I've always wondered how the world, especially Britain and the Americas, would have been with a Stuart restoration.
So, here's my spin on the possibility. POD is 1688.
1688-
The "Glorious Revolution", or as Jacobites call it "the Dutch coup d'etat", occurs, overthrowing James II nearly bloodlessly. William of Orange is crowned King of England, William III. However, James flees north to Scotland, and then across the main to Ireland in late Summer, pursued by Williamite forces. William III is acclaimed as King of Scotland from London, an action hotly debated. Ireland becomes an rallying point for royalist forces, who have economic aid from France, while Anglo-Scottish naval forces make war across the Irish sea with French and Royal ships.
Meanwhile, on the continent, war still rages in the Netherlands and Rhine as the War of the Grand Alliance takes its toll, consuming thousands of men.
1689-
In Scotland, a Convention of the Lords meets in Edinburgh to decide whether to recognise William as the King of Scotland. A slim majority, mainly Presbyterian lords, decides in favour of the Protestant, Calvinist Dutch prince. The Lords who dissent, led primarily by Episcopals, but with a significant number of Presbyterians, call the Convention void and leave in disgust. One of them is John Graham of Claverhouse, given the title Viscount Dundee in April.
In May, he rallies many Scottish highland clans and a few lowlander clans against Williamite forces. In the Battle of Killiecrankie of late July, Dundee achieves a great victory, destroying the army of Lowland Scots who waited in vain for English reinforcements.
The Jacobite troops, led by Dundee, press on towards Glasgow, which surrenders bloodlessly on August 2. In the second great battle of the war, on August 20, Williamite soldiers square off against the Scottish army in the twin battles of Falkirk-Dalkeith. At Falkirk, a superior Scottish cavalry force obliterates the meagre English infantry, and Dalkeith concludes with the Williamites at rout. The Scots besiege Edinburgh, hammering its walls for a month with captured cannons, capturing the city in late September.
However, as Dundee leads an expeditionary force of 550 men south into the lowlands, to scout English positions, his troops encounter a much larger force of Lowland Scots and Anglo-Dutch soldiers, leading to a fierce skirmish at the Battle of Loch Doon on November 1. As the Scottish troops are surrounded and shot at, the English closed in with bayonets, frightening the Scottish horses to run rampant into the lake, drowning their riders. Only Dundee's horse remains calm, and as he directed troops, an enemy musket shot pierces his breastplate, burying itself deep in his abdomen, mortally wounding him. As he lay dying, he tells a fellow soldier, "Flee. Get to Edinburgh. Tell them...the English are coming, and the apocalypse rides with them!"
That soldier mounted Dundee's steed, and presses his way to the nearby woods, and fled the fight. The remaining men, 250 soldiers, drown in the waters, stabbed by Williamite troops. None would be spared.
As November closes, and December approaches, the English take camp south of Edinburgh.
1690-
The War of the Grand Alliance continues, as does the Jacobite War. The Jacobites, without their great leader, falter, and vacate Edinburgh and Glasgow when rumour comes of a Government Army of over 100,000.
These figures are severely exaggerated from the real force of men, but fear spreads quickly throughout the men, and they rapidly flee to the upper Highlands, scattered among the peaks. However, they retain communication in secrecy, and the distance causes the Williamite forces to assume their enemy dissolved. Their main focus switches to Ireland, while a Jacobite haven forms in the rocky mountains of Northern Scotland.
Because of the events of the previous year, Dundee is made into a heroic martyr for the Stuart cause. The majority of Jacobite military leaders escape to Ireland.
In June, William claims the Irish Crown, in a bid to become ruler of all Britain. However, the Jacobite presence there is too strong. In July, riots across north-east Ireland by Catholic royalists lead to the death of several thousand Protestants in the isle. The ones that are spared are Episcopalians and Anglicans, who are deemed "near enough" to the Catholics that they ignore them. The majority of those murdered are Calvinists, an ideology strongly associated by now with the Williamite cause.
As the year stretches on, the English beachheads in south-east Ireland fall, and the Williamite army in Ireland is, with the aid of France, destroyed by Christmas.
1691-1697-
The War of the Grand Alliance is fought and concludes. The Americas, strongly influenced by Calvinism and the Puritans, stay firmly in the hands of the Williamites, affording them greater economic power than Jacobite Ireland. However, Ireland is never captured by William, though he maintains his claims.
1699-
Treaty of Man, by Irish and Williamite forces, where William recognises James II as King of Ireland, but not ruler of Great Britain. In later years, this treaty will be considered the conclusion point of the Jacobite War. Hostilities between Jacobite Ireland and Williamite Britain cease, and limited trade ensues, although relations occasionally chafe with James claiming legitimacy over all Britain, recognised as such by France.
1701-
War of the Spanish Succession breaks out, at the death of Charles II of Spain, the last Habsburg ruler. Ireland pledges neutrality, though Irish "mercenaries" sail to fight with France on the continent.
1702-
Both James and William die. James' son becomes James III of Ireland, nominally of England and Scotland as well. William and Mary are childless, so the throne falls to Mary's sister, Anne, who becomes Queen of England and Scotland.
