10 Incredible What-Ifs That Could Have Changed The Course Of History
What if Hitler had died on the battlefields of World War I?
"What ifs" are prevalent in all walks of life. Music fans may inquire: "What if Jimi Hendrix had lived for longer, would he have produced even more phenomenal records?" Lib. Dem. members may query: "What if we hadn't made a coalition with the Torys, would we still have relevance today?" And football fans might ask: "What if England weren't utterly hopeless, could they have managed to prevail over a country with a population totally fewer than Wigan?
There will never be a definitive answer to any of these questions, but that is the beauty of "what ifs"; they can be applied to just about every single scenario, and most particularly with key historical events. It does not take a genius to work out that if the odd decision had been made differently here or there, or if certain people had not been elevated to positions of power, then history could have taken a very different course.
For example, what if the USA had seen two Presidents assassinated on 22nd November, 1963? What if Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had invaded the British colony of Australia? And what if Adolf Hitler had died on the battlefields of World War I?
Read on to see 10 incredible examples from history where the course of the future could have been altered significantly, as we ask: What if...?