AHC: European Gunpowder Empire

So, in the early modern middle east and northern India, three states (the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals) were able to quickly adopt and establish local monopolies over gunpowder, and as a result were able to become vast space filling empires.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with a scenario where a similar circumstance allows one or more European country to achieve a similar degree of rapid expansion (and no, conquering a fairly empty region like Siberia doesn't count).
 
Weren't all European empires gunpowder empires? It's not like they could beat other Europeans and expand fast due to others' lack of gunpowder as Europe was more advanced as a whole than the Middle East and India since 1500. Also, Europe was smaller and filled with alliances and countries of roughly equal strength, while the Middle East was filled with weak, less advanced and defenseless states (such as Georgian kingdoms). Also, I'm fairly sure the rapid European colonization of Americas and Indian Ocean was only possible because of gunpowder.
 

ben0628

Banned
The first Europeans to get there hands on gunpowder weapons in mass quantities would be the Italian city states or some Balkan Kingdom.
 
So, in the early modern middle east and northern India, three states (the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals) were able to quickly adopt and establish local monopolies over gunpowder, and as a result were able to become vast space filling empires.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with a scenario where a similar circumstance allows one or more European country to achieve a similar degree of rapid expansion (and no, conquering a fairly empty region like Siberia doesn't count).

A stronger Byzantine Empire (no Fourth Crusade?) becomes an early adopter of gunpowder, allowing it to fulfil its true destiny and reclaim the Middle East for Greek Orthodoxy. Ὁ Θεὸς ἐθέλει!
 
Byzantines? No idea if it works, I just really like the Byzantines.

It would have to depend on how it happens, otherwise it just replaces the Ottomans in that regard.

However, a Bela-Alexios Byzanto-Hungarian Empire would be a firm option (Hungary too for that matter). If that can establish itself, with a Hungarian Despotate/Exarchate, then that would be significantly different - Europe dominated by the South East.
 
Byzantines? No idea if it works, I just really like the Byzantines.

I think you'd need an earlier introduction or invention of gunpowder to the Byzantine empire for that to work, which is admittedly not that difficult. Ideally you'd want the Romans getting guns before 1204, and at the very latest before the loss of Gallipoli.

Actually speaking of 1204, would a surviving Crusader state count as 'European'? Because a surviving Kingdom of Jerusalem guarded by gun wielding knightly orders sounds pretty cool.

Another option would be having the mongols focus their efforts against Poland rather than the Middle East, and thus introduce gunpowder to Russia, Poland and the Ukraine.
 
I mean Russia is probably a straight up fit anyway and can be safely discussed in the same breath as the Safavids. France and Netherlands iirc also enforced gunpowder monopolies either at home or in the colonies at various stages of history.
 
I think you'd need an earlier introduction or invention of gunpowder to the Byzantine empire for that to work, which is admittedly not that difficult. Ideally you'd want the Romans getting guns before 1204, and at the very latest before the loss of Gallipoli.

Wouldn't it be simpler and better to just avoid the Fourth Crusade? That way Byzantium is in a better shape both to adopt gunpowder when it is introduced and to launch a concerted conquest effort to its east.
 
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