How best to unite the planet?

VT45

Banned
I figure the best PoD to have a single global state by modern day would be before 1900, specifically the 19th century due to that being the age of truly globe spanning empires. In 1900, there were only 78 sovereign states on the planet, a number that continued to fall. So allowing for a pre-1900 PoD, what’s the most likely way to create a single world state by the modern day?
 

Deleted member 92195

VT45 said:
Let's say fastest and hardest to undo. I'm not gonna discount dystopias
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I personally think if the Romans had created the industrial revolution they would have had the best chance. They would own mass swathes of land here, there and everywhere and most importantly their empire would not have been like the British (fell apart) or Russian Empires (sparsely populated).
 

Deleted member 97083

VT45 said:
Let's say fastest and hardest to undo. I'm not gonna discount dystopias
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Well, there are only two modern-era countries that actually wanted to conquer the whole world eventually, and that's Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. So if a country with a higher population, more resources, and higher industrial capacity--such as China or Russia--followed a similar ideological path as either of those two Axis powers, and this hypothetical "Nazi" China or Russia won their version of WWII, that would probably be the fastest and hardest to undo world conquest.
 

VT45

Banned
See I was thinking that the Victorian era British Empire had a good shot at it. Use the strife in America during the Civil War to take them out (use a couple well placed agents to make the Civil War worse and weaken them further), tag team China with the other European powers, etc
 

Tibi088

Nationalism is a force that makes this impossible so Victorian era is out.

Easiest is Rome. Conquer the Germans early, survive the huns and keep pushing East. If they can conquer the germans and the iranian plateau they cant be stopped. If they can avoid Islam even easier for them.

A surviving unified Frank empire is the latest based in Europe. It can get the british isles, take scandinavia and vast eastern auropean territories by crusades till the Xth century. It can push the muslims out of Iberia and maybe later of North Africa. After Mantzikert it can take the Holy lands and maybe later Anatolia as well (XIII century?). Have this survive more or less intact, discover the Americas while pushing to the East continues - getting Russian core. Start industrialisation. By the 19th century they can rule most of the world. Than they mop up the rest (China, Japan, Africa).

I guess the muslim arabs too could have it.

The tricky part - for every single one of these - is to come up with a government systems that prevents them from falling apart after a certain size. It would have to be organized in a way that local leadership has the freedom to react to challenges swiftly without waiting for the faraway core while still maintaining loyalty.
 

Falecius

A British Empire that somehow manages to keep North America and expand its holdings there would be a terrifying force, and coulkd just manage to create an institutional framework where ruling the world is viable. However, European states could be very hard to absorb. More a global hegemon than a global unifier as such.
I've been thinking about a Macedonian Empire after a longer lived and exceptionally lucky Alexander at times, but its most likely path is to fall apart (of course, it would never unify the planet during the life of Alex, it would take also an unbelievably long stretch of competent rulers after him just to keep the whole monster together as a basis for doing that).
 

Arkenfolm

I don't think it's possible without creating global institutions that empower a world government to have serious leverage against rebellious countries. What would be best is an already empowered United Nations equivalent, which by the force of powerful members can give crippling sanctions against people who threaten the world order. This alt-UN would also have serious moral authority, able to stop genocide and civil war and bring down the worst of tyrants (Nazi Germany, 90s Yugoslavia, 90s Rwanda, etc.) by direct intervention if needed.

If we get into future technology, the future of this organisation might be placing all of the world's oceans (outside of the continental shelf of nations) and space under its control. If space-based solar power is the future (it could be), and the only ways to access space are sea launches (especially the floating launch loop proposed by Keith Lofstrom, which Lofstrom suggests can double as an energy grid linking the world, a power loop) and an orbital ring (once you have enough launches), then the alt-UN can assert control over that too. This is similar to a "hydraulic empire"--with control over the majority of the energy grid, a substantial standing army, all space colonies, and all space resources (which with an orbital ring can outcompete most Earth-based resources), then the alt-UN can bend all Earth nations to its will. This could evolve toward a system where each nation was little more than a state (not necessarily a US state, but maybe more of the Spanish model) within a Federal Republic of Earth.

