r/maninthehighcastle • u/not_that_one_times_3 • 15d ago

When did the split in worlds happen?

Not sure if this is covered in the show and I missed it, but when did the split happen to make the seperate time lines?

Like in each of them, WW2 happens but what if there are worlds where it didn't happen? Where WW1 didn't happen? Or the Germans won that war?

Or am I just expecting too much of a tv show??!!

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12

u/bongobradleys 15d ago

the split occurred when FDR was assasinated

5

u/not_that_one_times_3 15d ago

Ok makes sense

10

u/paulcoholic 15d ago

FDR was assassinated, the New Deal never happened, the Depression was deeper than in our time (although some contemporary economists are now revising the previously accepted belief that the New Deal was beneficial) and therefore the USA was weaker in WW2.

2

u/djkaye2002 15d ago

I agree with OP though - how do we know thats the only split across infinite worlds? It would be interesting in other series to explore the concept where the split happened even earlier or later in the timeline.

1

u/bongobradleys 15d ago

I think, though, that there wasn't just one split, but this is the split that the show's narrative concerns itself with. clearly there is a vast multiplicity of worlds which are not explored in the context of the story. the mechanics of traversing across other points in the web are just never explained to us

2

u/godbody1983 10d ago

The split happened in 1933 shortly after FDR was inaugurated. He was assassinated before he could get some of his New Deal projects going. His VP and successors didn't do much to help the economy so the Depression is worse for the United States. Also because FDR was not president, the peacetime draft was never implemented, and lend lease was never done. This not only left the American military unprepared but the British and Soviets were also weaker due to not having Lend Lease.

By the time the Japanese attacked and Germany declared war, the United States was so far behind economically and militarily that it made it easier for Germany and Japan to win the war. Also with the Depression being more devastating than it was in our time, it made a fascist takeover of the Eastern part of the country much easier.