AH Challenge: Tortuga Superpower

[NapoleonXIV]

POD is 1492 or thereafter. Turn the pirate state/nest??? into a world Great Power by 1812 or into a Superpower by the present day or both.

[Beck Reilly]

I honestly don't think it's possible to turn a 70 sq-mi island in the Americas into a world power by 1820.

[MerryPrankster]

We could invent some kind of "great man" who welds the pirates of the island together by sheer force of personality, judicious "carrots," and of course, the stick (internicene war). The end result would be a full-blown pirate empire that might very well require a full-scale war by one or more Great Powers to defeat.

However, since the Brits, Spanish, and others used pirates as proxies against each other, that might not happen...

Tortuga could also be like Switzerland...they'll deal with anyone economically.

[Ace Venom]

Tortuga had just as much of a chance of becoming a world power as Louisville, Kentucky. The European powers would have to be nuked by one of those Nazi variety B2's of ASB fame for them to actually allow Tortuga to have a free hand in their playground. This just isn't possible without ASBs.

[Phaeton]

Pitate Superpower might not work, Not Just politically but Socially too.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Walter_Kaufmann

I honestly don't think it's possible to turn a 70 sq-mi island in the Americas into a world power by 1820.

Well, looking at the POD I am thinking that the point is it expands outwards, maybe with Tortuga as its spiritual heart but as it takes other places, eg potentially Kingston then these become the capital, and if it acquires a land base such as Caracas (or whatever it was called then) then this too in turn becomes the capital, but in linear history it all comes from Tortuga

Grey Wolf