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Recently I've been thinking about an ATL in which the crusades are more successful. Looking through old threads it seems that although various crusades could have been more successful and the crusaders states lasted a little longer, without a strong Christian state nearby to help them, they were probably doomed. So he's my rough idea for a TL in which Egypt, at the time greatly weakened, falls to the Crusaders, who are able to use the region to prop up their holdings in the Levant. I'll go further along if there's interest and once I've taken into account any initial thoughts you guys have on the start. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated and hopefully I'll be posting a revised version shortly with your help. Many thanks! :D

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1145 - 1240

The second crusade aims for Aleppo and captures the city, followed shortly after by Edessa
Fighting breaks out between the crusaders and Damascus which is now fearful for its survival
The crusaders succeed in repelling a Moslem siege of Aleppo and lay siege and fight a major battle near Damascus, which they win with heavy casualties. The daunting prospect of a long siege of the city and the fact that the crusaders are much reduced results in them falling back
The third crusade is called in Europe. The Germans and the French arrive at the same time and lay siege to Damascus, eventually capturing the city. They begin campaigning in the surrounding area to seize the numerous smaller cities and castles
The English arrive and looking for glory decide on an invasion of Egypt. The Fatimid army attempts to halt the crusaders but is decisively defeated, allowing them to lay siege to Damietta, which quickly falls
Reinforced by the arrival in Egypt of the crusaders who had been campaigning around Damascus, they succeed in taking Cairo, the rest of Egypt following soon after as the last few Moslem territories are incorporated into crusaders states
Negotiations with Ethiopia begin and various wars are fought in support of their new allies and against the surrounding Moslem territories
Further crusaders are generally focused on Iberia and the Baltic as interest in a now more stable Levant begins to die away among the Kings of Europe, although a steady stream of pilgrims and settlers continues to arrive

1240 - 1340

The Mongols arrive and they open negotiations with the crusaders, but swiftly turn sour after Mongol raids into Syria are launched
A Mongol invasion is launched that captures some of the north-eastern crusaders territory and succeeds in defeating the crusader army send to repel the invasion, although they are eventually halted
This leads to a second Mongol invasion which devastates the Levant but causes the calling of a Fourth Crusade to reclaim lost territory
The crusade ends in failure as although the succeed in making some small territorial gains, their armies are all-but wiped out
Wars between the two entities continue for some time as the crusaders struggle against the Mongols in a losing battle that’s sees their cities and castles in the Levant destroyed one by one
Eventually the tide begins to turn and the Mongols (by now in the form of the Ilkhanate) are pushed back and ultimately defeated

1340 –

The Black Death arrives and kills much of the population of the crusader kingdoms, hitting the Levant especially hard as it is still attempting to recover from the Mongol invasions
A revolt in Upper Egypt is put down with help from the Ethiopians, itself not a particularly rare occurrence, but notable for its size and the presence of Coptic Christians in the rebel ranks
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