts John McCormack in the White House and Carl Hayden just a heartbeat away from the presidency.
 * The Bullet Misses! Kennedy's Second Term - Lee Harvey Oswald fails in assassinating John F. Kennedy.


 * 1968
 * Robert Kennedy Survives - Robert Kennedy is not assassinated.


 * 1969
 * World X002 - Richard Nixon does not declare his Nixon doctrine and completes a second term.
 * Retrofuture World - After the Apollo 11 astronauts return, there is a massive explosion of retro-futuristic technology.

1970s

 * 1970
 * President Hendrix - Jimi Hendrix survives a fatal drug overdose, and meets Ron Paul, who puts him on the path to presidency.


 * 1973
 * Peak Oil 1996 - OPEC convinced not to cut the supply of oil, thus averting an oil shock.
 * Nixon's Early Resignation - President Nixon's lawyers convince him to resign, before a successor to Vice President Spiro Agnew has been named. Democratic House Speaker Carl Albert becomes President due to this.
 * República Popular Argentina - President Perón is assassinated by a Military Junta, causing the Argentinians to shift to the Left and Under the Soviet Union, uniting to the Warsaw Pact.


 * 1978
 * Congressman Milk - Supervisor Dan White fails to assassinate Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978 in San Francisco, California.


 * 1979
 * 1983: Saskatoon Blues NHL - The St. Louis Blues move to Saskatoon, Canada in 1983. The point of divergence is in 1979, when Bill Hunter (who founded the World Hockey Association, Edmonton Oilers and Western Hockey League) decides to use his marketing skills to lure companies and industries to Saskatoon before deciding to want to be an NHL governor.

1980s

 * 1980
 * 1980: CBI Outbreak - A mutated form of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis develops to infect humans. The result? A global pandemic that drives humanity to the brink of extinction.


 * 1981
 * The Gipper Goes Down - The short-lived Presidency of Ronald Reagan is ended by a disturbed gunman, as his assassination is successful.


 * 1982
 * Argentine Victory - Decisive Argentinean military victory in the Falklands.


 * 1983
 * 1983: Doomsday - Stanislav Petrov is not the officer on duty at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow, resulting in a nuclear holocaust.


 * 1984
 * President Mondale - Walter Mondale proves all doubters wrong and defeats Ronald Reagan in the Presidential election.
 * Capitalistic Republic of Canada - William Fredrickson and Sylvia Smith create the Capitalistic Republic of Canada.
 * Successful Brighton Bombing - Margaret Thatcher does not survive the Brighton Hotel bombing.


 * 1988
 * Biden vs. Bush - Joe Biden wins the Democratic Nomination for President, and beats George H. W. Bush in the Presidential Election.


 * 1989
 * Gate of Heavenly Peace:The Third Chinese Revolution - The students at Tienanmen Square are as mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more!
 * Michael Moore for President - After the release of his successful film Roger & Me, Michael Moore decides to run for public office.
 * Impact - The 300m Apollo asteroid 4581 Asclepius doesn't miss the Earth, resulting in a massive collision.

1990s

 * 1991
 * Blond Death - The Blond Death was a devastating plague pandemic that ravaged basically all of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand in the late twentieth century. It killed a quarter of the population of Europe, but was present in minus range in all the world. The disease was present like a flu in many people, but with the special that the flu infects and kills a high number of blond-haired, blue-eyed white people. The social scale of the world change forever.
 * Blood Red Dawn - In the aftermath of the failed August Coup, hard-line Soviet scientists go rogue and unleash a deadly pathogen on the Western Bloc - with apocalyptic consequences on a global scale.
 * Ohga Shrugs - In the aftermath of Nintendo's betrayal, Sony decides to let it go, meaning the PlayStation brand is never created.


 * 1992
 * No Perot - Ross Perot decides not to run for president and instead becomes a U.S senator.
 * Clinton Who? - Paul Tsongas defeats Bill Clinton to become the Democratic Presidential nominee.
 * President Quayle - President Bush dumps Dan Quayle from the ticket, giving him the fig leaf of resigning to run in Indiana's gubernatorial contest against Democrat Evan Bayh. Quayle's seeming misfortune turns around, and eight years later he is president.


 * 1994
 * Shock and Awe: The Second Korean War - The Clinton Administration gives the world a crash course in the fine art of stopping nuclear weapons proliferation.
 * President JEB - JEB Bush is elected governor of Florida.


