AHC: Hanover in the UK.

Hanover is a part of the UK about as much as Poland is a part of Sweden.

There's nothing the UK can do to change that. "Soft" attempts at cultural assimilation only really work if the new population is acceptive, or at least ambivalent about changing their culture to someone else's, whereas the Hanoverians will be hostile to any such attempts, as the German national identity was already established by the time the Personal Union between Hanover and the UK came to be.
And if England/Britain comes into possession of Hanover much earlier there won't be any such attempts at all, because the idea of a culturally homogenous nation is a relatively recent one.

If the UK annexes Hanover anyway, it'll quickly find itself in a situation similar to the Hundred Years War, except it'll be constantly waging war against the Germans, rather than the French.
Not something the UK has anything at all to gain from.

- Kelenas
 
Hanover is not part of England. Its a separate state that shares the same leader. Going beyond that would take some "How did you get that accepted?" work.

Hanover is a part of the UK about as much as Poland is a part of Sweden.

There's nothing the UK can do to change that. "Soft" attempts at cultural assimilation only really work if the new population is acceptive, or at least ambivalent about changing their culture to someone else's, whereas the Hanoverians will be hostile to any such attempts, as the German national identity was already established by the time the Personal Union between Hanover and the UK came to be.

At no point did I ever say that Hanover is/was a part of the UK.

Why would Hanoverians move elsewhere within the empire (the one that you're referring to) anyway? Can't encourage immigration without incentives.

Why would Scots go to Newfoundland? Or why would any English go to Australia? Hanoverians would have the same incentives as the rest of the world.

There's nothing the UK can do to change that. "Soft" attempts at cultural assimilation only really work if the new population is acceptive, or at least ambivalent about changing their culture to someone else's, whereas the Hanoverians will be hostile to any such attempts, as the German national identity was already established by the time the Personal Union between Hanover and the UK came to be.

There's plenty that can be done to change that. They obviously wouldn't have to change cultures merely merge. Scottish and Welsh cultures were/are distinct from the rest of the UK.


You are all acting like it's impossible for Hanover to join the UK. It's not impossible, there's plenty that can be done. ANY POD from before 1900 remember, from something to do with Napoleon to the Austro-Prussian war.
 
At no point did I ever say that Hanover is/was a part of the UK.

In fairness, you did say this. Let me quote you:

Yeah, but their not colonising an independent country. Their settling a part of their own country and encouraging the native Hanoverians to emigrate elsewhere in the empire. Encouraging, not forcing.
They are also building schools to help Hanover become fully integrated with the UK.

Also, on a separate note, there weren't really any schools in Britain in this era - education was done either by parents or by governesses within the family home. Thus, the UK not only would not but could not give Hanover schools "to help them integrate". The Hanoverians would simply refuse to attend anyway. They didn't want to be Anglicised, just like it would be anarchy if anyone tried to Germanicise England...

Why would Scots go to Newfoundland? Or why would any English go to Australia? Hanoverians would have the same incentives as the rest of the world.

Englishmen went to Australia because they had broken the law and were being deported by the government. It's not a fate they chose. And in the case of other British people emigrating, the time of placed colonies was long gone, exception of a couple of places. When British people emigrated, they left because they wanted to and went where they wanted to - often this meant they went to the USA instead of a colony. To draw a parallel with Hanover, you'd have to find a way of making the Hanoverians want to emigrate to the colonies - and the USA is always going to be the best place for Germans emigrating anyway, because it already has so many Germans.

There's plenty that can be done to change that. They obviously wouldn't have to change cultures merely merge. Scottish and Welsh cultures were/are distinct from the rest of the UK.

But nowhere near as different as German culture. In fact, the British cultures were relatively similar in many respects. And if Hanoverians are emigrating to a British colony, they are going to be culturally isolated, even if there are several thousand of them, which means the native British colonists won't adopt any of their customs, so a merger of culture is impossible.

You are all acting like it's impossible for Hanover to join the UK. It's not impossible, there's plenty that can be done. ANY POD from before 1900 remember, from something to do with Napoleon to the Austro-Prussian war.

We're not saying it's impossible - we're saying that the Germans didn't want to be Anglicised or annexed. By all means you can find a way, but that way must either happen by force or it must answer the question "why would Hanover want to be peacefully Anglicised when it was happy being German" (and remember, everyone thinks their own culture is superior, especially in an era where the Hanoverians would have zero exposure to British culture, and thus have no reason to like it more than what they have always known). Also, remember that the Hanoverians ended the Personal Union in 1837 - by the time of the Austro-Prussian War most Hanoverians wouldn't even remember a time when they had shared monarchs. You'd need a POD back several hundred years before, minimum, and the POD would have to focus on changing German attitudes to foreign occupiers which is no easy thing, especially given the strength of Austria and then Prussia, and with the way that humans don't take kindly to foreign occupiers...

A Hanover-led Germany seems by far the best option. I don't see how it might turn against the UK as some seem to think.

Because what is in the British best interest is by nature not in Germany's best interest, and what is in Germany's best interest is by nature not in Britain's best interest. Britain wants to control trade across the world, wants to keep all nations relatively weak in comparison to itself but no weaker than anyone else, and wants all nations to accept British supremacy. Germany wants to unify, to create a powerful economy and industrialise, and to be a militarily dominant state to make up for its years as a decentralised warzone. These are not ambitions which can be reconciled. A united Germany is by default going to be a contender for strongest power in Europe, which makes them a rival to Britain, and Britain wants no rivals to its power. Just look at how fast OTL Germany aimed itself specifically at rivalling Britain after unifying. There is no reason Germany would just meekly accept Britain's ideas for how the world should be run, and how Germany should conduct its business. It would be like Bill Gates offering you $1 billion hands-down with no strings attached, but then demands you will do all his household chores naked while he throws drunken parties. Considering he gave you the money no-strings-attached, why would you not just take the money and run?
 
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