AHC/WI: Have Europe non-Abrahamic by 1000.

Gan

Banned
With a POD of 500 AD make a scenario that results in 70-80% of the European populous following a non-Abrahamic religion(or several).


What would be the consequences for Europe and its interaction with other parts of the World, depending on the nature of the new religion?
 
I think a 500 AD POD might be too late. I've seen estimates that roughly 20% of the world population was Christian by then and certainly all of the European cities were heavily Christianized. There really isn't any force that could halt Christianity's expansion as the European pagans weren't very evangelistic and Christianity already had a very strong hold politically as well as religiously. I do think it's much more feasible with a pre-Constantine POD though.
 
Worth playing with. Not likey but lets play it out in very general terms. I think it would take multiple PODs or secondary PODs.

Kill the Celtic Church. Patrick's ilk essentially converted Britian with little violence and his model for converting the heathens through persuasion was a model for future efforts.

Iran somehow cripples Byzantium and is strong enough face down the Arabs. Zoroastrianism figures out a way to gradually become good at conversion. Think Sufi style Zoroastrians.

Saxony faces down the Franks and isn't forced to convert.
Better yet the Franks never convert (don't know this history well enough) and cause enough of a reaction to make conversion less likely. Have the cultural Germans push into Gaul, gradually Germanizing as they go, like they did changing Britian into England.

Barbarians in the East (Avars Bulgars) hit deeper into Byzantium's European holdings and take out enough that Christianization is no longer attractive. The ERE are in the position they were in 630 atl that they were in 1200 otl.

Italy and Spain and Wales remain Christian for a time but are on the cultural defensive.

Hope that is worth looking at.
 
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Get a particularly nasty plague to hit the major Christian cities and regions as soon as plausible. Get some weird armageddon branches of Christianity to pop up. Have lots of infighting and heretic burning ensue. Pagans get scared of the whole mess.
 
I know this is kind of a cop-out:

How about a religion arises is Arabia which has the same uniting force that Islam did, but is based on Arabic tribal religions rather than Judeo-Christian monotheism (so it's not Abrahamic). Then, it 'pulls an Islam', and expands as far as the Balkans and Iberia, but ends up more successful than OTL Islam and successfully converts most of Europe.

I guess what I'm really trying to say was that I don't feel that the rapid expansion of Islam depended on it being an Abrahamic faith. It is conceivable that, in an ATL with a 500 AD POD there could be another religion which would arise which would have the same expansionist success that Islam had without being based on Abrahamic traditions.

Certainly any religion which arises in North Africa or West Asia and has the same expansionist success that Islam had could conceivably overtake Europe....
 

Gan

Banned
I know this is kind of a cop-out:

How about a religion arises is Arabia which has the same uniting force that Islam did, but is based on Arabic tribal religions rather than Judeo-Christian monotheism (so it's not Abrahamic). Then, it 'pulls an Islam', and expands as far as the Balkans and Iberia, but ends up more successful than OTL Islam and successfully converts most of Europe.

I guess what I'm really trying to say was that I don't feel that the rapid expansion of Islam depended on it being an Abrahamic faith. It is conceivable that, in an ATL with a 500 AD POD there could be another religion which would arise which would have the same expansionist success that Islam had without being based on Abrahamic traditions.

Certainly any religion which arises in North Africa or West Asia and has the same expansionist success that Islam had could conceivably overtake Europe....

That would actually be quite interesting. On top of that, you have a scenario in which the same religion encompasses Arabia, North Africa, and Europe. That in itself could have some interesting consequences down the line.
 
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