Either due to the anti-conservative backlash of the Scopes Monkey Trial and/or the Great Depression leading to a widespread resurgence in Christian fundamentalism or other reasons, make US Christian fundamentalists spearhead another crusade where they colonize and occupy Jerusalem and Palestine, peacefully or otherwise. Ideally WWII is kept as OTL as possible, but if altered the post-WWII world should remain generally similar in power balance (US vs. USSR).
AHC/WI: Christian state in Palestine
- Thread starter mlp
- Start date
I just don't see pre-WWII & Holocaust Christian Fundamentalists making a huge link to Palestine. That group's support of Judaism and a Jewish state there are really a post-WWII occurrence.
I could see something a-la Utah, where a large sect chooses one area to settle on purpose and take as much legal control as they can under the auspices of the US gov't, but I can't see something going on in Palestine. And definitely not something successful.
I could see something a-la Utah, where a large sect chooses one area to settle on purpose and take as much legal control as they can under the auspices of the US gov't, but I can't see something going on in Palestine. And definitely not something successful.
Md139115
Banned
Really, what's worth keeping in mind is that post-WWI Palestine was a British mandate, so there were no restrictions on Christians visiting the holy places. That sort of butterflies the original reasons for the Crusades.
What you need is a bunch of Americans saying that America is too corrupt and we need to build a new godly society in the Holy Land, which I don't really see happening until more recent times.
Of course, tomorrow, you could have someone scream "Crusade against Islam!" and millions of Americans, including many of the banned people from this site, would jump in boats and planes and head to the Middle East to conquer it...
What you need is a bunch of Americans saying that America is too corrupt and we need to build a new godly society in the Holy Land, which I don't really see happening until more recent times.
Of course, tomorrow, you could have someone scream "Crusade against Islam!" and millions of Americans, including many of the banned people from this site, would jump in boats and planes and head to the Middle East to conquer it...
The most logical movement would be British Israelism (which could plausibly include a fair number of Americans colonizing too) somehow becoming stronger and also more determined to colonize the area.
Although they made a big deal about taking and holding the region for the British Empire, I am unaware of adherents of that religious conviction having much any interest in actually settling Palestine.
Although they made a big deal about taking and holding the region for the British Empire, I am unaware of adherents of that religious conviction having much any interest in actually settling Palestine.
I'm guessing the Palestinians would see them as illegal interlopers, much as they do with Israel. For that matter, much as any population does with large scale immigration.
A Christian state in Palestine is quite possible if there is some kind of partition that assigns each major faith group a percentage of land. It would likely be small and centered around the Bethlehem area and extending into the Christian quarters of Jerusalem.
As for some sort of neo-Outremer project, I doubt it. Perhaps if Hitler's occultism goes down some Christian mystic paths and the Nazis are able to take the Suez Canal (doubtful), there could be some kind of short lived attempt at this.
Or maybe, the Ottoman Reformers could decide to do some nasty stuff to the Armenians but just deport them to the Levant region to act as a check on the growing Jewish population and growing sense of Arab Nationalism among the local populace, and a Christian state forms that way.
As for some sort of neo-Outremer project, I doubt it. Perhaps if Hitler's occultism goes down some Christian mystic paths and the Nazis are able to take the Suez Canal (doubtful), there could be some kind of short lived attempt at this.
Or maybe, the Ottoman Reformers could decide to do some nasty stuff to the Armenians but just deport them to the Levant region to act as a check on the growing Jewish population and growing sense of Arab Nationalism among the local populace, and a Christian state forms that way.
Maybe British and American entrepreneurs/pastors encourage the destitute of the Great Depression to find new opportunities by funding immigration?
Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Templers_(religious_believers)
If I'm not mistaken, this was the modus operandi of the German Protestant-originated Templers who sought to establish colonies in Israel to advance the "Second Coming" of Jesus Christ and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They had 2,000 at the height of their presence in the early 1900s - probably nowhere near enough to establish an independent Christian state.
If I'm not mistaken, this was the modus operandi of the German Protestant-originated Templers who sought to establish colonies in Israel to advance the "Second Coming" of Jesus Christ and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They had 2,000 at the height of their presence in the early 1900s - probably nowhere near enough to establish an independent Christian state.
That sounds like an exaggeration. Most fundamentalists support a Jewish state due to it's place in the Book of Revelations. I have never heard a single person scream for a crusade that was ever taken seriously in modern times.
Md139115
Banned
I meant more for just wiping out the wiping out of the "terrorists" than holding any one chunk of land in particular.
That is actually debatable. The Crusades substantially sped along the political and economic development of Europe, along with the beginnings of a banking system through the Templars and a crapload of trade and technological advances. On the other hand, the funds needed to actually support the Outremer project were somewhat prohibitive towards making the 13th century all it could be, as the costs only rose with time and with the loss of any semblance of sustainability on the part of the Crusader States themselves. As for the Middle East, it wasn't really anything out of the norm. The Seljuks and Fatimids had warred over the Levant before, during, and after the First Crusade, and the reaction to it, and the unification of Syria and Egypt in response to the Crusades, were arguably what ended up saving the Arab Middle East from destruction by the time of the Mongol Invasions.
The biggest issues that Christianity and the Middle East faced during the entire period before the Renaissance was the repeated invasions of nomadic peoples and the cost needed to repel these invasions.
Why not an Arab christian state consisting of OTL palestine+lebanon as an option?
Hard to get the necessary numbers. Even modern Lebanon is technically 'Greater Lebanon' and probably too large for what it was intended to be.