r/HistoryWhatIf • u/roon_bismarck • 48m ago
Tsuda Sanzo swings his sword just a little bit harder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ctsu_incident
The Otsu incident.
This incident in Japan was the attempted assassination of the would-be Tzar Nicholas II, by a deranged police officer named Tsuda Sanzo. Nicholas was injured on the side of his head, but survived thanks to brave action on the part of cousin and his rickshaw drivers. Let's just say Sanzo swung his sword *just* a little bit harder, and actually managed to split Nicholas's skull. Considering the medical technology of the era, this is likely not an injury he survives.
So, Nicholas II is killed in Japan. What happens now?