AHC: Save the Monarchies!

Your challenge if you choose to accept it is to save as many of the monarchies in the world as you can with special emphasis on the large ones such as Qing China, Russia and Germany.

Bonus points of you can keep them absolute monarchies or if you can restore old monarchies.

Germany: Pretty easy: win WWI; other scenarions include: German old elites restores the monarchy in the 1930s to counter Hitler and Germany losses WWI, but before the German Revolution, at least only Wilhelm II abdicates.

Qing: After 1900? I'd say impossible, by then the Hundred Day' Reform was rejected, China lost against Japan, losing their place as the big dog of the East and the people's faith on the Manchu was pretty low.

Russia: Bit hard, winning WWI of course helps, but Russia still had a lot of problems related to authoritarism and Nicholas was an idiot, the Empire is in desperate need for reforms and the leadership wasn't reallt keen on it. Maybe after winning the people start pressuring for more freedom thanks to their sacrifice in the Great War. Another funny possibility is losing WWI earlier, this way Nicholas abdicated, but the monarchy isn't necessarily doomed.

Italy: Monarchists win the referetum, it was a close call.

Portugal: Don't kill the king, simple.

Greece: The king stays out of politics, denouncing the coup would improve his image.

Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia: Monarchies are restored after the fall of communism (unsure about Hungary).

Austria: Win WWI. Should the empire eventually dissolves in ethnical strife, the Habsburgs remain as Kings/Archduke of Austria inside the German empire.

Poland, Finland, Baltic States, Ukraine: CPs wins WWI and put German monarchs on those countries.

Ireland: Better handling on the Irish Question (not sure how).

Turkey: Either win WWI or stay out of it.

Arab monarchies: No Israel might save them.

France: Oh boy! I can see only one wild, remote, possibility: Central Powers win WWI, get land from France and all that jazz, this leads to a revival in Monarchism in France, leading the a restauration (probably from a main-line Orleans or a Bonaparte).

Vietnam: The US backs someone with more IQ to be their puppet in South Vietnam. The north probably still wins though.

Laos: The French are clear in who is going to be king.

Afghanistan: No 1970s coup.

Iran: No knowledge on the Islamic Revolution... The shah less of a dick?

Germany: CPs wins WW1, no the war, WW1 is much shorter but CPs loses still.

Russia: Seems pretty hopeless with post-1900 POD.

Austria: Dissolution of Austro-Hungary is totally unavoidable, but monarchy can survive if CPs win WW1. Or another change is that monarchy is restored after nazi occupation.

Ottoman Empire: No WW1, neutral Ottomans or victorious CPs.

China: Seems even more hopeless than Russia.

Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro: Monarchy is restored after Cold War or very different world wars.

Iran: Not so corrupted shah.

Ethiopia: Haile Selassie reform the country as constitutional monarchy or dies before revolution and his successor reforms the country.

Nepal: Nepalese Civil War ends

Italy: Monarchists win the referendum.

Afghanistan: Not coup of '73 or monarchy is restored after ousting of Taliban.

Egypt: Faruq not be so corrupted.

Iraq: No coup on 1950's.

Greece and Portugal not be familiar enough that I could find way to save their monarchies.

Actually for Portugal, simply not killing the king probably wouldn't be enough. You'd have to do away with the British 1890 ultimatum, which set the course for the 1910 revolution.

Laos could probably get the monarchy back if they instigated a war with Thailand and lost.

Ethiopia: Haile Selassie I handling the 1973 crisis better would help keep the Derg out of power.

Brazil: I swear I heard once that the military Junta of the 60s wanted an Imperial decedent to lead the country. Maybe I'm mistaken?

Iran: By '79, the only way the Shah is getting back in power is a US invasion and that won't happen without Vietnam never occurring. That or Mohammad Pahlavi steps down earlier, letting Reza take the throne.

Also this seems like the right place to ask but why didn't Romania and Bulgaria restore the monarchies after the fall of the USSR? Seems like an obvious choice given how the communist governments were nothing more than hand selected Soviet puppets.

