Hi everyone
What do people think could've been a route to victory for the English and what do you think Would've followed?
It depends of the PoD, but it should be something that alter history significantly. Plantagenet never really had the goal to conquer France, using their claim to bargain for territory and independence from French suzerainty on continent (see Treaty of Brétigny).
Lancastre tried to do so, as the civil war between Armagnacs and Bourguignons opened a large door, but they weren't really in a position to impose their rule to all the kingdom (even in the northern part, they had to share de facto the rule with Bourguignons).
I could see three PoDs that might help.
- Plantagenet having an actually valid claim to french crown.
OTL, their claim was quite poor : if the principe that women can't transmit rights was kept, they couldn't access to the crown (and the principe was accepted since the succession of Artois crisis that they couldn't) their claim was simply void; if it was accepted women could (and that's really unlikely) then the daughters of Louis X and Philippe V had superior rights.
Having an English king that could really pretend to the throne (or able to enforce a spouse right), critically if the situation is more blurry in France.
-For that, you'll need to really mess with Valois, making them extinct quickly and maybe pull a Bourbon : the successor is far away from the throne, not that popular at first.
-An unrelated, and later PoD : Charles VII dying before his sacre would certainly help. Armagnacs would have loss their main rally banner. It doesn't mean that a conquest is possible, but I could see the 2/3 of France under Charles VII's rule to eventually accept to recognize Henri II/VI as king even if more or less nominally.
The main consequence would be the francisation of the union.
The demographical difference between England ( 2,5 millions) and France (16 millions) let little doubt : the double-monarchy would be for England what act of Union was for Scotland.
For Burgundy or else, it really depends when the change happens and how. It could go both ways, really.