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Description
This is a very simple concept. In the American lexicon, the American Civil War is the war between North and South, while the Cold War is the war between East and West. This simply flips the two: there is an American civil war between east and a west in the 19th century, and a cold war between the global north and south. Many thanks to Fenrir_Angerboda and Used-to-be Song Chinese for their ideas.

The PoD is in 1845, where the Mexicans suffer a few more defeats in Texas to Texan forces and crumple entirely, leading to an earlier end to the Mexican-American War. One of the butterflies from this is earlier settlement of California, and Texas believing it had a greater role in its independence than it actually did. This led to California petitioning for statehood earlier, and Texas outright refusing to relinquish any territory. An alternate compromise between slave and free states leads to Texas being admitted as a slave state, and California admitted as a free state. This led to the destruction of the Missouri Compromise, and fights between Southern and Northern settlers out West. By the late 1850s, things are getting violent, with most of the Californians and others on the West Coast strong abolitionists who do not want slavery spreading west of Texas. With the eastern abolitionist movement fractured, the pro-slavery Democrats keep winning federal elections and keep the West open to pro-slavery settlers and their slaves. To add fuel to the fire, Western farmers are growing increasingly tired of Eastern financial institutions, as they demand more and more exorbitant repayments on loans and charge extremely high prices for goods, even though transportation costs are no longer that great. This eventually leads to a civil war between the abolitionist Western Confederacy and the United States. The Western Confederacy wins the war with the assistance of Britain, whose public perceived the United States as fighting a war to spread slavery throughout the North American continent. A lot of the victory can be attributed to the fact that fighting a war out west was simply impossible for the United States, as supply lines were too far out and the Rockies provided a natural barrier for the West.

Butterflies flap from there. Divided, neither the United States nor the Western Confederacy could be the economic and eventual geopolitical superpower the OTL United States is. The United States eventually abolishes slavery, in the 1890s. A unified Germany never becomes a thing, with Austria doing better on the continent. The 1848 revolutions never happened, and instead radical ideas festered. Republicanism got married to an earlier, non-Marxist socialism and to other strains of anti-establishment thought, such as Luddism. The general idea is that industrialism concentrates power in the hands of a privileged few, so in order to fix that, industrialism itself must either be reformed or destroyed and replaced with "democratic management," whatever that means. This leads to the ideology of Populism, which deeply opposes the powers that be. Populism spreads throughout the world, but finds most of its audience in Britain and France, where industrialism is causing the most social change. The strain of a great war between France and Britain in the late 19th century sees the monarchies of both states falling, and having to retreat to their colonies. Populist revolution spreads throughout Europe, and even finds willing ears in America; the Populist Party wins election after election in the West, and Populist planks are incorporated by the Democrats and the Whigs in the United States. The British crown retreats to India, which remained loyal, and rallied other monarchies to its cause, beginning the Whisper War between the global north and south. The Portuguese follow their example, retreating to Brazil, much as they did during the days of Napoleon, and intermarrying with the Brazilian crown.

The Populists have a slight numbers disadvantage, but ironically enough have a technological and industrial advantage over the Royalists. The Populist powers tend to be monocultural, with their leadership being of the culture that they are ruling, leading to more loyalty towards the leadership among the general population. The Populists inherited the factories and cities of old Europe, and while they made a big deal of tearing down industrialism, the Populist leaders realized just how useful industrialism is once they took over. After a few failed attempts to implement their most radical ideas, the Populists simply adopted a state-controlled industrialism, where "democratic management" was conducted through the Populist government. And these states are all democratic, but with limits. In Europe, every candidate must espouse Populist beliefs, otherwise they cannot run for office. At least in the Western Confederacy, the anti-Populist Republican Party exists as opposition, and they even sometimes win elections. In Populist North China, there are no elections at all, with all decisions being made by the Populist Party of China.

The Royalists have a numbers advantage, but are technologically lagging behind. Having imported colonial economic and political systems, their populations are constantly restless, and the Royalists have to resort to various carrot and stick approaches to keep them in line. In response to Populism, the Royalists have adopted a form of Hobbesian absolutism crossed with the white man's burden to justify their continued existence: it is the duty of royalty to keep the "savages" from destroying one another. However, this savagery is an innate aspect of all humans, and is not racial in nature; therefore, everyone can be taught civilization. As a result, the Royalist powers tend to be very repressive, hierarchical and militaristic. By far the most powerful Royalist power is the British Empire, which rules from India. The British royals have intermarried with Indian royalty, in order to bolster their claim to the throne and to better "teach" the Indians. The British Royalists who fled with them have done the same, forming a mixed race upper class in India and Africa. The Brazilians an Portuguese have done much the same thing. Russia continues on from the Tsarist days, and is ironically part of the southern Royalist alliance despite being very northern. Russia is the most technologically advanced of the Royalist powers, but is also the most vulnerable to Populist attack. Qing China remains a backwards, feudal nation.

The United States has maintained its position of neutrality, which it doubled down on after the American Civil War. It does head the Neutral Movement, along with other assorted regional powers, who don't agree on much at all except that the Whisper War is a bad thing and they want nothing to do with it.

