AH Challenge: Tiny Countries become Empires

Hashemite

Banned
Create Empires from the following small nations:
  • Luxembourg
  • San Marino
  • Monaco
  • Vatican City State
  • Malta
  • Liechstenstein
  • Palau
  • Nauru
  • Bhutan
  • Marshall Islands
  • Micronesia
Whats the POD? Post any flags, country you want to.
Or choose another small (in area) country
 
Luxemburg has the best chances; their dynasty ruled Bohemia for some time, and some of them became Holy Roman emperors.
 
Mega Luxembourg

Belgium splits into its linguistic/cultural divisions. The flemish join the Netherlands, while the french speaking area seeks to unit with Luxombourg. Several nothern France Departments follow the same path.
 
Speaking of Luxembourg, let's say Germany gets really, really beat down in either WWI or WWII - bad enough to have it basically dismembered. WWII may even work better for this, although if the Soviets do not do very well, or if the Communist Revolution in Russia is avoided or defeated altogether, it would be easier. Since the Hohenzollerns are somewhat discredited thanks to WWI, the Allies have a "bright" idea of creating a new "Holy Roman Empire" under a mutually agreeable monarch tha is sufficiently loosely organized, but at the same time, is capable of cracking down on what they see as dangerous nationalism.

So, here is the alternate WWI that results in Austria-Hungary and Germany being practically dismembered, but either Imperial or Republican Russia surviving (as to no Cold War in Europe post-wars). WWII happens not too dissimilarly from OTL, but this time around, Germany really gets the short end of the stick, playing on nationalism to end up with results close to OTL. Thus, the Allies install the Duke of Luxembourg as the new "Holy Roman Emperor", technically with rule over Southern Germany, Austria, plus his original territory - Northern Germany is the new "Confederation of the Rhine".

Luxembourg Empire lives on, and eventually manages to become an economic power.
 
:( I had one for Andorra replacing Aragon as the place where that family line split from Navarre, and ended up taking parts of France, and the Western Mediterran as well as capturing a pacfic kingdom..., but its not on the list...
 
A fairly plausible method may be that someone in one of these small countries develops a unique technology that overpowers any opponent when used militarily. No idea what it could be, but then there is the much earlier example of Alexander the Great conquering half the known world from his base in titchy, tiny Macedonia. A new technology could be utilised by a new Alexander.

However, things have changed by the 20th Century. Tactical finesse became less important from the American Civil War onwards, so by the modern era what's important is no longer the maneuvres of the general or the finesse of the equipment, but mass industry and mass armies. About the only modern-day example of a tiny country controlling a vast empire would be Belgium and the Congo Free State.

Would colonial empires count, then? A tiny band of Luxembourgers take over Africa?
 
Besides the potential of the papal state leading a religous empire, I believe a small nation could only control a large territory if that nation was an economic power (think of the power and influence of Venice), if that nation had some extremely valuable and rare natural resource (like Brunei with their offshore gas and oil deposits), or if that nation had unique control over some world changing technology.

And they would have to have their enormous wealth by the mid 1800's, so their lands could be purchased, or taken by mercenaries.
 
ThePharaoh said:
Create Empires from the following small nations:
  • Luxembourg
  • San Marino
  • Monaco
  • Vatican City State
  • Malta
  • Liechstenstein
  • Palau
  • Nauru
  • Bhutan
  • Marshall Islands
  • Micronesia
Whats the POD? Post any flags, country you want to.
Or choose another small (in area) country

will you allow Nepal?

it's small enough... and there is a good POD

WI A Few Indian States allied with Nepal during the Anglo-Nepalese conflict of 1812 - 1814, forcing them to fight a many-front war in the Indian Continent?

Mired in defeats, the British will lose morale and withdraw from Nepal. Since they relied mostly on Indian conscrpits, they might face rebellion. And since the Napoleonic wars are raging on, the British might withdraw from most of mainland India, making traties with native rulers to keep them on the pro-british side and choosing only to keep the coast and the ports. Nepalese 'Gurkhas' will gain even greater recognition as a "martial people" and Nepal might continue to militarize, ganing support from some Indian States. Over Time, Nepal might annex Sikkim and Bhutan, parts of OTL Bihar, perhaps even tibet and claim protecorate over the Kingdom of Kashmir to protect its hindu king. And also as the most powerful hindu dynasty in the North, the shahs are likely to form personal unions with other hindu dynasty consolidating their power. And inf good relations with the south are maintained, they can seek alliance, or at least neutrality the Nepalese campaigns against the Muslim states. All in all, Nepal can emerge as Prussia-like entity which will unite south asia into an empire.
 
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This map has some of those:

microstate empires.PNG
 
Ruschurch said:
Besides the potential of the papal state leading a religous empire, I believe a small nation could only control a large territory if that nation was an economic power (think of the power and influence of Venice), if that nation had some extremely valuable and rare natural resource (like Brunei with their offshore gas and oil deposits), or if that nation had unique control over some world changing technology.

And they would have to have their enormous wealth by the mid 1800's, so their lands could be purchased, or taken by mercenaries.
I agree. It also has put itself in a position where a larger neighbour can't move in and take control of it. The papal state is a good example because it could usually recruit allies to help defend it. However, it seemed to be on to such a good thing that the French "kidnapped" it and installed their own pope in Avignon.

As for the use of mercenaries, yes that would allow a tiny state to build an empire. However as the Sepoy Mutiny in British India and the Mamaluke coup in Egypt show, mercenaries aren't continously loyal to their paymasters.
 
I wonder about the Vatican City-State being formed under other circumstances. And what if the Pope then decides that all Catholics shall be considered to be citizens of the Vatican City-State. Either they have dual citizenship with their own countries or they have to give up their present citizenship to be Vatican citizens, but they can remain where they are as "resident aliens" if they want to...
No jokes about space aliens, please. :D

Nauru and other Pacific islands--the Hawaiian royal family flees US capitalists' oppression in the 1870s-1890s, and settles in Nauru or someplace, allies with the British, a world war ensues, the Hawaiian royal family use their position for propaganda against the US, and unite the Pacific islands under their banner, but the US holds onto Hawaii so what the Hawaiian royal family rules is Nauru or wherever...

That sounds awfully contrived. What did the folks on the other Pacific islands think of the Hawaiian kingdom?

Monaco--with no Napoleon, France breaks up into competing microstates, the rest of Europe plunges into war, a popular Monacoan leader who didn't exist in OTL emerges and in 1830 when the war ends he is able to unite OTL France into the Principality of Monaco. The French people don't mind, as long as there's no more war.

Malta can have a similar experience in the same timeline, with a genius Maltese leader taking over Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, the Greek islands, Tunisia...

For those two scenarios to work we might have to have the collapse of the Austrian and Prussian Empires in the 1820s...

For San Marino--

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=12079&highlight=marino

And here's another thread...

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=8466&highlight=marino

For Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau or Nauru, somebody similar to William Wallace might have taken over one of those regions, expands into the rest of the Pacific, then into the Philippines, New Guinea, some of the Indonesian islands. And his family somehow gets the rights to all of Antarctica...
 
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