I have a feeling that the Xiognu and other such nomadic conquerors would raid/invade China more frequently. I wonder if this would lead to Northern China being more militaristic.What if the Great Wall of China was never built? Would China's vulnerability to northern invaders be exposed earlier than OTL?
Britain:I've had this idea kicking around for a while, is there any chance that, after the Napoleonic Wars, the Coalition Forces could have decided to send Napoleon to serve in the court of an Asian empire like Qing China
Lyon & Bordeaux could've definitely become major cities if the French state invested more in them.Are there any alternate cities/places which were insignificant OTL, but could have become massive centers of political or economic power, for example if a monarch decided to invest in it? Think for example Byzantion/Constantinople, or St. Petersburg for OTL examples
Any number of Persian cities had different dynasties arisen. Same for other Chinese cities. Damascus, if it remained the capital of the Caliphate, or even Baghdad.Are there any alternate cities/places which were insignificant OTL, but could have become massive centers of political or economic power, for example if a monarch decided to invest in it? Think for example Byzantion/Constantinople, or St. Petersburg for OTL examples
This also applies to Russia: Moscow's a big deal not so much because of its location as because it was the seat of the Vladimirian principality that won out. There's no particular reason a Tsar couldn't have arisen from, for instance, Kostroma or Pereyaslavl-Zalesky and kept the capital there.Any number of Persian cities had different dynasties arisen. Same for other Chinese cities.
There are many in East Asia due to the political culture. For instance, it is noted that most of the cities of the Sengoku era in Japan and its aftermath emerged because a ruling daimyo made a certain castle his center and through either economic logic or coercion attracted all manner of people there alongside the retainers who were required to live there. In earlier times, Taira no Kiyomori tried to relocate the Imperial Court to the town of Fukuhara (in modern Kobe), and centuries before that Taira no Masakado seems to have tried creating the capital for his state somewhere near the modern city of Kashiwa a bit east of Tokyo. Since ancient/medieval Japan's urbanism was incredibly centralised, it's very possible that some settlement which today is merely a neighborhood within a suburb of some city could have become a major metropolis of millions, or even tens of millions and the largest city on the planet should different rulers have gotten into power over the centuries.Are there any alternate cities/places which were insignificant OTL, but could have become massive centers of political or economic power, for example if a monarch decided to invest in it? Think for example Byzantion/Constantinople, or St. Petersburg for OTL examples
I've always liked the idea of Callao as a Spanish "Hong Kong" to the Inca "China".Maybe Lima? If the Viceroyalty of Peru never broke apart after its independence.
"elective monarchy"How could we make Poland and Lichtenstein have a personal union.
Or have them get chosen as monarchs of Poland by Austrians, the House of Liechtenstein seem to be ethnically related to the Piasts although the actual descendants of the Piasts are the D'Este/Welf or the House of Lorraine."elective monarchy"
Fairly certain Lucien Bonaparte was the one behind the whole coup attempt, and no general was as popular and powerful as Napoleon so like your gonna have to elevate a new Napoleon to work, I would assume if that was the case it would be a power struggle/civil war if we have two incredibly popular and powerful generals in France though.What would have become of Napoleon had a different general taken the initiative on the 18th of Brumaire? Does Napoleon serve under someone else and remain republican in inclination, possibly coming to power later? Does he have a falling out with whoever takes over like Moreau did with him historically and end up in exile? Discuss.