| "Uncle Alf" | |
|---|---|
| Short story byHarry Turtledove | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternate history |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Alternate Generals II andAtlantis and Other Places |
| Publication type | Print and online |
| Publisher | Baen Books |
| Publication date | 2002 |
"Uncle Alf" (2002) is an alternate history short story byHarry Turtledove. It was first published in Turtledove's edited anthologyAlternate Generals II in 2002 and was later reprinted in his short story collectionAtlantis and Other Places in 2010.[1][2][3]
The point of divergence occurs in 1913 whenAlfred von Schlieffen, who in real life died in 1913, survives to personally oversee the successful implementation of hisfamous plan for two-front war againstFrance andRussia. Germany winsWorld War I in 1914 after only a few months, and fully occupies both France andBelgium while theUnited Kingdom and Russia back out of the war completely. Two years later in 1916, an earliercommunist revolution erupts in Russia,KaiserWilhelm II (fearing the consequences within his country's own borders if the Russian Empire collapsed) helps his cousin and former enemyTsarNicholas II to crush it quickly.
The main action of the story itself is set in May 1929, as sergeantAdolf Hitler of theFeldgendarmerie is sent toLille in pursuit of communist agitatorJacques Doriot. The story is a series of letters from "Uncle Alf" to his niece/lover,Geli Raubal. In these letters, he expresses his frustration with the complacency of the local German officials; his disgust with the "degraded" French; his utter devotion to the German Empire, and; his unrestrained (andincestrial) passion for his beloved Geli.
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