Battle for the Channel - What If
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: All Empires Community
Forum Name: Historical Amusement
Forum Discription: For role playing and alternative history discussions.
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1531
Printed Date: 23-May-2024 at 02:01
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Topic: Battle for the Channel - What If
Posted By: J.M.Finegold
Subject: Battle for the Channel - What If
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2004 at 11:43
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This is an interesting one. What if the Spanish Armada Invincible defeated the British navy in the channel? Would England now be speaking Spanish? Would Spain have been the naval power of the age? Would have the United States never been born? Have fun  |
Replies:
Posted By: Winterhaze13
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2004 at 11:47
| Well, one legacy would be that Spanish naval supremacy would have lasted past 1588 and England may have remained a backwards island for at least a while longer. What the Spanish Armada achieved was English naval supremacy and lead to a demise of Spanish prestige. |
Posted By: J.M.Finegold
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2004 at 11:50
Well, it should be noted that Phillip II rebuilt the Armada five times
after his defeat in 1588, each time bigger and better than the
last. Perhaps it was poor Spanish leadership that lost the
numerous naval battles? Or perhaps it was a constant storm, as
most Spaniards blame the loss in 1588 on  .
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Posted By: JanusRook
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2004 at 16:20
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There would be no Anglican church, that's for sure. The english would still speak english and they probably would've remained an independant nation, although under a pro-spanish monarchy. The real question would be what would happen to America. Americans would most likely all speak spanish or french. There would have been no french revolution, and no one would care about english culture, the english language nor english history. Except history buffs like us. ------------- Economic Communist, Political Progressive, Social Conservative. Unless otherwise noted source is wiki. |
Posted By: Genghis
Date Posted: 12-Dec-2004 at 21:30
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The Spanish could truly have dominated the world. Spain and a Spanish-dominated England would have the potential to destroy France, or at least force them to abandon hopes of a New World Empire. The Dutch would also have probably been crushed. This is truly one of history's great hinges of fate, and has more influence than is sometimes assumed. ------------- Member of IAEA |
Posted By: JanusRook
Date Posted: 15-Dec-2004 at 03:20
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I would take it a step further and claim that the Habsburgs would rule the world. With France just one step away from being conquered, as well as the dutch, this would mean a practically united catholic europe draining resources from all of the colonies of the world. This could only culminate in a holy war against muslims and protestants (possibly russia-but they could prove a useful ally). And thus by 2000 the world is ruled by one government, the Habsburgs........ Perhaps its a little far-fetched but hey it's possible. ------------- Economic Communist, Political Progressive, Social Conservative. Unless otherwise noted source is wiki. |
Posted By: Cywr
Date Posted: 15-Dec-2004 at 03:49
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Theres no reason to assume that the British would be speaking Spanish,
after all, the Belgians/Dutch, Portugese and southern Italians don't. The monarchy would have been made pro-Spanish, probaly even Catholic. This would have had knock-on effects eleswhere, possibly affecting Dutch independance, the patterns of colonial settlement in the Americas, maybe even the 30 years war. If England was catholic, Irish history would be different. -------------  Arrrgh!!"
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Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 15-Dec-2004 at 03:52
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there would be cross cultural excahnge, moreso, like English teeth would be better and Spanish food would be worse! ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: J.M.Finegold
Date Posted: 16-Dec-2004 at 21:00
Bah..good things the English (I almost wrote Romans for some reason) won...I wouldn't stand Spanish food.... hmmmm...I need a paella. ------------- |
Posted By: Belisarius
Date Posted: 25-Dec-2004 at 09:41
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Despite what is taught in school textbooks, Spain would not have been able to dominate the world after defeating England. The reason why Spain dropped out of the world stage after being such a dominant power is because of its slow response to industrialism. If England, the birthplace of industrialism, were to come under Spain and its slow response to industrialism, the Industrial Revolution would have came from another source. Despite Spain's enduring wealth, it will eventually decline. |
Posted By: Infidel
Date Posted: 25-Dec-2004 at 10:19
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The Armada was not so invincible after all... The spaniards had the luck of having a spanish Pope in Rome by the time of the Treaty of Tordesillas signed with Portugal. Otherwise, more than just Brazil would be speaking portuguese now. ------------- An nescite quantilla sapientia mundus regatur? |
Posted By: J.M.Finegold
Date Posted: 01-Jan-2005 at 16:56
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Heh, Spain took care of Portugal in the early 1500s, hehe...even if it was because of a succession misunderstanding.
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Posted By: gcle2003
Date Posted: 02-Jan-2005 at 15:01
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Ten years later, on the death of Philip II, possibly even before, there would have been an uprising in England, which would have ended up with James VI of Scotland succeeding to the English throne as James I a couple of years before he did so in our timeline. After that, not much difference.
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