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  1. WI: Warren Hastings successfully prosecuted

    I don't know much about the Hastings impeachment specifically, but I think you're exaggerating Burke's elitist and reactionary sympathies -- he was pro-Irish Catholic and pro-American rebels, after all. It's not that the atrocities of the East India Company (strictly speaking, the "British Raj"...

  2. Would the Thirteen Colonies have unified into a single political entity even if they still remained British?

    I'm going to say they wouldn't. A united North American colony would inevitably become bigger, wealthier, and more populous than the UK, which would be very bad for imperial cohesion. You might see a bit of consolidation, Dominion of New England style, but I don't think the government in London...

  3. WI ancient greek city state took on logic in all it's decisions making and behaviour civil and leadership

    To be fair, they kind of did in ancient Greece, where national honour was very important and required avenging any slight, real or imagined. Though one could argue that, in a society where you're expected to act that way, it's logical to do so, as otherwise you'll get a reputation as a pansy...

  4. WI ancient greek city state took on logic in all it's decisions making and behaviour civil and leadership

    Almost everybody uses logic in their decision-making, so this is OTL, unless of course you mean that nobody makes any illogical or irrational decision, in which case it's ASB because you're essentially asking to change human nature. It would be amazingly successful if it did happen, though.

  5. AHC/What If: End the Atlantic Slave Trade earlier

    Slavery was actually somewhat controversial during this period -- there were various Papal bulls trying to prohibit the practice, and you had people like las Casas and other members of the Salamanca School arguing that it violated people's natural rights. Unfortunately the sheer profitability of...

  6. How successful would Henry VIII’s reforms be if there was a legitimate cadet rival Tudor line?

    It's a bit more complicated than that. Female succession per se wasn't an issue in Tudor England, despite what's often claimed; the issue was that Henry saw his lack of a son as a sign God was displeased with him, which would still apply even if he had other living male relatives.

  7. AHC/What If: End the Atlantic Slave Trade earlier

    There were slaves before 1492 in Europe, but not very many, and they weren't as economically important as plantation slaves would be later on.

  8. AHC/What If: End the Atlantic Slave Trade earlier

    Alternatively, would it have been possible to grow sugar in West Africa? Instead of selling slaves to Europeans, the local kingdoms could grow the sugar and sell it themselves.

  9. Can industrialization happen without causing democracy?

    Post-French Revolution, the rich tend to be on the king's side, because socialism and similar ideologies threaten them both. Pre-French Revolution, that often wasn't the case. The rich tend to want to increase their own power, which is bad for the king's power, so weakening the super-rich so...

  10. Can industrialization happen without causing democracy?

    Keeping people content with his rule and preventing the growth of a potential rival power bloc (super-rich people who aren't him) would both be gains.

  11. Can industrialization happen without causing democracy?

    It's often forgotten now, but laissez-faire economics was a left-wing progressive notion back in the day. I know, I was just using it to illustrate that monarchs can and do support the interests of poorer people, whether out of self-interest or idealism.

  12. Can industrialization happen without causing democracy?

    Medieval kings often used to ally with the commons in order to curb the power of the nobility; I think it's quite conceivable that modern kings could do something similar by passing pro-workers' rights legislation.

  13. WWI if the USA never existed?

    He says that the *US is still part of the British Empire, which suggests they will be involved, much as Canada, Australia and New Zealand were.

  14. WWI if the USA never existed?

    The "US" would probably be smaller and weaker than IOTL (Britain might not go to war with Mexico, for example), but it would still be bigger and stronger than Canada or Australia, and the areas which a British US would be most likely to incorporate (the East Coast and Midwest) are also some of...

  15. Fate of Protestantism in a world where England remains Catholic?

    Medieval England didn't have huge tracts and almost-uninhabited land available, and other countries with religious minorities (France or the Netherlands, for example) didn't go in for settler colonialism in as a big a way as the English did. Religion was a factor for some groups of colonists, to...

  16. Fate of Protestantism in a world where England remains Catholic?

    AIUI the medieval English population was unusually mobile compared to most continental countries (e.g., English parents were more likely to apprentice out their children at a young age). Even if English North America grows somewhat slower without religious refugees to bolster the numbers, I...

  17. Fate of Protestantism in a world where England remains Catholic?

    Scotland didn't officially become Protestant until after Elizabeth came to the throne, and partly through her help. ITTL I think Scotland remaining Catholic, while not certain, is probably more likely than it becoming Protestant. I dunno, Henry VIII had opposed the Hapsburgs when they seemed to...

  18. Historical Discussion: The State of the Eastern Roman Empire Post-1204. Was 1204 Really the Start of the Decline?

    The Fourth Crusade was to Byzantium much as the Third-Century Crisis was to Rome -- yes, the Empire managed to bounce back to a degree, but even so it was never as stable, secure, or powerful as it had been before the disaster.

  19. Fate of Protestantism in a world where England remains Catholic?

    Let's say that English Protestants are like Recusant Catholics IOTL -- they exist, but they're very much in the minority, and don't have any real political power. As it happens, we had a thread on that topic a while ago. A lot of the "Catholic" elements of Anglican liturgy got (re-)added in...

  20. Fate of Protestantism in a world where England remains Catholic?

    To be fair, a Catholic England might still support the rebels in order to weaken the Spanish, much as the French supported the Lutherans against Charles V. I think that might be a bit optimistic. Protestantism splintered pretty much from the beginning; even just in Germany you had Lutherans vs...
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