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Description
This was inspired by something on the alternate history Wiki: ( [link] ) there is no Columbus, and there is a more successful Spanish resistance to the imposition of Habsburg absolutism (Communeros, etc.). The Habsburgs relocate to the low countries, and the colonization of the Americas is delayed and slowed, with the Portuguese taking the lead.

With smaller resources and manpower, the Portuguese are less successful, and are unable to hold Mexico in the long run against foreign predators, and the native-American dominated Andead highlands against continued local resistance. In the end most of Mexico is nabbed by the British, and independent Maya and Quechua-speaking "Inca" states reemerge, although both eventually become Christianized. The Maya even get a bit of their own back, grabbing some Portuguese territory in the 19th century, although only able to hold onto a small bit of it until 2010.

Butterflies mean that Britain stays Catholic, although both they and the Habsburgs have trouble with protestant unrest. Indeed, the Protestants in France, with the aid of the Castilian Oligarchy (which is hostile to French power more than they are loyal to the Church) manage to carve out their own state, although they ultimately fail to take over all of France.

With less organized opposition, the Ottomans get somewhat further, conquering the southern 2/3 of Italy and, with the assistance of Poland and Sweden, really kicking the *hit out of Russia during it's Time of Troubles, fragmenting the Muscovite domain and interrupting Russian expansion to the east. Eventually, as OTL, their military advantage slips, and between agression from Poland and the HRE on one side and the rise of a Nader Shah-type military asskicker in Iran, the 18th century is a "perfect storm" of troubles for the Ottomans, although they rally in time in the late 19th-early 20th centuries to avoid total collapse.

As a result of the War of the Polish Succession, the bloated Polish domain is broken up, with a junior Tudor (later replaced by a French princeling someways down the line) getting the Polish throne, and a Habsburg getting the Ukranian one, and the Swedes nabbing Prussia.

The Pope left Rome one hop ahead of the Jannissaries. A generous Portuguese king gave the Church a generous land grant in Brazil, and although the pope himself stayed as a guest of the Holy Roman Emperor for many years, eventually Papal Brazil became rich enough to support a Papal Court in apropriate style and the Emperors got too bossy, and moved accross the Atlantic. Eventually the North Italian League, with HRE and Polish help, threw the Turks out, but were shockingly non-Christian in their refusal to hand over most of the old Papal estates to the Church. Nowadays, the Papacy has some colonial ambitions of its own, and is busy practicing Tough Love on various African tribes hesitant to convert to Christianity.

The Federal Republic of Nova Galicia is roughly where the US is, but is historically, given its geography, it's been more like the Confederacy - slavery did not end until the 1950s, and more than a quarter of its population is black or "mixed", and although a major power, it does not Bestride the World Like a Colossus either. On the positive side, the NovoGalicians have always been much more relaxed about "mixed blood" than OTL Americans or the old Castilian nobility: Money Whitens.

Butterflies in the east (a considerably delayed arrival of American silver, for one thing) means that the Ming dynasty goes differently than OTL, and the Qing ultimately fail to overrun the south, leading to a lasting two-way split of China (also, a new, Lamaist Tibetan Empire. Blame "Enter the Wu-Tang(36 Chambers)" which anyone who cares for China and Rap stars should read. )

In the year 2010, the world is a bit backwards by our standards, with technology roughly a century behind ours. Still, that was enough for World War I OTL, and international rivalries are sharpening. There is talk of a coming "scramble for Africa", and people worry what it might set off...

Description
This was inspired by something on the alternate history Wiki: ( [link] ) there is no Columbus, and there is a more successful Spanish resistance to the imposition of Habsburg absolutism (Communeros, etc.). The Habsburgs relocate to the low countries, and the colonization of the Americas is delayed and slowed, with the Portuguese taking the lead.

With smaller resources and manpower, the Portuguese are less successful, and are unable to hold Mexico in the long run against foreign predators, and the native-American dominated Andead highlands against continued local resistance. In the end most of Mexico is nabbed by the British, and independent Maya and Quechua-speaking "Inca" states reemerge, although both eventually become Christianized. The Maya even get a bit of their own back, grabbing some Portuguese territory in the 19th century, although only able to hold onto a small bit of it until 2010.

Butterflies mean that Britain stays Catholic, although both they and the Habsburgs have trouble with protestant unrest. Indeed, the Protestants in France, with the aid of the Castilian Oligarchy (which is hostile to French power more than they are loyal to the Church) manage to carve out their own state, although they ultimately fail to take over all of France.

With less organized opposition, the Ottomans get somewhat further, conquering the southern 2/3 of Italy and, with the assistance of Poland and Sweden, really kicking the *hit out of Russia during it's Time of Troubles, fragmenting the Muscovite domain and interrupting Russian expansion to the east. Eventually, as OTL, their military advantage slips, and between agression from Poland and the HRE on one side and the rise of a Nader Shah-type military asskicker in Iran, the 18th century is a "perfect storm" of troubles for the Ottomans, although they rally in time in the late 19th-early 20th centuries to avoid total collapse.

As a result of the War of the Polish Succession, the bloated Polish domain is broken up, with a junior Tudor (later replaced by a French princeling someways down the line) getting the Polish throne, and a Habsburg getting the Ukranian one, and the Swedes nabbing Prussia.

The Pope left Rome one hop ahead of the Jannissaries. A generous Portuguese king gave the Church a generous land grant in Brazil, and although the pope himself stayed as a guest of the Holy Roman Emperor for many years, eventually Papal Brazil became rich enough to support a Papal Court in apropriate style and the Emperors got too bossy, and moved accross the Atlantic. Eventually the North Italian League, with HRE and Polish help, threw the Turks out, but were shockingly non-Christian in their refusal to hand over most of the old Papal estates to the Church. Nowadays, the Papacy has some colonial ambitions of its own, and is busy practicing Tough Love on various African tribes hesitant to convert to Christianity.

The Federal Republic of Nova Galicia is roughly where the US is, but is historically, given its geography, it's been more like the Confederacy - slavery did not end until the 1950s, and more than a quarter of its population is black or "mixed", and although a major power, it does not Bestride the World Like a Colossus either. On the positive side, the NovoGalicians have always been much more relaxed about "mixed blood" than OTL Americans or the old Castilian nobility: Money Whitens.

Butterflies in the east (a considerably delayed arrival of American silver, for one thing) means that the Ming dynasty goes differently than OTL, and the Qing ultimately fail to overrun the south, leading to a lasting two-way split of China (also, a new, Lamaist Tibetan Empire. Blame "Enter the Wu-Tang(36 Chambers)" which anyone who cares for China and Rap stars should read. )

In the year 2010, the world is a bit backwards by our standards, with technology roughly a century behind ours. Still, that was enough for World War I OTL, and international rivalries are sharpening. There is talk of a coming "scramble for Africa", and people worry what it might set off...