Colonies loose revolutionary war: effect on WW1
- Thread starter flamelord
- Start date
Excellent point, Kurk. Assuming the British won a long and bloody war (say Cornwallis had more success in the South than he did), and the British won that way, we'd almost certainly see a very angry 13 colonies spoiling for revenge. I tend to think that the results 140 years later would be impossible to predict, but the most reasonable thing I can come up with is that there would be no WWI as we know it...
Unlike Ireland, the American colonies would have been too heavily militarized, and too far from home, for the British to control effectively for much longer, even if they had turned back the Revolution. A scenario where the Americans supported Napoleon in his various and sundry wars and gained their independence that way seems entirely plausible, with a tremendous benefit for France as well. We might well have seen an independent America and a continental Europe completely controlled by Napoleon. If that's the case, there's no Germany, and a very weakened Austria, Russia and UK, and thus no WWI as we know it.
Of course, it should also be noted that Napoleon wasn't exactly known either for his moderation or his desire to live up to his commitments once their immediate military value had passed. So exactly how much he would have helped the American cause for independence is an open question.
Scenarios Abound
(First AH post, but I have enjoyed lurking and reading and stimulating my, I now realize, lacking sense of history.)
Skipping over the multitudes of PODs in the failed AR, it would seem that the next truly major crossroads would come as the disillusionment of the slave trade began to ramp up in the early/mid 19thC. Should Mother England decide at some point to ban the slave trade, the southern colonies and their 5 or so decades of expansion westward would suddenly be hopping mad. "Colonial rights" would become the rallying cry of a new Confederacy, though their ire would be directed at Britain, not just the northern colonies.
The big question would become, I guess, would the northern colonies (now including the Canadian, since they would all be under the same umbrella) join in any secession/revolt attempt? Would the rest of Continental Europe have manpower, resources or will to join either side, esp. without a successful AR to base so many of their political changes upon?
Most Confederate-Victory AH I've seen has them fairly content to remain within the borders of their pre-conflict territory, but if they were a collection of royal colonies (as opposed to states) and the north sided with the crown, would there be push towards expansion here in NA?
Hope I can contribute something along the way, love reading everyone's posts here.
(First AH post, but I have enjoyed lurking and reading and stimulating my, I now realize, lacking sense of history.)
Skipping over the multitudes of PODs in the failed AR, it would seem that the next truly major crossroads would come as the disillusionment of the slave trade began to ramp up in the early/mid 19thC. Should Mother England decide at some point to ban the slave trade, the southern colonies and their 5 or so decades of expansion westward would suddenly be hopping mad. "Colonial rights" would become the rallying cry of a new Confederacy, though their ire would be directed at Britain, not just the northern colonies.
The big question would become, I guess, would the northern colonies (now including the Canadian, since they would all be under the same umbrella) join in any secession/revolt attempt? Would the rest of Continental Europe have manpower, resources or will to join either side, esp. without a successful AR to base so many of their political changes upon?
Most Confederate-Victory AH I've seen has them fairly content to remain within the borders of their pre-conflict territory, but if they were a collection of royal colonies (as opposed to states) and the north sided with the crown, would there be push towards expansion here in NA?
Hope I can contribute something along the way, love reading everyone's posts here.
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