What is the earliest POD for a unification of HRE, and what would the effects be on the world ?

For a good chunk of middle ages and the largest portion of modern era (IE 1453 to 80' of the XIXth century), Germany has been dominated by the HRE, a behemoth controlling basically all of central western Europe except for the southern part of Italy, what if, unlile OTL, someone managed to unite it durably, how does that affects effects such as tge colonizations, Crusades or the spread of Protestantism ?
N-B : Obviously it depends on when it unites.
 
well, european politics will be HRE and maybe a few allies (like Aragon or Norway are the ones that I can think of now) vs e v e r y o n e else every time because if the HRE manages just two or three major victories against france and they are just the sole european hegemon
 
well, european politics will be HRE and maybe a few allies (like Aragon or Norway are the ones that I can think of now) vs e v e r y o n e else every time because if the HRE manages just two or three major victories against france and they are just the sole european hegemon
Yes, but what is the earliest pod for a possible unfication
 
Yes, but what is the earliest pod for a possible unfication
We actually have a good OTL date already. When Otto the Great finally conquered Italy in 961, he was already the hero of Christendom with the huge victory over the Magyars in 955 at the belt, and the legitimacy of being married to Adelaide of Italy. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962. However, what needs to change is his policy and administration. Otto spent most of his reign as Emperor in Rome and was constantly trying to expand in the south while trying to mend relationships with the East Romans. However, by doing that, he seemed to put off a lot of his German affairs, and his German subjects weren't exactly thrilled when he married Adelaide and began adopting the Imperial style. Had Otto ruled from somewhere in Southern Germany, where he could still gain the passes over the Alps to get into Italy, while trying to just consolidate the gains that he already made in Italy instead of expanding, he may have been able to strengthen his Imperial authority and establish that he and his dynasty were the true inheritors to Charlemagne and to the Western Roman tradition, while reinforcing his German/Saxon heritage.

With that said, there would still be a lot of work to be done to ultimately keep this whole project unified and more centralized. The loss of Rome never stopped the German emperors from styling themselves as Holy Roman Emperor, plus I think most of the Italian possessions were eventually going to split away or get conquered by other polities, but the framework, tradition, and legacy of a unified, centralized, and German Holy Roman Empire could all be established by Otto very early on had he spent more time in Germany.
 
If either the Staufer, Salier or Ottonians survive the middle ages, I think the german part of the HRE would end up like France with an elective monarchy gradually becoming a hereditary monarchy through a long lasting dynasty. Of course the Ottonians and the Staufer could also change their power base to Italy, if either of them survive and manage their affairs better. In that case Italy would be controlling Germany and not vice versa. After the interregnum it becomes harder but I think that at least until the thirty years war the Habsburgs or any of the dynasties in the 14th and 15th century could have enhanced their control over Germany.
 
Thanks for the replies, another questions : does protestantism still arise, and if it does : will it split the empire between catholic states and protestants, or turn in a civil war ? Also France have had a long history of putting its filthy hand on german affairs, as the king of France also wanted the Roman Emperor title, so I'm wondering, what are the chance of HundredYW to happen ?
 
France and a unified, centralized HRE would constantly be at odds with each other and could end up in a situation where their rivalry defines the Middle Ages, as opposed to that of France and England. Their interests almost always run counter to each other.

It would be difficult to predict if a version of Protestantism even arises, let alone when. The circumstances that could lead to a unified German HRE could butterfly everything away if the POD is early enough. However, there were always religious "heresies" cropping up throughout the Middle Ages, any one of them, depending on the circumstances, could have had the impact that Protestantism did in OTL. In the scenario I proposed earlier, the Great Schism between Catholic and Orthodox hadn't occurred yet, though the churches we're drifting further apart by this point and it could be argued that an eventual schism could be inevitable. However, Otto did arrange for his son, Otto II, to marry a Byzantine/Roman princess to mend relations, so with the right circumstances and decisions, a Great Schism could be delayed or outright averted.
 
A little over a month ago I came up with an idea I feel would lead to a unified HRE state due to the complete dominance of Bavaria over the rest of the Holy Roman Empire in the 900s, with unification happening sometime between 950 and 1100. The plan centered around Margrave Luitpold achieving victory over the Magyars at the 907 Battle of Lechfeld, and then taking his army of 60000 Germans and expelling the Hungarians from the Carpathian Basin, immensely increasing Bavaria's economic potential as the region already had a large number of German settlers and some of the best farmland in Europe. As most sources I have seen say that Luitpold was likely the most powerful man in Germany before his death, he is crowned Duke of Bavaria by his liege Louis the Child in the aftermath of his victory and, when LtC died in 911, he is elected Holy Roman Emperor. From here, he consolidates royal power in Germany using his Bavarian territories as well as possible allies in Swabia (his son Arnulf had allies from Swabia in his Hungarian wars), and even launches an invasion of Italy probably around 920 to establish himself as Holy Roman Emperor. From here, he attacks West Francia in the wake of the 923 Battle of Soissons, in which the victorious claimant to the French throne Robert I was killed in battle and his enemy Charles III was imprisoned, as it is a golden opportunity to retake the western half of Charlemagne's Empire. At the same time, Henry the Fowler is leading campaigns in Jutland and Polabia, taking advantage of the King's absence to expand his territories even further. Southern Italy is also taken around 925 from the Byzantine Empire and Sicily is conquered too, causing a unification of Italy under Imperial rule, being made possible by Constantinople's weakness during the reign of Simeon the Great. The empire further and further centralizes around the Luitpolding dynasty until Arnulf is able to acquire the utmost allegiance of all the French and German dukes in 950 and abolish the elective monarchy, creating a hereditary system. As the succession of the dynasty is secured, Arnulf and later Eberhard are able to focus even further on reducing the power of the states and introducing the Free Imperial Knights as a form of burghers to create a more administrative empire. Reading this it looks really wanky but in my original thread https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-bavarians-win-the-battle-of-pressburg.462532/ it didn't really feel that way to me. I'm also considering writing a TL about this beginning in May or June...
 
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