What if the Sahara Was Green?

9000 years ago the Sahara wasn't a desert, but a vast grassland populated by various people. We've only known a dry Sahara, but what if it never dried up? What could this alternate Africa look like?
Special thanks to Sean McKnight: ynot1989.devia...
'So That Happened Podcast': / @sothathappened8640
Music:
The Board is Set- Johannes Bornlof
Desert Thief- Hakan Eriksson
Arabian Nights 10 - Magnus Ringblom
Ancient Discoveries - Gavin Luke
African Villages 2 - Magnus Ringblom
West African Stories 3- Magnus Ringblom

[@AlternateHistoryHub]

Hey everyone! There will be two videos this week. So check back this weekend too. Check out my podcast too if you want to hear my voice more often I guess. kzbin.info/door/crae3VCOGRj0NON_r22veA

[@coolcat4836]

I'm the first one to reply to your comment so guv me money

[@gloobski]

AlternateHistoryHub thanks for the thought exercise daddy

[@SawyBawy]

K

[@lewiegan216]

You should definitely do what if the Swedes won the Great Northern War

[@alehaim]

This could mean that no slave trade wouldnt exist

You have to consider that early Egyptian only settled at the Nile because of the desertification of the Sahara, as they were inhabitants of the green Sahara before...

[@EPUEPUEPUEPU]

Exactly so egypt would not be

[@ronjayrose9706]

Also removing the Sahara might have huge ramifications probably changing earth's climate completely

[@Lawnio]

was it 4000 ou 14000 years ago that the desertification happened? With the latter, we are talking a good 4000 years before any sedentary habits

[@deanfirnatine7814]

@@Lawnio It began drying about 7000 years ago, its on a 20,000 or so year cycle

[@FormerPessitheRobberfan]

Its funny how AH just glosses over the affects the Sahara being green would have on the peoples in and around the region. Like the fact that the sub saharan africans we know today wouldn't even exist as we know them. The reason for this being the fact that the reason sub saharan Africans look so different from non-Sub-Saharan peoples today is they were so isolated because of the desert for thousands upon thousands of years that interaction with people outside of the Sub Saharan region was almost negligible. Also with the few that did have some relations with peoples outside SSA, like the Swahili, horn africans and East Africans, you can see how different they look to other africans who had no interaction with people outside SSA until fairly recently. Forget about people living in the sahara looking like today's berbers. You wouldn't find a person that resembles a modern day dark skinned, broader nosed and fuller lipped human till maybe modern day South Africa. There's a reason a modern day European shares closer genetic similarities with Indians who are much farther away than Sub Saharan Africans. Most likely in this timeline Sub Saharan africans would look like modern day Algerians with slightly darker skin and wider noses.

[@ankithtirumala6259]

Finally. Toto’s blessings have worked.

[@willdeans8128]

Thine blesseth the rains downward in Africaaaaa

[@c311cc]

HAHA

[@tombradydid9114]

In Spanish the word "Toto" means "pussy"

[@bannaboy89]

Zamasu did 911 “Pussy, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!”

[@sammysocks6801]

Now this is a man I could get along with

[@aveuch]

"Bless the rains down in Africa" -Toto

[@JeroenJA]

hehe, I though he would have had a africa rebecoming green somewhere in our know history, not that far back as never drying up! :)

[@NikolaiNochnoiTV03]

And in that alternate universe where the Sahara stays green Toto would still make that song anyway.

[@Bigcheese1334]

I just got that fucking song out of my head thanks a lot

[@ihatefortnightgivemeareaso5659]

aveuch aliterate universe I bless the sand that blows to Africa

[@rydemk4168]

Rains would get blessed a lot less because it would be more common

“A green Sahara. A green Northern Africa” Spain 🇪🇸: *gets a wet dream*

[@azzzanadra]

Carthage

[@princeali417]

noice

[@azzzanadra]

@@Shaw4123 ??????

[@godemperorofmankind3.091]

why? Egypt would rule it, not them

[@brianfrommars]

God Emperor of Mankind 3.0 The mass majority of the Green Sahara would be ruled by the native kingdoms and peoples.

[@pawion]

In another dimension : "What if the Sahara was a desert ?"

[@omarma7815]

fun fact "sahara" is an arabic word meaning desert

[@abdulrahmanelghuwael1127]

so that would mean what if the desert became a desert

[@s.a.8548]

More like "What if the Al'ard Alkhadra was a desert?"

[@HrGTOfficial]

So we always say desert desert

[@paulocanecarlthedamnjohnson]

Omar Almalouhi the desert desert

[@arbresnow401]

Greenland is the first form of clickbait, started by the Vikings

[@Kasmuller]

Well it was actually very green and good when the vikings started colonizing it But then climate chamged and it became colder and here we are today

[@baikennep4489]

Kristian Kasmuller thats not how greenland came to be they named Greenland, greenland, to confuse any fleets looking to sac or pillage their villages into going to a cold place even though the name suggests otherwise and even if what you said is the case, then what about iceland? you cant just say its made of ice then melted without affecting the fact that the term "icelandic" is still around

[@NakedAvanger]

how is it CLICK bait? nobody fucking clicked on it. Its more like adventure or journey bait

[@astroblade3782]

W O A H

[@ApolloStarborn]

WillWhiskey r/woooooosh

[@Holyduck777]

Hey! Those lakes make Africa look like it has a spooky face

[@foxsmith770]

Man of Current Years Glad I wasn't the only one to notice that XD

[@lloydchristian936]

Man of Current Years well it is spooky month

[@ImAFrigginBird]

Man of Current Years now I can't unsee it

[@MKfan888]

Too spoopy

[@dreamerhammerspace]

+LIoyd Christian | you mean Spoopy month, right?

[@augustus331]

One massive issue with your scenario here is that you claim it doesn't change the ancient world. It changes everything. Power and wealth of Classical societies was based on the amount of food a country could produce. That's what made the Romans & Egyptians great. A green Sahara would mean Carthage has more supplies than it ever had in our timeline, and since they had boats before Rome, they would invade Italy through sea.

[@JKTProductionzIncNCo]

That. But also a green Sahara would be the death of Europe as we know it today. It would look more like the Canadian Arctic or Siberia than rainy, or somewhat frosty with some months to grow crops reliably; wouldn't exist here. Essentially an equivalent population to Europe ~750M (or more) would probably be living in the green Sahara. And the inverse would be true as well the current population of Sahara would be inhabiting the frozen "European" continent. Also China would also be cutoff even further from the rest of the world since the glacial ice sheets of Xinjiang/Tibet would be extended further. Reducing harvest season and crop yields in East Asia. The Congo rainforest would become larger than the Amazon. Probably around 7.8M km^2. Sub-Sahara would also be more arable & fertile. Similarly with the southern US & large parts of Australia would be greener as well. The demographics and which groups would be dominant etc. would be completely unrecognizable to us.

[@Aurelian369_]

@@JKTProductionzIncNCo he doesn’t give a shit about science, just the scenario

[@jghifiversveiws8729]

@@JKTProductionzIncNCo Hey maybe you should make a video about this. You seem to know your stuff.

[@bigboy3686]

@@JKTProductionzIncNCoyes please make some vids about the actual climate in alt history scenarios please

[@amaedron_]

​@@JKTProductionzIncNCoup

[@michaelmorgan150]

THE CHAD LAKE -SUPPORTS PROSPEROUS SAHARAN CITY-STATES -PROVIDES FRESH WATER TO ANY WHO THIRST FOR IT -ISN'T MADE OF SAND

[@tyrkun1624]

isn't The Chad Lake below the Sahara?

[@merrittanimation7721]

Crazy Person It's on the edge

[@balintkristof8442]

Crazy Person This meme is called the virgin walk. It compares two subject the uncool "virgin" with only negative traits and the cool dude "chad" with only positive traits. His comments weren't referencing the country chad

[@revolvingworld2676]

Virgin Islands vs Chad Republic

[@Plankensen]

Genghis Khan there is no cacti in the Sahara. Cacti is native to the american continent

[@rattheninja2877]

Anakin is pleased with the lack of sand

[@oh_tassos]

Actually, Greece is affected by the Sahara scarily much the last few years. In Crete in specific the sky is sometimes orange cause of the sand from the Sahara.

[@Heymrk]

Oh Tassos The entire planet is affected by Saharan sand storms every day.