Description
This is a very simple concept. In the American lexicon, the American Civil War is the war between North and South, while the Cold War is the war between East and West. This simply flips the two: there is an American civil war between east and a west in the 19th century, and a cold war between the global north and south. Many thanks to Fenrir_Angerboda and Used-to-be Song Chinese for their ideas.

The PoD is in 1845, where the Mexicans suffer a few more defeats in Texas to Texan forces and crumple entirely, leading to an earlier end to the Mexican-American War. One of the butterflies from this is earlier settlement of California, and Texas believing it had a greater role in its independence than it actually did. This led to California petitioning for statehood earlier, and Texas outright refusing to relinquish any territory. An alternate compromise between slave and free states leads to Texas being admitted as a slave state, and California admitted as a free state. This led to the destruction of the Missouri Compromise, and fights between Southern and Northern settlers out West. By the late 1850s, things are getting violent, with most of the Californians and others on the West Coast strong abolitionists who do not want slavery spreading west of Texas. With the eastern abolitionist movement fractured, the pro-slavery Democrats keep winning federal elections and keep the West open to pro-slavery settlers and their slaves. To add fuel to the fire, Western farmers are growing increasingly tired of Eastern financial institutions, as they demand more and more exorbitant repayments on loans and charge extremely high prices for goods, even though transportation costs are no longer that great. This eventually leads to a civil war between the abolitionist Western Confederacy and the United States. The Western Confederacy wins the war with the assistance of Britain, whose public perceived the United States as fighting a war to spread slavery throughout the North American continent. A lot of the victory can be attributed to the fact that fighting a war out west was simply impossible for the United States, as supply lines were too far out and the Rockies provided a natural barrier for the West.

Butterflies flap from there. Divided, neither the United States nor the Western Confederacy could be the economic and eventual geopolitical superpower the OTL United States is. The United States eventually abolishes slavery, in the 1890s. A unified Germany never becomes a thing, with Austria doing better on the continent. The 1848 revolutions never happened, and instead radical ideas festered. Republicanism got married to an earlier, non-Marxist socialism and to other strains of anti-establishment thought, such as Luddism. The general idea is that industrialism concentrates power in the hands of a privileged few, so in order to fix that, industrialism itself must either be reformed or destroyed and replaced with "democratic management," whatever that means. This leads to the ideology of Populism, which deeply opposes the powers that be. Populism spreads throughout the world, but finds most of its audience in Britain and France, where industrialism is causing the most social change. The strain of a great war between France and Britain in the late 19th century sees the monarchies of both states falling, and having to retreat to their colonies. Populist revolution spreads throughout Europe, and even finds willing ears in America; the Populist Party wins election after election in the West, and Populist planks are incorporated by the Democrats and the Whigs in the United States. The British crown retreats to India, which remained loyal, and rallied other monarchies to its cause, beginning the Whisper War between the global north and south. The Portuguese follow their example, retreating to Brazil, much as they did during the days of Napoleon, and intermarrying with the Brazilian crown.

The Populists have a slight numbers disadvantage, but ironically enough have a technological and industrial advantage over the Royalists. The Populist powers tend to be monocultural, with their leadership being of the culture that they are ruling, leading to more loyalty towards the leadership among the general population. The Populists inherited the factories and cities of old Europe, and while they made a big deal of tearing down industrialism, the Populist leaders realized just how useful industrialism is once they took over. After a few failed attempts to implement their most radical ideas, the Populists simply adopted a state-controlled industrialism, where "democratic management" was conducted through the Populist government. And these states are all democratic, but with limits. In Europe, every candidate must espouse Populist beliefs, otherwise they cannot run for office. At least in the Western Confederacy, the anti-Populist Republican Party exists as opposition, and they even sometimes win elections. In Populist North China, there are no elections at all, with all decisions being made by the Populist Party of China.

The Royalists have a numbers advantage, but are technologically lagging behind. Having imported colonial economic and political systems, their populations are constantly restless, and the Royalists have to resort to various carrot and stick approaches to keep them in line. In response to Populism, the Royalists have adopted a form of Hobbesian absolutism crossed with the white man's burden to justify their continued existence: it is the duty of royalty to keep the "savages" from destroying one another. However, this savagery is an innate aspect of all humans, and is not racial in nature; therefore, everyone can be taught civilization. As a result, the Royalist powers tend to be very repressive, hierarchical and militaristic. By far the most powerful Royalist power is the British Empire, which rules from India. The British royals have intermarried with Indian royalty, in order to bolster their claim to the throne and to better "teach" the Indians. The British Royalists who fled with them have done the same, forming a mixed race upper class in India and Africa. The Brazilians an Portuguese have done much the same thing. Russia continues on from the Tsarist days, and is ironically part of the southern Royalist alliance despite being very northern. Russia is the most technologically advanced of the Royalist powers, but is also the most vulnerable to Populist attack. Qing China remains a backwards, feudal nation.

The United States has maintained its position of neutrality, which it doubled down on after the American Civil War. It does head the Neutral Movement, along with other assorted regional powers, who don't agree on much at all except that the Whisper War is a bad thing and they want nothing to do with it.