If anyone has any ideas for shifts that may happen as an outcome of this, let me know. How would it affect other nations and wars in Europe? Who would come out on top in the Indian Ocean without the VOC? (So for example, would Portugal have stayed a mighty force in the longrun, or would the English just kick them out later anyways?).
As for how this happens: Firstly, the Franco-Flemish War never happens, so the awakening of self-identity in the lowlands never takes place. And the Lowlands also never gets unified or partly unified under forces like the Burgundians and Habsburgs in the 1400s-1500s, so there’s no kind of unification or splitting off from the rest of the HRE in any way either. Thus what became the Netherlands and Belgium stays as little more than small lordships, duchies, etc within the HRE, never having anything like their own identity.
So, pitch your ideas for what effects this may have.
As for how this happens: Firstly, the Franco-Flemish War never happens, so the awakening of self-identity in the lowlands never takes place. And the Lowlands also never gets unified or partly unified under forces like the Burgundians and Habsburgs in the 1400s-1500s, so there’s no kind of unification or splitting off from the rest of the HRE in any way either. Thus what became the Netherlands and Belgium stays as little more than small lordships, duchies, etc within the HRE, never having anything like their own identity.
So, pitch your ideas for what effects this may have.