[@sumax-nz1je]

@@Heymrk not north europe asia

[@halomaster2137]

K K even South America

[@KonEl-BlackZero]

Jesus Cristh

[@aldistoteles2919]

Lol even that sand reached Mexico a few time ago.

[@flipflierefluiter5665]

I think European colonisation would no longer been a thing since I think one of the foremost reasons this could have happened is the way the sub-saharan people were kind of cut off from the Nort-Africa/the middle-east/Europe with the sahara desert being there. If the sahara desert wouldnt have been there the sub-saharan people would have had way more interaction with the other continents wich includes scientific and technological advances thus (partly) removing the edge Europeans had over the Africans during the days of African colonization.

[@SnowyWolborg]

Came to say the same thing. That desert basically cock blocked people beneath it from not only travel, but from establishing connections that could result in resources and cultural trade. In a situation where the Sahara did not block all that circulation from one end of the continent to the others, it's likely Africa would have industrialized a lot quicker, thus preventing things such as the Scramble for Africa.

[@wires-sl7gs]

You guys are missing the Fact that India, a region connected to Eurasian Trade and Tech Flow, was still conquered by a european Nation despite this, and so were many other regions of Eurasia. A Green Sahara wouldn't guarantee Europe wouldn't Colonize there, what it really depends on is how those regions develop. If they Develop like Europe did and Properly Innovate, they might not, and perhaps could conquer parts of Europe in the "modern" era/age, if they developed like the rest of the world did, at best more regions would adapt and maybe resist European Conquest while many other regions are conquered. Seriously, Europe didn't conquer most of the world for no reason, there were economic and cultural reasons for that, it wasn't just luck. Regions like the Middle East, India, and China could of dominated if the right things happened for them.

[@CountDVB]

@@wires-sl7gs India got dominated by the British, who prospered thanks to their own prior established colonies and got really stupidly lucky in things going their own way along with the current situation with the twilight of the Mughals

[@youcantwindarth1]

this would only be the case in africa,but yes,it would be more a continuation of the middle east and asia rather than just deserts like in our timeline

[@liamjm9278]

What stopped Europeans from colonising Africa earlier than they did was disease, not technological advantage; they already had that for hundreds of years. Every time Europeans tried to settle, most of them died. When medicine improved in the 1800s, they steamrolled all over the continent in a few decades. The invention of the railway and trains also let them travel deep into the continent. Before Africa was colonised, it was known as the Dark Continent because of how mysterious and unexplored it was. No one knew what it was like beyond the coastline, and they couldn't travel deep inland. Not only did they die, the horses would also fall to disease and parasites. But with railways, trains and modern medicine, that was no longer an issue.

[@chickensforthechickengod9337]

Who knew grass could screw the Egyptians over so well

[@riszyristo174]

Its super effective!!!!

[@basalateam577]

I hate egypt and I’m egyptian and I mean the area that I live in in egypt

[@jonasjojofalco9896]

Egypt was screwed up by so many cultures over the years... they'd be just another one

[@yarpen26]

Upper Egypt (meaning _Southern_ dammit!) was first populated by the post-Sahara drought refugees so without that ever having taken place, chances are the Egyptian civilization would never have come to be to begin with.

[@xflare2724]

@@jonasjojofalco9896 this time Egypt gets screwed by Agriculture *cue laugh track*

[@et3747]

Now do “What if Australia Won The Great Emu War?”

[@snipe_doge4209]

et 37 the great emo war

[@jackguest145]

et 37 Don't be ridiculous. That would be impossible

[@a.morphous66]

et 37 I swear I’ve seen you on Drew Durnil’s videos. Aren’t you the guy who keeps begging for the Top 10 MILFs video?

[@et3747]

AMGaming I am, he has finally accepted. Now I ask for Top 5 CIV 6 Milfs

[@dracorex426]

Too unrealistic.

[@mktj1]

“Imagine a giant sandbox the size of the United States that barely anybody lives in.” Wait, Australia?

[@RocketHarry865]

Australia is more of a dirt box

[@Bagster321]

Anakin Skywalker would be happier because less sand...

[@ekkertslor8531]

god damnit

[@carticats]

prequel memes?

[@therenomoregoodnames]

lol "plus one like"

[@connorgolden4]

Collguy713 you know it!

[@liamnmorri190]

BestAverageGaming it's course, it's rough, it's irritating...and its gets everywhere

[@Opti]

What if the Oster Conspiracy was successful? Would've been super important to alternate history!

[@absalonedld2015]

Yo optimus

[@spidertails9797]

Wait, optimus?

[@Luke-oo8lp]

What

[@occulticplate2401]

Hello Optimus

[@reeces.pieces3]

That would've been really interesting tbh

[@cup_check_official]

What if green was Sahara?

[@ackerman207]

Tell Me This we would be screwed lol

[@NuttyFiber]

what if "if" is "was"

[@versus-7087]

Tell Me This hey, you again

[@goat-emperorbigs7392]

Then the alternate video on if the Sahara were desert would have a comment asking if Sahara was yellow.

[@Blody1337]

What if ''if'' was ''else'' ?

[@cscofficial4302]

Someone should turn this idea into a video game: the possibilities would be endless because there would be groups so different from others in the same region

[@chocolateorange]

Sounds like an euiv mod to me

[@agungpriambodo1674]

Just like Cody's Arctic passage video

[@ronjayrose9706]

Yep it would be awesome

[@ramoswindell5723]

Yuph like rome 2 total war mod

[@bobthescienceguy6700]

@@chocolateorange there already is a EUIV green Sahara mod it's just that atleast right now there isnt any nations added into the newly colonizable territory

[@AnythingMachine]

The Virgin Desert vs The Chad Lake...

[@AaronSaysSKOL]

Sammy Martin Virgin Dessert? Is that some sort of unfucked cake? Because I'll fuck a cake. Hell, I'll fuck any dessert.

[@cenci4913]

Seamus Aindriu O'Coran Virgin Islands vs Lake Chad

[@AaronSaysSKOL]

Adam Desai I can't fuck an island. I can try, but it won't be easy. Maybe if there's a sinkhole somewhere.

[@timcigar887]

this is a satisfying comment chain

[@JuliusKinderis]

Sammy Martin lmao

[@artix548]

"But alternate history is historically innacurate!" We know, Mr. Strawman.

[@thinking4868]

YOU BLESSED THE RAINS DOWN IN AAAAAFRICA

[@Cuttl.e]

Matthew Aether GONNA TAKE SOME TIME TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER HAAAAAD OH OH

[@dugano.guthrieii6993]

Matthew Aether . . . nailed it!

[@prestigeworldwide7914]

song is gay as shit

[@dikkertjefap9709]

Prestige Worldwide your gay as shit

[@cursedalien]

Well, if we (humans) survive long enough, we’ll see a green Sahara eventually. Most likely, everyone would want a piece of it!

[@fatetestarossa2774]

indeed : )

[@Gamer-uf1kl]

@Wingdings empires want to know your location

[@vitrify2762]

@Memestlord, Historeeb The Great No, it'd stay for 20,000 years but the rains themselves will vanish in a period of 200.

[@허윤형-v7b]

Libya and Algeria: It's real green estate

[@kamanashiskar9203]

@Femboy Gamer No. It is 20,000 years of rain, and 20,000 years of dry.

[@frankeinstein719]

What if the Fire Nation won the Hundred Year War?

[@kiras3442]

Ronzesker it didnt

[@captain_swaggin4065]

Ronzesker they technically did when they captured ba sing se

[@captain_swaggin4065]

Ronzesker I’d rather sing secret tunnel

[@captain_swaggin4065]

Ronzesker kzbin.info/www/bejne/d52QaWtvgpySebM

[@captain_swaggin4065]

Ronzesker you’ve got good taste if you feel that way

[@rokim2194]

A Southern Roman Empire would probably exist on this timeline, and that would be really interesting.

[@ильямакаров-п6н]

We wuz romanz (muh Chad christianity)

[@captain_swaggin4065]

Thiago Costa Rome collapsed because of its size, so I doubt they could hold on to that

[@corleonis7792]

Thiago Costa Or Carthage would've won the Punic Wars.

[@thomasmaiolino]

Rome collapsed because of the civil wars, the only Roman enemy was Rome itself.

