well could Venice or genoa or any other Italien state colonise the Americas because i know columbus first went to the Italien states but could they really colonise the massive land
*Contains laugh* Correct, under near OTL circunstances, meaning no super-genoa, venice, tuscany or naples. However one of these major states, provably the merchant republics, could have held gibraltar/ceuta long enough to send colonists somewhere in the Americas, though I don't see this being their priorities.
In America or Asia, No. In Africa, maybe, depends how quick they are to crush the Barbary Pirates.I wonder if Gian Galeazzo succeeding in unifying Italy would lead to a colonization effort? A Kingdom of Italy trying to do prestigious things might make an attempt somewhere at least?
Very concise statement, maybe too much so: care to elaborate a bit?In America or Asia, No. In Africa, maybe, depends how quick they are to crush the Barbary Pirates.
America and Asia, they can't physically get to, Mid East is to strongly controlled by Ottos. Leaves North Africa, again subsaharan is unlikely, Them getting much of that depends on them being the ones to break the Pirates, compared to France OTL.Very concise statement, maybe too much so: care to elaborate a bit?
Do you know when Gian Galeazzo died?America and Asia, they can't physically get to, Mid East is to strongly controlled by Ottos. Leaves North Africa, again subsaharan is unlikely, Them getting much of that depends on them being the ones to break the Pirates, compared to France OTL.
Yes 1402, so the Barbary Pirates, start about 200 years later, which if Gian is pretty but not totally successful, gives a good time frame.Do you know when Gian Galeazzo died?
That's why the Spanish and Portuguese trampled like a train all the French, English and Dutch colonies which sprang up in the Lesser Antilles?*Contains laugh* Correct, under near OTL circunstances, meaning no super-genoa, venice, tuscany or naples. However one of these major states, provably the merchant republics, could have held gibraltar/ceuta long enough to send colonists somewhere in the Americas, though I don't see this being their priorities.
That, of course, is until the harsh reality of Castille/Spain, or even Portugal, tramples them like a train.
America and Asia, they can't physically get to, Mid East is to strongly controlled by Ottos. Leaves North Africa, again subsaharan is unlikely, Them getting much of that depends on them being the ones to break the Pirates, compared to France OTL.
It is naive to even think that a major POD like it would result from the formation of a major unitary state in Italy during the first decades of the 15th century would not produce a whole host of butterflies that would completely change the course of European history.Yes 1402, so the Barbary Pirates, start about 200 years later, which if Gian is pretty but not totally successful, gives a good time frame.
In America or Asia, No. In Africa, maybe, depends how quick they are to crush the Barbary Pirates.
Yes 1402, so the Barbary Pirates, start about 200 years later, which if Gian is pretty but not totally successful, gives a good time frame.
It is naive to even think that a major POD like it would result from the formation of a major unitary state in Italy during the first decades of the 15th century would not produce a whole host of butterflies that would completely change the course of European history.
Just to make one very likely possibility, the succession crisis which is coming up in Aragon very soon might become much more complicated than OTL: Anjou has a claim on the Aragonese throne, as well as on Naples. ITTL the presence of a strong Visconti state might make them choose to pursue their Aragonese prospect rather than the Neapolitan one.
It would also butterfly away the unification of the Aragonese and Castillian crowns, and this might also have an impact on the fate of Granada (which might also be "sponsored" by the Viscontis, because of its strategic position).
The key to the future colonial fortunes of a Visconti state would not be the Maghreb: it is Egypt. The Black Death made a heavy toll in Egypt, much worse than in Europe (the population of Egypt reached the pre-Black Death level only in the 18th century) and might be a juicy target which opens the door not only to grain supplies but also to the Indian market.
You might want to check the Visconti TL written by @The Undead Martyr
The point is that the 15th and 16th centuries are centuries of very fast changes where a lot of events might end up differently and further change the path of future history.
That's why the Spanish and Portuguese trampled like a train all the French, English and Dutch colonies which sprang up in the Lesser Antilles?
Whatever the pretensions of Spain and Portugal, they were spread pretty thin and could not police adequately the Caribbeans, or even Brazil coast.
The crown of Spain was interested in getting silver and gold out of the Americas, not to invest it there, much less to spend money to firm up their grasp over the lesser islands(most of which they never visited). From time to time (maybe once every 10 years) they made a half-hearted sweep in the Lesser Antilles, and if they happened to notice a settlement of interlopers - interlopers according to their interpretation of the treaty of Tordesillas - they usually burned it, and some times they took prisoners the colonists and brought them to Cuba condemned to forced works. But if the bulk of the colonists took refuge in the interior of the islands, they almost never chased them. Not to mention that the prevailing winds in the Caribbeans (and the currents too) made the transit from Cuba/Santo Domingo to the LAsa very slow trip. If - and it is a big if, because the various regencies were usually reluctant to work together - the Spanish had decided to put together all their assets in the Caribbeans, they could certainly make a clean sweep: the game was not worth the candle to them, and in any case as soon as the Spanish armada left the islands, there would have been another dozen attempts at colonizing.
The problem with these small colonies was that they were not self-sufficient: they needed supplies and manufactured goods from the mother country, and they needed a market for their produce, be it sugar of tobacco. They also needed manpower to work in the fields, but the only ready source of manpower is through the slave trade.
Some of these colonies became quite productive and rich, but they were quite a minority.