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Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have left that tap running back in 1932...

The first rule of time travel is that any and all modifications made to the timeline result in Hitler winning World War II. Run over a hippy in 1968? Hitler wins.
—colonel_green of ScansDaily

As the amount of time-traveling you do increases, the probability of Hitler winning World War II approaches one.

You return home from your jolly time travel adventure in ancient Greece, having saved the world and being careful not to upset history and.. hold on a moment? Are those swastikas?! Looks like you've been hit by Godwin's Law of Time Travel.

Talked to the wrong person? Nazi victory! Left technology back before the dinosaurs were wiped out? Nazi victory! Stepped on a bug? Nazi victory! Prevented a Nazi victory? Nazi victory!

About the only time travel that doesn't result in a Nazi Victory is traveling to times after WWII or traveling to the future... unless a Neo Nazi steals your timetravel pod from you to help out Hitler.

The strangest thing about Time Travel is probably that a) the Nazis winning WWII is the most common accidental timeline shift and b) that will usually be the only change in the new timeline. It almost seems like Germany was supposed to win, and that history is trying to snap back to its original form. Perhaps Germany actually won, and a neo-ally traveled back in time to make sure the allies won by making Hitler depressed or something.

Interestingly, in reality, a Nazi victory seems to have been quite improbable. There was no single, easily changeable factor contributing to the Allied success, and it is likely that many changes to history would be needed for Germany to have a decent chance of winning.

Similar stories can be told with other past war-losers and faded empires. The Confederacy, the Soviets, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Egyptians and the colonial-era British are all possibilities. The Nazis are by far the most dominant in this field, however.

The inversion of this is Hitlers Time Travel Exemption Act.

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Godwin's LawReichstropenHitler's Time Travel Exemption Act
Future SlangTime Travel TropesGrandfather Paradox
Godwin's LawLaws And FormulasThe Grand List Of Forum And Community Laws