[@namingisdifficult408]

Thomas Maiolino also true

[@kewaso_5313]

Green sahara + that weird idea to build an inland sea in egypt + atlantropa proyect + antartic-less post apocaliptic future = best alternate history lore

[@kg7518]

Don't forget to add a little bit of alien inhabited moon in there

[@asneecrabbier3900]

I dont like sand... its rough, its coarse and it gets everywhere

[@scottmantooth8785]

if interested, those that collect sand are called Arenophiles....the collections can be pretty extensive and varied. and has been taking place in some form or fashion for over a century. sand is a lot more interesting than many seem to to think it is.

[@taygadesign]

CrabbierBull 391 But what is the glass in our skyscrapers made out of???

[@Hihihihihihi147]

CrabbierBull 391 but is it also irritating?!

[@asneecrabbier3900]

Hihihihihihi147 yes. Just like I remember it in my dreams

[@asneecrabbier3900]

sharon.amy.alfred its made of pure evil

[@bradenholst9446]

What if the oceans were freshwater?

[@steppebro]

Mass starvation

[@oraletsnorter]

mass death

[@theprfesssor]

Well if there was that much fresh water that would pretty much solve the water problems for many of the worlds countries and save 10 of millions of people dealing with starving and dehydration beging a castaway would be a lot easier, the polar ice capes would be bigger and melt slower and the oceans in general would be cooler and heat up slower ( freshwater heats up slower) Actually that could change the entire history of life on this planet, since life started in the oceans if it was fresh water life would have formed differently so everything could have been different This question has huge impacts on pretty much everything.........now why did you have go and ask such a brain buster like that???????😉?????

[@BertGrink]

Theprfessor Given that life may have exclusively formed around the so-called geothermal vents on the seafloor, and those vents spew a lot of chemicals out into the surrounding water, i don' think the waters would have stayed fresh for very long.

[@salam-peace5519]

If the oceans were freshwater the polar ice would also extend much further down. America would have been discovered by Europeans much earlier because they could simply walk over the ice during winter instead of sailing. And today you could even drive from Europe to North America by car over the ice in the north during winter like these people who drive over frozen lakes in Russia.

[@jeroldproductions6367]

This video would be What if the Sahara was desert?

[@Louthanjen]

tru

[@reanukeaves]

Well it wouldn't be called the Sahara because that's the arabic word for desert. It wouldn't even have a specific name as it would be just another chunk of land.

[@icyguy2547]

Huh, you're right.

[@bruhmann719]

Also why would it ever come to mind

[@jeroldproductions6367]

thiagocrimson Fine then it would be what if the najil was desert.

[@kaziboy264]

I feel like Saharans would be constantly invaded, usually people in the center have it the worst cos get attacked from all sides but also best cos trade has to pass thru their region. Like silk road, etc where empires rose and fell fast.

[@fatalshore5068]

What are you talking about. Poland is in the middle.

[@lif3andthings763]

Fatal Shore For the silk road bro it didn’t go through Eastern Europe. It ended in turkey then went into Greece and mainly Italy.

[@pietr1036]

in early civilization yes, but i think eventually empires would emerge near the superlakes and rivers, difficulting nomadic invasions

[@prestonjones1653]

I mean, China and India were constantly uniting and shattering again and again.

[@ezberbozanmapper7154]

Or maybe civilization would develop in sahara better than europe, sahara people would colonize europe. Mali would be the dominating force probably

[@manfromnantucket9544]

Sahara is the Arab word for desert. Fun fact

[@salemalrasheedi1055]

Yah thats true

[@renatomartinez8111]

Huh... So it's basically "the desert desert"

[@salemalrasheedi1055]

Renato Martinez they have name for it, but you know it as sahara

[@recon22sniper43]

and thats alot true :D

[@majd13an]

In Arabic we call its " al sahara al kubra" which mean the great desert or the biggest desert. Makes sense right?

[@VodShod]

You: What if the Sahara was green Africans: Challenge accepted The residents near the Sahara are beginning to use new technology to turn the Sahara into a forest.

[@erikeriks]

Is that real or just a stupid joke you tried to crack which nobody is laughing at

[@erikeriks]

@Biracial Boy oh shit that's actually cool

[@Honey_B_River]

we need to get rid of the French government first

[@JarrodFrates]

@@erikeriks It's real, though it's more about reversing expanding desertification due to removal of existing forests for purposes like creating grazing land, which soon dies and the Sahara expands a bit more. The project is called The Great Green Wall and is happening in 20 countries. Success has been mixed, but about 300,000 square kilometers of desert had been reclaimed by 2018. The core of the project involves planting millions of trees, but related operations include adding solar power to reduce the need to cut down trees for fuel, soil rehabilitation by returning crop wastes into the ground, and returning to traditional practices that helped increase water retention.

[@stadtrepublikmulhausen4121]

@@Honey_B_River or the French nuclear test site in Algeria.

[@apathak34]

Even if Egypt was a desert, Sahara being grassland would change the Egyptian identity, society and religion fundamentally. These things don't happen in vacuum so Egypt would be totally unrecognizable even if it remains a desert.

[@manile6466]

Abhishek Pathak They would have focused on advancing west instead of east and most likely take a new capital outside of Egypt changing their identity once the empire dissolves.

[@ogerpinata1703]

Nobody: The Roman Empire: it's free real estate😏

[@hainleysimpson1507]

Ogerpinta And then the Romans get murdered by the thousands bet re disease hits them.

[@Sohaib_Mamash]

I would say at scenario like that: RIP Roman Empire! They will probably get invaded by Carthage! And Carthage would become the ruler of whole Europe at some point!

[@radicaljunior]

What if Iceland became a world superpower for some hypothetical reason.

[@estonianpresident6618]

HotChikenSUOP ? The nations of the world will have all of their climates inverted by some Icelandic scientist.

[@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer]

Woke: they are

[@Niom_Music]

How? With their furiously scaring ice fishing? lol jk

[@boaoftheboaians]

What if Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria was a superpower and USA was a destabilized country??? No I'm not hating on US, I just found it pretty interesting if they switched roles.

[@phuongbui3467]

Boa of the Boaians then we would have a huge war in Middle East

[@hydroking619]

What if we never invented ranch dressing???

[@SteelLadyClover]

HYDRO KING Chaos would happen

[@emmethefangirl8785]

We wouldn't be used to it, so we wouldn't care.

[@icyguy2547]

Dear god... Imagine the geopolitical consequences!

[@Gamer6Gamer]

HYDRO KING What if we couldnt locate Lamb sauce?

[@samgeorge4798]

Wtf is wrong with you you fucking horrible human being

[@MandelSoft]

There is another thing that changes in this scenario, and it's a more grim factor: diseases. The current Sahara basically blocks transfering disseases over land from the North to the South of Africa and vice versa. But if people, animals and trade can spread, so can diseases. This means that Europe and Northern Africa could get otherwise tropical disseases and plagues much earlier. However, in effect, this could also help building a resistance against these diseases due to mere exposure. It's unclear how these diseases will change history, but it's quite certain they will have a big impact in the course of this alternate history, especially when you consider how much the outbreak of the Black Plague or the anihliation of American natives by the introduction of common Old World diseases by Europeans have shaped history greatly.

[@RequiemPoete]

MandelSoft: My advice, was your hands often.

[@DeadlyDanDaMan]

There is no resistance against Malaria and Ebola, both of which reside primarily in Africa. Malaria is the #1 killing disease in human history. There isn't even a close second.

[@joejoeington6899]

Socio Philosopher also luck is hard to predict

[@haberak3310]

Africa as a whole I believe would've ended up being a unique power. Or at least wouldn't be seen as that one place with a lot of poverty and disease

[@sicfaciuntomnes5604]

My personal opinion is that Africa would be much like it is today. Most of the continent in our timeline is already very fertile and brimming with resources, that's why everyone has been cutting slices out of it for hundreds of years. North African countries are not so poverty stricken anyway due to tourism etc. If the Sahara was green and fertile then It would have just made it that much more appealing to Imperial European powers. The problem with Africa now in reality is the inability of Africans to realise their potential. instead of working together to build their continent they fight and kill each other.

[@zebimicio5204]

@@sicfaciuntomnes5604 I disagree. If we go by human evolution theories then many homo sapiens wouldn't migrate out of Africa and pretty much stayed there setting up massive civilizations. Egypt at one point settled in the saharas instead of the nile.

[@sicfaciuntomnes5604]

@@zebimicio5204 That's a good point!

