No, not Austria. Or Germany, or the Ottomans, or the Russians. Not even the Hungarians. Instead of those well-trod paths to hegemony, how might we see a great power in the modern era arise from the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Sorbs, Kashubians, etc)? I mean this in a linguistic and cultural sense of course, and didn't single out the Poles or Czechs in particular as with a sufficiently early POD the difference might be one of regional dialect or culture rather than seperate national conciousness.
For particularly early departures from OTL, here's a handy image from wikipedia...
Now, given that the objective is for a modern-era great power, there need not be effective unity among the various constituents that early. However, I do think that a modern nation roughly situated between the Elbe (though maybe not the entire length of its course) and the Niemen or Daugava and north of the Carpathian mountains is the simplest bet, and would be the core of whatever nation built here in any case. It would be a fair combination of natural endowments as well, if commercial and industrial development proceeds similarly to OTL's patterns.
The problem is of course all political. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed and gradually assimilated much of the slavic population west of Poland and Bohemia (that had previously pushed out the germanic inhabitants in the early middle ages) in stages of conquest and conversion that lasted hundreds of years. Bohemia itself was incorporated into the HRE early on, and snared in the quagmire of Medieval-to-modern German politics until the 20th century, and Poland became increasingly eastern-focused, (especially after union with Lithuania) while faced with a troublesome Teutonic thorn in Prussia and the Baltics.
The earliest clear intervention would seem to involve the survival or stronger legacy of Great Moravia, which might keep Bohemia out of the Carolingian/Holy Roman Empires and eventual absorbtion of Poland and Pommerania through conversion and feudal vassalage.
Later PODs would probably have to involve Poland and Bohemia coming under a personal union that sticks, though electoral monarchy is not helpful here.
I'm not sure at what point Polish, Czech and related languages would diverge too far to be combined, but a POD that occurs before or close to the development of printing, and thus results in a single written language, would probably be the easiest way to promote linguistic recombination.
Other than the basic idea, I'm unclear on how it would all work. So now it's up to you! Meet the challenge and you deserve a glass of good pilsner and a plate of pierogi!
For particularly early departures from OTL, here's a handy image from wikipedia...
Now, given that the objective is for a modern-era great power, there need not be effective unity among the various constituents that early. However, I do think that a modern nation roughly situated between the Elbe (though maybe not the entire length of its course) and the Niemen or Daugava and north of the Carpathian mountains is the simplest bet, and would be the core of whatever nation built here in any case. It would be a fair combination of natural endowments as well, if commercial and industrial development proceeds similarly to OTL's patterns.
The problem is of course all political. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed and gradually assimilated much of the slavic population west of Poland and Bohemia (that had previously pushed out the germanic inhabitants in the early middle ages) in stages of conquest and conversion that lasted hundreds of years. Bohemia itself was incorporated into the HRE early on, and snared in the quagmire of Medieval-to-modern German politics until the 20th century, and Poland became increasingly eastern-focused, (especially after union with Lithuania) while faced with a troublesome Teutonic thorn in Prussia and the Baltics.
The earliest clear intervention would seem to involve the survival or stronger legacy of Great Moravia, which might keep Bohemia out of the Carolingian/Holy Roman Empires and eventual absorbtion of Poland and Pommerania through conversion and feudal vassalage.
Later PODs would probably have to involve Poland and Bohemia coming under a personal union that sticks, though electoral monarchy is not helpful here.
I'm not sure at what point Polish, Czech and related languages would diverge too far to be combined, but a POD that occurs before or close to the development of printing, and thus results in a single written language, would probably be the easiest way to promote linguistic recombination.
Other than the basic idea, I'm unclear on how it would all work. So now it's up to you! Meet the challenge and you deserve a glass of good pilsner and a plate of pierogi!