Being the trope namer doesn't make it a better image. In some cases it's worse.
Check out my fanfiction!Actually, it seems that we're looking for scenarios where this happens as a result of Alternate History or Speculative Fiction, so we'd do best with an image that a) didn't happen historically (like the Balkans) and b) isn't the United States (which has its own trope). The Trope Namer itself surprisingly isn't an example, while almost every entry in the real life folder is shoehorning.
edited 30th Jul '15 9:54:24 AM by Morgenthaler
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"The tropes seems focused on alternate and speculative settings, but if anything it specifically includes real life examples.
Check out my fanfiction!I'd support the Soviet example too. Nice, big empire.
Perhaps the First Republic/Chinese Civil War would be better, though, not least for introducing neglected periods of history.
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. — Mark TwainI think what makes the image of Soviet a little less illustrative is that it looks like a big honking empire that turns into a big honking empire and some change.
Check out my fanfiction!The dissolution of Charlemagne's empire
◊, then? For one thing it's a fairly equal division that emphasizes the fragmentation more clearly than the Soviet case. Suggested caption: "This is what you get when all three brothers want their share."
edited 21st Aug '15 9:47:50 AM by Morgenthaler
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"Or possibly the Roman Empire splitting in two
◊? A bit less fragmentary than the Carolingian case, but the legend helps.
Real world examples don't illustrate this trope, since it is about hypothetical balkanizations that happen in Alternate History.
edited 28th Aug '15 3:30:09 AM by Rjinswand
For an explicitly alternative history scenario that isn't the Balkans or the Divided States of America, here's a fractured Italy
◊.
Found that one on this forum
. It's unlicensed, so that should be good.
^ I don't think that's strictly necessary. Even if people don't know the specifics of Italian history, they will generally know that it became one country at some point. Coupled with the trope destription, it should suggest "alternate history" clearly enough.
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"Here's a crowner for the options we have so far
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edited 30th Aug '15 8:49:57 AM by Morgenthaler
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"
Crown Description:
Nominations for replacement images:

How about the break-up of the Former Yugoslavia
◊?
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"