[@saraqostahterra4548]

@@sicfaciuntomnes5604 True, it's a strategy called "divide and conquer".

[@UwU-xk5cx]

I think it would still be seen as that but the sahara wouldn't be as bad, right now countries like chad, mali, the sudans or the central african republic (all of them in the sahara) are some of the poorest countries in africa (with some exceptions like the DPRC) the sahara is the poorest zone in the poorest country, if the sahara was green it would be either the richest or a normal zone in africa due to being closer to europe, thats what made countries like morocco, late egypt or tunisia stand in contrary to the more isolated countries in subsaharan africa, but it is still africa so... (and an unification was totally impossible, there wasn't any empire in the world at ancient times that could achieve that either in military or diplomatic way all of africa was full of tiny kingdoms rivalring each other and there was a huge different between them by zones, africans from the kongo were as different to africans from the swahili coast as chinese and indians, and muslim arabs from north africa were totally other theme compared to their subsaharan pagan counterparts, even the climates and echosystems don't mach, and thats a pretty important thing because different climates mean different traditions and different tradittions mean different people, akka different ambient equals to a society of complete strangers that don't have any bonds with you meaning that they wouldn't see why a unification would be good via the diplomatic way because it would be like proposing a union between Persia and Arabia for some reason, and via the military way attacking people from different terrains would be a huge disadvantage (specially in those times) thats in part the reason why empires like the roman didn't annexed germany, and there wasn't any empire strong enough to maintain cities around the world unified by force, even for empires like the ottoman for example, their maximum goal was not further from the HRE and the Commonwealth because going any further would mean that it was to far to defend in case of an invasion or riot (and unifying the territories by force would cause a lot of those)(the only case were an empire took that much without having problems was russia and it was because siberia was an almost empty region) it wasn't until the europeans got such a big military advantage that a world empire was even possible, and things like the caliphates or the chinese dynasties wouldnt work because in those cases they were united under one thing they all agreed (the islamic religion or the chinese ethnicity for example) and africa didn't develop an african identity until recent times

[@katsarelas1947]

I hate sand. It’s coarse and rough, it gets everywhere.

[@neutronstar5544]

Katsarelas and it's not suitable for agriculture.

[@taygadesign]

savage q But it's suitable for making gigantic skyscrapers.

[@neutronstar5544]

sharon.amy.alfred skyscrapers don't produce food.

[@taygadesign]

but hey it makes us rich rich = more technology more technology = more ways to make food

[@armedwombat6816]

Found the Jedi. The one who's on the council, but not a master.

[@zanzao-1ps318]

I think the Romans would have went very deeper in the Sahara. Maybe now we would have a Romancized North-Central Africa

[@fathel9221]

Zanzao-1 Ps3 they'd probably lose to Carthage in this time line

[@damiano1174]

Fathel Guweda no

[@fathel9221]

PanQuakes then what are North Africans

[@germanicus8342]

Fathel Guweda - Given one of the reasons the Romans were able to defeat Carthage was their alliance with Mauentia, which is an African kingdom, we can be safe in the knowledge Carthage would get defeated even harder. Said Kindom of Mauentia would be even stronger than it was in our time, given the additional greenery and resources that come with it. Carthage won't do any better here than in our world to gain allies here, while Rome would have even more opportunities to establish allies than before. Given how capable Rome was at doing that, This Carthage is toast.

[@manile6466]

PanQuakes North Africans were the only people who mattered in Africa for centuries, I can sense your jealousy habibi

[@autumn1765]

Just paint it to change it...

[@theokchannel2081]

You got paint money?

[@AussieFanXCIV]

Have you ever tried picking out a shade of paint to use in your house with someone else? Multiply that by 1.2 billion; that’s how you start WWIII.

[@TheCPtutorales]

Are these answers serious? I don't know, you tell me

[@autumn1765]

New Question, is there enough paint on earth to paint the Sahara...? Spoilers! No

[@commode7x]

That'd be an interesting concept. What would happen if you used billions of gallons of paint on the Saharan desert? What kind of toxic wasteland would result from that? What kind of mutated freaks would live there?

[@ElHytm]

What if the red Indians discovered Europe first

[@mostafabinali7109]

they will shock with the civilization in eurob and islamic area and china and realize how far they were isolate from the world

[@shawnwilliams7983]

Ohhh shit! Take that Europe🇬🇧🇫🇷🇪🇸🇳🇱🇵🇹😍

[@diegoantoniorosariopalomin4977]

What if an asian empire had discovered America ?

[@Nugcon]

What if America discovered itself

[@soybasedjeremy3653]

How many fucking retards are there?

[@viktorkemeny31]

Sahara: Episode VI - Return of the desert

[@manujm86]

Sahara VII: The Grass Awakens

[@xanx3572]

Sahara: Episode VIII - The Last Desert

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

Sand: A Sahara Story

[@manujm86]

Sahara II: Attack of the Berbers

[@RequiemPoete]

Vader would return, as there would be no sand.

[@DemoralizedMan]

Virgin desert Lake vs Chad fertile Lake

[@redjeik]

Bruno Pence Virgin Islands vs Chad Lake

[@SupLuiKir]

All that needed to happen is our ascendance to apex species happened multiple millennia sooner. Imagine the Saharan desert forming in 2000 A.D. instead!

[@michaelpothoven1041]

mind blown! It'd be the world's largest humanitarian crisis by leaps and bounds, like climate change and refugee crisis x 1,000 Would we even survive?

[@jorge69696]

Instead of the sea people, you would get the "sahara people".

[@nisher15]

America would probably blame Russia for climate change if that happened...

[@Mcree114]

Imagine if the entire American Midwest, all those grassy plains and farmlands that feed the country and the world via trade, dried up and became a Sahara-like desert. Now imagine the humanitarian and economic global shit storm that would ensue. That's what a green Sahara suddenly drying up into a desert in the modern era would be like.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Say goodbye to society

[@Ari-nw3qy]

This is by far my favorite Alternate History Hub video. I love it!

[@winster6257]

I want to listen to an hour of this scenario. I never thought of this before but I love it. I honestly would read the hell out of a alt history novel about this

[@SuperGman117]

I know right? Especially since Berbers might become a lot more significant in this world. They've always been overshadowed in our world. Imagine, an Amazigh Empire!

[@winster6257]

What I thought would be really cool is, due to being closer to South America then any other Country, maybe the Berbers would be the first to discover America and establish a colony there.

[@SuperGman117]

That's especially interesting, because I've heard a few Berbers over the internet claim ancestry from Atlantis. They'll have the transatlantic civilization they always wanted!

[@winster6257]

Though I'd imagine a single Magrebian state would be unlikely; in fact, as Cody said, the Berber would not likely exist in this timeline. There would probably be many nations in the sahara, and probably more ethnicities and tribes. In fact, I'd imagine Africa would be a much more multi-ethnic continent in this timeline; with plentiful resources, easy travel, ,fertile field, and a central positions between all other major regions, colonization and migration to the continent would common.

[@MrAdryan1603]

AGREED. That would be something (hopefully a series) I know I couldn't put down.

[@bazmandoo2292]

"What if the Anglo-Saxons won the Battle of Hastings?" In my opinion, this (or any idea on an alternate 1066) could be a very interesting topic to cover. It could've completely changed everything about Modern England, everything from culture to architecture to language would be different than what we have now. If you agree, like so Cody can see this comment.

[@CountScarlioni]

Losing at Hastings meant that England went from being a fairly isolationist kingdom with all it's cultural ties to the Danes and Norse, to being an expansionist continental power interwoven with France and the courts of Europe. Winning may have seen England continue it's association with Scandinavia, perhaps eventually joining the Hanse and the Kalmar Union. There would be no protracted rivalry with France and little involvement in European powerplay. The point of divergence would probably be when Harold arrived back in London after returning from his victory against the Norwegians. Harold's advisors begged him to remain in London, replenish his forces and wait for a more opportune time to strike William down. A full strength English army would have utterly annihilated the Normans. The English could even have spent the 66-67 winter bottling William up on the south coast, whittling them down with a combination of freezing and starving them out. But Harold was being given a stream of messages from people in the towns and villages on the coast being destroyed by William, begging him to come to their aid. In the end he just couldn't stand by and let his people get slaughtered by the Normans whilst he did nothing and set off on his fateful march towards Hastings.

[@avancalledrupert5130]

I've pondered this for years .

