AH Challenge: Make Deutchland speak Dutch.

Last week we had a topic about the Dutch speaking German, so lets put it around. How can we make the Germans speak Dutch? Or at least a language so close to Dutch that I can understand it and they can understand me. To make the challenge a bit easie, it doesn't have to be all of Germany, but it should be a large part of what is now germany (making Cleve speak Dutch and the rest of Germany German doesn't count). The larger part the better. Switserland and Austria don't have to be included. The Netherlands and Flanders may or may not be part of a Germany.
Aa a last point, the POD can be as early as you want, but preferably somewhere in the late middleages or later.
 
I think the Late Middle Ages is too late, by themn High German has coalesced into a recognisable and distinct language. At that point you could still create an Uberburgundy or Superhansa that ties a vast swathe of territory from Bruges to Rostock into a separate identity based on mutually moderately intelligible versions of Low German, Rhenish High German, Frisian and Dutch. But all of southern, central and most of eastern Germany is out.
 
How about something earlier; let's say the Franks controlling East Francia keep speaking their silly little dialect and force the local nobility to do so as well, causing Low and High German to be significantly more Franconian.
That way, while they'll probably still will become seperate languages (as that will happen after a millenium in such a large area), they'll probably become more mutually intelligible.

A Hanseatic West German language that includes the Rheinland would turn at least some of Germany into more or less Dutch speakers; it's not enough to turn them all into it, though.
 
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