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Description
This is an ancient one, based on MikeTurcotte's proposal for a world with half the population of OTL. Uncharacteristically of me, this is actually a bit less dystopian than the original, with a higher population and less chaos in Eurasia and Africa. Why? Because I wanted to actually map something apart from "chaos zones."

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The twentieth century has entered its eighth decade, and while things have improved somewhat, it could still easily be considered the worst century in human history. The century started off with the First World War, with the Viennese Pandemic striking at the end and robbing any of the warring powers of victory. Two hundred million people die in the pandemic, the worst in human history. Violence in Russia leaves that conflict up in the air until the rise of the Soviet Union in 1925. Germany, while a "victor" in the East, falls to a Soviet-backed revolution in the late 1920s. In 1940, the two communist powers align with Imperial Japan against the capitalist West, overrunning most of Europe and Asia. The war turns brutal as gas is used in Europe in 1941, the Japanese unleash biological weapons throughout China, and eventually nuclear weapons are used liberally by the Americans against their Axis opponents.

The post-war occupations were equally painful. The Americans had the only real military at the end of WWII, and they intended to keep it that way. The occupied Axis nations were prevented from having any military, and while they have been granted de facto autonomy, remain under de jure occupation because there are continuing disputes between the Americans and the occupied peoples over self-governance. Terror attacks still occasionally occur, and deep in China and Russia, there is no de facto American rule and post-Soviet warlords rule. Most of the cities in China remain hostile to human life because of Japan's final stand, but people still live among the ruins.

The Allies of Italy, France and Britain are neutered, their militaries used as garrison forces in Europe. Decolonization, a necessity after the war, went poorly. Much of Africa is poor, if not in outright civil war. India, likewise, revolted violently against the British when they reneged on some wartime promises made to various independence groups, and now the Indians are still disunited. Socialist regimes, mostly based on the Soviet model and often established by Soviet officials fleeing the Allies, are able to avoid American intervention simply because the Americans are too overstretched. The American public has accepted their country's role as "world policeman," even if economic studies show that the growth of the country has been severely stunted by the extreme focus on military production. But most people find speculating on what could have been pointless.

Description
This is an ancient one, based on MikeTurcotte's proposal for a world with half the population of OTL. Uncharacteristically of me, this is actually a bit less dystopian than the original, with a higher population and less chaos in Eurasia and Africa. Why? Because I wanted to actually map something apart from "chaos zones."

---

The twentieth century has entered its eighth decade, and while things have improved somewhat, it could still easily be considered the worst century in human history. The century started off with the First World War, with the Viennese Pandemic striking at the end and robbing any of the warring powers of victory. Two hundred million people die in the pandemic, the worst in human history. Violence in Russia leaves that conflict up in the air until the rise of the Soviet Union in 1925. Germany, while a "victor" in the East, falls to a Soviet-backed revolution in the late 1920s. In 1940, the two communist powers align with Imperial Japan against the capitalist West, overrunning most of Europe and Asia. The war turns brutal as gas is used in Europe in 1941, the Japanese unleash biological weapons throughout China, and eventually nuclear weapons are used liberally by the Americans against their Axis opponents.

The post-war occupations were equally painful. The Americans had the only real military at the end of WWII, and they intended to keep it that way. The occupied Axis nations were prevented from having any military, and while they have been granted de facto autonomy, remain under de jure occupation because there are continuing disputes between the Americans and the occupied peoples over self-governance. Terror attacks still occasionally occur, and deep in China and Russia, there is no de facto American rule and post-Soviet warlords rule. Most of the cities in China remain hostile to human life because of Japan's final stand, but people still live among the ruins.

The Allies of Italy, France and Britain are neutered, their militaries used as garrison forces in Europe. Decolonization, a necessity after the war, went poorly. Much of Africa is poor, if not in outright civil war. India, likewise, revolted violently against the British when they reneged on some wartime promises made to various independence groups, and now the Indians are still disunited. Socialist regimes, mostly based on the Soviet model and often established by Soviet officials fleeing the Allies, are able to avoid American intervention simply because the Americans are too overstretched. The American public has accepted their country's role as "world policeman," even if economic studies show that the growth of the country has been severely stunted by the extreme focus on military production. But most people find speculating on what could have been pointless.