What alternate history ideas you wish they were used more often?

[Mitridates the Great]

Would the UK accept a nationalist state controlling the Suez Canal as early as the 1880s? I think they would be the turd in the punch bowl for this version of an Arab state unless they have been satisfied with guarantees that they will be able to move thru it without any fears whatsoever that they'll face interdiction.

Well, the Arab state can try to gather support from the other European powers to defend its right to the Canal:

"Do you prefer that the Canal be managed by ME, since I have no interest in blocking anyone, but rather in having the Canal used by the greatest possible number of ships?

Or do you want the British to manage the Canal? Giving to LONDON the power to decide who can pass through such an important commercial route, who can close it to you at will without problems?"

Bonus points if the British Empire decides that it is a great idea to "show our strength" by blockading the coasts of the Arab State (and therefore the Channel), effectively showing that this is not just Arab State propaganda, but a real threat.

 

[Pax_Nihil]

Well, the Arab state can try to gather support from the other European powers to defend its right to the Canal:

"Do you prefer that the Canal be managed by ME, since I have no interest in blocking anyone, but rather in having the Canal used by the greatest possible number of ships?

Or do you want the British to manage the Canal? Giving to LONDON the power to decide who can pass through such an important commercial route, who can close it to you at will without problems?"

Bonus points if the British Empire decides that it is a great idea to "show our strength" by blockading the coasts of the Arab State (and therefore the Channel), effectively showing that this is not just Arab State propaganda, but a real threat.

Who would've gotten in the way of Britain at the time? No one really stood to be capable of an accommodation with the Arabs and its substantially constrained by the starting conditions and penultimate borders of the state itself.

 

[Aluma]

Who would've gotten in the way of Britain at the time

Germany, France, Russia and Austria as they were THE great powers at the time and America caught up to them around this time too
Of course neither of those would want to challenge Britain on 1x1(well except maybe Russia) but the alliance system was a thing for a reason

 

[Pax_Nihil]

Germany, France, Russia and Austria as they were THE great powers at the time and America caught up to them around this time too
Of course neither of those would want to challenge Britain on 1x1(well except maybe Russia) but the alliance system was a thing for a reason

I sincerely doubt a united front would form against Britain if it wanted to take control of the canal that it and France paid for lol

 

[Aluma]

I sincerely doubt a united front would form against Britain if it wanted to take control of the canal that it and France paid for lol

Dont need to be a united front, just France and Germany would be enough
Good luck making these two work together though

 

[Pax_Nihil]

Dont need to be a united front, just France and Germany would be enough
Good luck making these two work together though

Not going to happen so soon after France had its ass kicked off and the Germans wouldn't have any reason to antagonize on behalf of Egypt.

 

[Viking25]

Dont need to be a united front, just France and Germany would be enough
Good luck making these two work together though

Wasn’t their a bit of Anti British Sentiment in France at roughly around this time, over something involving The Sudan IIRC?

 

[Pax_Nihil]

Wasn’t their a bit of Anti British Sentiment in France at roughly around this time, over something involving The Sudan IIRC?

NOW we're brainstorming lol

 

[Aluma]

Not going to happen so soon after France had its ass kicked off and the Germans wouldn't have any reason to antagonize on behalf of Egypt.

Agreed France would NOT want to work with the germans
Could definitely see Germany intervening hoping to get Egypt under it's influence

Wasn’t their a bit of Anti British Sentiment in France at roughly around this time, over something involving The Sudan IIRC?