 * 1997
 * President Gary - American Vice-President Al Gore is killed when Air Force Two, his official plane, crashes in California on his way back from a summit in China.


 * 1999
 * No United States - Terrorists steal fifty-nine air force planes and bomb the capitals of each United States state, as well as Washington, D.C.
 * Y2K Cascade - the Y2K bug infects computers around the world, causing detonations of nuclear weapons to random cities globally.
 * Y2K Apocalypse - the Y2K scare turns out to be real, releasing thousands of nuclear weapons to target cities in several counties around the world.

2000s

 * 2000
 * President McCain - John McCain wins the 2000 Republican primaries thus securing the Republican nomination.
 * Al Gore's 9/11 - Al Gore defeats George W. Bush for the 2000 Presidential Elections and would directly take the brunt of the 9/11 attacks a year later.
 * Ecological United States - Al Gore defeats George W. Bush for that election, But unlike other elections, some right wingers become disillusioned with Republican Party and seeing Green Party as "Anti-Establishment Party" resulted eventually downfall of Republican Party and rise of Green Party in next eighth years. After that Green Party (and first third party in long time) won 2008 election and very slowly transforms United States into semi-utopic multi-party nation with some downsides while United Kindgom and other nations may or not caught up with United States new political change.


 * 2001
 * The Eagle Looks to the Right - The passenger revolt of United Airlines Flight 93 fails, resulting in the terrorists crashing the plane in the Capitol Building. Current President George W. Bush dies of a sudden heart attack, leaving VP Dick Cheney to take the helm of America to uncertain future.


 * 2002
 * The Capitol Burns - The September 11 attacks never take place. Instead, the Al-Qaeda network chooses a bigger, and more deadly, target. On January 29, 2002, during George W. Bush's State of the Union address, an airliner dive-bombs into the U.S. Capitol building. 97% of the members of Congress are killed, and so is most of the cabinet, including the President and Vice President. The Presidency passes to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who presides over the beginning of the end for American democracy.


 * 2003
 * Between Iraq and a Hard Place - Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook, dramatically goes public with his opposition to the war in Iraq, by speaking at the London "Stop the War" rally (15/02/03). British troops take no part in the war, leaving George Bush.


 * 2004
 * UKend - Six nuclear explosions blow up in the United Kingdom, only in biggest cities of England. An Empire without a King whose brother's nation presents herself to protected, the fall of the fifth economy and second military spender of the world.
 * President Kerry - John Kerry narrowly defeats George W. Bush, sending American politics and policy in a different direction.
 * Heartland - What if in 2005 after Kerry illegally defeated and assassinated, the Blue States left the Union to form their own country.
 * H5N1Z - Avian Flu virus mutates in Western Europe, causing deadly effect to both population and politics; forming the H5N1Z outbreak.


 * 2005/06
 * 2006: US Stays Red - Emily Miller, ex-fiancee of Michael Scanlon, doesn't implicate him to the FBI; also, Brian Ross of ABC News holds off on a story about Mark Foley and emails to pages. Failure of these scandals to emerge result in alternative.


 * 2007
 * Sino-Australian Conflict - Kevin Rudd dies on the 4th of January 2007, without being elected as Prime Minister of Australia favorable to Sino-Australian relations, notably due to the fact that he could be the first Australian Prime Minister to speak fluent Mandarin and that closer engagement with Asia was one of the "Three Pillars" of his foreign policy.


 * 2008
 * Step in a Different Direction - Republican John McCain defeats the Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election on November 4, 2008, and assumes the Presidency on January 20, 2009.


 * 2009
 * Giant-Size Marvel Cinematic Universe - The extreme commercial and critical failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 (due to the work print that was leaked without any discovery by either FBI or MPAA) have forced 20th Century Fox to link the X-Men property with the more successful Marvel Studios.

2010s

 * 2012
 * Romney's America - After his strong performance in the debates in October, Mitt Romney manages a narrow victory at the polls in November, defeating incumbent President Barack Obama. He is sworn in the following January 20th as 45th President of the United States.


 * 2014
 * Scotland says "Yes" - majority of the Scottish populace vote for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland. Scotland becomes fully independent a year later. This promotes massive independence movements around the world in regions where separatists are present.