Your challenge is, using a pre-1900 POD, make the peaceful micronation of San Marino the most powerful nation in Europe. Bonus points if its entirely through peaceful means.
AHC: Wank San Marino
- Thread starter ThatOneGuy
- Start date
In my opinion San Marino is as wanked as possible in our timeline, or close to it. It has preserved its independence and century-old institutions while enjoying prosperity as a banking hub and tourist hotspot. If it were bigger (iirc Napoleon proposed to them some annexations in Romagna) it would have ended like other italian regional states and hence a part of Italy. It leading the unification process would have been borderline impossible, but could maybe be arranged: we could imagine san marino somehow becoming a safe haven for liberals and nationalists such as Mazzini and the planning center for their plots and revolutionary attempts, some of which might even succeed, leaving modern Italy looking at san marino as a sort of spiritual cradle.
But the OP's question... I am afraid to say it is completely impossible for the reason that such a polity (dominant in Europe) would identify itself as Italy or some Roman Empire successor state, even if it impractically kept its court or capital in San Marino (possibly because the ruling dinasty originally was from there?) It still would not be a wank of San Marino as we know it!
But the OP's question... I am afraid to say it is completely impossible for the reason that such a polity (dominant in Europe) would identify itself as Italy or some Roman Empire successor state, even if it impractically kept its court or capital in San Marino (possibly because the ruling dinasty originally was from there?) It still would not be a wank of San Marino as we know it!
Well, there is always the fact that due to some oversight (ICR where I read this once), San Marino and Sweden have technically been at war since the 30YW until 1996 (according to some Italian historian, Marco Guidi, the San Marinese (or whatever the adjective is) representative at the peace of Westphalia went home without signing anything since he didn't get his salary. This sounds suspicious though, I can't find any reference to where he claimed that, and San Marino was AFAIK not even involved in the war in the first place.). But I agree with Yanez, San Marino has outlasted any other republic in Italy - Venice, Genova (the two biggies), Florence, Siena and Pisa, Lucca etc - solely because it is too small to matter. Again, can't remember the source, but IIRC the army is only 300 soldiers. And if San Marino were to join with the Romagna (then it would be a Romandiola/Marcher state) or lead Italian unification (then the name of San Marino would only be the official name of the Repubblica most likely, while the shorthand would be Italy), so it would sort of lose itself to the greater whole.
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A really nasty plague hits Europe, wiping out 60+% of the population, and totally destroying all existing political structures. Due to (handwavium) San Marino doesn't let any victims in, and is spared the plague. (Maybe San Marino was under interdict, so the initial waves of refugees avoid it.) San Marino is left as the only functioning polity in all Europe, and expands its sway in the aftermath, first to the neighbourhood, then to all Italy then to all Europe. And that's the origin of the glorious Empire of San Marino that we know and love today.