Introduction
VERY BELATED EDIT
At the risk of thread necromancy. This version of the TL has been abandoned. While I think it is not too bad, certainly nowhere near as bad as my first two attempts, it did have some some serious issues which could not be fixed without a total reboot.
The latest iteration can be found here
Iteration Four
The Pax Imperialis (The Peace of the Emperor). Or why the Chinese play cricket
(For my beloved daughter)
This one of those "the sun never sets" British Empire timelines. However what comes out at the end will very definitely not be the British Empire. Nor is it the Indian Empire or any other Empire. It's a defuse global federation called the Imperial Commonwealth. This Commonwealth grows to become the world's sole hyperpower, with a distributed economy spread over five continents. However while its global nature is its greatest strength, it is also its greatest weakness. Though it has immense power, it is extremely hard for it to focus its power.
The point of divergence is Gladstone's Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act isn't diluted. This brings forward the split between the radical and whig factions in the Liberal party, increasing the pace of reform. However the butterflies spread fairly quickly and start to reach outside the bounds of the Empire in odd ways. However significant changes don't start to show up until the 20th century, hence its in the post 1900 threads.
I try to wait at least 24 hours between posting updates to allow time for people to comment. For anyone coming in "late," I always update each entry if I make alterations. So all you need to do is follow the bouncing ball through the threadmarks. There are some "design notes" which go into greater depth about the underlying reasons for what's happening, amazing comments and suggestions, a wonderful running commentary by a follower on what's happening and some really weird utterly irrelevant chatty stuff. But all you need to do to get a grip on the timeline is go through the threadmarks.
There are a lot of abbreviations and terms which may be hard to keep track of, certainly FAR too many to remember. I periodically post an updated list of them and threadmark it. So if you run across an abbreviation or term you don't understand, all you have to do is look it up. They same applies to alliances. This is a multi polar world and it can be hard to keep track of whose allied with whom. Also past about 1920, do not assume anything is like the OTL. The timeline changes slowly, but it changes beyond all recognition. Some very important points to remember
1) The Imperial Commonwealth (abbreviated CW throughout the timeline) is a vastly different state from the OTL British Empire. It has a totally different geopolitical outlook, focusing on the Far East not Europe. Its involvement in Europe is primarily to keep the European powers from interfering in the east by keeping them focused on Europe. It also abandons traditional imperialism, instead using soft power to create client states.
2) The relative power of the CW and US is basically reversed. By 1940 the CW economy is twice the size of the US. This chapter on the relative GNP of the world gives some indication of economic power of various states
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-138#post-17058344
3) By the mid 30s India has a modern industrialised economy and has throughly been integrated in the CW political structure. I recommend reading the threadmarked chapter on Indian development
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...e-pax-imperialis.431300/page-97#post-16634373
4) Italy is also a very different place. By the 40s it has the fourth largest economy in the world and one of the most efficient militaries. It's explained in these two chapters
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-147#post-17094255
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-147#post-17094486
5) Poland is also quite different. Not only does it include all of OTL Poland but all of Galicia, Silesia and half of East Prussia. It also received considerable CW investment in the 30s to build up as credible rival for the Franco-Russian Entente
Constructive criticism is VERY welcome. This timeline has a lot of personal importance to me. I want it to be the best it can. I've even enlisted the help of one my clients who happens to be a history professor specialising in the late Victorian and Edwardian period (he was surprised but very happy to help lol).
So while I really love people telling me what I'm doing right. Feeds my ego no end and keeps me writing this. What I really want is people to tell me what I'm doing wrong, to rip it to shreds, point out mistakes and where things don't make sense. I will listen and incorporate suggestions. So thank you for both the good and bad.
But if you think something can be done better, is poorly thought out, horrendously wrong or just plain sucks, please say so. I've been called more nasty names than you can probably imagine, I'm no delicate flower. But please also say why. I will listen.
I should point out while I am developing this as a serious timeline. I also keep in mind its use as an RPG setting. Hence the oddities such as airships, dual battalion British cavalry regiments, gyrodynes and domesticated zebras. These are intended never to move beyond novelties. The number of airships in this timeline is economically unsustainable. There will not be regiments of zebra cavalry. Gyrodynes however will achieve some limited military use in special forces operations, such as is suitable for RPGs. These things will exist on the fringes where they have no real effect on the timeline.
This timeline was originally intended to have the Japanese playing cricket. However this timeline is growing organically as I incorporate the very valuable criticism being given. I might still be able to swing the Japanese around to a gentleman's game, but the focus is now China.
