How could you get a scenario where African nations consolidate and industrialize before European ones do?
African Industrialization
- Thread starter DirtyCommie
- Start date
A very early POD that involves the Islamic World industrializing before the West is the only way this becomes remotely possible. In such a scenario it would be possibles for the Omani Arabs who controlled much of the East Africa coast to introduce industrialization, leading the continent to take the first tentative steps towards industrialization before the West.
By Africa, I assume you mean Sub-Saharan Africa. North Africa would be a much easier place to industrialize before the West, but it is much more a part of the Middle Eastern World.
By Africa, I assume you mean Sub-Saharan Africa. North Africa would be a much easier place to industrialize before the West, but it is much more a part of the Middle Eastern World.
Stop the Bantu migrations (no idea how-throw some ASBs at them) so that the Nilotic peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa remain sovereign. They were farmers and gatherers, and lived in towns unlike the pastoralist Bantus, whose constant warfare and measure of status in cattle meant that agriculture and statecraft were limited. The Nilotic kingdoms around the Zambezi River and other agricultural areas become kingdoms and eventually by the 18th century begin to industrialise. It won't be much, but it might, just might, be something. It all depends on their trade-they'll have easy access to the Omanis in Zanzibar, but contact with Europe would be hard and probably only through slavery.
Oh, and if anyone thinks to say 'xxx pulls a Meiji' I shall have to lay my furious vengeance upon them. It's the most over-used, mis-applied term on the board with the possible exception of the unmentionable aquatic mammal, but then at least that's just been turned into a running joke.
Oh, and if anyone thinks to say 'xxx pulls a Meiji' I shall have to lay my furious vengeance upon them. It's the most over-used, mis-applied term on the board with the possible exception of the unmentionable aquatic mammal, but then at least that's just been turned into a running joke.
One idea (though this is a very long shot) is the following scenario:
Ogedai Khan lives longer, as a result the Mongols are able to complete their conquests by taking western Europe, southern Arabia and north Africa. This includes cities like Constantinople, Cairo and Jerusalem getting sacked by the Mongols. In the fllowing decades, there is a pandemic that sweeps across the entire Old World (excluding sub-saharan Africa), killing a greater portion of people than the OTL Black Death. The combined effect is that the entire old world is drastically set back in it's development. The really tough part is now getting the scientific method to emerge somewhere in Africa. The key issue is, this might take considerably longer than OTL, with maybe the Industrial Revolution not occuring until the 26th century or beyond...
Ogedai Khan lives longer, as a result the Mongols are able to complete their conquests by taking western Europe, southern Arabia and north Africa. This includes cities like Constantinople, Cairo and Jerusalem getting sacked by the Mongols. In the fllowing decades, there is a pandemic that sweeps across the entire Old World (excluding sub-saharan Africa), killing a greater portion of people than the OTL Black Death. The combined effect is that the entire old world is drastically set back in it's development. The really tough part is now getting the scientific method to emerge somewhere in Africa. The key issue is, this might take considerably longer than OTL, with maybe the Industrial Revolution not occuring until the 26th century or beyond...
ArmchairPhilosopher
Banned
Africa had some significant kingdoms on the order of thousands of years ago. Don't know why they all died out. 
Africa had some significant kingdoms on the order of thousands of years ago. Don't know why they all died out.
The same reason all their contemporaries in Europe and Asia died out - states have finite lifespans.
Now, why they didn't develop to the same scale as the Eurasians is fairly simple - geography. Africa has enormous handicaps that limit neither of its neighboring continents. Aside from the Mediterranean coast, it is more cut off from diffusion of technology. Trade is limited by desert, lack of navigable waterways, and extreme disease environments. The tse-tse fly prevented the influx of key domesticates to most of the continent up to the modern era.
You have to give them a reason. If you have large landmass and low population density and little concept of investment in business enterprses then where would the impetus to industrialize come from?
If you are content to live in small conservative minded communities that are not exposed to external threat or competition from people who are different to them then there is no change in culture.
Europe is small and crowded with competition a factor of life from the Dark Ages onwards. It is no surprise that Europe began developing from about 700 onwards.