1703-1714-
The War of the Spanish Succession is wages and ends. In the midst of the war, Hungary achieves independence from 1704-1713. However, Habsburgian forces manage to restore order just in time for war's end.
Anne dies in an untimely demise after the war's conclusion, leaving the throne to a Protestant German, George of Hanover. George is well-received in England, who see him as "a Saxon coming to rule the Saxons", while Scotland does not receive him particularly well. George's First act is, in 1714, to urge both the Scottish and English parliaments to dissolve, and in an Act of Union, form a single British Parliament for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
This is the last straw for the Jacobites, who thunder across sea, hill, and plain to restore the rightful King to England and Scotland's thrones.
1715-
The Second Jacobite Rebellion.
The Lords in Scotland refusing to recognise the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament, and many clan chiefs from the Highlands and Lowlands, rally around James III at Glasgow, raising the banner of the Stuarts. They march to Edinburgh, and press south. At Loch Doon, James III pays his respects to the dead who fought there in 1689, and they find Dundee's skeleton half-buried in the sand. They give it, and the other Jacobite martyrs, a proper burial, and erect a stone monument to forever mark the site. He is crowned at Scone as King of Scotland.
In late 1715, the Scoto-Irish force of Jacobites cross Hadrian's Wall, a mainly symbolic move. A few skirmishes result, with the small Government forces being wiped away. The majority of Government troops were still on the continent, battling French forces in the renewed conflict, or maintaining order in the Americas. However, the other, more exhausted nations, refused to involve themselves, leaving England alone against France and Spain.
James sends forth a letter, mass-reproduced and distributed across England, proclaiming his conversion to Anglicanism and his willingness to grant a general amnesty to all who side with him, regardless of if they be Catholic, Anglican, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Dissenter. He also made an appeal to the small undercurrent of nationalism, saying that while William was connected by blood to the Stuarts, these German Hanoverians were total foreigners, and had absolutely no right to an English, a Scottish, or an Irish throne, and that only a native son of Britain should possess them.
1716-
After several decisive victories in Mercia, the Jacobites, now with a significant English contingent, approach London, laying siege. In vain, the small force of Hanoverians defend against a much larger Jacobite force. By this time, the tide had turned significantly, and the English public largely accepted James' plea for restoration, tiring of war and turmoil.
One June 23rd, 1716, George surrendered and gave up all claims to Britain. In his last act as King, he decreed the Act of Union null and void, and abdicated. He was allowed to return unharmed to Hanover.
To be continued...
So, here's my spin on the possibility. POD is 1688.
1688-
The "Glorious Revolution", or as Jacobites call it "the Dutch coup d'etat", occurs, overthrowing James II nearly bloodlessly. William of Orange is crowned King of England, William III. However, James flees north to Scotland, and then across the main to Ireland in late Summer, pursued by Williamite forces. William III is acclaimed as King of Scotland from London, an action hotly debated. Ireland becomes an rallying point for royalist forces, who have economic aid from France, while Anglo-Scottish naval forces make war across the Irish sea with French and Royal ships.
Meanwhile, on the continent, war still rages in the Netherlands and Rhine as the War of the Grand Alliance takes its toll, consuming thousands of men.
1689-
In Scotland, a Convention of the Lords meets in Edinburgh to decide whether to recognise William as the King of Scotland. A slim majority, mainly Presbyterian lords, decides in favour of the Protestant, Calvinist Dutch prince. The Lords who dissent, led primarily by Episcopals, but with a significant number of Presbyterians, call the Convention void and leave in disgust. One of them is John Graham of Claverhouse, given the title Viscount Dundee in April.
In May, he rallies many Scottish highland clans and a few lowlander clans against Williamite forces. In the Battle of Killiecrankie of late July, Dundee achieves a great victory, destroying the army of Lowland Scots who waited in vain for English reinforcements.
The Jacobite troops, led by Dundee, press on towards Glasgow, which surrenders bloodlessly on August 2. In the second great battle of the war, on August 20, Williamite soldiers square off against the Scottish army in the twin battles of Falkirk-Dalkeith. At Falkirk, a superior Scottish cavalry force obliterates the meagre English infantry, and Dalkeith concludes with the Williamites at rout. The Scots besiege Edinburgh, hammering its walls for a month with captured cannons, capturing the city in late September.
However, as Dundee leads an expeditionary force of 550 men south into the lowlands, to scout English positions, his troops encounter a much larger force of Lowland Scots and Anglo-Dutch soldiers, leading to a fierce skirmish at the Battle of Loch Doon on November 1. As the Scottish troops are surrounded and shot at, the English closed in with bayonets, frightening the Scottish horses to run rampant into the lake, drowning their riders. Only Dundee's horse remains calm, and as he directed troops, an enemy musket shot pierces his breastplate, burying itself deep in his abdomen, mortally wounding him. As he lay dying, he tells a fellow soldier, "Flee. Get to Edinburgh. Tell them...the English are coming, and the apocalypse rides with them!"
