Nexus Historia
Alternate History Articles & What-Ifs
Read Nexus Historia articles about alternate-history design, historical learning, product updates and practical teaching ideas.
Start here
Weekly challenges
- Weekly Challenge: Britain’s Missing Eleven Days in 1752
- Ancient Egyptian Workers: What an Absence Register Reveals
- Ypres 1917: A Counterfactual Writing Challenge
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a Soviet General in 1944: Push for the Siege of Budapest or Secure Resources First?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a British Diplomat in 1963: Support Military Intervention in Cyprus or Advocate for Peaceful Resolution?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a Soviet Politician in 1953: Support Stalin's Succession or Challenge the Regime?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a French Revolutionary in 1792: Support the Girondins or Align with the Jacobins?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a British General in 1916: Authorise the Battle of the Somme or Hold Your Ground?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are King Richard III in 1485: Flee Bosworth Field or Fight to the Death?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a British Prime Minister in 1986: Support Apartheid Reforms or Maintain Economic Ties?
- Weekly Challenge: You Are President in 1932: Transform the New Deal or Embrace Isolationism?
- Weekly Challenge: You are Oliver Cromwell in 1645: Execute King Charles I or Seek a Compromise?
- Weekly Challenge: You are President of the United States in 1966: Send Troops to Vietnam or Pursue Peace Negotiations?
- Weekly Challenge: You are Queen Victoria in 1857: Suppress the Indian Rebellion or Negotiate a Treaty?
- Weekly Challenge: Choose Between Isolation or Alliance as Winston Churchill in 1940
- Weekly Challenge: Compromise on the Constitution or Uphold Principles?
- Weekly Challenge: Negotiate Peace or Prepare for War in 1940?
- Weekly Challenge: Negotiate with Hitler or Rally for Resistance?
- Weekly Challenge: The Dilemma of the 1926 General Strike – Stand Firm or Stand Down?
- Historical Writing Challenge: Debating the UN Charter in 1945
- Writing Challenge: A Different Decision at Versailles, 1919
- Writing Challenge: A Command Decision at Gettysburg
- Weekly Challenge: You Are a Carriage Driver in 1756 - Aid or Abandon the Seven Years' War Effort?
- Weekly Challenge: Roman Dilemma - Support Caesar's Expansion or Uphold the Republic?
- Weekly Challenge: Jutland Dilemma - Hold the Line or Evacuate?
- Writing Challenge: The British Cabinet’s Decision in August 1914
- Writing Challenge: A Soldier’s Choices in 1917
- Weekly Challenge: Defend or Abandon Kut During the 1916 Siege
- Writing Challenge: Equal Voting Rights Earlier Than 1928?
- Weekly Challenge: Support or Enforce Order During the Easter Rising?
- Weekly Challenge: Support or Oppose Thatcher’s Rise in 1979?
- Weekly Challenge: Celebrate or Resist in Berlin, May 8, 1945?
- Weekly Challenge: Do You Mutiny or Obey Orders in 1797?
- Weekly Challenge: Do You Suppress the Uprising or Seek Compromise in the 1857 Indian Rebellion?
- Weekly Challenge: Will You Delay Your Advance to Aid a Stranded Squad?
- Writing Challenge: A Constitutional Crisis in France, June 1789
- Weekly Challenge: The 1916 Easter Rising - Do You Surrender or Fight On?
- John P. O’Neill: Evidence, Warning and the Problem of Hindsight
- Writing Challenge: Power and Evidence at Anne Boleyn’s Trial
- Writing Challenge: Making Peace After Edington, 878
- Weekly Challenge: What If Churchill Had to Defend Norway in 1940?
- Writing Challenge: Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, 1803
- Weekly Challenge: You are King Charles II Deciding Whether to Restore the Monarchy in 1660
- Writing Challenge: A Printing Workshop in Ancient Rome
- Writing Challenge: A Crewed Moon Landing in 1959?
- Writing Challenge: A World Without Gunpowder
- Writing Challenge: A Different Settlement to the American Revolution
- Writing Challenge: What If Rome Kept Republican Government?
- Historical Writing Challenge: What If Titanic Completed Her Maiden Voyage?
What-if scenarios
- What If Britain’s Penny Post Had Been Delayed?
- Black Death Burials: How Archaeologists Read the Evidence
- How to Read Spanish Armada Maps as Historical Evidence
- Teaching Counterfactual Reasoning: A Black Death Evidence Workshop
- What If the Ming Dynasty Embraced European Trade: A Shift in Global Commerce
- What If the British East India Company Executed its First Reform: A Different India?
