AHC: The Worst Possible 90s

KarneeKarnay

KarneeKarnay

With only changes to what takes place within the 1990s make the most terrible decade possible. A few ideas that come to mind.

-Iraq doesn't stop at Kuwait in the Gulf War and continues into Saudi Arabia. The damage to the world Economy would be catastrophic depending on the damage to the oil fields. It would also probably destabilize the region even further, maybe causing another Israel vs Arab Coalition war, which in turn would threaten shipping between the Suez and Indian ocean.

- The World Wide Web is kept as a military project. This is just an interesting what if? Would we be better off without it or worse. I'm inclined to say worse.

- Maybe in response to a worse Gulf War conflict the USSR stays together longer?

- Nelson Mandela dies in prison. Maybe due to prison guard beating?

- On that note South Africa holds off on removing the apartheid laws, probably in response to the wave an anger following the death of Mandela. Maybe leading eventually to Civil War in South Africa.

- The LA riots are worse and more people die. Maybe police have a version of bloody sunday in LA.

- Due to renewed tensions between the USSR and Nato the international community fails to respond to the Bosnian war and the genocide of ethnic groups continues.

- The Rwandan Civil War expands and ends becoming a part of the South African Civil War?

- Gerry Adams is killed a reprisal attack along with most of the upper echelon Sinn Fein, setting back the peace movement and doubling down on the violence in Ireland and the UK.

- The British Government fails to respond to the threat of Mad Cow Disease quick enough and the cattle farms in the UK and Europe are hit harder than OTL.

- Freddie Mercury dies in a car accident before he announces that he has aids. Maybe Magic Johnson as well? Not to say that they are responsible for bringing the Aids Crisis to the forefront of the public, but their loss before they could announce it would quite possibly set the movement of Aids in the mainstream thought back.

- China intervenes in the Nepalese Civil War, putting troops on the ground.

- The Kargil War happens sooner and sees the use of low yield nuclear weapons exchange between India & Pakistan.


Any others?
 
Sunny

Sunny

Soviet Union

- the August 1990 coup succeeds, at least initially, with horrific loss of life as soldiers fire on protesting crowds, causing Tiananmen Square like causualties (in OTL of course, the military refused orders to fire on crowds, and the coup quickly collapsed). The USSR continues to limp along through the 90s, and the Cold War threatens to get hot several times

- alternatively, the USSR still collapses, but much more bloodily than in OTL, with several civil wars between various ethnic groups, in places like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Chechnya, nuclear weapons are used

As bad as the 90s were for Russia in OTL. It could have been a lot worse.
 

Captain Zed

Continuing from Unknown, there's also Zhirinovsy's Russian Empire and Rejection and Revenge. And as for a surviving USSR timeline, there's Crisis in the Kremlin.

EDIT: and also Onkel Willie's timeline Soyuz-80: The 1980 Soviet Invasion of Poland. (A bit spoilery, I know)
 
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Osakadave

Osakadave

Start in mid 1989. Hardliners depose Gorby. The USSR rolls the tanks into Poland, DDR, Hungary, et al to stop the spreading "counter-revolutions".

Meanwhile, Tiannamen gathers a lot more steam. When the party cracksdown, it's too late.

Both Eastern Europe and the PRC develop into nasty insurgencies through the 1990s.

With Europe and China taking up time and resources, the US and UN are unable to adequately respond to the break up of Yugoslavia, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (and Saudi Arabia), the Rawandan genocide, and other similar events.

The invasion of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia leads to Iran attacking a preoccupued Iraq. Syria, Turkey, and Israel all get sucked into the war. Iraq uses chemical weapons on Israel, and Baghdad eats nuke. Some form of order is imposed by the US with threats of more nukes to follow.

GHW Bush is re-elected in 1992. Evidence solidly connects him to Iran-Contra, leading to his resignation in 1993. This is followed by President Dan Quayle. Surprisingly, he's a Gerald Fordian president. Not great, but neither is he a total incompetent.

In Japan, after a setback due to an oil shock from the middle eastern war, the bubble resumes growing through the early 90s. It eventually bursts in the mid 90s, causesing a world wide depression.
 

Lalli

- Goes to 1989 but it was last week of the year: Romanian revolution goes off from hands and there is civil war.
- 1991 coup attempt leads to Soviet Civil War.
- Nelson Mandela is killed just before or soon after releasing and there is South African Civll War.
- Thatcher make something very unthinkable stoppin re-unification of Germany and some shit happens.
- Zhirinovsky is elected as president of Russia.
- Worse Gulf War.
- Even worse Aum Shimrinkyo.
- Even worse Columbine.
 