[@MartyFox]

The Americas might have been settled or discovered sooner. Mediterranean peoples had little reason to explore out into the Atlantic or down the coasts of Africa. A settled Sahara would probably have given rise to a seafaring people (like the Norse in Europe) who would settle the Cape Verde archipelago, Madeira, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. At some point, these people would likely have discovered the Lesser Antilles and the South American coast, the way the Norse discovered North America. They might have done so surprisingly early, taking advantage of the trade winds and north equatorial current. Would they have beaten the migrants over the Bering land bridge? If not, would they have integrated or clashed with native cultures? Would word of their discoveries have spread once (if) they returned to Africa?

[@tinyelephant1533]

I personally would think the Americas would be discovered later.

[@stlchucko]

If the Sahara was green, it would have a direct effect on the South Amazon rainforest. Wind carries a lot of phosphorus across the Atlantic that helps fertilize the Amazon. So a green Sahara would make South America less lush than it is today, which would directly affect those civilizations as well.

[@adambayer6207]

Short Answer: Europe would colonise the shit out of it

[@chandaemmanuel1885]

True

[@percivalpan2086]

Lol

[@FirstNameLastName-gq4tb]

Nah America would come and steal everything

[@retardosaurusrex360]

Adam Bayer Or maybe Europe would get colonised by North Africa? Assuming the first wave of agriculture still comes out of Mesopotamia I wonder what cultures, nations and empires would rise in the new fertile river basins in North Africa.

[@MESSI-fx1ob]

Adam Bayer not really Europe was shit hole back then Europe only because strong at the being of the 1300's basically the renaissance

[@Nikolaj11]

One thing i feel like you could be pretty sure of is that Rome either wouldn't have controlled Africa at all, or they would have been much smaller in all other regions. The reason why they could control All of North Africa was exactly because it was a stable border region, they didn't have to station tons of soldiers there. Without the desert they would have an enourmous front in that entire region. I think Africa would have remained seperate Kingdoms that Rome interacted with and tried to control in a similar fashion to Germania. Piracy would be a huge problem.

[@MyJunior09]

Rome would still have better technology, and they are the creatorrs of the tactics"split and conquer", so after taking carthage lands, things would be moderatly cool for them. Africa would not be able to attack they by sea, and their lands would be very easy to attack

[@Nikolaj11]

The only reason Rome was able to keep the Rhine frontier stable for so long was because for a long time of their existence it was the only frontier. Parthia to the east was as far streched and internally divided as Imperial Rome and to the west and south there were oceans of water and sand. As soon as Rome expanded to the Danube the tribes on that Frontier and the Rhine collectively streched the Romans to max capacity and once they united into larger confederations like the Franks and the Goths, the Romans just couldn't keep up. Now add all of North Africa. Perhaps there would be one empire, perhaps there would be several, perhaps there would be lots of tiny tribes like Germany and Dacia, but regardless, it's a completely new, huge strech of land to guard and occupy against. For as long as Rome controlled north Africa they only needed a single legion stationed in Africa, Tunisia, imagine having to increase that as far as the continent stretched. Technology doesn't matter when you're just too big to control.

[@Kunumbah1]

Junior Would Carthage even exist? The only reason they flourished so much is because they were the only dominant power in North Africa and the Sahara protected hem from invaders to the south. Those Phoenicians wouldn’t stand a chance against the hundreds of invasions and raids coming from the south.

[@Treetops27]

Rome would not be able to go up against Ghana or Mali's military. Especially not from their distance.

[@zephyrna6249]

I think if Africa was green like in the video. The chances of anyone wanting to explore new land and discovering the Americas in the process is pretty unlikely since all the main reasons for doing so wouldn't exist. Trading with India and Asia would be much easier as there would be more than one rout to take by land and the Ottomans wouldn't be able to control it all. Need for more agricultural land wouldn't exist either as a majority of Europe's struggles would probably revolve around who could control more land in the Sahara. And since most of the worlds warfare would depend on the conquest of Africa, places like Spain, England, and Portugal wouldn't need to worry so much about being conquered by a neighboring nation because all war efforts would be in Africa fighting Saharan's and Middle Easterners. If Africa would be green, American natives would inevitably grow into successful empires with drastically different cultures than Europeans, Asians, and Africans. Since they wouldn't be conquered and wiped out by Europeans. In this alternate world I could easily see Japan or China finding California or the Incas in Peru a couple hundred years after New England and the Caribbean was discovered in our timeline. Leading to a completely different 21'st century where Africa is modernized, The Americas are ruled by several different Native American Empires with Japanese or Chinese enclaves in the West. And cultures around the world would eventually become more globalized thanks to new trade routes between Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

[@kaiserkitsune9393]

I cant take you serious because of you Profile picture + Name

[@chadkingoffuckmountain970]

Kachow

[@clumsycapy]

Lightning McQueen But if we backtrack farther how about the muslim dynasties that ruled Iberia and northern africa? Maybe the Sahara being Green allowed them to fare better economically?

[@clumsycapy]

Lightning McQueen Not to mention the Natives were unable to develop so the Chinese would just conquer North America - Grey has a video on this

[@Vitalis94]

Some Random Guy Its quite simple. Of course I never claimed that in such scenario Rome would certainly fall, only that it was a possibility. Why? Because no Sahara means that there are more resources and more soldiers needed to guard a border. Romans never had problem with keeping North Africa under their rule exactly because Sahara was such a great barrier. Now, without it, its an open border. Just as northern borders with Germany. Of course, you can say "but technologically the Berbers are weaker". Of course. So were the Germans. But imagine this. Romans have to constantly keep soldiers in the area. In OTL, they needed only one legion to guard whole of North Africa. Now that numbers multiplies. So Romans have to guard their southern border which has no natural bariers. Eventualy barbarians will upgrade their technology and Romanize. Romans will accept not only Germans to their ranks, but Berbers as well. Now imagine a fall of Rome scenario, where not only you have Germanic invasion from the north, but also Berber one from the south... As for Ottomans... Sigh. Butterflies, butterflies!! No Sahara means even ancient history of Egypt is changed. History of Rome as we know it, too. With it, Christianity. Without christianity, or at least it developing the way it did, Islam also doesn't happen. In a world when Jewish faith is simply minority faith of Jews, Arabs won't create their empire. Without their empire, they wont need any Turkic mercenaries from Central Asia. Without Turkic mercenaries fighting in exactly same battles, there is no Sultanate of Rum. Hell, without Islam, Turks had no reason to go to the Middle East, let alone Anatolia. Without Sultanate of Rum splitting up exactly in the way it did, there is no realm where Osman I rules. Without Osman, there is no Ottoman Empire. Got it? Yeah. Changing things affects everything else. Sahara is a veeery big change. There is simply no way, I repeat, no way, for the Roman empire to develop IN EXACTLY SAME WAY it did in our timeline. History is just a string of interconnected events. Imagine this. In our timeline, a general is posted in Carthage. He lives on and becomes emperor. Then you have the same guy, also sitting in Carthage, but in a timeline where there is no Sahara. He fights with Berbers and is killed in action. He never becomes Emperor. He never does the things he did. The empires history is different. Modern Britons speak Celtic language. US is never formed. Got it now?

[@RogueOne2012]

7:40 “Salted into the ground.” PFFF. I got that

[@tobi-b]

Sahara isn't the biggest desert Antarctica is actually the biggest desert

[@aramkaizer7903]

Wtf are you talking about

[@issmoh5523]

Antaractica is smaller then the sahara actually just google it

[@epixdevo3180]

@@aramkaizer7903 it is a desert

[@farisoneAFC]

R/wooosh

[@galistoianov]

@@aramkaizer7903 he has a point tho... desert isn't necessarily sand covered land it's basically a wasteland no matter if it's snow or sand

[@Sentryalmighty]

I think if the sahara was green and constant, then there might be a decent chance that they could rival colonial Europe. This is because Africans evidently had some very advanced techniques, including steelmaking (far before many others). These technologies and techniques could easily make their way north since trade would likely happen. And since the main limiting factor in African city-making/farming is the weather, a consistent grassland would be perfect for making conventional cities.

[@palebluedot7435]

Yup they skipped the bronze age and had very cool bloomeries kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKXPiYhoo8uohpY

[@palebluedot7435]

The issue is the tse tse fly would likely have moved north

[@anon9579]

So maybe something like The Lions Blood book series might have happened fyi i hope Cody talks about The Lions Blood series

[@martialkintu2035]

But it wasn't steel that set European expansion off.