- What If the Aztec Empire Embraced Christianity: A New Mesoamerican Identity
- What If the Gunpowder Plot Was Discovered Before the Attack?
- What If Australia Became a Republic? A Shift in Commonwealth Dynamics
- What If the First Vaccination Was Never Administered: Stalling a Global Health Revolution
- What If the Peace of Amiens Lasted: A Revolutionary Shift in Napoleonic Europe
- What If the Transatlantic Cable Was Laid: Instant Communication or a Divided World?
- What If the First All-Women’s Olympic Marathon Took Place in 1984: A Shift in Gender Equality
- What If the First Map of Africa Was Published: A New Chapter in Exploration
- What If the First Women Pilots Flew in World War II?
- What If the Oseberg Ship Had Never Been Discovered?
- What If the United States Had Remained Neutral During World War I?
- What If Gupta Rule Had Lasted Longer? Science Beyond a Dynasty
- Rosetta Stone Counterfactual: Testing Alternative Evidence
- What If the RAF Had Lost Air Superiority in 1940?
- What If the Berlin Wall Fell a Decade Earlier: A Different Europe in 1978
- What If the Great Stink of 1858 Prompted London's Radical Urban Reform?
- What If Elizabeth I Had Spared Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587?
- What If the Apollo 1 Fire Had Never Happened? A Different Space Race
- What If London’s Great Plague Had Been Less Severe?
- What If King John Had Accepted the Magna Carta in 1215: A Different England
- What If Henry VIII Had Fully Embraced Protestantism in 1534?
- What If Cornwallis Had Escaped Defeat at Yorktown?
- What If Queen Anne Had Reigned Longer and Avoided the 1714 Succession Crisis?
- What If Napoleon Had Won the Battle of Waterloo in 1815?
- What If Henry the Navigator Had Lived Beyond 1460?
- What If Charles I Had Not Been Convicted in 1649?
- What If the 1281 Invasion of Japan Had Unfolded Differently?
- What If France Had Avoided the Dreyfus Affair Scandal?
- What If Inka Forces Had Seized a Spanish Vessel in 1532?
- What If the Stourbridge Lion Had Entered Regular Service in 1829?
- What If Louis Riel Had Defeated the Mounties in 1885?
- What If Titanic Had Avoided the Iceberg?
- Without the Rosetta Stone: Would Decipherment Have Taken Longer?
- Smallpox and the Conquest of Mexico: Asking a Better What-If
- A French Coin in Japan: An Imagined Encounter Before the 1858 Treaty
- What If Alexander the Great Had Survived His Final Campaign?
- What If the Spanish Armada Had Succeeded in 1588?
- An Enduring Rome: What a Coin Can Tell Us About Imperial Power
- What If Franz Ferdinand Had Survived Sarajevo?
- Mapping an Alternative Rome: Borders Are Only the Beginning
- What If the Black Death Never Happened? A Careful Counterfactual
- Isaac Newton: What If His Working Life Had Taken Another Path?
- What If the Vikings Had Fully Colonised America in 1000 AD?
- What If the Black Death Never Happened? Population, Wages and Power
- Could Ancient Rome Have Industrialised?
- What If the Spanish Armada Had Succeeded in 1588?
- What If Leonardo da Vinci Had Not Moved to France?
- Rome’s Lasting Connections: A Byzantine Dish at Sutton Hoo
- After the Black Death: What Labour Records Can Tell Us
- What If the Western Roman Empire Survived? Define the Turning Point
- What If the Big Bang Froze Over? A Cosmic Fantasy
Historical articles
- Why Did Britain Adopt Railway Time?
- Ibn Battuta in Delhi: Why Court Patronage Was a Risk
- The Emancipation Proclamation: What Changed in 1863?
