I am a huge fan of the early 18th century-late 19th century, and I've talked about 18th century technology in my threads:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/age-of-sails-forever.448212/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/single-shots-forever.447317/

In an alternate scenario, what if their is slow development and the world remains the 18th century? What I mean is that what if culturally and technologically remains the 18th century? Technologically, having muskets and cannons in the army, or ships with sails in the navy. Culturally, having frockcoats and powder wigs in society.

How would this effect world history? Could the Industrial revolution still happen, with trains and iron factories, but no steamships or repeating guns? or How would the technology effect wars? How would it effect economics and trade?
Would countries such as the Russian Empire, Japan, or the Ottomans be effected by this slow development? What countries would be best fitted in this world?
 
I am a huge fan of the early 18th century-late 19th century, and I've talked about 18th century technology in my threads:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/age-of-sails-forever.448212/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/single-shots-forever.447317/

In an alternate scenario, what if their is slow development and the world remains the 18th century? What I mean is that what if culturally and technologically remains the 18th century? Technologically, having muskets and cannons in the army, or ships with sails in the navy. Culturally, having frockcoats and powder wigs in society.

How would this effect world history? Could the Industrial revolution still happen, with trains and iron factories, but no steamships or repeating guns? or How would the technology effect wars? How would it effect economics and trade?
Would countries such as the Russian Empire, Japan, or the Ottomans be effected by this slow development? What countries would be best fitted in this world?

Everybody keeps talking about the muskets and ships. How about you going to the XVIII century dentist? :winkytongue:
 
I could see it happening. If the British industrial revolution is strangled in its cradle, and the French Revolution failed or was suppressed early, then I don’t see why Europe couldn’t stabilize at a late Qing Dynasty level of technology for a few centuries. Sure maybe Bengal or the Netherlands or the northern German cities could have industrialized without the start of industrial manufacturing in Britain, but that’s far from guaranteed.
 
You do have point. Medical technology would change, maybe better medicine, but maybe have 18th century surgery tools

You can only get so far on miasma theory, though. "Medicine" can't really be actively developed if you're operating on the idea that vapors are the cause of your illness, so while you might get improvements in sanitation (if on faulty reasoning) but not modern medications.
 
I could see it happening. If the British industrial revolution is strangled in its cradle, and the French Revolution failed or was suppressed early, then I don’t see why Europe couldn’t stabilize at a late Qing Dynasty level of technology for a few centuries. Sure maybe Bengal or the Netherlands or the northern German cities could have industrialized without the start of industrial manufacturing in Britain, but that’s far from guaranteed.

I think that's doable but you'd need a way to seriously restrict access to credit and investment in Britain and western Europe in general. Perhaps a religious revival in the early 1700's clamps down on usury and seriously limits financial institutions from offering loans at interest? That combined with some legal restrictions on corporations (perhaps they're seen as a threat to the crown?) and an increase in royal monopolies like in France.
 
I think that's doable but you'd need a way to seriously restrict access to credit and investment in Britain and western Europe in general. Perhaps a religious revival in the early 1700's clamps down on usury and seriously limits financial institutions from offering loans at interest? That combined with some legal restrictions on corporations (perhaps they're seen as a threat to the crown?) and an increase in royal monopolies like in France.

Maybe the South Sea and Mississippi Bubbles (And maybe Tulip Mania) could have a role in this. If soft money policies crash the economies of the three major European financial powers, I could see "Bullion Bugs" (Strict Gold and/or Silver Standard) getting a huge boost.
 
I am a huge fan of the early 18th century-late 19th century, and I've talked about 18th century technology in my threads:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/age-of-sails-forever.448212/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/single-shots-forever.447317/

In an alternate scenario, what if their is slow development and the world remains the 18th century? What I mean is that what if culturally and technologically remains the 18th century? Technologically, having muskets and cannons in the army, or ships with sails in the navy. Culturally, having frockcoats and powder wigs in society.

How would this effect world history? Could the Industrial revolution still happen, with trains and iron factories, but no steamships or repeating guns? or How would the technology effect wars? How would it effect economics and trade?
Would countries such as the Russian Empire, Japan, or the Ottomans be effected by this slow development? What countries would be best fitted in this world?