[@bigdurk4115]

@@anon9579 I love that book

[@unofficial_ai]

This needs to be a EU4 mod, or CK2 mod.

[@MrTohawk]

Reminds me of the Mars mod for EU4.

[@tfos993]

Civ5/6

[@kaiserkitsune9393]

Yes pls someone make a EU4 mod for this scenario (would be cool if it was Extended Timeline compatible)

[@Solarian]

-nah i dont wanna put that much work learning to mod-

[@unofficial_ai]

Kaiser von Bidizanien Of course...

[@C2cartercozzi]

I BLESS THE RAIN DOWN IN THE SAHARAAA

[@Yoshi14832]

What if Greenland was Green tho

[@kaiserkitsune9393]

what if the Vikings didnt fuck up naming Iceland and Greenland

[@Reskov]

Than Greenland would be the new Australia

[@samuellove9619]

Reskov or the original Australia to be accurate.

[@calvinandersen3165]

Kaiser von Bidizanien the didn’t fuck up they did it on purpose

[@_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-]

+Stay Frosty Games EXACTLY, thank you! Enemies to the vikings were told so to confuse them, additionally potential settlers were told Greenland was rich, fertile land to convince them to colonize.

[@bubblegumneko3432]

What if Greenland was Green?

[@manjensen1710]

That's what is gonna happen if global warming is not reduced, the climate and landscapes of the rest of the world would be very different.

[@sagnik2693]

and Iceland was white

[@Noctem_pasa]

didnt juj mi by mi grammer nd my foto, frickin racist commie Great name btw XD

[@sagnik2693]

New Philosopher ty ecks dee

[@a.morphous66]

If Greenland was green and prosperous, then maybe the Norse colonies in North America would have been more successful, seeing as how the Greenland colony would definitely have been, and been able to send more support to Vinland. That would be very interesting.

[@tedl2711]

Well I don’t think Europe or Asia would have been populated for many centuries or millennia later. As early humans left where they evolved in Africa they would have not just cut thru the desert on their way to greener pastures. They would be in greener pastures and had a massive area to populate before expanding. What desire would there be to expand into deserts of Arabia or winters of Europe if there was plenty of space to grow in what now seems to be a very livable climate. These other regions were probably populated as a byproduct of the Sahara drying up.

[@Yassinekamp]

Maybe the Sahara was the garden of Eden.

[@TikTakGamingTr]

Well people always migrated no matter what green pastures just make it populated there is many othwr reasons for migration if sahara were green africa and europe could communicate and great xivilizations would spawn

[@antiglobe]

Our most immediate ancestors lest Africa a lot sooner, about 60000-70000 years ago.

[@Aaa-ho3sq]

Ted L, he is talking about the sahara turning green only after people have explored asia, europe, etc. and then the sahara remaining that way.

[@ucj7369]

I went to Mali from Algeria once. Seeing how people live there. (This was in an area not infested by militants and also back when Timbuktu was relatively safe 2010-ish?) definitely something everyone should experience. The way they live is incredibly insightful. Sadly, anywhere in the Southern Sahara at this point is a no go zone including southern Algeria, niger, and all of Mali mostly due to danger of kidnapping by Islamic militants.

[@TheTabascodragon]

Very sad how things have deteriorated. If you search mali on Google images now it pretty much just shows pictures of war and people posing with guns.

[@Sohaib_Mamash]

Islamic What? The fuck you talking about! Islam is a religion and militias are criminals, what's the reason that made you call them Islamic!? You should be ashamed of yourself

[@SpunkMcKullins]

The Virgin Islands / The Chad Sea

[@kaan3525]

Spunk McKullins Virgin Desert/Chad Rain Forrest

[@MiroredImage]

Spunk McKullins more like the Virgin Lakes vs the Chad Sea

[@eternalvirgin2227]

Me Irl

[@SupLuiKir]

What if the Sahara was all Greensand? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensand

[@Tsukkinara]

Green pyramids?

[@jeffersondoan5011]

Tameholly lol

[@dankbro799]

Tameholly Bro, that's the illuminati.

[@SanSamurae]

Pyramids would look moldy and nobody would consider them a wonder worth keeping around.

[@ArduousNature]

SanSamurae If they were made of green rock they might have been MORE impressive. If attcks didn't destroy them.

[@gutterguul]

Ok so I know this can be said on any of these videos, but it hit me while was watching and I just wanted to say it. We often think about how these are outlandish possibilities of time, how crazy they are. We think of our timeline as "normal" as " how it was supposed to work " , that this is what it normally should be like. But think about it. Our timeline is one of the most insane things you can think of, from the French being so blind not to see that helping in the revolution would doom them, causing two giant shifts in history, ( the creation of the U.S. and the rise of Napoleon ) to even World War 1 happening at all. It honestly seems like the pathways of history in these videos with hugely different results then our timeline seem more reasonable than some of the weird stuff in our own timeline. Even just the creation of writing itself seems so strange if you think about it, like what strange acourance had to happen for these strange symbols I'm typing right now to be understood in your brain as an expression of verball thoughts. What I'm trying to say is, when we see things like " What If The Sahara Was Green ", we think about how fictionalized that thought is. The timeline we lived through is what we consider " normal ". But to some equivalent of Cody in the Green Sahara timeline, we might be one of the weirdst and most absurd change in history he could think of. Our history is as much fiction as actual fiction. Sorry if this was obvious to you guys, I just wanted to say it.

[@korakys]

Beware dwelling too much on how the past could have been, that way lies madness.

[@Mathignihilcehk]

Saraha had a dessert period? Sign me up, I'm flying straight there right now. I can't wait! I love desserts! By chance does it look like vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/6/61/Whole_Cake_Island_Infobox.png/revision/latest?cb=20170921002448

[@yarpen26]

Not lest because Sahara's redesertification was closely related to the closure of the last glacial period, without which the Neolithic Revolution would never have kicked off in the Levant.

[@hasshamhabib2068]

InsertCreativityHere ok

[@konchu4u608]

K

[@InfernosReaper]

If you think about it, with Africa being where humans originated, an Earth where the Sahara didn't dry up would have seen at least one great empire rise in the region. Such an empire could have existed 9000 years ago but was wiped when the environment went to hell.

[@soybasedjeremy3653]

If you use logic, civilization wasn't a thing 2.8 mya (million years ago). Civilization is relatively new.

[@jaypercival431]

So Man originated in Africa. Half the continent had lush green resources for 9000yrs. but still no major civilization?

[@COLDoCLINCHER37]

@@jaypercival431 Wb Mali?

[@brianfrommars]

jay percival Egypt? Empire of Axum? Ghana? Mali?

[@lif3andthings763]

jay percival There are ruins all throughout the western Saharan desert there just needs to be an expedition carried out.

[@viniciusrissardo3252]

Do you know that it snows in the Sahara?

[@viniciusrissardo3252]

Anyone know?

[@viniciusrissardo3252]

At night it's -10ºC (14ºF) Because of this snow sometimes, google search: snow in sahara, it's truth!

[@gui.novello]

So sei q o sul é meu país

[@viniciusrissardo3252]

François Maspuche, Happy to help! :)

[@viniciusrissardo3252]

Guis tutoriais, eu n uso o nome por ser separatista e sim por morar no sul. Gosto horrores do RS e do Sul, mas tbm do Brasil.

[@anavultus1142]

I do not think that the Romans would be very successful in a green Sahara. Looking at the map, there is a distinct lack of convenient natural frontiers that would facilitate Roman rule in northern Africa; the cost of securing such a long border would severely inconvenience the Romans.

[@zebimicio5204]

Either that or the local North Africans would strive enough to rival everyone that tried to invade them. North Africa has less population than Europe and Arabia at the time hence why it was fairly easy to conquer by both of these powers.

[@jaypercival431]

True. Italy could never have captured North Africa. They already had too many irons in the fire.

[@austinford1530]

@@jaypercival431 Italy and Rome are completely different.

[@jaypercival431]

@@austinford1530 I must've lost sight of the context. Thanks for calling me out.

[@brendananderson338]

With a green sahara I wouldn’t be surprised if Rome lost the Punic Wars in the first place. They were already fighting the odds in our timeline, so much moreso if Carthage was much more fertile.