The United States would be a cornerstone in this organisation, no doubt, given the vast industrial and agricultural capability of the US and its large population. The rest is a matter of finding the right allies in Europe and Asia to create some common framework, and also creating adaptibility so wars over decolonisation don't utterly destroy the organisation. Such an organisation could be the wet dream of imperialism where "enlightened" Europeans and Americans with some Asians (Japan, probably) rule over and brutally exploit most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, or one which evolves toward more equality where nations share their wealth and resources for the sake of improving the world, or anything in-between.
 

Socrates

I think your best chance is to have the UK keep North America early, and for the British Empire to decentralise from London into some sort of EU/NATO/USA hybrid with an imperial preference system of tariffs. You could then have places like Hannover, Holland, Portugal, Iceland apply to join to benefit from the economic advantages/heightened defence protection. The whiter Latin American states also join as they gain independence and so do more of the smaller German states. The UK continues to colonise Africa and India, and places like Rhodesia/Bengal/Ceylon join with voting rights limited to whites. China gets balkanised between France and Britain and the British parts join the system as individual provinces. Gradually, liberalisation means the economic repression of the colonies is reduced and the votes are expanded to "educated" natives. You get an alternative Cold War between Britain and whoever is on the other side (Russia, France?). Greater economic success in the British Empire means it is seen as more modern/successful. When the equivalent of the Berlin Wall comes down, those on the other side join up to the British Commonwealth, now rebranded as being less British, as part of their modernist refounding.
 

twovultures

Donor
How about uniting the planet under multinational coalitions of countries which temper the edges of the nation state and create byzantine but peaceful political structures that govern thousands of miles? Malê Rising has this happen.
 

VT45

Banned
I was thinking if you extend the Raj system across most of the planet that would count. Have regions of nominal self rule but still beholden to London
 
The Professor

The Professor

It's problematic because the bigger an empire gets the more opposition it will face from those not wanting to be under it.
So it depends how large you want the United Earth. Less than 75% and a British Empire route is possible albeit unstable, over 75% and an empowered UN type organisation of the Great Powers would be needed.
 

Kaze

Banned
Mongol Empire, British Empire, French Napoleonic Empire, etc might all lead to dystopia. Just remember one man's definition of utopia is another man's dystopia. Even Moore's novel has some dystopian elements concerning divorce - (If you read between the lines, Moore was commenting on Henry's divorce and remarriage).

The best option I would go with is an alien invasion.
 

ar-pharazon

Banned
Humanocentric or geoexlcusive would be proper terms your looking for.

I'd say the Mongols, Romans, Arabs, Alexander, and maybe on or two other empires of history have the best chance of unifying Eurasia under one banner and expanding throughout the world from there.

Alexander: Lives to be 90 or something and conquers western Eurasia, his son is equally competent and conquers most of Asia. Unified Eurasia-world conquest in 500 years at the maximum.

Mongols: have some Mongol leaders not die at inoppurtune times and you can unify most of Eurasia. World conquest follows

Romans: Successful conquest of Germania and Eastern Europe and eventual conquest of Persia and the Caspian Sea region. World conquest follows

Umayyad or Rashiduns: Complete conquest of Europe, conquest of China and Africa(or half of it maybe). World conquest four hundred years afterwards.

Napoleon: Have him conquer the Middle East and somehow India and then come back become emperor and conquer Europe then crush Britain and expand from there.

All these scenarios require extraordinary amounts of competence, luck(or divine or asb intervention and favor depending on your mileage), and bad luck/divine/ASB disfavor/incompetence on the part of the empire's enemies.
 

chrnno

VT45 said:
I figure the best PoD to have a single global state by modern day would be before 1900, specifically the 19th century due to that being the age of truly globe spanning empires. In 1900, there were only 78 sovereign states on the planet, a number that continued to fall. So allowing for a pre-1900 PoD, what’s the most likely way to create a single world state by the modern day?
Click to expand...
Best bet would be massive widespread deaths by plague, climate or whatever mostly avoiding a power and only it since conquering and holding the entire planet is ridiculous thus you need to get rid of potential resistance.
 
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