Recent content by Tripledot

I think you might want to look at examples from OTL that are to hand. For example, the Scots language, which was adopted by a previously Gaelic-speaking kingdom. Unfortunately, there don't actually seem to be all that many Gaelic loanwords in Scots, so I don't really see much hope for a...

Unless you'd hang their wives and daughters as well, the Lost Cause myth would still be around, possibly even stronger than ever with Davis as a martyr instead of as a disgrace who lost the war for the South.

Weird how you'd blame Grant, who actually did vigorously pursue Reconstruction, instead of Hayes, who ended Reconstruction, for... the end of Reconstruction.

Crossbows, especially ones as powerful as longbows, took a long time to load. But expert crossbowmen were sought out and paid more than longbowmen for their services, despite the disadvantage in firing rate.

US birthrates in the 19th century were explosive in spite of the higher standard of living- demographic transition is far more of a 20th century phenomenon*, so shouldn't be extrapolated to mean that the Mexican population would necessarily be lower. *and it's probably no coincidence that...

Japanese culture did revolve around Buddhism- during the Edo period, everyone had to register with a Buddhist temple. The existence of Shinto does not preclude the practice of Buddhism.

Why wouldn't it be an elective monarchy? Washington having no heirs would probably make this a desirable choice.

Fighter pilots are often referred to as "the knights of the sky"- your challenge is to make this literal. Have air superiority be the domain of the landed aristocracy, equipped, maintained, and manned by the gentry. I'll put this in Before 1900 because I'm assuming it'd take a pre-1900 PoD for...

As opposed to Frederick II's base of operations in Sicily?

"Primitive" implies that they are somehow closer to the "original" experience of humanity than others, as if the evolution of human societies is a straight line, when this isn't even necessarily the case- many "primitive" tribes are living as hunter-gatherers because they had been earlier...

Ireland seems easy enough to keep divided, but how about Great Britain? What's to stop someone from uniting England, even if it's not Alfred the Great specifically?

The cheapest form of armor is a shield, and the most basic, alongside the helmet. If a soldier is going to be using nothing else, they'd be wearing a helmet and carrying a shield. If we're talking about defeating pike walls, though, the best defense is a better offense, i.e. longer pikes than...

Would Japan really think a negotiated peace was still on the table after an atomic bombing? Especially if the terms are presented in a take-it-or-leave it fashion, shouldn't that cause leadership to take the peace while they still can?

Simply, I ask the question, how much sooner (if at all) would the war in the Pacific have ended if the Allies promised to grant Hirohito amnesty? What would be the implications of Japan surrendering sooner?

What about the big cities like Fes and Marrakesh? Surely at least those would be decent prizes, right?