That soldier mounted Dundee's steed, and presses his way to the nearby woods, and fled the fight. The remaining men, 250 soldiers, drown in the waters, stabbed by Williamite troops. None would be spared.
As November closes, and December approaches, the English take camp south of Edinburgh.
1690-
The War of the Grand Alliance continues, as does the Jacobite War. The Jacobites, without their great leader, falter, and vacate Edinburgh and Glasgow when rumour comes of a Government Army of over 100,000.
These figures are severely exaggerated from the real force of men, but fear spreads quickly throughout the men, and they rapidly flee to the upper Highlands, scattered among the peaks. However, they retain communication in secrecy, and the distance causes the Williamite forces to assume their enemy dissolved. Their main focus switches to Ireland, while a Jacobite haven forms in the rocky mountains of Northern Scotland.
Because of the events of the previous year, Dundee is made into a heroic martyr for the Stuart cause. The majority of Jacobite military leaders escape to Ireland.
In June, William claims the Irish Crown, in a bid to become ruler of all Britain. However, the Jacobite presence there is too strong. In July, riots across north-east Ireland by Catholic royalists lead to the death of several thousand Protestants in the isle. The ones that are spared are Episcopalians and Anglicans, who are deemed "near enough" to the Catholics that they ignore them. The majority of those murdered are Calvinists, an ideology strongly associated by now with the Williamite cause.
As the year stretches on, the English beachheads in south-east Ireland fall, and the Williamite army in Ireland is, with the aid of France, destroyed by Christmas.
1691-1697-
The War of the Grand Alliance is fought and concludes. The Americas, strongly influenced by Calvinism and the Puritans, stay firmly in the hands of the Williamites, affording them greater economic power than Jacobite Ireland. However, Ireland is never captured by William, though he maintains his claims.
1699-
Treaty of Man, by Irish and Williamite forces, where William recognises James II as King of Ireland, but not ruler of Great Britain. In later years, this treaty will be considered the conclusion point of the Jacobite War. Hostilities between Jacobite Ireland and Williamite Britain cease, and limited trade ensues, although relations occasionally chafe with James claiming legitimacy over all Britain, recognised as such by France.
1701-
War of the Spanish Succession breaks out, at the death of Charles II of Spain, the last Habsburg ruler. Ireland pledges neutrality, though Irish "mercenaries" sail to fight with France on the continent.
1702-
Both James and William die. James' son becomes James III of Ireland, nominally of England and Scotland as well. William and Mary are childless, so the throne falls to Mary's sister, Anne, who becomes Queen of England and Scotland.
1703-1714-
The War of the Spanish Succession is wages and ends. In the midst of the war, Hungary achieves independence from 1704-1713. However, Habsburgian forces manage to restore order just in time for war's end.
Anne dies in an untimely demise after the war's conclusion, leaving the throne to a Protestant German, George of Hanover. George is well-received in England, who see him as "a Saxon coming to rule the Saxons", while Scotland does not receive him particularly well. George's First act is, in 1714, to urge both the Scottish and English parliaments to dissolve, and in an Act of Union, form a single British Parliament for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
This is the last straw for the Jacobites, who thunder across sea, hill, and plain to restore the rightful King to England and Scotland's thrones.
1715-
The Second Jacobite Rebellion.
The Lords in Scotland refusing to recognise the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament, and many clan chiefs from the Highlands and Lowlands, rally around James III at Glasgow, raising the banner of the Stuarts. They march to Edinburgh, and press south. At Loch Doon, James III pays his respects to the dead who fought there in 1689, and they find Dundee's skeleton half-buried in the sand. They give it, and the other Jacobite martyrs, a proper burial, and erect a stone monument to forever mark the site. He is crowned at Scone as King of Scotland.
In late 1715, the Scoto-Irish force of Jacobites cross Hadrian's Wall, a mainly symbolic move. A few skirmishes result, with the small Government forces being wiped away. The majority of Government troops were still on the continent, battling French forces in the renewed conflict, or maintaining order in the Americas. However, the other, more exhausted nations, refused to involve themselves, leaving England alone against France and Spain.
James sends forth a letter, mass-reproduced and distributed across England, proclaiming his conversion to Anglicanism and his willingness to grant a general amnesty to all who side with him, regardless of if they be Catholic, Anglican, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Dissenter. He also made an appeal to the small undercurrent of nationalism, saying that while William was connected by blood to the Stuarts, these German Hanoverians were total foreigners, and had absolutely no right to an English, a Scottish, or an Irish throne, and that only a native son of Britain should possess them.
1716-
After several decisive victories in Mercia, the Jacobites, now with a significant English contingent, approach London, laying siege. In vain, the small force of Hanoverians defend against a much larger Jacobite force. By this time, the tide had turned significantly, and the English public largely accepted James' plea for restoration, tiring of war and turmoil.
One June 23rd, 1716, George surrendered and gave up all claims to Britain. In his last act as King, he decreed the Act of Union null and void, and abdicated. He was allowed to return unharmed to Hanover.
To be continued...