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Let's forget about the "how" for a moment and just imagine a scenario in which either Gian Galeazzo Visconti or Filippo Maria Visconti are able to recreate the old Lombard kingdom (No Naples). Perhaps they even manage to get themselves crowned. Let's also say that the Visconti line continues, as a succession crisis so soon after a relatively tenuous unification would almost certainly result in the kingdom disintegrating.

With this being the scenario, what challenges would such a kingdom face? Would there be any room for territorial expansion, with the way west being blocked by France, the way south being blocked by the Pope and Spain/Aragon, the way east being blocked by Venice and the Habsburgs and the way north being blocked by the Swiss and the Habsburgs?

Would the difficulties of internal consolidation occupy the attention of the rulers and prevent them from considering further expansion at all?

Would this new kingdom be steamrolled by a France on its way down to Naples, or would the King of France think twice before trying to march his troops through a united Italy?

Would an united Italy be able to participate in the colonial game further down the line, or would the threat of Barbary pirates, the risk of Spain's wrath, and the extra distance through the Mediterranean sea restrict their involvement to investments and loans for the colonial ambitions of other countries?
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