I'm not sure you could have both an Industrial Revolution and permanent 18th-century technology, since the IR would probably lead to all sorts of technological advances. Though you could certainly slow it down a bit -- butterfly away the agricultural revolution, or do something else to keep population down (those crowded factory cities would be great breeding grounds for some sort of black-death-level plague, for example), and it's likely that the pace of technological, and no doubt social, change would be slower. Though fashion would keep on changing even if technology doesn't, so wigs would fall out of use sooner or later.
 
I am a huge fan of the early 18th century-late 19th century, and I've talked about 18th century technology in my threads:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/age-of-sails-forever.448212/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/single-shots-forever.447317/

In an alternate scenario, what if their is slow development and the world remains the 18th century? What I mean is that what if culturally and technologically remains the 18th century? Technologically, having muskets and cannons in the army, or ships with sails in the navy. Culturally, having frockcoats and powder wigs in society.

How would this effect world history? Could the Industrial revolution still happen, with trains and iron factories, but no steamships or repeating guns? or How would the technology effect wars? How would it effect economics and trade?
Would countries such as the Russian Empire, Japan, or the Ottomans be effected by this slow development? What countries would be best fitted in this world?

How would there be slow development? We need to know the reason first.

Obviously no Scramble for Africa, European powers are much weaker, however I think India can be still colonized, but at a slower pace than OTL. There’s a possibility Qing China wakes up and sees the threat of Europeans.
 
I don’t think you can stop it by that point. The America’s have three times Europe’s size, Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Africa’s inhabitable areas combined have nearly as much as Europe. Russia is in a position to rapidly expand East and South and grow its population.

Without the Industrial Revolution crashing birth rates large portions of North America, South America, Australia, Southern Africa, and New Zealand will go through demographic booms that bring their population density on par with similar areas in the Old World, in addition to Russia conquering and colonizing stuff in the East. These places will all be Western Christians and will consequently have trade and communication with each other. Can you keep them all down institutionally for long? And even if you can there was still technological growth before, if we basically increase the size of the global Western population five fold or more will that not increase the rate of overall innovation dramatically even if innovation per capita doesn’t change?

That’s to say nothing of the possibility of China, India, or the Ottoman Empire potentially creating the institutions and innovation needed to accomplish this even if you cripple the West.
 
I could see it happening. If the British industrial revolution is strangled in its cradle, and the French Revolution failed or was suppressed early, then I don’t see why Europe couldn’t stabilize at a late Qing Dynasty level of technology for a few centuries. Sure maybe Bengal or the Netherlands or the northern German cities could have industrialized without the start of industrial manufacturing in Britain, but that’s far from guaranteed.
I think that's doable but you'd need a way to seriously restrict access to credit and investment in Britain and western Europe in general. Perhaps a religious revival in the early 1700's clamps down on usury and seriously limits financial institutions from offering loans at interest? That combined with some legal restrictions on corporations (perhaps they're seen as a threat to the crown?) and an increase in royal monopolies like in France.
Revisiting this idea, I wonder if a "reversal" of industrialization could actually be done even later in the 18th century.

Perhaps the Franco-Spanish Armada of 1779 succeeds, establishing a Jacobite/High Tory regime in Britain and severing Britain's connections to overseas commerce. The Jacobites restore "divine right of kings" absolutism, holding the gentry at higher status over bourgeoisie and commoners, and encourage a religious revival which restricts private investment and corporations. Aiming to weaken the nascent industrialist class, the Jacobite regime also makes an 'unlikely alliance' with the Luddites, turning a blind eye to their machine-breaking which causes early industrial enterprises to be economically unsustainable. Ultimately mitigating the First Industrial Revolution in Britain itself.

Bourbon France, profiting from colonies in India that it usurped from Britain in 1779, manages to delay or defeat the French Revolution and continue the Ancien Régime. Alternatively, the Revolution still happens but the War of the First Coalition leads to a Coalition victory and much earlier Bourbon Restoration. In Holland, Prussia places the Orangists in firm control, slowing economic and technological development in the Low Countries as well.
 
Last edited:
Top