Add 1675 checkpoint: English Independence War, global realignment

English Independence War (~1675-1685):
- Anti-French: England + Germany + Aragon + Burgundy
- Pro-French: France + Great Khanate + Castile
- Kalmar: neutral arms dealer → upgraded to T1.5 industrial
- Result: England independent, France diminished to continental power
- Scotland split: Lowlands→England, Highlands→French enclave
- North America: mostly French (French settlers dominate)
- Huguenots flee to England → accelerate industrialization

Poland uprising crushed by Great Khanate (faster mobilization than expected)
- Poland becomes direct province (no more vassal status)
- Germany grabs Gdańsk + Poznań → Grand Duchy of Poland (puppet)

New Song reconquers Sichuan + Western Protectorate
Jianzhou forces open Japan → treaty ports + Sakhalin → Japan begins Meiji-equivalent
Newton-equivalent scientific breakthrough in England (~1680s)
Timurid-India: overextension problems appearing
Burgundy: gains Champagne territory, still landlocked

Post-war power rankings updated through Tier system

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

1 files changed, 138 insertions, 9 deletions

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@@ -1876,12 +1876,141 @@ Questions for discussion:
 
 ---
 
-## Open Questions (Post-1650)
-
-1. **England**: When does coal/iron industrialization drive formal independence? ~1700s?
-2. **Egypt**: Independence timing — during or after Maunder Minimum?
-3. **Great Khanate**: Survives Maunder Minimum but at what cost? Poland's trajectory?
-4. **Jianzhou vs Japan**: Does Japan crack open or successfully resist?
-5. **Americas west coast**: Jianzhou exploration → settlement? Competition with Kalmar Vinland?
-6. **Portugal**: Golden age peak → when does decline begin?
-7. **Remaining to 1836**: 186 years, ~7 checkpoints
+## 1675 Checkpoint
+
+### New Song: Reconquest of Sichuan and Western Protectorate
+- Several years of campaigns to bring Sichuan warlord and Western Protectorate (Hexi + E. Xinjiang) back under central authority
+- By ~1675: New Song controls China proper + recovered Sichuan + recovered Western Protectorate
+- Remaining independent: Jianzhou Republic (Liaodong), Mongol Khanate
+- Vietnam/Burma: nominally Song but fully localized/autonomous
+
+### Jianzhou Republic Forces Open Japan (~1670s)
+- Jianzhou needs export markets for its concentrated heavy industry
+- **Attacks Japan**: ironic Black Ships parallel (from Manchuria, not America)
+- Japan forced to accept:
+  - Treaty ports in Hokkaido and Honshu
+  - Jianzhou colonizes Sakhalin
+- **Japan begins Meiji-equivalent modernization** (forced opening → rapid industrialization program)
+- Japan's isolation policy shattered by an industrial micro-state, not a Western power
+
+### English Independence War (~1675-1685)
+
+#### Alliances
+**Anti-French coalition (pro-English independence):**
+- **England**: Coal/iron industrial base, noble parliament, Huguenot refugee skills, Channel defense
+- **Greater Germany**: Wants to weaken France, Protestant solidarity, industrial/military power
+- **Aragon**: French rival in Mediterranean/Italy
+- **Burgundy**: "Capetian legitimacy" narrative, wants French territory
+
+**Pro-French coalition:**
+- **Plantagenet France (Paris)**: Largest European population, continental army, wants to keep England
+- **Great Khanate**: Supports France because Germany is the Khanate's primary threat (enemy's enemy logic)
+- **Castile**: Aligns against Portugal's allies / promised colonial concessions by Paris
+
+**Neutral profiteers:**
+- **Kalmar Union**: Sells weapons to BOTH sides → **profits enormously → upgraded to Tier 1.5 industrial nation** (Swedish arms industry booms)
+
+#### Huguenot Exodus
+- Despite earlier tolerance edict, Paris court crackdown during war paranoia drives Huguenots out
+- Main destination: England (Protestant, welcoming, needs skilled workers)
+- Secondary: Germany
+- Accelerates English industrialization (skilled artisans + anti-Paris motivation)
+
+#### War Results (~1685)
+
+**England: INDEPENDENT** ✓
+- Channel + combined anti-French navies = France cannot invade
+- Independent Kingdom of England: England + Wales + Ireland (partial) + Scotland Lowlands
+- Scotland Lowlands incorporated as English territory
+- Coal/iron industrialization accelerates post-independence
+
+**France: DIMINISHED**
+- Loses England (largest territorial loss)
+- Loses Scotland Lowlands
+- Keeps: Continental France + Scotland Highlands (island foothold, like Gibraltar)
+- Keeps: Most North American colonies (French settlers dominate)
+- Remains a great power but no longer cross-Channel empire
