Search results

Hi all, With a PoD no earlier than the declaration of war, no ASB and no foreign intervention (as there wasn't any OTL), how could the French have won or get a draw in the war against Prussia? I imagine no disaster at Sedan might have helped, what else?

Hi all, This is not a normal post, not a normal thread. This, from the depth of my soul, is a cry for help. Will you dare give me a hand and take me out of the darkness in which I've fallen? Right. So I am looking for, and haven't found much beyond Wikipedia, about Anjiro, the Japanese...

Hi all, We think fascism as Nazism this day, crazy people wanting to kill all non-white people. However, I remember hearing that Italian fascism was rather more inclusive, with no discrimination against Jews until way later. So, basically, how bad was it before the war? Let's say, we're in...

Hi y'all, Yes this is a bit of a weird question and I know it bears its share of cliché but hear me out. Let's imagine some air power start becoming more available post-1870, either in stationary form (montgolfière) or movable (short range dirigeables). This is in line with the resources at...

Hi all, The English colonies were all linked by the All Red Line, the telegraph network. However, I have never been able to find what the French were using. Were they using the All Red Line with a few more bits? Did they build their own parallel network? Cheers!

Hi all, Before Cortes and Potosi, what were the financial networks related to the spice trade like? How did the Portuguese finance their journeys? I seem to remember they sold it in Anvers, anybody got more details?

Hi all, The UK has always been the great enemy of France. Even in 1940, the high command preferred Germany to the UK. So until when were they considered a serious enemy, with actual military planning?

Hi all, I'm currently reading 1493 by Charles C. Mann, which is an absolutely passionnating book (had loved 1491 too). It says that potato was a major factor in the population explosion of Europe and China, and that without the potato, the situation would have deteriorated in Europe due to...

Hi all, Quick question on the Franco-prussian war. Bazaine surrendering was horrendous, in strategic term but also for morale. So what if he hadn't? What if he had tried to fight on or not outright surrendered? Would that have left more time for Gambetta to do his thing?

Hi guys, I had a question: do you know what the Communards of 1871 thought of colonisation? At this time, there were colonies in Algeria, Cochinchina, Africa, and bits and pieces everywhere. Napoleon III had a plan to create an Arab Kingdom rather than fully integrate it into France as did the...

Hi y'all, I know zeppelin are an over used trope in AH so thanks for your patience on this one. A big issue in post-1870 colonisation was controlling the territory, hence the massive efforts to build railways. It's either because of vast distance (Africa) or because the terrain is jungle and...

Hi all, There's a lot of hate around the Maginot line, forgetting it held where it was built and was useless only because it didn't go all the way, on the understanding the Belgians would do their parts. So, what if France preferred its borders' security to its relationship with Belgium? What...

Hi all, I have a question: we all know that slavery and the Transatlantic trade wasn't exactly great for the Africans individual being transported. I was wondering about the larger impact slavery had on African societies. I had read a while ago that slavery precluded the emergence of larger...

Hi all, It's generally said that de Gaulle avoided a civil war in France by taking power in 1958 (operation Résurrection was under way for example) So what if he hadn't been able to take power, because of sickness or death? What would be the consequences for France and the world?

Yo, I've been looking for any info on the pirate Timoji who helped the Portuguese conquer Goa as well as on Malik Ayaz, governor of Diu. Timoji is important enough to be mentioned everywhere but limited info. For Ayaz, it's unfortunate as there was another guy with the same name and function...

Yo, Gama was a... peculiar character. Sure all military leaders had a violent psychopathic streak to them but Gama was particularly bad. A bad diplomat, he took offense at many things and retaliated with massive firepower. So, what if he hadn't captained the fleet? He was only 3rd or 4th...

Hi all, Early XIXTH century was not a happy time for China with several large scale rebellion happening at the same time. On top of that, European powers are strong enough for projection on a low hanging fruit. And the cherry on the cake is a resurgent Vietnam with the Gia Long unification...

Hello, I was wondering something: these days when you arrive somewhere new and need a base, you'd use prefab in metal. But what would you use in the late XIXth century, especially in the colonial context? You needed quick buildings off the boat in the middle of nowhere, what did they do?

Hello people, Poland was partitioned between its neighbours. Could a similar thing have happened to France around the Revolution? It had no cash and a dissatisfied/disorganized army after all?

Yo, At some point, Protestantism ceased to be another school of thought in Catholicism, like the jansenists for example, and became distinct from it. When and why?