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![Red Napoleon and Steel Patriarch [1984]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7f42c789-a6e0-4917-af53-bcca78eb8acc/ddw9vnb-11ac4929-2a6b-494d-8bd0-20a99ddb3567.png/v1/crop/w_184,h_184,x_36,y_0,scl_0.16312056737589,q_70,strp/red_napoleon_and_steel_patriarch__1984__by_bi777_ddw9vnb-92s-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTEyOCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzdmNDJjNzg5LWE2ZTAtNDkxNy1hZjUzLWJjY2E3OGViOGFjY1wvZGR3OXZuYi0xMWFjNDkyOS0yYTZiLTQ5NGQtOGJkMC0yMGE5OWRkYjM1NjcucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTIwMDQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.P5w0MrMURXiblm0c7pfuX_w4OitzP5Xb3ekstldOW8Q)
![Red Napoleon and Steel Patriarch [1984]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7f42c789-a6e0-4917-af53-bcca78eb8acc/ddw9vnb-11ac4929-2a6b-494d-8bd0-20a99ddb3567.png/v1/crop/w_92,h_92,x_18,y_0,scl_0.081560283687943,q_70,strp/red_napoleon_and_steel_patriarch__1984__by_bi777_ddw9vnb-92s.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTEyOCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzdmNDJjNzg5LWE2ZTAtNDkxNy1hZjUzLWJjY2E3OGViOGFjY1wvZGR3OXZuYi0xMWFjNDkyOS0yYTZiLTQ5NGQtOGJkMC0yMGE5OWRkYjM1NjcucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTIwMDQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.P5w0MrMURXiblm0c7pfuX_w4OitzP5Xb3ekstldOW8Q)
Description
This is an old idea: someone asked me a few years ago to do something with El Cid. So I put it down on my list and it stayed there for a long time. I have only just gotten around to it.
England, Castille, Valencia, and the Netherlands emerged as the premier colonial powers during this worldline's analogue to the Age of Discovery. The Iberians and English each gained portions of the "Atlantis" continents, which are what we know as the Americas. Oddly, the Japanese were a major colonizer of the North Atlantean west coast, and is now the home of the "proper" Japanese regime, after the English deposed the Japanese emperor. This Japanese colony was founded much earlier than modern European colonization of the Americas, and was far away and isolated enough that it could defend itself from European incursions.
China is currently fractured, and has fought several civil wars after an alternate series of Mongol invasions. Likewise, the Russian principalities never united, and now remain divided between a Muslim, Turkic khanate and the Catholic Swedes. England, of all powers, succeeded in colonizing Siberia. On the other hand, Africa was never well-colonized; it is presumed that there was no analogue to the Age of Imperialism, as in our time.
Modern geopolitics is defined by multipolar conflict. The Iberians are united, and are first in the world, but only barely. Their eternal rivals, the English, are in second place. Both blocs maintain close associations with their former colonial empires. The Papacy still dominates central and Eastern Europe; our Stalin may well be surprised at the number of divisions this world's Pope has! The Middle East is dominated by a Persian "socialist" empire, which reminds me of the Soviet Union. There have been a string of short conflicts between these powers, but no global conflagration - yet.
Technologically, the world is about a century behind our own in the 1990s. The steam revolution is well along the way, and quinine has allowed Europeans to explore the interior of Africa. Heavier-than-air flight has been invented, as has poison gas and the machine gun. There is not much for us here.
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This worldline is interesting and unstable. The prime divergence seems to be that Christendom's crusades have been more successful, including a much earlier Reconquista. The Arab siege of Valencia in 1099 failed, and El Cid managed to emerge victorious and secure the city's independence from the Arabs. This early success seems to have snowballed into greater success in Iberia generally, eventually leading to the partial rechristianization of North Africa. The successes of the crusades against the Byzantines and the Muslims in the Holy Land combined with the success in North America to make the Papacy immensely more powerful and rich in the Late Middle Ages. This eventually led to the violent conflict between the Papacy and the European monarchs, which ended with the fracturing of the Catholic Church. The Papacy in Rome claimed control of the Holy Roman Empire, while England, Castille and Valencia had their own rites. England, Castille, Valencia, and the Netherlands emerged as the premier colonial powers during this worldline's analogue to the Age of Discovery. The Iberians and English each gained portions of the "Atlantis" continents, which are what we know as the Americas. Oddly, the Japanese were a major colonizer of the North Atlantean west coast, and is now the home of the "proper" Japanese regime, after the English deposed the Japanese emperor. This Japanese colony was founded much earlier than modern European colonization of the Americas, and was far away and isolated enough that it could defend itself from European incursions.
China is currently fractured, and has fought several civil wars after an alternate series of Mongol invasions. Likewise, the Russian principalities never united, and now remain divided between a Muslim, Turkic khanate and the Catholic Swedes. England, of all powers, succeeded in colonizing Siberia. On the other hand, Africa was never well-colonized; it is presumed that there was no analogue to the Age of Imperialism, as in our time.
Modern geopolitics is defined by multipolar conflict. The Iberians are united, and are first in the world, but only barely. Their eternal rivals, the English, are in second place. Both blocs maintain close associations with their former colonial empires. The Papacy still dominates central and Eastern Europe; our Stalin may well be surprised at the number of divisions this world's Pope has! The Middle East is dominated by a Persian "socialist" empire, which reminds me of the Soviet Union. There have been a string of short conflicts between these powers, but no global conflagration - yet.
Technologically, the world is about a century behind our own in the 1990s. The steam revolution is well along the way, and quinine has allowed Europeans to explore the interior of Africa. Heavier-than-air flight has been invented, as has poison gas and the machine gun. There is not much for us here.
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Hey wait a minute...
Wasn't it me who told you about El Cid when you were vacationing?
Wasn't it me who told you about El Cid when you were vacationing?