AK47Productions said:

Also this seems like the right place to ask but why didn't Romania and Bulgaria restore the monarchies after the fall of the USSR? Seems like an obvious choice given how the communist governments were nothing more than hand selected Soviet puppets.

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True. Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia could have easily restore monarchy. Last king of Bulgaria was even shortly prime minister of the country on 2000's.

And isn't in Montenegro some discussion about restoration of monarchy?

Rather than consider specific cases, I would say that there was a tendency for states sponsored or supported by the British Empire to take the form of constitutional monarchies. So as a general background factor, you might need to slow down the decay of the British Empire in order to make constitutional monarchy look like a thing that the cool kids are doing (as opposed to OTL, where an America-centred international order makes the Great Republic the default point of reference for emergent states). This emphatically does not mean making the British Empire "stronger" as such, but does mean that its decline should be more orderly.
In my own ASB TL (sigged) I have saved/ restored the German monarchy and there might be more to come...

Lalli said:

True. Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia could have easily restore monarchy. Last king of Bulgaria was even shortly prime minister of the country on 2000's.

And isn't in Montenegro some discussion about restoration of monarchy?

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Only thing I could find was a law passed in 2012 that rehabilitated the Royal House of Montenegro.

With China, there's absolutelty no reason that a traditionalist streak could not survive. During the revolution, have one of the stronger factions endorse a puppet-emperor; whether they be of the Manchu dynasty, or a new one, isn't important, but you can have a Chinese Empire post-1900. The emperor doesn't do much except chill in the Forbidden City, make appearances every now and then, sign edicts, and the like, with the actual governance of the realm in the hands of the military/parliament/council of elders or whatever you want.

I think with France, you'd need a POD pre-1900. Bonaparte the Third's dynasty might have survived had there been no Franco-Prussian War, or if the Prussians had lost. He would certainly be vindicated, although I'm not sure how you achieve a French victory in that war. Post-1900, I don't think even a return of the Bonapartes is likely. If the Germans defeat France in WW1, I can see France becoming a dictatorship (either right or left wing) with a revanchist streak, but I don't think a restored monarchy would really be 'extreme' enough for that kind of political climate.

Russia, again, you'd need an earlier POD and smarter Tsars.

The Ottoman Empire; I'm really not sure if the monarchy can survive that one. I mean, Arab nationalism is as much a product of WWI as anything, but weren't there some anti-monarchy movements there even beforehand?

Emperor-of-New-Zealand said:

With China, there's absolutelty no reason that a traditionalist streak could not survive. During the revolution, have one of the stronger factions endorse a puppet-emperor; whether they be of the Manchu dynasty, or a new one, isn't important, but you can have a Chinese Empire post-1900. The emperor doesn't do much except chill in the Forbidden City, make appearances every now and then, sign edicts, and the like, with the actual governance of the realm in the hands of the military/parliament/council of elders or whatever you want.

I think with France, you'd need a POD pre-1900. Bonaparte the Third's dynasty might have survived had there been no Franco-Prussian War, or if the Prussians had lost. He would certainly be vindicated, although I'm not sure how you achieve a French victory in that war. Post-1900, I don't think even a return of the Bonapartes is likely. If the Germans defeat France in WW1, I can see France becoming a dictatorship (either right or left wing) with a revanchist streak, but I don't think a restored monarchy would really be 'extreme' enough for that kind of political climate.

Russia, again, you'd need an earlier POD and smarter Tsars.

The Ottoman Empire; I'm really not sure if the monarchy can survive that one. I mean, Arab nationalism is as much a product of WWI as anything, but weren't there some anti-monarchy movements there even beforehand?

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Probabley in OE was some anti-monarchist groups but these were probably too weak to overthrown monarchy before WW1. And if the empire stays out of WW1 or CPs are victorious might be that Republicans not be strong enough to oust monarchy.

Monter said:

Ireland: Better handling on the Irish Question (not sure how).

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Alternatively, for an actual Irish monarch, Eamon de Valera declares a Kingdom instead of a Republic and puts Leopoldo O'Donnell, 6th Duke of Tetuan, on the throne.