Zuckergußgebäck said:
Interesting concept.
How about having a timeline where Europe never emerged from the Migration Period and hence consists of small tribal confederations and city-states. The Vikings arrived in America and behaved more peacefully, eventually integrating into the native american population, contributing to civilization in America and leaving behind legends of pristine lands to the east across the sea that brave people want to verify?
I was thinking something like this maybe...
The Mongol Empire moved slightly faster in its conquests the Empire of Khwarazim fell in 1 year instead of just over 2; by 1220 the Mongols had invaded upper Persia and the Kievian Rus Empire.
By the Death of the Great Khan Temujin in 1227 Kiev lay in ruins, the Russian Principalities were forced into vassalage, Persia had fallen, and the Mongols were prepared to strike into Eastern Europe and Mesopotamia.
For 2 years the Mongols held back from invasion to observe ritual moarning for the Great Khan, after selecting Ogedei to succeed him.
After the period of moarning, Ogedei continued the campaigns sweeping into Eastern Europe and the Middle East; Baghdad was sacked by Hulegu Khan nearly 10 years earlier than historically in the 1230s while at the same time Batu Khan had invaded Hungary and Poland shattering the armies of both these states by 1238.
By the time of the death of Ogedei in 1241 the Mongol Empire had destroyed the Mameluke Sultanate, conquered the entire Eastern half of Anatolia, destroyed Poland and Hungary, conquered Bohemia, put the inhabitants of Vienna to the sword and had begun to threaten the Holy Roman Empire and Italy; so threatened was Italy that the Holy See fled to Barcelona and set up residence there.
Early in 1241 Batu Khan had the good sense and foresight to leave Subotai in charge of the armies in Europe to return to the Mongol homelands, to discuss future campaigns with the Great Khan Ogedei.
He arrived in Karakorum shortly before the Great Khans death and was thus able to prevent the election of Ogedei's incompetent son Guyuk to the position of Great Khan and ensure his own ascendancy.
From the time he became Great Khan until his own death in 1255 he held the Empire together and ensured that the campaigns against Europe, North Africa, and against the remnants of China continued.
Under Subotai Khan the Golden Horde armies in Europe continued the offensive against the Holy Roman Empire by first invading and conquering Italy; and destroying Rome in 1244, whereupon he launched a two pronged invasion of Germany.
One Army crossed the Alps and another advanced from Bohemia; the Mongol forces met the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor west of Munich. The Emperor had assembled the largest army in European history to fight the eastern devils. The result of the battle was a humilating and thoroughly devestating defeat.
Over the course of the next 6 years the Mongols laid the Empire low; destroying the urban centres that refuses to surrender - sparing those that did.
While Subotai continued his European campaign, the Il-Khanate began probing invasions across Northern Africa; against the Coptic Kingdom of Nubia, into Libya, and Tunisia.
By the time Subotai had laid low the Holy Roman Empire, Hugelu had put the inhabitants of Tunis to the sword and had begun to focus on destroying what remained of the Sultanate of Rum and of the Eastern Roman Empire.
In 1250 the Il-khanate had attacked the assembled allied Greek-Turkish army at Ankara and utterly defeated them.
The next two years(1250-1252) for both the Golden Horde and the Il-Khanate were years of consolidation; the Il-Khanate mopped up what was left of the Greek Empire and the Golden Horde finished off the last of the Imperial Principalities in the low countries.
From 1253 till 1255 saw the Golden Horde achieve the dreams of Batu Khan by reaching the Ultimate Sea and destroying the Kingdom of France in the process and beginning the invasion of the Iberian peninsula.
Meanwhile the Il-Khanate finished off the last of the independent nations in the Balkans and north Africa; so that they were able to assist the Golden Horde by invading Iberia from the south, across the Gibraltar strait.
Batu Khan was the last Great Khan to hold the Empire completely together; and upon his death the Kurultai (Council of Princes) could not decide upon a clear successor and eventually the Princes agreed upon allowing Mongke Khan (one of Batu's cousins) to succeed the Great Khan nearly a year after Batu's death.
Mongke only kept the throne for 2 years before dying himself; passing the throne onto Kublai Khan. Kublai was viewed by the other Princes of the Empire with disdain because of his love for Chinese culture; and so was unable to hold the Empire together.
During his Reign the Empire staggerred from one period of unrest to another - across it, from Europe to China he and his subordinate Khans (who only barely recognised his authority and spent much of their time fighting with each other) was forced to put down rebellion after rebellion in native peoples in between wars with each other.
Pax Mongolica finally collapsed upon the death of Kublai Khan in 1294.
The death of the Great Khan saw Pax Mongolica fragment into its subordinate parts; The Golden Horde in Europe ruling from the banks of the Volga river - The Il-Khanate in the Middle East ruling from Tabriz - The Chagatai Khanate in central Asia ruling from Kashgar - and the Yuan Empire in China ruling from Beijing.
With the destruction of almost all formal European power at the hands of the Mongols in the preceeding 100 years save in the British Isles and Iberia there was no clear European government left save for the Khan of the Golden Horde; the Europeans continued to simmer with discontent and with the death of the Great Khan and the wars between the Golden Horde and the Il-Khanate both Khans in the west found themselves unable to exercise their authority outside of Russia and Mesopotamia respectively.
By 1337 a multitude of petty Kingdoms and states had formed across Europe and North Africa; and while some form of Government had returned to parts of Europe stability was far from a reality.
After many years of occupation and then conflict and anarchy; Europe had been left prostate. The people were entirely unprepared for what came upon them then - in 1337 the Black Death arrived.
Over the next 6 years the Black Death ravaged the already prostate Europe and the population plummetted; by 1343 the Plague had begun to peter off and by 1350 it had complete dissapeared - but by then over 90% of the population of Europe had been destroyed.
The rest of the world did not escape unscathed from this deadly pandemic; millions died in China, 70% of the population of the Chagatai Khanate was wiped out, further millions died in India and Indochina, and the Middle East and North Africa were also ravaged with 2/3s and 1/3 of the populations of those areas being destroyed respectively.
Further the black plague spread into West Africa and laid low the mighty Empire of Songhai(or Mali whatever we decide here) causing it to fracture into many smaller states by killing off nearly half its population and with it the Empires royal family.
This brings my "history" up to the 1350s; what you guys think?
What about between then and game start?
