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I'm kind of obsessed with the Hanseatic League, I have no idea why. It's certainly interesting how many cities joined it, and how much clout it had in the 14th century -- I mean, they waged war against Denmark and managed to extract concessions, and had Kontors in places such as London, Novgorod, Bergen, and Brugge.
However, they quickly declined in the 15th and 16th centuries and never recovered. Is there anyway for the Hanseatic League to experience a 'revival' of sorts? I know the Dutch really hurt them when they got involved in the Baltic trade. In my own TL, Germany is on a road where the empire will be more unified. It's not going to become a singular state overnight, and encompasses a wide area, but it's on the way. Is there any way that a centralizing empire might find a use for the Hanseatic League in terms of trade and the economy? Many of the Hansestadt where already Imperial Free Cities and would be represented in the Reichstag. For some reason, the idea of Hanse ships sailing west for the Emperor sound incredibly inciting ... and American and indeed, Asiatic trade might be just what they need to revive.