I can honestly see Bulgaria being mad at just about everyone. From their point of view the Russians used them and abandoned them, the Ottomans did and will oppress and slaughter them, the major nations of Europe sold them out, and soon the Greeks and Romanians will try to encroach on their land and culture. When they achieve independence I can see it being with an aggressive and expansionist attitude and a commitment to realpolitik since they have no true friends (again, in their eyes).
Pride Goes Before a Fall: A Revolutionary Greece Timeline
- Thread starter Earl Marshal
- Start date
I wonder if that will cause the Bulgarians to start exporting terrorists to the rest of Europe.
Then wouldn't Greece, Serbia and Romania send armies to punish the Bulgarians? If not armies they likely force even more the Bulgarians into poverty.
If there was an independent Bulgaria and its neighbors were experiencing repeated terrorist attacks from Bulgarian nationalists, then yes I would definitely expect those neighbors to mobilize for war. Whether it happens will depend on what the great powers of Europe think about it. If they are sympathetic to the Bulgarian cause, then expect a guarantee of Bulgarian security and an ultimatum, followed by some kind of negotiated settlement. If they don't care about Bulgaria or are sympathetic to at least one of those neighbors, then expect an invasion, and potentially a regime change and/or partition.
Here's an idea that I'm not sure I've seen mentioned (though the somewhat similar notion of a Balkan Federation has definitely been brought up earlier): a dual crown of sorts between Greece and Bulgaria, pursued by the Greek monarchs as a means of mollifying the nationality/identity issue further North and lending credence to more extensive claims by acting as a sponsor to the hitherto friendless Bulgarians. No idea whether it would be vaguely realistic to pursue, but out of all the actors I oddly think the Greeks are in the best position of the involved powers to leverage the Bulgarians' plight following the Great Eurasian War.
I love the idea, but guarantee it would be met violently by the Ottomans. A Greek state that expands into a multinational kingdom is very clearly in place to assume the mantle of the Byzantine Empire and that would then give them claims on the majority of Ottoman land. They can protest that that is not the case all they want, but the Ottomans will not see it that way.
The Bulgarians would not go for this in a million years, as they would rightfully see this as a Greek attempt to assimilate them entirely. I would genuinely expect the Bulgarians to prefer the status quo to becoming the Slovakia to Greece’s Hungary.
Indeed. A Balkan confederation is possible, but only *after* the Balkan nations establish their states, divide the spoils, fight it out amongst themselves a couple of times, and eventually settle down into co-existence. There may be some early attempts when the mutual differences over territorial claims are not too big, such as the Bulgarian-Romanian personal union suggested IOTL, but it is unlikely they will be successful or last long. As long as irredenta are claimed, and/or the Balkan countries are under foreign influence (especially Russian in Bulgaria's case, since it would run contrary to the Russian 'divide and rule' strategy), this won't happen.
I mean if we’re discussing confederations/personal unions a Greco-Albanian union seems much more likely than a Greco-Bulgarian one. There were at least semi legitimate talks of one OTL and is much less of a geopolitical threat than a Bulgarian one. Plus there’s already some cultural fusion between the groups
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I don't know how many are aware, but in two days (25th March) Greece is celebrating 200 years from the Revolution that made it an independent state. I really wonder how different Greece would be today if this TL was a reality.
Btw it is really superb work. Very detailed and realistic story, with every new chapter maintaining the overall excellent level!
Btw it is really superb work. Very detailed and realistic story, with every new chapter maintaining the overall excellent level!
Honestly, given several other things that have happened in this timeline so far, I have to wonder how different the world would be at present.
Obviously. Leaving aside the propaganda/symbolic part it allows for much better coordination as well when you are having a revolt breaking out all over the place.
This is a story with a point of divergence in the Greek War of Independence. Its author is an American who has deep knowledge of modern greek history. That is admirable.
Since today we celebrate in Greece 200 years since our War of Independence, I would like to dedicate to the author the 22nd verse of Dionysios Solomos' "Hymn to Liberty":
"Heartily pleased and affected
was Washington's land
and the chains she recollected
that detained her on remand"
Since today we celebrate in Greece 200 years since our War of Independence, I would like to dedicate to the author the 22nd verse of Dionysios Solomos' "Hymn to Liberty":
"Heartily pleased and affected
was Washington's land
and the chains she recollected
that detained her on remand"
200 years ago, the people of Greece embarked on a campaign to liberate their ancient homeland from the grasp of one of the world's greatest empires. During the 9 years ahead of them, they would experienced great victories at Tripolitsa and Dervenakia, but also great defeats like the Third Siege of Missolonghi and the second Siege of Athens. They would create one of Europe's most progressive constitutions for the 19th Century ensuring liberty and equality for all men, only to be troubled by unrest and infighting as these same men squabbled for dominance over their rivals. They would experience great moments of unity and terrible bouts of division and civil war. Yet, while they were brought to the brink of ruin as numerous rebellions had before them, they ultimately prevailed (albeit with a sizeable amount of assistance from states like Britain, France and Russia) and won their independence. So here's to the brave men and women who fought and died to win Greece's freedom so long ago; I can only hope that this silly little timeline of mine does them some measure of justice.
I love this story so much!
The detail and everything is amazing.
Every day during my break at work I find myself updating the page to check for an update.
But take all the time you need, this is art!
The detail and everything is amazing.
Every day during my break at work I find myself updating the page to check for an update.
But take all the time you need, this is art!
Thank you very much!
This may seem cliche for me to say, but I wouldn't be writing this timeline without the continued support of readers like you, so thank you again for your kind words and your support.
Regarding the next chapter, I would like to say that it will be coming out soon, but I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked in the last four weeks. 19th Century Indian history is definitely not my forte and I've generally been short on time to write. Despite this I'm still making progress, albeit slow progress and will hopefully have the next chapter out sometime in the next week or so.