[@olearris]

I feel Carthage would have been a bigger empire. They We're a power house til Rome came in.

[@bensondavido4525]

Carthage wouldn't exist without the Phoenicians and Egypt which wouldn't exist without a dry Sahara

[@bensondavido4525]

@@adamnesico well the Phoenicians script was based off of Egyptian hieroglyphic script their ships were evolved sea worthy versions Egyptian Nile vessels their sculpture and Greek sculpture were based off of Egyptian monuments and figures. I while I dont mean to say no civilization would have arisen in place of the phoenicians I think that culture benefited greatly from its proximity to Egypt, Mitani, Hatusa and Mycenean states. Without the dry sahara most of these cultures wouldn't exist.

[@bensondavido4525]

@@adamnesico I dont mean to imply Mitanni wouldn't exist, they probably would be largely unchanged by Egypts co-existence, but Mycenaen Greece was heavily reliant on maritime trade with Egyptians, maybe they would have formed the city state alliances without Egypt but it would be a drastically different version of these cultures.

[@pietr1036]

NO ! a green sahara would provoque huge butterflies in the world, no things such a cartaghe or rome as we know it would exist

[@aym.s5827]

@@bensondavido4525 carthage wouldnt even hold on for a century is it wasnt for berbers as was proven later against other invaders so Whats your point

[@thehuy3725]

Sahara: im da biggest Antarctica: hold my beer

[@zx-luck8522]

Ikr Why do peop don't consider antartica a desert even tho it is

[@TheBestestKitty]

Look at those puny virgin lakes, I bet they don't even work out. Chad lake is where it's at, yo

[@TheBestestKitty]

Erwin Schrödinger I bet you go to lake maghreb for your water instead of hanging with the chads.

[@myspacebarbrokenevermindif9892]

What if australia was (entirely) green

[@OYazncutie903]

MySpaceBarBroke Never mind, i fixed it damn ur cute

[@connorgolden4]

MySpaceBarBroke Never mind, i fixed it Well I think not much in would change at all until Europeans arrived. After that maybe more Europeans would've gone to Australia. Maybe with a larger population and more agricultural land they would've been more influential in the region.

[@scottmantooth8785]

interesting concept...first thoughts on this possibility revolve around how the global weather cycle would have to be radically altered to make this a reality. the topography would also be very different than it is known today. the culture development would also have many divergent threads and tangents spreading across the region. it is probable that had Australia been green and more hospitable when first discovered by exploration that it would not have been viewed as a penal colony and more of an extension of the British Empire.

[@portalenthusiast823]

Since australia is *teeeeechnically* a continent, its likely it wouldnt have been colonised, as the natives probobly would have had easier trade routes with close countries, like the Philippines or china, and china would have multiple maps with a highly detailed and extremely conplex map of Australia, with approximately 10 or 12 seperate countries with similar language differences to france, italy and spain (no im not saying it would be any of these languages, but that australian languages would differ to each other similarly to these european languages) this would mean that instead of colonisation, australia would face the same fate as japan, and be forced to open trade routes with the eastern world. Its likely that the native australian culture would have been called the southern world (like eastern or western worlds)

[@nakiinami]

MySpaceBarBroke Never mind, i fixed it

[@JJ-fc7xx]

What if the whole world was inverted? (All land is water vice versa)

[@brandoncammon7971]

we would have extremely small oceans and more nations and human wars could've existed

[@giildajionn5110]

No

[@darkowls3738]

That be a really weird planet with a lot of people

[@mrpw1402]

Not enough water to sustain much life. Everything would be deserts

[@ffaiq]

geographynow made a video on it

[@richardwalters2715]

*Amazon rainforest receiving dust from Africa* has left the chat

[@canoguz8172]

My suggestions: 1. What if Europe was a desert? 2. What if Tribes in America/ Asian civilisations explored the world and started colonisation?

[@cagi39]

vay buralarda türk görmeye alışık değilim

[@canoguz8172]

+Harland D. Sanders ben de :D

[@Lukeplaysshuff]

If Europe was a desert then Europeans would be black, and the asian scenario is possible but the american one isn't.

[@jinxd511]

Probably we wont even have Cars and live in like 1700.

[@jerry12314]

Natives tribes in the Americas did come from Central Asia and crossed a frozen land bridge called Beringia which is now underwater in the Bering Sea. So this somewhat answers both your questions.

[@silvametaru]

What if the Portuguese and Spanish empires existed today?

[@Louthanjen]

good idea

[@logacoolxtreme]

i can't say for spain, but for the portugese empire to exist it would have to hold on to macau and goa. and quite frankly good luck trying to convince india and china not to annex them. india already did that to goa. and if portugal insisted on it, sooner or later china would annex it.

[@gcircle]

both Portugal and Spain would have to be massively more powerful to hold on to the colonies. we'd be powerhouses.

[@silvametaru]

logancoolxtreme I know , but it would be good to imagine it , it would be great for a video.

[@icyguy2547]

Interesting.

[@jagill_4188]

What if Sweden won the great northern war?

[@freyjafirefly9201]

yes!!!!

[@hueman8955]

Valithian hell yeah

[@elchungo5026]

Valithian what if the Sahara won the great northern war?

[@superduperisaac]

Chandler Short What if Vietnam won the great Sahara war?

[@europium606]

BØRK YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@trusarmor4957]

8:49 'Tigerstar bought up what could happen with Imperialism, however whenever I mention that the comment sections always turns Horrendous.' LMAO too much truth

[@japi2k9]

Thanks, Cody! Green Sahara is one of my favorite scenarios

[@japi2k9]

Flag of the Kumintang region/province (OTL: Batangas, Laguna and Quezon)

[@cruzzigil]

What if alternate history hub never existed?

[@Khaoki]

I'd imagine that Rome would have collapsed during the 3rd century crisis in this scenario. They were stretched almost to the breaking point and that was with never having to worry about anything more than raids in their African provinces. Add invasions from African realms to their south on top of internal rebellions, Germanic migratory invasions, and wars with Persia and it becomes difficult to see how they'd survive.

[@hamza-trabelsi]

thats iff they win the Punic war at first , Carthage would have been much stronger if the desert was green more wealth more land to conquer , did you know the Carthaginian army was racially diverse from black t Mediterranean to blond ! that means he had good relation with subsaharan , so if it was green there would be greater army and greater empire

[@jaydienparks5658]

Hamza Trabelsi rome would almost certainly lose

[@Fingrek]

Would they go for north african shores in such scenario though?

[@kjrmh973]

@@hamza-trabelsi Carthage was a maritime empire which relied heavily on the existence of seaports. I don't think it would do that well on "land". Romans on the other hand I believe would have successfully pushed further south.

[@brianfrommars]

Kjr Mh It’s extremely hard to tell if the Romans would even be able to push south. We have to remember the Sahara is larger than the entirety of Europe. The numerous peoples their would have kingdoms and empires of their own. Who knows what could happen...

[@shanemize3775]

Great video idea! The Carthaginians definitely would have built their empire south, down the trade networks, particularly the rivers. The Egyptian Empire would have been all over it, as would have the Roman Empire. The Black Death would have decimated Africa, as well as Europe. I'm not sure that carving up Africa in the scramble would have been such the priority, as there would have been so much inter-cultural contact for so long at this point that the mystique would be far removed at this point. Very fascinating and thought provoking. There would certainly be far more food supply in Africa, as a whole, which would be a very good thing. Great job, as always, Cody! Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you, my friend!

[@Red_wine]

What if we never hated mars bars?

[@kennan6176]

T_bus jews

[@willsim813]

do I hate mars bars

[@Nathan-pk1tb]

Angry reacts onl- wait. This isn’t Facebook

[@CubicApocalypse128]

But what about DRAGONS?!

[@Crystal14351]

Excuse you, speak for yourself.

[@ConriDubhghail]

When I was a child and my parents dug up their Toto records, I always thought the song was "I Miss the Rains in Africa" rather than Bless. So I imagined a long lost time where Africa looked more like this. Funny that. Edited for spelling.

[@jamelgreen9861]

Shut up Jimmy, you're always trying to correct Cody.

[@danielmullens2116]

Amazigh, Tuareg, and other North African groups would’ve also fought the land a lot more than they did.

