TFSmith121
Banned
Well, the question was about Scotland, but it speaks to
Well, the question was about Scotland, but it speaks to the larger issue of the British Isles as a polity or polities; given the above, offering Ireland and Wales in the mix to be considered hardly seems to be beyond the pale.
As far as Napoleonic France or Imperial Germany go, both were simply examples of continental powers that (one would expect) would be looking for local allies in any confrontation with England/Britain/etc, as they did, historically.
It very well could be Borbonist or Orleanist France, or a Hapsburg "GrossDeutschland," or the Rotarian-Oddfellow Alliance, but the reality is that England/Britain/etc was in frequent conflict with the continental powers in the past couple of centuries (one could say said conflicts actually defined England/Britain/etc, in fact) and so "something" will create a similar dynamic, one would expect, no matter who's on the throne in London (or Edinburgh, or whatever); the geography sort of demands it.
Best,
Independent Wales? The less-than-articulate phrase that springs to mind is "Yer wot, mate?"
That's… an uncharacteristically over-simplistic analysis, given who is supplying it.
It's perfectly easy to imagine Scotland not uniting with England and still being allied and in personal union; indeed, it's much easier for an alternate-historian to make this happen (simple Darien Scheme PoD—make it better-planned or avoid it) than to make an independent Scotland bitterly opposed to England. The latter is possible too of course, though it requires a considerably earlier PoD and it's difficult to avoid Scotland being conquered by England in that case, but it's not sufficient to suggest that just because it's "an era of great power politics in Europe" the answer will necessarily be no.
I'm sorry, but speaking bluntly, suggesting even the existence of Napoleonic France or Imperial Germany when we're talking about a PoD before the existence of the United Kingdom requires butterfly genocide. One certainly can't just presume such things. That's like saying "So, given that Germany is unified in the Revolutions of 1848, is the attack on Pearl Harbour going to be more successful?"
Well, the question was about Scotland, but it speaks to the larger issue of the British Isles as a polity or polities; given the above, offering Ireland and Wales in the mix to be considered hardly seems to be beyond the pale.
As far as Napoleonic France or Imperial Germany go, both were simply examples of continental powers that (one would expect) would be looking for local allies in any confrontation with England/Britain/etc, as they did, historically.
It very well could be Borbonist or Orleanist France, or a Hapsburg "GrossDeutschland," or the Rotarian-Oddfellow Alliance, but the reality is that England/Britain/etc was in frequent conflict with the continental powers in the past couple of centuries (one could say said conflicts actually defined England/Britain/etc, in fact) and so "something" will create a similar dynamic, one would expect, no matter who's on the throne in London (or Edinburgh, or whatever); the geography sort of demands it.
Best,
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