History Literature / MakingHistory

* GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel: Turns out ''someone'' is going to lead the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazis]] to war, genocide, etc., and that there ''are'' people who can play that role who will make the world a lot worse than Hitler managed.
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Subverted in that yes, they do get rid of Adolf Hitler by preventing his conception. Played straight in that this does not prevent the Nazis, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust mass murders of Jews and other "undesirables"]], etc.

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!! ''Making History'' contains examples of:

* WaterSourceTampering: Michael and Leo try this, dumping a male contraceptive into the Hitler family's drinking water supply not very long before Adolf's conception. It works, in a NiceJobBreakingItHero way. [[spoiler: "Zuckerman" was born Axel Bauer, son of a German doctor who chose the [=SS=], and in both versions of history wound up doing medical research at Auschwitz. In the alternate world, [[MadScientist Dr. Dietrich Bauer]] figured out the contraceptive, which had also sterilized other men getting their water from the same source as the Hitlers, and used it to wipe out large populations.]] The spoilered info is in addition to the creation of a rather more efficient and effective Third Reich.

* {{Expy}}: Dr. Dietrich Bauer for Dr. Josef Mengele.

* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: Dr. Bauer's wife and son assume the identities of a mother and son murdered at Auschwitz, and use those identities to get from Germany to the United States, to a brother-in-law of the dead woman. He'd never met his real sister-in-law or nephew, so had no reason to doubt the woman and boy showing up claiming to be his relatives. [[spoiler:The boy in question, formerly Axel Bauer, is now Leo Zuckerman.]]

* WaterSourceTampering: Michael and Leo try this, dumping a male contraceptive into the Hitler family's drinking water supply not very long before Adolf's conception. It works, in a NiceJobBreakingItHero way. [[spoiler: "Zuckerman" was born Axel Bauer, son of a doctor who chose the [=SS=], and in both versions of history wound up doing medical research at Auschwitz. In the alternate world, [[MadScientist Dr. Dietrich Bauer]] figured out the contraceptive, which had also sterilized other men getting their water from the same source as the Hitlers, and used it to wipe out large populations.]] The spoilered info is in addition to the creation of a rather more efficient and effective Third Reich.

You would think that a world in which UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was never conceived would have been a better world, right?

* GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel: Turns out ''someone'' is going to lead the [[UsefulNotes/Nazi Germany Nazis]] to war, genocide, etc., and that there ''are'' people who can play that role who will make the world a lot worse than Hitler managed.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The no-Hitler version of the 20th century turns out a lot worse than the version on historical record. This is mostly due to a much smarter, more rational charismatic psychopath taking leadership of the Nazi party.
* WaterSourceTampering: Michael and Leo try this, dumping a male contraceptive into the Hitler family's drinking water supply not very long before Adolf's conception. It works, in a NiceJobBreakingItHero way. [[spoiler: "Zuckerman" was born Axel Bauer, son of a doctor who chose the [=SS=], and in both versions of history wound up doing medical research at Auschwitz. In the alternate world, [[MadScientist Dr. Dietrich Bauer]] figured out the contraceptive, which had also sterilized other men getting their water from the same source as the Hitlers, and used it to wipe out large populations.]]

Well, according to Creator/StephenFry's 1996 novel ''Making History'', you'd be wrong. History student Michael Young tries it with the help of Holocaust survivor professor Leo Zuckerman, and finds out that Hitler wasn't the ''worst'' thing that could have happened to the 20th century. Not by a long shot.

Well, according to Creator/StephenFry, you'd be wrong. History student Michael Young tries it with the help of Holocaust survivor professor Leo Zuckerman, and finds out that Hitler wasn't the ''worst'' thing that could have happened to the 20th century. Not by a long shot.

GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel: Turns out ''someone'' is going to lead the Nazis to war, genocide, etc., and that there ''are'' people who can play that role who will make the world a lot worse than Hitler managed.
HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Subverted in that yes, they do get rid of Adolf Hitler by preventing his conception. Played straight in that this does not prevent the Nazis, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, mass murders of Jews and other "undesirables", etc.
WaterSourceTampering: Michael and Professor Zuckerman try this, dumping a male contraceptive into the Hitler family's drinking water supply not very long before Adolf's conception. It works, in a NiceJobBreakingItHero way. [[spoiler: "Zuckerman" was born Axel Bauer, son of a doctor who chose the [=SS=], and in both versions of history wound up doing medical research at Auschwitz. In the alternate world, Dr. Dietrich Bauer figured out the contraceptive, which had also sterilized other men getting their water from the same source as the Hitlers, and used it to wipe out large populations.]]