+- From "Plantagenet France" → just "France" (or "Kingdom of France")
+
+**Scotland: SPLIT**
+- Lowlands → England (integrated, considered English)
+- Highlands → France (direct rule, garrison). England claims this as "Scotland"
+- Permanent flashpoint for future conflicts
+
+**North American Colonies: MOSTLY FRENCH**
+- French settlers dominated most shared colonies → France retains majority
+- England gets some coastal settlements with English-speaking populations
+- England will aggressively develop its smaller American holdings (new national project)
+
+**Burgundy: MODEST GAINS**
+- Takes parts of Champagne from eastern France (expanded buffer zone)
+- Still landlocked — cannot reach the coast (Low Countries = German territory, too far from Dijon)
+- Negotiates Rhine navigation rights / German port access as war ally reward
+- Remains small but more secure
+
+#### Poland Uprising: CRUSHED
+- Polish szlachta revolt during the war, hoping Great Khanate is distracted
+- **Europe underestimates Great Khanate mobilization speed** → Khanate deploys faster than expected
+- Uprising suppressed
+- **Poland upgraded from vassal to direct province**: szlachta privileges abolished, Catholic Church restricted, darughachi system intensified
+- BUT: Germany grabs western Poland during the chaos:
+  - **Gdańsk (Danzig)**: Major Baltic port
+  - **Poznań (Posen)**: Greater Poland's capital
+  - Forms **Grand Duchy of Poland** (德意志附庸): German puppet claiming Polish legitimacy
+  - "True Poland is here, not under Mongol tyranny" — propaganda tool against Great Khanate
+- Great Khanate fails to rescue France (too busy suppressing Poland)
+
+#### Post-War Power Rankings (~1685)
+| Tier | Powers |
+|---|---|
+| Tier 1 (industrial great powers) | Ilkhanate, New Song, Greater Germany |
+| Tier 1.5 (strong industrial) | Bohemia, Kalmar Union (arms industry boom), England (coal/iron takeoff) |
+| Tier 2 (industrial) | Jianzhou Republic, Portugal (hollowing), France (diminished), Aragon |
+| Tier 2.5 (emerging) | Burgundy, Italian states, Tunisia/Morocco, Korea |
+| Tier 3 (limited/resource) | Mongol Khanate, Castile |
+| Blocked/declining | Great Khanate (serfdom), India (hollowed), Japan (just opening) |
+
+### Scientific Revolution: English Newton-Equivalent (~1680s)
+- England's scientific tradition (universities + noble republic's intellectual freedom + Huguenot refugee scholars)
+- **Newton-equivalent breakthrough**: NOT classical mechanics (tech base already more advanced) — possibly thermodynamics, optics, electromagnetic theory, or advanced chemistry
+- English scientific institution (Royal Society equivalent) established
+- Previously: German universities (earliest, ~1500s), English + Bohemian institutions (~1550s-1600s), Italian Renaissance institutions (latest but most innovative)
+- By ~1685: scientific knowledge is international, but English empirical tradition + industrial application = particularly productive combination
+
+### Timurid-Indian Empire: Overextension
+- Aurangzeb-equivalent ruler: maximum territorial extent but religious intolerance + administrative overstretch
+- All historical Mughal problems appearing: Hindu resistance, Maratha-equivalent rebellions, provincial autonomy increasing
+- Economic dependency on Ilkhanate industrial imports deepening
+- V3 trajectory: unified India but increasingly unstable, may fragment
+
+### European Post-War Map (~1685)
+```
+  Kalmar Union (neutral profiteer, T1.5)
+       │
+  North. Ulus (GK subordinate)     GK direct Poland
+       │                                │
+  England ── North Sea ── Germany ── GD of Poland (puppet)
+ (independent)              │              │
+       │                 Burgundy      Great Khanate
+    Channel              (expanded)     (diminished)
+       │                    │
+    France              Bohemia
+   (diminished)            │
+   ├ Highland Scotland   Italy
+   └ N. American colonies  │
+                        Aragon
+                       (Naples)
+```
+
+---
+
+## Open Questions (Post-1675)
+
+1. **England**: How fast does coal/iron industrialization develop post-independence?
+2. **France**: How does it recover from losing England? Absolutism or reform?
+3. **Egypt**: Independence still pending — when?
+4. **Japan**: Meiji-equivalent modernization — how fast? Does it become a great power?
+5. **Great Khanate**: Absorbed Poland directly — does this help or create new problems?
+6. **Portugal**: Dutch Disease continuing — when does decline become visible?
+7. **Americas**: English colonial expansion vs French colonial dominance?
+8. **Remaining to 1836**: 161 years, ~6 checkpoints