PakistaniGuyUK
Banned
I always get confused by the term 'Scandinavia' but I will lose it liberally for this 'What if.' I shall be referring to the nations (in no particular order) of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Greenland...
So...
A gradual process beginning in 1800 with most young educated Scandinavians being exposed to English and 'nascent' American culture, literature etc. There would obviously be a focal point for such a ‘movement’ (i.e within Stockholm or Copenhagen) eventually spreading to other Scandi countries. Very much like the upper class English flirtation with French in the same period, middle and upper class ATL Scandinavians increasingly begin to see English as the language of culture and civilization and aspire to ‘be more English,’ a pseudo-cultural movement of sorts. Nonetheless this ‘fad’ for anything English doesn't fade and eventually seeps to the Nordic working classes. By the late 19th century most Scandinavians are fluent in English but worryingly at the expense of their own languages - many speaking it even within their own households. This alarming trend doesn’t get reversed and by the first half of the 20th Century large swathes of the population don't remember their natives tongues. Of course some pockets of native speakers remain (as with Wales and Scotland). Also efforts are made to the native languages, very much like the efforts for Welsh and Scottish Gaelic in the UK...
So...
Would this trend have any bearing on events in OTL?
I’m assuming the Scandi nations would as a result come closer to the Anglosphere (and each other) but would world events really be affected as such?
Also how would this alter Britain in this period and what differences (if any) would we see in Modern ATL Britain and British culture?
So...
A gradual process beginning in 1800 with most young educated Scandinavians being exposed to English and 'nascent' American culture, literature etc. There would obviously be a focal point for such a ‘movement’ (i.e within Stockholm or Copenhagen) eventually spreading to other Scandi countries. Very much like the upper class English flirtation with French in the same period, middle and upper class ATL Scandinavians increasingly begin to see English as the language of culture and civilization and aspire to ‘be more English,’ a pseudo-cultural movement of sorts. Nonetheless this ‘fad’ for anything English doesn't fade and eventually seeps to the Nordic working classes. By the late 19th century most Scandinavians are fluent in English but worryingly at the expense of their own languages - many speaking it even within their own households. This alarming trend doesn’t get reversed and by the first half of the 20th Century large swathes of the population don't remember their natives tongues. Of course some pockets of native speakers remain (as with Wales and Scotland). Also efforts are made to the native languages, very much like the efforts for Welsh and Scottish Gaelic in the UK...
So...
Would this trend have any bearing on events in OTL?
I’m assuming the Scandi nations would as a result come closer to the Anglosphere (and each other) but would world events really be affected as such?
Also how would this alter Britain in this period and what differences (if any) would we see in Modern ATL Britain and British culture?