- 1960: How the UN Strengthened the Case for Decolonisation
- The Day Indonesia Proclaimed Independence: A Struggle for National Identity in 1945
- The Day the Ethiopian Empire Confronted Italian Imperialism in 1895
- The Day the First Commercial Flight Took Off: A Revolution in Travel
- The Day Tanzania's Arusha Declaration Altered African Socialism Forever
- The Day the Soviet Union Invaded Afghanistan: A Catalyst for Change
- The Meiji Restoration: Why 1868 Changed Japan’s Political Direction
- The Day the Zulu Wars Redefined British Imperial Strategy in Africa
- The Day the Soweto Uprising Inspired Global Solidarity Against Apartheid
- The Day Chinese Troops Entered the Korean War: A Shift in Global Alliances
- The Day the Last Surrender of the English Civil War Changed a Nation Forever
- The Secret Life of the Squirrel Army: Britain’s Unlikely WWII Animal Unit
- A Beat of Hope: The Day the First Human Heart Transplant Changed Medicine Forever
- John Milton: Liberty, Republicanism and Their Limits
- Patrick Stewart: Performance, Public Life and Evidence
- The Day the United Nations Peacekeepers Landed in the Congo: A New Era in Diplomacy
- The Day the Berlin Wall Fell: A Turning Point for Global Politics in 1989
- The Day a Child Invented a New Sport: The Birth of Tiddlywinks in 1884
- The Day the Monoliths of Stonehenge Were Erected: A Journey to Prehistoric England
- The Day a Dog Saved a British Sapper's Life During World War I
- The Fall of Bengal: Witnessing the End of an Empire
- The Legacy of John Paul Jones: America's Revolutionary Sea Warrior’s Controversial Tactics
- The Last Words of Princess Diana: A Legacy in Time
- The Turkish War of Independence: Why May 1919 Matters
- The Soweto Uprising of 1976: A Catalyst for Change in the Anti-Apartheid Movement
- The Map That Sparked a War: A British Army Unit's Misunderstanding
- The Underground Awakens: My Journey Below London in 1863
- Lizzie the Elephant: First World War Work in Sheffield
- The Day the Great Plague Hit London: A Citizen's Gripping Account
- The Resurrection of James Clerk Maxwell: Celebrating His Life and Scientific Impact
- The Legacy of Alan Turing: Breaking Codes and Barriers on His Birthday
- Algerian Migration to France: Beyond a Single-Cause Story
- The Day the São Paulo Strikes Ignited Brazil’s Labour Movement in 1917
- A Glimpse into Genius: Witnessing Marie Curie's Revolutionary Discovery
- The 19th Century British Bride Show: A Bizarre Marriage Competition
- The Eiffel Tower in 1889: Inauguration and Public Opening
- C. L. R. James: History, Cricket and the Politics of Culture
- The Origins of UN Peacekeeping: Observers in 1948, Armed Forces in 1956
- The Great Emu War: What Happened in Western Australia in 1932?
- The Acts of Union 1800: What Changed in January 1801?
- The Bizarre Rituals of the 16th Century British Witch Hunts
- The Great Fire of London: Outbreak, Spread and Later Fires
- Richard III: Bosworth, Reputation and Historical Evidence
- Harriet Tubman: Freedom, Rescue and Historical Evidence
- Nigeria–Biafra, 1967–1970: War and the Humanitarian Crisis
- Kent State, 4 May 1970: Reconstructing the Events
- The Paws of War: The Bizarre 1915 British Invasion of the North Sea Led by a Band of Cats
- The Day the First Female Vote Was Cast: A Journey to 1918 Britain
- Teaching the Education Act of 1944: Reform, Access and Selection
- The Mysterious Disappearance of the Franklin Expedition and its Unlikely Connection to Inuit Culture
- Pudding Lane in 1666: Roofs, Timber and Great Fire Myths
- Anne Frank: Her Writing, Its Survival and What Remains Unknown
- Robert Morris: Financing a Revolution and Testing the Evidence
- The 1896 Sanriku Earthquake and Tsunami: Reading the Evidence
- Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird: Voice, Memory and Literary Context
- The Day a British Animal Hero Saved a Naval Crew from Stranded Peril in 1945
- The Day the Titanic's Lifeboats Were Unfilled: A Firsthand Account of 1912
- The Bizarre Tale of Britain’s Forgotten Phantom Army of 1917
- The Night of the Great Plague: A Firsthand Account of 1665
- The Controversial Legacy of Ian Fleming: Beyond James Bond on His Birthday
- The Legacy of Ibn Battuta: Travel, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange in the 14th Century
- Berlin 1936: Olympic Sport and Nazi Propaganda
- The Indian Rebellion of 1857: From Company Rule to Crown Rule
- The Peculiar Tale of the 18th Century Shipwrecked Venomous Snakes in Britain
- The Day Nell Gwynne Stole the Heart of King Charles II: A Royal Encounter in 1668
- Black Loyalists and the American Revolution: An Archive Lesson
- 24 May 1844: Morse’s Washington–Baltimore Telegraph Message
- The Great Fire of London: An Imagined Night and Real Evidence
- Anne Boleyn: Power, Accusation and the Limits of a Counterfactual
- The Revolutionary Life of Roger Williams: Founder of Rhode Island on His Birthday
- Soweto 1976: Students, Education and Resistance
