In about two months time, I'll be finished University for the year and I would like to start writing a timeline.
In the meantime, I was wondering which one I should do and prepare for over the next two months (not too much since I need to study as well) but enough so I can begin writing right away once my exams are over and to make plans for their future.
The options are as follows.
A Lawyer for a Monk A rewrite of my timeline contest entry, For Want of A Shove, in which Martin Luther never becomes a monk and remains a lawyer. His lack of influence causes the reformation to intiatialy pick up less steam. This leads to a far smaller German Peasant Revolt, and also to far less Protestantism seeping into the Teutonic knights, which causes a civil war when Albert tries to secularise the order.
Despite this initial lack of gain, the lack of Luther’s somewhat moderating influence causes the Reformation to soon radicalise under the likes of Calvin and others, and leads to violent and bloody religious wars in Germany which destabalises the current system.
Meanwhile, as a butterfly effect, Louis II of Hungary survives Mohacs and without his death, Hungary doesn’t fall apart into civil war to be picked apart between the Hapsburgs and Jan Zolpoya and the Ottomans. This survival of a Jageillon line, coupled with a different Polish-Russian history, leads to interesting consequences in the east.
Speak Loud, Look Big A response to the War of 1812 cliché in which the British always win by bringing in the Duke of Wellington or some other Peninsular general along with tens of thousands of British regulars to North America.
This timeline would posit the survival of Sir Isaac Brock, the reluctant Canadian Hero who penned the quote above to describe his plans for war with the Americans and who's death deprived the British of one of its most decisive commanders during the war. The POD would be a different series of events that would have led up to Battle of Queenston Heights in which there is no temporary armistice and Brock again goes on the offensive. This far more aggressive behaviour on Britain’s part puts America quickly on the defense and leads to far more British victories in the north as Brock secures the Great Lakes.
This coupled with Brocks belief in creating an Indian state out of the Old North West leads to a far more different peace process when the area is shorn off in the British victory.
The war would also be shorter, leading to butterflies removing the Hartford Convention. The Federalists are never discredited, and their fortunes improve from the descent they were already experiencing OTL. This leads to no era of good feelings and far more contentious and viscious infighting leading to an earlier civil war focused far more on states rights.
Finally, the Indian state, increasingly unstable, collapses a few decades after its creation, and the resulting Anglo-American war over its fate leads to an earlier inception of Canada and the rise of two superpowers on the North American continent.
Short out of Miracles A timeline in which there is no miracle for the house of Brandenburg during the seven years war. Empress Elizabeth survives a year or two longer leading to the partition of Prussia and only a semi-victory for Britain.
The actual POD actualy lies with Charles Edward Stuart, known to history as “Bonnie Prince Charlie” not showing up drunk for a war meeting planning the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. Taking on this chance to try and regain his family’s throne, Charles Edward continues to sober up for his planned invasion of Great Britain, but these plans are dashed as in OTL by British victories at sea. Despite not invading, his turn around gives the French a better opinion of him which plays into this timeline later.
Back to Prussia, it gets totally defeated and Frederick II is killed either in battle or by suicide. It loses Silesia back to Austria along with Mark and Cleves. Sweden gains East Friesland along with West Pomerania. Saxony gains Magdeburg, the county of Hohnstein, and other southerly bits. Meanwhile Russia exchanges East Prussia with Poland for the area it got in the First Partition of Poland.
Britain meanwhile keeps its gains in India, but loses Minorca and has to hand back Guadeloupe and Martinique. She gains the Ohio area but not Canada, leaving a French threat remaining to the American colonists. The butterflies are enormous, and I only have a general clue on where to go afterwards.
Meanwhile, Catherine the Great's coup against her husband fails, and she is condemned to a convent. This leads Peter to not support what would have been Stanislaw II August of Poland's bid for the throne. In OTL, he was installed by a military coup supported by Catherine's Russia. In this timeline, Peter doesn't support him on account of him being one of Catherine's old lovers.
This lets Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) set forth his claim to the throne as the French and Austrian candidate. Since he is the descendant of Jan III (Sobieski) and a recipient of French funds, he succeeds in the election.
This of course creates Jacobite Poland.
An Intolerable Act Another take on a North American history cliché in which whenever Quebec is invaded or joins the American revolution, everything goes hippy-dippy gorgeous from there.
The POD lies with Governor Carleton of Quebec before the American Revolution. In OTL, he received letters and missives urging him to interfere in the provinces Catholic Church, encourage the priests to marry, and set up a church of England at Catholic expense. It should be noted that the English government always saw Quebec’s catholicism, not its Frenchness, as the threat. Now in OTL, he ignored these orders and kept them secret. For a POD, someone gets a hold of them and publishes them.
This leads to Quebecois outrage and the the local Catholic Church no longer seeing the advantages of British rule.
When the American revolution rolls around in the coming years, Quebec is far more supportive and this leads to a successful invasion of Quebec.
However all is not well post war, as Quebec and the rest of the states share a rocky relationship that culminates in the Civil War being far larger, far bloodier, far more destructive, and far more widespread world wide.
Guns, Steel, and Alchemy This is a timeline that I eventually plan to do and I do have good idea where it will lead far into the future. However, I feel very attached to this one and it still needs a lot of planification, since it certainly would be the largest of the proposed timelines and by consequence is the roughest. It would not be started this summer.
It is an ASB timeline along the line of Diamond’s Washington Warlock’s. In this timeline however, Pseudo-sciences from the Medieval era are going to take prevalence, most notably Alchemy heavily inspired from Full Metal Alchemist. I’m not trying to make a timeline for the show, but instead just applying a form of Alchemy (along with several other potential pseudo sciences along with some eastern practices) with many similarities to it.
The POD lies with Nicholas Flamel. In OTL, so the legend goes, he never taught Alchemy to anyone on a kind of “Pearls before Swine” basis of thought. In this timeline he does, and from there his students travel out from there, leading to butterflies galore. A few of these are as follows.
Jageillo of Poland takes advantage of his victory at Tannenburg and besieges and takes Marienburg, the Teutonic capital. This leads to a far earlier reaquistion of the what we would call the Danzig corridor, the greater prestige of his house, the survival of his first wife Jadwiga, who he married to get Poland, and the far more rapid decline of the Teutonic Knights. An entirely different line of Jageillons are unleashed on Eastern Europe.
Henry VI of England dies as a child, and so his uncle John becomes King. His happy marriage to Anne of Burgundy actually produces a child, and as King he goes on war to take over the rest of coastal France so as to link up with English holdings in Guyenne. There is no battle of Orleans, and Joan of Arc becomes a kind of vicious warlord on the frontiers. John also smoothes things over with the Duke of York, butterflying away the war of the roses. The Yorks eventualy become the Stewards of England and Ireland, while the Lancastrian power base remains on the continent once (through a series of marriages, deaths, and the other things) they also inherit Burgundy. They remain on the continent because TTL’s Henry VI (John’s son) stays on the continent because of the French threat and also some Holy Roman Imperial aspirations.
Meanwhile, Italy gets united by the Ottomans when Mehmet II lives longer and invades.
There is a chance that I won’t write this one right away, but I eventually plan to. I just want to get the hang of writing a timeline first.
Well, which one should I pick. Please comment and vote.