Haven't you ever sat there in hindsight, drinking history down retrospectively like an already-bad whisky that has been mixed with some equally worse soda and a couple of rocks thrown in for good measure and wondered what life would be like if this or that event hadn't actually happened? What would have happened if that soldier that had spared the life of Adolf Hitler as he decided not to kill him at point blank range when he came across him injured had decided otherwise? Yes, Henry Tandey, the most decorated soldier in theBritish Army in World War One is at least said to have spared his life despite the fact that there is little evidence of it actually being true. Hitler exploited the fact that Tandey was the most decorated man whenPrime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrived to get the famous "peace in our time", that wasn't forthcoming, and said that he had been saved. But, whether it be true or not, it's an example of how we react in the world looking back and wishing that perhaps things hadn't happened the way they did. What if? What if that had happened rather than what actually did? Man is full of regrets, isn't he?

But, looking back, what would be the life-changing events that would have made history different, perhaps better? Those events that would have changed the course of history and made the world a different place? The revolutions that never happened?

Top 10 Revolutions that Could Have Changed the World…But Didn't

10. The Gang of 8

When President Gorbachev came to power in 1985 he embarked on the biggest and most ambitious program of political and economic restructuring of the Soviet Union. He introduced perestroika and glasnost. He met resistance from hardliners in the party and there was great fear that the Soviet Union would splinter since there was a growing increase in nationalism around the union. The 8 members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that led the coup against Gorbachev saw their attempt to stem the decentralization of Moscow's power to the republics fail in just two short days. However, had the revolution succeeded, the Soviet Union would still be what we would be calling the Russian Federation today and the demise of the Communist Party would perhaps have been postponed.

9. The California Republic

It was short-lived and remained unrecognized but it was nonetheless declared for a few weeks in 1846, when the military controlled the north of San Francisco Bay. Their independence was only for three weeks, but what wouldn't some people give to get three weeks of independence from the US government these days? Just how different would the US be today if California hadn't been swallowed up by the USA?

8. The February Revolution

This was the first of two revolutions in Russia in the same year, the second one (the October Revolution) of course being the most famous and the one that saw Lenin rise to power and the creation of the Communist state that the Soviet Union was to become. Actually the February Revolution was in March (but at the time March was February in the Julian calendar). The February Revolution only lasted three weeks and was confined to St Petersburg but it resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicolas II. Alexander Kerensky was nominated as the head of the government but he made the mistake of maintaining Russia's involvement in the First World War, despite incurring already heavy losses. He also ended capital punishment, declared freedom of speech and released political prisoners. All of this paved the way for Lenin's rise to power. Kerensky had promised to deliver the peasants with food, jobs and land and to do that almost immediately. Of course, he didn't do any of it. Sound familiar? Had he succeeded in stemming all of that, Russia would perhaps not have become the Soviet Union.

7. African Revolution

Che Guevara attempted to start a Communist Revolution in Africa although it failed dismally due to lack of local support. The only remedy to the Third World's position as a sub-level continent was to fight using world revolution and proletarian internationalism against the monopoly of capitalism and imperialism of the western world. He tried to export revolution to Congo-Kinshasa in 1965 but he was captured and executed by Bolivian forces, assisted by the CIA. How would things be in Africa today if he had succeeded in rousing local support and fighting the world revolution against the west's hegemony and exploitation?

6. The Beer Hall Putsch

This putsch took place in 1923 and was a failed attempt by the Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler to gain power in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It took place in 1923 and resulted in 16 deaths in the Nazi Party and 4 policemen being killed. Hitler's attempt at gaining power failed, but he was arrested and thrown into prison for five years. He gained widespread publicity and it brought the party to the forefront of German politics at the time. The time in prison also allowed Hitler to write Mein Kampf, all of which finally brought him to being elected to power rather than having to take it by force.

 5. The United States of Belgium

The Belgians overthrew the Austrian Emperor in 1790 and they set up the Belgium Republic. The Republic only existed between January and December 1790 but it was founded on the very same lines as the United States. Had it survived it might have seen the spreading of democracy much more quickly throughout Europe. The Austrian Emperor Leopold II quickly managed to recapture the Austrian Netherlands and quelled the newly founded state. However, his own rule was quickly overturned again by the French who annexed Belgium in 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Had the United States of Belgium existed the US might have been the founding father of more models of political set-up around the world.