Fav small nation in history that had a chance for greatness but didnt

Napoleonrules

Banned
Any nations, where if you did a snapshot of it at a certain point in history an outside observer would say "oh yeah, due for greatness" and yet it fails to achieve up to its expectations.

I'm thinking Pergamon is a good example. Maybe Burgundy several times could have been seen as the next big thing. Perennial ah.com favorite the Kalmar Union of course.
 

Tonifranz

How about Syracuse?

Or the Kingdom of Sicily.

Corinth. Despite its wealth, it never reached the status or political significance of Athens, Sparta, or even Thebes.
 

ByzantineLover

To give a few examples - the Kingdom of Hungary under both the Arpads and Matthias Corvinus, the Kingdom of Bohemia under Wenceslaus II & Wenceslaus III, both Bulgarian Empires, the Serbian Empire, the Kingdom of Georgia around/after Queen Tamar the Great, and (and it really pains me to say it) the Latin Empire, especially under Henry of Flanders.
 

Jürgen

Sian said:
Even stronger contestant would be Denmark at ~1216 when HRE retracted their claimed of northern Germany to them ... only to run into some 100 years of crappy luck
Click to expand...

I don't think Denmark really count, it may be a small state today, but Denmark have had periodes of greatness, the conquest of Britain, the Kalmar Union and the period from the fall of the Kalmar Union and until the rise of Sweden. In these periods Denmark was a "great power". Could Denmark have done better: yes, but it could also have done far worse.
 

Fabius Maximus

The British realm(s) of the fifth and sixth centuries would count: pretty much uniquely amongst the Western Roman provinces, they managed to hold their own for a good while after the withdrawal of central Imperial authority, but alas they too ended up succumbing in the end.

Mercia was the strongest of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for a while, until the Vikings came along and ruined things for them. In a TL without the Viking invasions, Mercia rather than Wessex might have ended up uniting England.

The Gothic Kingdom of Italy was a promising successor to the Roman Empire, until its life was brutally cut short by Justinian.
 
Sol717

Sol717

Permic principalities such as Great Perm and related states e.g. Pelym, Konda, etc. Also the Khanate of Sibir (though that wasn't exactly small)
 
balthasargettysburg

balthasargettysburg

The Alans, under a charismatic leader who creates a national church based on Tengrism, a national cavalry organization and a written language using the Greek alphabet.
 

CaliGuy

Banned
Napoleonrules said:
Any nations, where if you did a snapshot of it at a certain point in history an outside observer would say "oh yeah, due for greatness" and yet it fails to achieve up to its expectations.

I'm thinking Pergamon is a good example. Maybe Burgundy several times could have been seen as the next big thing. Perennial ah.com favorite the Kalmar Union of course.
Click to expand...
What about the Republic of Pisa before the Battle of Meloria (1284)?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top