WI: Italy-Illyria

When people talk about a power dominating over Europe, they usually assume a greater France with the Rhineland and Piedmont, or even more commonly Greater Germany with the Austrian parts of the Habsburg Empire.
As Italy fascinates me, i realized that even with its "terre irredente" (Malta, Nice, Savoy and Corsica, Ticino, Istria and Dalmatia) it wouldn't be able to compete.
So, thinking of how they could be big enough to have a chance of being the dominant power in the continent, i remembered about the Ostrogothic Kingdom, which had both Italy and northern Illyria.
So, would an Italy with an italianized (I assume that by never losing it, it would just evolve as a "normal" territory) Illyria (Which i consider roughly Yugoslavia+Albania) be strong enough to be the strongest power in Europe?
 
Add in Provence, which was attached to Italy and/or Naples at various times and could plausibly be retained, and this state would easily match France or Germany. Hell Italy came close to topping France OTL.

The easiest scenario is a dynastic union. Have someone unite Italy (early middle ages a la Sons of the Harlot Empress, Gian galleazo). In the latter case the Visconti eventually unite with the Angevins, inheriting Naples and Provence and claims on Hungary and Jerusalem, right on time for the Renaissance.
 
If the italian peninsula unifies earlier, it gets much more time to consolidate itself and attain experience, which increases the likeliness of an italo-wank.
But it still has a big problem -- lack of resources, specifically minerals.
 
I doubt that it would ever become linguistically Italian (and Italian itself would evolve in a very different way under a Italian ostrogothic empire and its successor states) or stay forever united, but there are possibilities, a nice one being the various anjou hereditary lands becoming zomething of an equivalent to the austrian Habsburger empire, a bit like in The Undead Martyr's scenario, but including Hungary too.

Anyways, handwaving away other considerations and only thinking about the potential of Italy + Jugoslavia, it could be quite strong, but it will run a very high risk of turning into an Austria-Hungary, with ethnic instability causing inefficiency on economic social and political levels.

To compete with France snd Germany eventually industrialisation would be needed and, while the Balkans old quite a bit of coal, it is mostly low grade lignite if I am not mistaken and there would be problems with transportation, given the quite rugged terrain, the Adriatic sea in the middle and the lack of major canalisation opportunities outside the Po valley.
 
The Anjous of Naples & Hungary seem the most likely way forward. Have the infant Charles Martel, Duke of Calabria survive and he can put in a bid for Hungary after Louis I.
 
Presumably these although Anjou secure Milan, including possibly more than the OTL duchy (Ie most of the Venetian terrafirma, the Romagna, the Swiss cantons) if the Visconti are more successful.

Industrializing will be a pain, but not impossible. This state, presumably, will build upon existing ties to the Low Countries Via a dynastic alliance with the Burgundians, as well as Balkan and Iberian sources. With Anjou support they can quite readily resist the Spiders machinations, and the "Emperor" as well... Middle Francia could be revived in dual form.

Aragon in whole or in part might be added to the empire, possibly even Castille. OTL Rene of Anjou attempted to claim Aragon at the request of Catalonia rebels, and Isabella might well prefer a Franco-Italian prince to an Aragonese husband (assuming of course, that her brother still dies...). Castille might alternately fall into the Portuguese lap... a revived "Asturias" centered on Seville and playing Perfidious Iberia?

I expect this state would also come down on the Ottomans like a ton of bricks in an alternative Varna, reviving their claims to the Latin Empire and establishing clients in the Balkans. If nothing else this would shore up their legitimacy back home and possibly justify usurpation of the Roman and or Italian Crown (the Pope, after all, is theoretically arbiter of the Carolingian dynasty.)

Basically this state becomes TTLS Hapsburgs, trading Italy for Austria (excepting possibly Tyrol and/or Carinthia, for strategic reasons if taken in the inevitable war against the German sphere in Italy and the Balkans) Bohemia, Burgundy and possibly only Aragon instead of all Iberia. Additional gains might be had in the eastern Mediterranean depending on what happens to the Mamluks and Ottomans.
 
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