Emperor Dusan the Mighty of Serbia lives

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Heres my idea...First an introduction. In the 14th century the Serbian empire has its greatest expanse during the rule of Dusan. Its borders are the Peleponese peninsula in the south, Danube and Sava river to the north, the Kharpati mountains in the east and the river Drina to the west. When the Turks threaten the empire Dusan seeks help from the pope and starts amassing a huge army.Suddenly in 1352 he is assassinated.
What if he hadnt been killed and his plan to stop the Turks had succeded?
 

ninebucks

Banned
Its likely that his empire would assume the role of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, clunking along for a few centuries, before some national disaster shakes it to the core and leaves it to collapse.
 
Its likely that his empire would assume the role of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, clunking along for a few centuries, before some national disaster shakes it to the core and leaves it to collapse.

Doubtful, unless he gets his hands on Constantinople. But even then the center of gravity of Serbian settlement is too far away.
 
But would the Turks be able to recuperate enough to destroy the Byzantine empire a hundred years later.Maybe the Serbs, encouriged by their war success, try to take Constantinople and do!
 
But would the Turks be able to recuperate enough to destroy the Byzantine empire a hundred years later.Maybe the Serbs, encouriged by their war success, try to take Constantinople and do!

Bright day
You know, I am weird like that, but something tells me that stable empires don't exactly depend on every year lived by their founder...
 
Bright day
You know, I am weird like that, but something tells me that stable empires don't exactly depend on every year lived by their founder...

I kind of disagree. If Osman had been killed in battle five years into his rule, would there have been an Ottoman Empire? Probably not. But if Mehmed II had died young, would the Ottoman Empire have fallen apart? Almost certainly not.

Likewise, what would have happened if Alexander had lived to 50 and left a real heir?

If Dushan had absorbed Byzantium and its prestige and administrative expertise, and firmly established an heir, surely this would have contributed greatly to the viability of a Serbian Empire.

But as far as founders go, Dushan made no real attempt to systematize his territories or really set up any real administration at all - and that's the kind of founder whose early death leads to collapse!
 
But would the Turks be able to recuperate enough to destroy the Byzantine empire a hundred years later.Maybe the Serbs, encouriged by their war success, try to take Constantinople and do!

Anything is possible - but remember that the Byzantines brought the Ottomans into Europe largely BECAUSE of Dushan - and even if he managed some successes against them, Constantinople is not exaclty easy to take, especially when allied to a dynamic power like the Ottomans.

Maybe some sort of Byzantine marriage leads to his heir becoming emperor? Constantinople held by a significant power would be pretty hard to take...
 
I kind of disagree. If Osman had been killed in battle five years into his rule, would there have been an Ottoman Empire? Probably not. But if Mehmed II had died young, would the Ottoman Empire have fallen apart? Almost certainly not.

Likewise, what would have happened if Alexander had lived to 50 and left a real heir?

If Dushan had absorbed Byzantium and its prestige and administrative expertise, and firmly established an heir, surely this would have contributed greatly to the viability of a Serbian Empire.

But as far as founders go, Dushan made no real attempt to systematize his territories or really set up any real administration at all - and that's the kind of founder whose early death leads to collapse!

Sorry, not very knowledgeable about Osman- how much did he managed by then?

If Alexander lived to fifty his empire would still fragment.

The last paragraph is the crux.
 
Wait ! Don't die now!

1355 a.d.The Ottoman Turks have been attacking Bulgaria in bloody battles for possession of the Rhodopes.The Hungarians have been warring with the Serbians in the Macva/Belgrade area unsucessfully, wrecking the chances of a crusade against the Turks blessed by the Pope and led by the orthodox self styled "Emperor of the Serbs,Greeks,Bulgarians and Albanians" Stephan Uros' IV Dushan, who having tried to get the help of Wallachia and Venice to help him acheive his dual goal of driving the Turks from europe and reigning from Constantinople. I wonder what would have happened if he had not died on Dec.20th 1355.
 

CalBear

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1355 a.d.The Ottoman Turks have been attacking Bulgaria in bloody battles for possession of the Rhodopes.The Hungarians have been warring with the Serbians in the Macva/Belgrade area unsucessfully, wrecking the chances of a crusade against the Turks blessed by the Pope and led by the orthodox self styled "Emperor of the Serbs,Greeks,Bulgarians and Albanians" Stephan Uros' IV Dushan, who having tried to get the help of Wallachia and Venice to help him acheive his dual goal of driving the Turks from europe and reigning from Constantinople. I wonder what would have happened if he had not died on Dec.20th 1355.
Wait, don't die now?

Its been dead for five years. Two of the four posters in 2006 have been BANNED since that date.

Let the dead rest in peace.

NEVER do this again.
 
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