…NOT for kids
The Doclopedia #3,111
Alt. History Snippets: Siege of Leningrad, February 10, 1942
What Happened: Germany released a deadly virus into the city via bombs. While Russians both in and out of the city were dying in droves, Stalin repaid Hitler by dropping an estimated 1,600 bodies on Germany. The resulting pandemic swept across Europe, North Africa, and Asia, then hit North and South America.
The End Result: Both Germany and Russia were devastated, with nearly half of each population dead. Deaths in Eastern Europe were only slightly less. The rest of the world lost between 30% and 10% of their populations. The war ended in the fall of 1942 and a vaccine was developed in England 3 months later.
By late 1943, The UK and USA were sending aid to many affected countries. In Russia and Germany, that aid came with successful efforts to crush any remaining fascists or communists and install better and more controllable governments. Similar efforts happened in other countries, too.
One unexpected result of the pandemic was that so many men died, that women had to continue to take up the slack. That ended up with many women rising to high levels of political and business power. And once they could make the rules, they cut the power of the patriarchy way back. That world is a better place today.
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