Honestly at that point I could see France and attacking everyone declaring that Egypt is rightfully french because something something Napoleon something something "we built the channel so its rightfully ours" out of spite

Nothing on Napoleonic or WWI levels, "just" a Crimean War kind of affair

 

[Viking25]

NOW we're brainstorming lol

And as we all know The Germans would never upset the balance of Europe in by interfering in a Colonial Powers affairs in one of its North African Colonies /s

 

[Iam9Begea]

Urabi Pasha's "Nationalistic" revolt was quite different than what we imagine as "Nationalism" today. It basically ended at "Lets have Egypt controlled by Egyptians". Nationalising the Canal would be something done much later, maybe in the 1920-30's but more likely around 1950's after WW2. That's when Arab Socialism started to appear, and left-wing consepts of seizing assets from foreigners became part of nationalism (ATLEAST for the Middle Eastern Arab World)

 

[Pax_Nihil]

And as we all know The Germans would never upset the balance of Europe in by interfering in a Colonial Powers affairs in one of its North African Colonies /s

1911 Morocco and 1882 Egypt were as changed circumstancially as Germany was between the same years >.>

 

[Mitridates the Great]

And as we all know The Germans would never upset the balance of Europe in by interfering in a Colonial Powers affairs in one of its North African Colonies /s

Also nobody cares about "the balance of Europe", what is a very good incentive to doing this.

 

[Beatriz]

An AH that focused in plausibility instead of rule of cool or incorporating some trope e.g Russian Japan in LTTW

 

[Viking25]

An AH that focused in plausibility instead of rule of cool or incorporating some trope e.g Russian Japan in LTTW

Plausibility is a funny thing to quibble about considering that if lets say if you had asked a Roman Senator what he thought the world was going to be like in a thousand or so years he probably would have not thought that Serica and a rogue colony of a colony of Germanic Tribesmen who conquered the south eastern half of Britannia and assimilated the locals claiming the legacy of the Old Empire were going to be the two main powers determining the worlds fate with a Romano-German Gaul, that one German Island Colony, Not!Sycthia and India playing supporting roles. Oh and the largest religion in the world would be a weird heresy of Judaism with some dead Carpenter as its main prophet/god.

 

[Aluma]

Plausibility is a funny thing to quibble about considering that if lets say if you had asked a Roman Senator what he thought the world was going to be like he probably would have not thought that Serica and a rogue colony of a colony of Germanic Tribesmen who conquered the south eastern half of Britannia and assimilated the locals claiming the legacy of the Old Empire were going to be the two main powers determining the worlds fate with a Romano-German Gaul, that one German Island Colony, Not!Sycthia and India playing supporting roles.

Honestly both pale in the comparison to both Ancient China and Ancient Egypt finding out that in their thousands of years of existence they never figured out the whole industry thing but that random isle of hunter-gatherers they got copper from suddenly rose to world dominance as the first industrial power to ever exist in a period of, like, what? Two hundred years?

 

[Viking25]

Honestly both pale in the comparison to both Ancient China and Ancient Egypt finding out that in their thousands of years of existence they never figured out the whole industry thing but that random isle of hunter-gatherers they got copper from suddenly rose to world dominance as the first industrial power to ever exist in a period of, like, what? Two hundred years?

Oh and the German’s of all people are the one to decided to recreate the Roman Empire in the West? They don’t even speak a Romance language for gods sake!

 

[Aluma]

"Where the fuck did the hittites go?
Sumer? Babylon? Even the phoenicians traders?
Oh dont tell me...
Of all things Wa and Yīsrāʾēl made it!"

 

[Viking25]

Yīsrāʾēl made it!"

“And speaking of the Yisraelis the author really seems to have a hate boner for them....like come on don’t the Europeans and Super Arabia worship the same god as them? Shouldn’t they be focusing on the Pagans instead-Wait what do you mean Polytheism is only a significant movement outside of Larpers in Jambudpiva!"

 

[Aluma]

“And speaking of the Yisraelis the author really seems to have a hate boner for them....like come on don’t the Europeans and Super Arabia worship the same god as them? Shouldn’t they be focusing on the Pagans instead-Wait what do you mean Polytheism is only a significant movement outside of Larpers in Jambudpiva!"

"Like seriously why did everyone turn into Yahwists, were those shit talking hebrews really unto something?"