[@rebelbeammasterx8472]

This. Changes. Everything. I respectfully disagree, I don't think you give the Sahara/Middle East Desert enough credit. It caused the existence of Egypt, Hitties, and the Akkadians. They existed because of the scarcity of water. Western Civilization changes as we know it. Eastern as well down the road. Now you have great empires on par with the Romans. Rome may expand even further. Carthage has more city states. Africa is never colonized by European powers. China may start taking land from the Babylonians. African kingdoms could wage war on Europe. The Black Plague also spreads to Africa. Even Pop Culture. Egypt now is what Russia is our timeline. Has no natural boundaries and has to wage constant war, world wide chess games, and expansion to survive. When you change something so far deep in our past, the Butterfly Effect takes center stage.

[@DeoVindice999]

What makes you think Europe wouldn't have conquered Africa? I think it would have been conquered way earlier, by the Romans or Greeks, or maybe even the Holy Roman Empire.

[@user-wb8iu1hl6i]

The differences in technology would be far, far less pronounced and the Greeks and Romans would likely be familiar with Black Africans as traders far before they knew about their lands that they could covet. Also, HRE probably wouldn't exist in a Green Sahara world, which would change too much of ancient history. I think Rome would last much longer in this sort of world.

[@elco9791]

RebelBeamMaster - Thank you this is what I was looking for. I felt like the video assumed that even though this vast area opened up that it wouldn't be a superpower on its own. It would be just as likely to invade other parts of the world as be invaded.

[@connorgolden4]

Unless Africans develop modern technology they're still getting there asses imperialized. Guns>spears.

[@user-wb8iu1hl6i]

In a Green Sahara world I'm sure technology would have diffused to Sub-Saharan Africa much more readily. Besides, Europeans couldn't really colonize Africa until they developed medicines such as quinine because of the diseases in the African interior.

[@kotzpenner]

+1 for Lake Chad

[@NiraSader]

-1 for no Lake Virgin

[@avancalledrupert5130]

The Android from Aiur 113 potential killers agree lol

[@dirtybrotherkiller6000]

kotzpenner CHAD CHAD SUXS

[@MilanMilan0000]

What if the amazon was a desert?

[@severusfloki5778]

I love your profile picture for some reason

[@chocolateorange]

Looks like the Pacajes flag

[@sinister7290]

@@chocolateorange whats that? I feel like its south american

[@chocolateorange]

@@sinister7290 hehehe guess you've not played EUIV before... It was a South American tribe in the 1000-1500s ish

[@sinister7290]

@@chocolateorange whats that game?

[@lucasdasilva7813]

Alsaafana is the name for this alternate place Because its savanna, not desert

[@armahpruski5877]

Libya or Guinea If you look at old maps, those were the names commonly given

[@aym.s5827]

Or tasavaniyet in their native berber language

[@betabeatle5340]

What if Japan never attack the US at Pearl Harbor?

[@RealCadde]

What if the US never embargoed Japan? You get a two for one there as Japan would never attack the US.

[@betabeatle5340]

Cadde if Cody makes a video about that, may I take partial credit for the idea lmao

[@alexsitaras6508]

if japan expanding its empire the embargo may have never been put in place, it's a slippery slope

[@ndalum75]

+Cadde If there is no embargo, Japan would keep slowly expanding in Southeast Asia and China. They might go after Allied colonies anyways, but they might be more discreet in not getting the US involved. Whether Japan would fully win in China, or just go through a Vietnam style endless war, I don't know. Compromise between Japan and China would be unlikely, but after a decade or so of war, who knows what might happen? If the US still embargoed, the only path would be for Japan to only seize allied colonies, and not attack the US. Those who equivocated on imperialism in Japan had an unfortunate tendency to get assassinated, so there's basically no chance of Japan being spurred to peace negotiations with China because of the embargo. Even then, the path is risky, and it's very possible the US would enter the war later anyways, although this might make the fight over certain island chains more bloody.

[@dylanm.6601]

+RequiemPoete Hitler would've only been able to develop a nuke after the war. The reason he wasn't able to make one during the war was because Lebensraum wasn't complete meaning he didn't have enough land to to make a nuke.

[@jagill_4188]

What if Zheng He discovered The Americas in 1405?

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

There's a difference between a colonial china and China discovering america. A colonial china that colonizes the pacific, like Australia, Madagascar, Indonesia, New Zealand, or the phillipines is different than china discovering america. If Zheng He discovered america, small trading ports on the coast would be established for trade. These exotic items would have helped grow the chinese economy immensely, but when smallpox comes to the natives, the Natives drive out the chinese, and they never return, instead looking for more trade from Africa, and India.

[@ParanoidAlaskan]

Greenlandia But that also brings in the possibility of the natives recovering from European sicknesses so maybe the Americas wouldn’t be colonized so quickly by the Europeans.

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

True, however that immunity would have ether stayed in California, or the Rockies, because California, and due to the barriers of the rocky mountains means it may have helped immunity in the rockies, but that's about it, so it's still conquered. Not much changes.

[@ParanoidAlaskan]

Greenlandia unless the Chinese also trade further south with the Meso-American civilizations which I’m sure they would do. From there the sicknesses could realistically infect the Incan empire as well.

[@EmbeMamaChannel]

It is possible, however it's kind of up to interpretation, because it depends on where the Chinese sail to. If they did make it to the Aztec civilization, they will probably not come into contact with them. the land the Aztecs lived in was desert, and the capital was on a lake after all, so if the chinese did set up some ports, either some ragtag Aztecs start trading, and die from smallpox, than others drive them out, but it most likely would not spread throughout the empire, because many of the population lived around Aztec cities originally built by the Maya, but due to the whole human sacrifice thing, they would probably do a ton of sacrifices from the Smallpox, then kill everyone in the city. Smallpox would not spread after that. Also the Chinese would never meet the Incas, because they lived up in the Andes.

[@Boopmook]

The Sahara may be a large desert, but it isn’t the largest

[@rebelbeammasterx8472]

Antarctica is.

[@alexandrurunceanu2652]

U wot

[@cokeabuser1319]

RebelBeamMaster X84 akchually

[@gregrushin8706]

Yes it is...

[@gameboyhotline3712]

Largest hot desert?

[@dramatween0600]

I like the idea that the Sahara could possibly be a melting pot where cultures could integrate!

[@Devonrgn]

What if the Mongols never destroyed Baghdad?

[@kaiserkitsune9393]

Abbasid Caliphate would still exist maybe?

[@themcx8312]

yeah

[@Vitalis94]

I doubt that Caliphate would still exist. I mean, the Caliphate had already fallen few times and changed dynasties prior to the Mongol sack. The only reason that it doesn't exist today is because Ottomans took the title and it died with them. Had other Arab state took the title, maybe it would continue well into the modern era.

[@_-.-_-_.._--.-_-_----_-.--_._-]

All that juicy, juicy knowledge from the House of Wisdom may still be around... if Radical Jihad had not destroyed it anyway in modern times.

[@Vitalis94]

Science was on decline prior to the Mongols, anyway, so those radical Muslims wouldn't even have to be modern, there were plenty of those that were agaist science back then, and they succeded.

[@papulrocks794]

Do a video on:- What if Antarctica had remained green like it was during the Jurassic period.

[@michaelheliotis5279]

I think it's important to note that Carthage had its origins as a Phoenician colony, which they may not have been able to establish if the area was already inhabited by Saharan locals. Nevertheless it is still likely that Rome would come into conflict with whatever Saharan civilisation was established there, as the causes were mostly geopolitical tensions, but it's probably impossible to call who would win. Rome's victory was almost a defeat, and we can't presume the Saharans would have the same technology as the Carthaginians because we don't know just how much of it was inherited from the Phoenicians. Perhaps even the Saharans would be highly innovative and possess better technology than the Carthaginians, giving them enough of an edge to crush the Romans and forge their own Mediterranean empire?

[@planets9102]

nah it's almost impossible to make prodictions about that

[@jaydienparks5658]

Planet S carthage would most likely win though

[@TheBigManWithTheBiggerPlan]

I need someone to do some sort of alternate history of the world with this. I just want it.

[@novidsonmychanneljustcomme5753]

Be careful at 0:21: You cannot really call the Sahara an "ocean of sand" - in fact talking about the Sahara many people think about these big sand planes ("Erg"), but actually these are only around 10% of the whole desert (former lakes that dried out) - the majority consists in stones and rocks. But this just as the one little critical point from my side - a well-done and interesting scenario though! :)