Utterly obscure alternate history

Was it a law in England allowing (maybe among other things) more people to vote for parliament?
 
Originally posted by rmsharpe
What if Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 until 1974?

There would be no Soviet Union, nor Russia. In fact, there would be no such thing as 'Earth'.
 
What would have happened if butterfly ballots had not been invented;) :D ??

What a loss it would have been to Jay Leno.:eek:

Al Gore would have probably won the war against terror by boring the living guts out of the Talibs, by broadcasting his speeches non-stop, every hour on the hour;) :D :king:
 
Hmmmm, obviously nobody has a clue what The GRA, did and it's importance.

Not unexpected, but I would have thought somebody might have known a bit about it to make an educated guess.
 
Hamlet wrote:

Hmmmm, obviously nobody has a clue what The GRA, did and it's importance.

Not unexpected, but I would have thought somebody might have known a bit about it to make an educated guess.


I'll hazard a guess. My knowledge of the GRA is admittedly a bit weak, based on James Burke and the recent book by Norman Davies.

My understanding is that this was enacted under duress, so I'm curious if London and etc. might not have developed more revolutionary tendancies. There was a powerful grassroots pressure by economic changes in the countryside, industrialization and and old social structures that had created a large class of disenfranchised, formerly well-off farmers who were pouring into the major cities, and were in a nasty mood. Emigration to the Americas, Australia, etc. had alleviated some of this pressure but wasn't enough unto itself. The GRA tried to mollify these malcontents with a democraticization of legal and social standards, as well as through what Burke calls a propaganda campaign to provide common social outlets (like sport) and public hygene awareness efforts for socialization and venting pent-up aggression. He also implies that this may have been a sort of ethno-genesis for the modern English, as the GRA effects were one of the first common experiences that were universal in Britain, transcending regions and defining "Englishness" for the masses.

I wonder, had the GRA been defeated, would Britain have experienced a far more violent 19th century with Russian-style peasant rebels? Perhaps Marx's grave in London would have more significance today? (It was primarily because of the GRA that Marx wrote that Britain and the U.S. would likely never require a revolution, instead reforming their way to Communism.) Would the likes of the brilliant Benjamin Disraeli, a Jew, have been able to lead Britain later in the 19th century? Would 19th century Britain have, like the rigidly class-oriented Soviet Union of the 20th century, have come apart and unwound by itself, its vast empire gobbled up by other predatory powers? Who would that have left to challenge the rising Germany? Would India and all of Iran become Russian? Would an Afrikaans-speaking South Africa still exist today? Rhodesia/Zimbabwe? etc.?
 
Originally posted by Vrylakas
My understanding is that this was enacted under duress, so I'm curious if London and etc. might not have developed more revolutionary tendancies.

Well, yes, that is true. Earl Grey said he was passing The GRA not to further democracy, but to defeat it. His theory was that if you gave a little, then you stopped the system going head over heels into revolution.

There was tremendous pressure from all sections of society that were not a part of the elite to reform the system, indeed this is noted as one of the few times in British history where the Middle and Working classes have worked together to ensure a political objective.

Originally posted by Vrylakas
I wonder, had the GRA been defeated, would Britain have experienced a far more violent 19th century with Russian-style peasant rebels?

I'm not terribly sure. If it had not have been passed, we would not have had the gradual enfranchising of people that we had. Regardless of Grey's original intent, The GRA started a train of reform the lead right up to The Mass franchise.

Without The GRA, who knows what would have happened. My guess is that there would have been a high probablity of a revolution, but whether it would have been a Russian-style one or a French-style one, I don't know. My guess is there would have been more likely to have been a French style one with the Middle class leading a general revolt. I doubt Britain would have ended up as strong as it did by The end of the 19th century in OTL.

Sorry if I didn't make much sense, but I am a little tipsy. :crazyeye:
 
Back
Top Bottom