I can imagine a three way competition between France, Britain and Russia over gaining influence in Central America. It will be interesting to see if Brazil or Argentina can overcome the issues they faced in OTL and become world powers themselves, they certainly have the potential and this world will give them opportunities they didn't have in OTL.
Wrapped in Flames: The Great American War and Beyond
- Thread starter EnglishCanuck
- Start date
I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was very fun to write how different people would imagine what the war might have looked like if it had gone differently! Was really fun to speculate how different writers would change history based on political beliefs or simply musings on alternate worlds.
Glad you enjoyed the Churchill reference! A small one to a character who has a very different trajectory!
That's certainly what Ferdinand Lesseps intends to die trying to prove...
IIRC there was a "Canal of the Pharoah's" existed in days of yore which is what gave Lesseps the idea for building a new one, but with more modern technology.
And Ottomans too, as Churchill carves them up too.
(or at the very least, they stop their dissolution period, and reform just enough to get into middle-tier powers with lots of lands category.)
As ever, I reserve the right to tease details about the future which I will neither confirm nor deny
But I do love the speculation!His twin sibling who will have a very difficult relationship with their brother!
I'm not as much of an expert in economic history, but from my understanding the Long Depression as we know it was influenced by factors that won't take place in WiF. There's certainly going to be a series of economic contractions in the 1870s (and some in the 1860s) but probably nothing as major as what happened OTL. There is going to be a bust cycle hitting the US after the war - common because the economy first got stuck in a war footing then pushed right into an expanding but dislocated peace - with some long term problems. The over investment in railroads is still an issue for the latter half of the 19th century.
I like where your mind is going there.
I am trying to avoid dumping South America on the back burner of history here, with the ABC powers primed to play an important role in the coming decades as they flex their muscles on the world stage. Some of that will be because they've gained confidence over the European powers, while some will be with the pursuit of European alliances.
Suffice to say Churchill's dream of wrenching Constantinople from Ottoman hands hasn't disappeared, no matter what timeline he's in!
One other interesting thing I noticed is that there was no mention of Japan as being an important power in any of those settings. I wonder if that is important - maybe Japan is never able to gain as much power as it did OTL?
When I wrote that, I was not in my right mind, and now that I look back at it, it mostly reads as poor speculation from a disturbed person with mental and emotional issues and someone would call me out for it. For the last alternate history story, you wrote that Washington state was annexed into Canada but that it seceded along with the western states from the US. You might want to rectify that. And since that novel covers western secession, it seems there will not be a secession of the western US in WiF and Western Alienation mostly ends by the 1960s.As ever, I reserve the right to tease details about the future which I will neither confirm nor deny
His twin sibling who will have a very difficult relationship with their brother!
I'm not as much of an expert in economic history, but from my understanding the Long Depression as we know it was influenced by factors that won't take place in WiF. There's certainly going to be a series of economic contractions in the 1870s (and some in the 1860s) but probably nothing as major as what happened OTL. There is going to be a bust cycle hitting the US after the war - common because the economy first got stuck in a war footing then pushed right into an expanding but dislocated peace - with some long term problems. The over investment in railroads is still an issue for the latter half of the 19th century.
Also, you couldn't hint at the gender of Churchill's twin sibling?
It's that IOTL, Brazil has been in an eternal almost Great Power position, they have a large population, abundant natural resources and a good geographical position, but due to a combination of political instability, foreign intervention and just shit luck they've never managed to reach their potential. Argentina was in a similar position (1895 the average Argentinian was as wealthy as the average American) but political corruption and the Great Depression absolutely screwed them.
To prevent French influence from spreading to far in Latin America Britain may invest in certain countries to act as a buffer so they personally don't have to get involved.
It's extremely hard to imagine that the UK, France, and the Confederacy could actually defeat Germany, Russia, and the United States in a total war. If OTL took four years to defeat Germany alone, what about defeating three highly militarized Powers whose industrial power combined overcomes the Entente at least five or six times? Even then, the country is so big they can't simply enforce any harsh peace treaty/occupation.
I think calling them "these United States" could probably refer to a civil war that transpired or a complete reformulation of the government structure.
Hard to imagine that the USA would make the same mistake twice and not have a gigantic army/navy built during the pre-war period to fight against its enemies. Even harder to imagine the UK/France/Confederates could actually defeat it in the field. Or better yet, what about the new revanchist government considering the Confederacy to still be part of the USA as a new policy, hence the term "these United States"? It wouldn't include just the nation itself, but also the "rebel states."
What I do think it happens is an extremely multipolar world. The USA can't project its power as well as OTL, so you have this world filled with small spheres of influence and shifting rivalries. The UK probably already made peace with the USA a long time ago and now France is their main worry.
Why would Imperial Russia give Central America any attention?
They got warm water ports.
All jokes aside, no previous baggage with them, it could be easy to get to if you invest in Siberia, and not a lot of viable alternatives.
Well it was mentioned that they would up their investment in the Pacific and having an puppet nation near a valuable trade route where they can also dock their ships would be very useful.
With a China starting to semi-modernize a full four(ish) years before the Boshin War, Japan is going to have more competition in its sphere of influence than OTL!
Ah I can catch that thank you!
As for Western Alienation... well we shall see
It's a boy, but wanted the whole twin thing to be the wham moment!
I mean only some of them are outright awful!
That may continue, but there's some subtle changes creeping up in Brazilian history that will hopefully be made clear. I'm not going as in depth for Brazilian politics in the 1860s, but may expand more in the 1870s. There's a lot more to change coming up with some US politics and practices altered, alongside economies uprooted.
Britain is definitely going to be looking for more leverage in South America, but so will her European rivals.
also funny how and to be clear I mean this as a compliment
this timeline will be all statistics and maunvers and geopolitics stuff but then all of a sudden throw in something like Churchill having a evil twin or Sheridan personally killing Forrest .it says a lot about your writing skills Canuck.its not just a timeline it's a story
this timeline will be all statistics and maunvers and geopolitics stuff but then all of a sudden throw in something like Churchill having a evil twin or Sheridan personally killing Forrest .it says a lot about your writing skills Canuck.its not just a timeline it's a story