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chankljp

Donor
I think all we need will be ONE SINGLE PoD for the worst possible 90s':

Have Yeltsin actually launch Russia's nukes during the 1995 Norwegian rocket incident (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_rocket_incident).

It will be the ultimate black comedy ending for modern civilisation. With humanity having managed to get though the Cuban Missile Crisis and Able Archer 83 without destroying ourselves... Only for it all to come crashing down AFTER the fall of the USSR and the 'End of history', due to forgetting to pass the memo to a bunch of Russian radar technicians, and a single poor decision made by an infamous drunk. With millions dying and the Earth poisoned NOT even because of the ideological struggle between the East and the West, but instead, literally for NO REASON whatsoever!!

I think that will be the ultimate GRIMDARK 90s' ATL.
 
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FieldMarshal

FieldMarshal

Banned
Captain Zed said:
Continuing from Unknown, there's also Zhirinovsy's Russian Empire and Rejection and Revenge. And as for a surviving USSR timeline, there's Crisis in the Kremlin.
Click to expand...

"Worse 1990s" TLs are relatively common, it seems. They tend to be pretty good, too.

There's also the (sadly discontinued) Lines In The Sand, in which the Gulf War goes bad, and the ongoing Spiralling Out of Control, where an earlier outbreak of civil war in Yugoslavia leads to horrible, destabilizing butterflies across the world.
 

Montgomerie Ward

A more successful 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, no Oslo Accords, no NATO Intervention in Yugoslavia, Pat Robertson getting elected in 1988, Pat Buchanan getting elected in 1992 or 1996. Kurt Cobain, Tupac, and Biggie living on.
 

Galba Otho Vitelius

There is another problem.

Given that a fifth to a quarter of the world's population is in China, screwing China accomplishes alot. You can get them into a civil war or have another dystopian dictatorship, there is lots of precedence in Chinese history for both. Defenders of globalism, the IOTL post Cold War ideology, point to rising world living standards, but what they really mean is rising living standards in China, the rest of the world has not done all that impressively.

The problem is that China's growth has meant concentrating much of the world's industrial production in China, with problems for workers' rights elsewhere and even bigger problems with the environment. But the environmental problems will take some time to bear fruit, so if you want to just mess up the 1990s and you don't care about the other decades, a China screw is probably the way to do it.
 

Arkenfolm

Lalli said:
- Goes to 1989 but it was last week of the year: Romanian revolution goes off from hands and there is civil war.
Click to expand...

And then the pro-government side wins a short yet bloody civil war, invades and annexes Moldova, and then come the mid-90s there's a Romanian-Hungarian War which lasts for a few years and spirals nicely into the Yugoslav Wars (which the Romanian regime under Nicu Ceausescu is deeply involved in). And in late 1999, Romania detonates its first nuclear weapon in a remote part of the Carpathian Mountains, with North Korean scientists intensely studying the results as Romania continues cooperation with ideological ally North Korean on WMD development.

Fortunately, that would take a pre-1990 POD to accomplish.
 

Somedevil

297* said:
A more successful 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, no Oslo Accords, no NATO Intervention in Yugoslavia, Pat Robertson getting elected in 1988, Pat Buchanan getting elected in 1992 or 1996. Kurt Cobain, Tupac, and Biggie living on.
Click to expand...

um how does that make anything dystopian? outside of the Foo fighters being formed a few years later when DG has time to do a side project. You could end up with instead of Tupac and Biggie dying it being Suge and Sean Combes that die.
 

Somedevil

The LA Riots would be a nice pod.

Also what about something to do with the 94 Northridge quake ? have it happen a couple hours latter maybe during morning rushhour.
 

Enigmajones

297* said:
A more successful 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, no Oslo Accords, no NATO Intervention in Yugoslavia, Pat Robertson getting elected in 1988, Pat Buchanan getting elected in 1992 or 1996. Kurt Cobain, Tupac, and Biggie living on.
Click to expand...

Why would the 90's be worse off if these music artists were alive?
 

Montgomerie Ward

Somedevil said:
um how does that make anything dystopian? outside of the Foo fighters being formed a few years later when DG has time to do a side project. You could end up with instead of Tupac and Biggie dying it being Suge and Sean Combes that die.
Click to expand...
Enigmajones said:
Why would the 90's be worse off if these music artists were alive?
Click to expand...
Ignore what I wrote. I mentioned earlier to @Gorrister that I recalled seeing prominent parent groups coming on television and making a crusade against "corrupting the minds of the youth", which were largely attributed to these three artists. Most of those self-righteous campaigns ended after they died. Another reason might be, if they live on, their work won't be as appreciated as it is now.
 
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