- Amritsar, 1919: The Massacre and Its Contested Accounting
- The Great Moon Hoax of 1835: How Fake News Captivated Victorian London
- Defiance on the Sea: Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada
- The Forgotten Siege of Cochin: A 17th Century Naval Brawl in India
- Charles II: Restoration in 1660, Coronation in 1661
- Geraldine Moodie: Photography, Colonial Access and Indigenous Histories
- Florence Nightingale: Nursing, Sanitation and the Evidence for Reform
- 1816: Understanding the Year Without a Summer
- Tulsa, 1921: Greenwood, Destruction and the Historical Record
- Using the 1898 Matabele Uprising to Teach Conflict and Resistance in Empire
- The Great Emu War: Australia's Unbelievable Military Clash with Birds
- A Battle for Freedom: Experiencing the 1836 San Jacinto Showdown
- The Curious Case of the 19th Century British Umbrella Wars
- The Great Storm of November 1893: Reading the RNLI’s Record
- Peter Paul Rubens: Painting, Patronage and Diplomacy
- Karl Marx: Ideas, Journalism and an Unfinished Legacy
- Bandung 1955: Before the Non-Aligned Movement
- The Indian Rebellion of 1857: Delhi and the Transfer of Rule
- Teaching the Luddites: Work, Protest and Evidence
- The War of the Golden Stool: A Clash Over Symbolic Power
- The Day the Last Woolly Mammoth Died: Witnessing Extinction in the Arctic
- Teaching Evil May Day, 1517: Migration and Hostility
- The Great Stink of 1858: London's Foul Summer and Its Bold Sanitation Revolution
- The Day of the Lost Legions: An Immersion into the Ambush at Teutoburg Forest
- The Forgotten Genius of John Harrison: Revolutionising Timekeeping on 4 April
- James Monroe and the Doctrine of 1823: Words, Power and Consequences
- The Berlin Wall Opened in 1989: Event, Symbol and Process
- San Francisco, 1945: Writing the United Nations Charter
- The Pork Pie Riot Story: Checking Food History Against the Evidence
- After the Great Fire: What Did London's Fire Court Do?
- The Great Emu War: Australia’s Bizarre Battle Against Flightless Birds
- Breath of Discovery: The Royal Society and the Birth of Oxygen
- Robespierre: Revolutionary Ideals, Violence and Political Responsibility
- Shakespeare’s Birthday: What the Records Actually Tell Us
- The Night of the Long Knives: Murder and Consolidation, 1934
- Poland’s January Uprising of 1863: Reading the Manifesto
- The Windham Frog Fight of 1754: How a Local Legend Survives
- The Day Mary Anning Discovered Ichthyosaurus: A Paleontological Revolution in 1811
- The Ig Nobel Prizes: How Humour Can Open a Scientific Enquiry
- The Day Galileo Defied the Church: Witnessing His Trial in 1633
- Charlotte Corday: Assassination, Trial and Political Memory
- Reading Leonardo’s Notebooks: Beyond the Myth of Eccentric Genius
- The Suez Crisis, 1956: A Timeline of Intervention and Withdrawal
- The Fall of Tenochtitlán, 1521: Conquest and Continuing Lives
- Beer in Victorian Asylums: Diet, Labour and Medical Authority
- Titanic’s Lifeboats: Evidence Behind the Evacuation
- The Forgotten 1864 Battle of Olustee: Florida's Bizarre Civil War Encounter
- The Moment of Reckoning: Jefferson and the Dawn of Independence
- The Controversial Legacy of Charles Stewart Parnell: Ireland's Divisive Leader
- Wordsworth and Coleridge: How a Collaboration Changed Poetry
- The Chagos Islanders’ Removal: Understanding the Historical Timeline
- Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative: Proposal, Research and Debate
- The Unbelievable Tale of the Cat Who Survived Three Shipwrecks
- London’s V-2 Attacks, 1944–1945: Chronology and Civilian Evidence
- Cambridge Science Festivals: Public Research and the Historical Record
- Titanic’s Lifeboats: An Imagined Scene and the Historical Record
- Hans Christian Andersen: Reading the Tale Before the Adaptation
- Oskar Schindler: Rescue, Exploitation and Historical Evidence
- The Day the World Learned of the Devastating 1918 Spanish Flu Outbreak
- The Battle of Britain and the Blitz: Understanding the Overlap
- Mayfly, 1911: The British Airship That Broke Before Its Flying Trials
- Under the Siege: A Day with the Prussians in 1870 Paris
- Teaching the Great Fire of London: Test a Claim About Rebuilding
- The Great Molasses Flood: Construction, Accountability and Evidence
- The Great Emu War: Australia’s Most Absurd Conflict
- Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire: Founder and Successors
- Churchill in 1940: Leadership Within a Coalition
- Echoes of Pompeii: An Imagined Day Before the Eruption
- Boston’s Molasses Flood: The Human Cost Behind an Unusual Disaster
- Katherine Johnson: Mathematics, Trust and the Space Programme
- Nexus Historia Support: Tickets and Follow-Up
- In the Arena: A Day as a Roman Gladiator
- Julius Caesar: Power, Memory and the End of the Republic
- An Imagined Visit to Leonardo’s Workshop
- Tarrare: What the Historical Account Can—and Cannot—Tell Us
- Leonardo’s Last Supper: A Different Technique, a Different History?