At the risk of thread necromancy. This version of the TL has been abandoned. While I think it is not too bad, certainly nowhere near as bad as my first two attempts, it did have some some serious issues which could not be fixed without a total reboot.
The latest iteration can be found here
Iteration Four
The Pax Imperialis (The Peace of the Emperor). Or why the Chinese play cricket
(For my beloved daughter)
This one of those "the sun never sets" British Empire timelines. However what comes out at the end will very definitely not be the British Empire. Nor is it the Indian Empire or any other Empire. It's a defuse global federation called the Imperial Commonwealth. This Commonwealth grows to become the world's sole hyperpower, with a distributed economy spread over five continents. However while its global nature is its greatest strength, it is also its greatest weakness. Though it has immense power, it is extremely hard for it to focus its power.
The point of divergence is Gladstone's Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act isn't diluted. This brings forward the split between the radical and whig factions in the Liberal party, increasing the pace of reform. However the butterflies spread fairly quickly and start to reach outside the bounds of the Empire in odd ways. However significant changes don't start to show up until the 20th century, hence its in the post 1900 threads.
I try to wait at least 24 hours between posting updates to allow time for people to comment. For anyone coming in "late," I always update each entry if I make alterations. So all you need to do is follow the bouncing ball through the threadmarks. There are some "design notes" which go into greater depth about the underlying reasons for what's happening, amazing comments and suggestions, a wonderful running commentary by a follower on what's happening and some really weird utterly irrelevant chatty stuff. But all you need to do to get a grip on the timeline is go through the threadmarks.
There are a lot of abbreviations and terms which may be hard to keep track of, certainly FAR too many to remember. I periodically post an updated list of them and threadmark it. So if you run across an abbreviation or term you don't understand, all you have to do is look it up. They same applies to alliances. This is a multi polar world and it can be hard to keep track of whose allied with whom. Also past about 1920, do not assume anything is like the OTL. The timeline changes slowly, but it changes beyond all recognition. Some very important points to remember
1) The Imperial Commonwealth (abbreviated CW throughout the timeline) is a vastly different state from the OTL British Empire. It has a totally different geopolitical outlook, focusing on the Far East not Europe. Its involvement in Europe is primarily to keep the European powers from interfering in the east by keeping them focused on Europe. It also abandons traditional imperialism, instead using soft power to create client states.
2) The relative power of the CW and US is basically reversed. By 1940 the CW economy is twice the size of the US. This chapter on the relative GNP of the world gives some indication of economic power of various states
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-138#post-17058344
3) By the mid 30s India has a modern industrialised economy and has throughly been integrated in the CW political structure. I recommend reading the threadmarked chapter on Indian development
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...e-pax-imperialis.431300/page-97#post-16634373
4) Italy is also a very different place. By the 40s it has the fourth largest economy in the world and one of the most efficient militaries. It's explained in these two chapters
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-147#post-17094255
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-pax-imperialis.431300/page-147#post-17094486
5) Poland is also quite different. Not only does it include all of OTL Poland but all of Galicia, Silesia and half of East Prussia. It also received considerable CW investment in the 30s to build up as credible rival for the Franco-Russian Entente
Constructive criticism is VERY welcome. This timeline has a lot of personal importance to me. I want it to be the best it can. I've even enlisted the help of one my clients who happens to be a history professor specialising in the late Victorian and Edwardian period (he was surprised but very happy to help lol).
So while I really love people telling me what I'm doing right. Feeds my ego no end and keeps me writing this. What I really want is people to tell me what I'm doing wrong, to rip it to shreds, point out mistakes and where things don't make sense. I will listen and incorporate suggestions. So thank you for both the good and bad.
But if you think something can be done better, is poorly thought out, horrendously wrong or just plain sucks, please say so. I've been called more nasty names than you can probably imagine, I'm no delicate flower. But please also say why. I will listen.
I should point out while I am developing this as a serious timeline. I also keep in mind its use as an RPG setting. Hence the oddities such as airships, dual battalion British cavalry regiments, gyrodynes and domesticated zebras. These are intended never to move beyond novelties. The number of airships in this timeline is economically unsustainable. There will not be regiments of zebra cavalry. Gyrodynes however will achieve some limited military use in special forces operations, such as is suitable for RPGs. These things will exist on the fringes where they have no real effect on the timeline.
This timeline was originally intended to have the Japanese playing cricket. However this timeline is growing organically as I incorporate the very valuable criticism being given. I might still be able to swing the Japanese around to a gentleman's game, but the focus is now China.
Last edited: