My point of divergence was having Hitler dying from injuries he sustained in WW1 instead of losing a testicle like he actually did. The way I went about made the world change and excluded many of the really important events of the 1930-1940s. With Hitler gone, the Nazi Party never gains much power but instead the former central power countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) decide since they've lost so much as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, they should form a new empire with what they have. In doing this, the new empire is able to combine their remaining militaries and begin to take back the countries created from that said treaty. Eventually they conquer all of Europe and then the US. They were able to do this because the U.S. was in a state of turmoil because The Great Depression. Concerning America, any form of independence is lost once again, and America falls under another country's rule, much like the 1700's. A european influence is much more profound in present-day America. 

I really did enjoy this project but at the same it was very stressful for me at certain points. Finding and creating the sources was fairly easy but putting them all together into a coherent project was really difficult. I felt like I was always leaving out a portion of history that seem vital to my project. Although on the other hand, I got to explore the causes of WW1, something I didn't really know. I learned that the catalyst for WW1 was assassination of the prince of the Austria-Hungary Empire: Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian Slavic Nationalist Gavrilo Princip. His death caused the empire of Austria-Hungary to declared was on Serbia, sparking WW1. It certainly shows that an individual's actions can effect history greatly. He didn't suspect Austria-Hungary to start an all out war, he simply doing what he felt his people needed. With the central powers combined they had no problems taking out defenseless countries. 

I feel like this project could be really interesting if the scope of what 2011 would be like was a lot more global. I feel like if we didn't have to connect it back to America we can show how the entire world has been affected as well. If I were given the chance to re-do this project, I definitely would make my final product a lot more visual and interactive. I'd try to immerse the person looking at it into the history was created. 

My point of divergence is about the killing of George Washington during the battle of Princeton, and the thought of us  losing the revolution, and the reminiscing on how that would have conflicted with the future of us as a country.

The future that I envisioned, was that most of the land in the Midwest would most likely be all Britain’s including the thirteen colonies, and Mexico would have taken over Texas because there was no Mexican American war, and the Midwest would have been shared between England, Mexico, and Great Britain, which is located in the UK.  I also said that because of Great Britain’s harsh laws on freedom of speech  when it came to the civil rights movement the rulers of Britain will terminate the proceedings. I also mentioned the Native Americans and how they will just become a part of Britain’s society.

         Overall, I thought this project was a very good learning experience, but overall I think the most difficult part was creating your own history and your own future of something you made up in your mind because there were so many events that occurred in history that could have been an extent to what could have happened but finding them deep within the context was very difficult.

Link to project: click here

The States of 2012 would change drastically. Becoming allies with the Soviet Union could cause us to see the world through the eyes of Russia and China. The country would be somewhat of a communist country. But the laws supporting freedom would just cause us to have less liberation in the country. The censorship of the internet would already be in play, the music will be less vulgar (which wouldn't be such a terrible thing), and taxes would be equal so that the Occupy movements would be unnecessary. The protests against other wars wouldn't be as drastic because of our alliance with Russia and China. 

I envisioned a big change in 2012 because if we're not as worried about arguing with the Russians, we wouldn't be worried about the dangers of an atomic bomb. However, if we have a strong bond with Russia and China, the world itself would be a monopoly. Russia and China have similar views on politics. If three of the more powerful countries are all agreeing on something, then nothing could stop them from controlling the entire world. 

The enjoyable thing about creating an alternative future is that everyone wishes they could change an event in their lives. But when we are to search a historical event and alter that, we learn more and more about the event in the process. Rather than reading about a certain topic in the world and writing a paper, we had to go in depth about a specific events in order to understand how we can make a change. Sometimes having the knowledge on a specific matter doesn't mean you are an expert. You're an expert when you can make a difference that is plausible to a time you weren't present. Also, creating such a bond and a change between America and Russia over a common enemy seemed intangible, but it made sense. If two strong countries worked against one country who's main motive was to conquer, they could overcome any problem. 

President Harry Truman was the man of the divergence. If the president really planned out the events following Japan's atomic bombing and realized that Japan's citizens shouldn't have to suffer for their leaders' actions, then he would have waited. Sure the war would have dragged out for 10 months or more rather than 10 days, but it may make an impact. America may not be the free and liberal place is it now, but it would be more strict than it is. Our educational and economic situation may not be present in the alternative history. The changes of the government by the government would cause a more miserable America, however it'll be a more stable America. 

The best way to improve my point of divergence is to create a more in-depth explanation of Truman's chat with the Soviet Union. If we created an alliance, how did it happen? What happened in the room? But like other governmental events, most are top secret. So to personally understand President Truman and to understand the Soviet Union's government better, it would've created a better project. To understand this event alone, you must understand everything. If I had a chance to change my process, I wouldn't spend so much time researching President Harry Truman's other decisions, but I would have tried to understand the Soviet's government and Truman's decisions with other issues. 

New York Times 

TIME Magazine Article 

• http://nschiavoni4qwhatifhistory.blogspot.com/
  
  

  Point of Divergence- THe point of divergence that was presented in my benchmark involved the kidnapping plot of President Lincoln that Booth plotted amongst others. The future that was effected by my point of divergence was the result of President Lincoln's Reconstruction plan before his assassination. With this divergence happening many events were able to take place, such as the event of the civil war ending sooner then it should of due to abraham lincoln's response.  What I liked about this project was that as a student I was able to research a topic in history that I wasn't familiar with and able to change the course of time within it. Something that I found challenging about this benchmark was finding certain primary sources to fit my type of divergence. The most interesting event that I learned was about the Civil War and learning that Abraham Lincoln was involved with it. The actions of individuals impact the historical record because a specific time in history could of changed its course. If I were to produce a better project, I would take the time to look for a more specific point of divergence instead of the one I picked because I would feel more confident with other primary sources. Overall I am happy with the process of my 4th Quater benchmark.

My point of divergence occurs in the year 1865 when William H. Seward dies because of complications of the attempted assassination. As a result of this event, William Seward never purchases Alaska, and thus the British Empire takes Alaska by force from Russia. After the British Empire discovers all of the benefits from Alaska, it aids them in future wars, and saves the United States on more then one occasion. 

The process of this project was probably the most challenging. Being able to find points in history that can be changed and work was difficult and finding primary sources was even more difficult. However, even with all the difficulties involved with this project, it was rather fun being able to create your own future based on the turning of events. It also enabled me to discover some interesting things from the past. I had to look into World War 2 a lot considering the changes that were made because the British Empire controlled Alaska. 

Over the course of doing this project I learned that one person really can make a big difference to the world. In the short term it may not be that big, however in the long term it can create massive changes. For instance because Seward ended up dying, the U.S. never found it in their interest to get Alaska from Russia. Now the United States is out of lots of oil and lots of money. The same thing goes for actions that are made. When certain actions are made by a group or a person, it can change the way things are short term, and massively change them in the long term. It takes a snow ball effect as time passes. 

Due to the strictness of this project it is hard to say how this can be improved. It has to be very precise and accurate. Therefore, there is nothing to really improve on as a project. This did make it hard, but hard work makes good results. Unless you are in my case when you spend an entire week trying to find primary source docs and are unsuccessful. This is something that I think I can improve on. If I were to do the project again I would make sure to move on after being unsuccessful for so long.