- Teaching the American Revolution: Read the Declaration as an Argument
- Echoes of Freedom: An Imagined Night at the Berlin Wall
- Elizabeth I: Decisions, Succession and the Limits of Royal Power
- Living Timelines: Build, Branch, and Master History
- Roman Daily Life: Reading the Vindolanda Evidence
- Leonardo’s Anatomy: What If the Drawings Had Reached More Readers?
- What If Abraham Lincoln Had Survived? Reconstruction Without Certainty
- Joan of Arc: Victory, Trial and the Limits of a Heroic Narrative
- Elizabeth I: Decisions, Constraints and Alternative Histories
- Teaching Medieval England: Build a Timeline Without Flattening Everyday Life
- AI Profile Pictures: Creating a Historical-Inspired Portrait
- Nexus Historia Achievements and Progress
- The Nexus Historia Newsletter
- Winston Churchill: The What-If Scenarios That Changed History
- Understanding the Causes of World War I: A Comprehensive Teacher Resource
- Welcome to Nexus Historia, let’s rewrite history (responsibly)
- Storyboard Tours: Following a What-If Story in Images and Sound
- Scenario of the Month: Sharing and Community Votes
- Getting Started with Nexus Historia Credits
- Welcome to Nexus Historia
- Nexus Historia Update: Clearer Trailers and Scenario Reports
- Nexus Historia Release Notes: Presentation and Navigation
- Why We Built Nexus Historia
- Welcome to the Nexus Historia Blog
Lesson plans and teaching
- Teaching the Union of 1707: Read the Articles, Test the Claims
- Teaching Viking Archaeology: What Can L’Anse aux Meadows Tell Us?
- The Day the First British Women Graduated: Lessons in Education and Equality
- The Battle of Waterloo: Lesson Plans for Critical Thinking and Interactive Learning
- Teaching Slavery Abolition: Why 1833, 1834 and 1838 Matter
- The Day Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" Sparked a Literary Controversy: Lessons and Activities
- The Day the First Women Voted in the UK: Lesson Plans and Activities
- The Day the Equal Pay Act Became Law: Interactive Lesson Plans and Activities
- The Day the Magna Carta Was Signed: Engaging Activities and Discussion Points
- Teaching the Great Exhibition of 1851: Objects and Claims
- The Historic 1806 Abolition of the Slave Trade: Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities
- Industrial Revolution Lives: Workers in the Records
- Teaching Zeppelin Raids Through Hull’s Records
- Robert Owen and New Lanark: A Source-Based Lesson
- Teaching the Kindertransport: Rescue and Separation
- Teaching Chartism: What Did the People’s Charter Demand?
- Teaching VE Day: Celebration, Loss and an Unfinished War
- Teaching the Easter Rising Through Documents
- The Hidden Women of the Industrial Revolution: Lesson Plans and Activities
- Teaching Magna Carta, 1215: Seals, Copies and Historical Claims
- The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89: Teaching Activities
- Commemorating the 1916 Battle of Jutland: Engaging Lesson Plans and Activities
- Exploring the Legacy of the Domesday Book: Lesson Plans and Activities for KS2-4
- Teaching Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination with Care
- The Impact of the 1916 Easter Rising: Lesson Plans for Key Stage 2-4 Classes
- Teaching the Industrial Revolution: Investigate the 1833 Factory Act
- Teaching Tudor England: A Timeline of Succession and Religious Change
- Teaching Tudor Chronology with an Evidence Timeline
- Teaching the Norman Conquest Through Evidence
Explore the interactive experience at https://nexus-historia.co.uk/blog.