# Victoria 3 Alternate History Mod - Worldbuilding Document ## Core Premise Northern Song Dynasty avoids the Jingkang Incident (1127). Emperor Huizong's northern expansion succeeds. Song recovers the Sixteen Prefectures (Yan region) and expands into Manchuria. These sparsely populated northern territories, combined with Song's already advanced proto-industrial economy (coal-based industry, commodity economy, paper money), create the labor scarcity conditions that drive mechanization and industrialization. The result: by 1836 (V3 start date), an industrialized Eastern power exists, and the global order is fundamentally different from our timeline. --- ## Divergence Point: ~1120s Song Huizong's northern campaigns succeed instead of ending in the Jingkang disaster. Song absorbs significant Liao/Jin territory. The Jin Dynasty is weakened, later finished off by the Mongols. ### Song's Internal Development - Northern territories (Manchuria, Yan region) are sparsely populated -> labor scarcity drives mechanization - Southern Song heartland remains labor-intensive agriculture and commerce - Over centuries, a North-South economic divide develops: - **North**: Industrial economy, coal/iron, early mechanization, multi-ethnic frontier society - **South**: Traditional commodity economy, dense population, agriculture and handicrafts - Military pressure from Mongols empowers military officials (similar to jiedushi/Tang dynasty military governors) - The civilian bureaucracy can no longer fully constrain military officials - Eventually: Southern uprising or equivalent of North-South civil war - Northern military officials likely suppress it (legitimacy argument, similar to Eastern Jin restoration) - Result: intensified social contradictions but technologically advanced Song - Imperial power further weakened - Governance becomes: hereditary military officials + civilian government (dual power structure) - Song's existing institutions (keju examination, censorate, prime ministerial system) evolve toward something resembling constitutional governance ### Song by 1836 - The most industrialized nation in the world - Controls China proper + northern territories (Manchuria south) + likely South China Sea / Southeast Asian colonial possessions - Political system: evolved from Song's civil-military dual structure, possibly constitutional monarchy or some form of representative government evolved from the keju-scholar-official class - Key V3 gameplay tensions: North-South divide, colonial management, relationship with Mongol-Rus Empire --- ## The Mongol Conquests (Alternate Timeline) ### What Stays the Same - Genghis Khan unifies Mongol tribes (~1206) - First Western Campaign against Khwarezm (1219-1224) - Khwarezm destroyed - Mongol military genius and organizational ability ### What Changes - **Mongols cannot conquer Song** - Song's industrial base, fire weapons, and fortified northern frontier are too strong - Mongols purchase fire weapons/military equipment from Song through trade - Mongol armies become: fewer in number but more elite, equipped with early firearms - Eastern front becomes a stalemate -> all expansion energy redirected westward ### First Western Campaign (Revised, ~1219-1230s) - Khwarezm destroyed (same as historical) - Volga Bulgaria destroyed (historically happened during Batu's campaign, moved earlier in this timeline) - Black Sea region conquered earlier - Golden Horde established earlier (Kiev/Kuban/North Caucasus) - **Nicaea (Byzantine successor state) becomes a Mongol vassal** during this phase - Nicaea offers submission in exchange for Mongol support to recapture Constantinople from the Latin Empire - Fits Byzantine diplomatic tradition of using external powers ### Second/Third Western Campaigns (~1236-1250s) - Batu's campaign conquers Rus directly (not just vassalage - direct rule) - Mongols equipped with Song-manufactured fire weapons - **Central European castles no longer effective** against fire weapons - Campaign pushes along the North European Plain through Poland, Prussia, into the Holy Roman Empire - **Teutonic Order destroyed** (in the path of the Mongol advance) - HRE feudal structure shattered - Mongol advance stops at the Low Countries (logistical limit) - Northern France (Flanders, Picardy) raided but not occupied - Alps and Carpathians prevent effective southward expansion into Italy **Key difference from history**: Ogedei does not stay in the east (no Chinese population/production to manage). He moves to Rus, eventually establishing the imperial center on the Volga River. ### Constantinople (~1261) - Nicaea, as a Mongol vassal, recaptures Constantinople from the weakened Latin Empire with Mongol support - **Byzantine Empire restored as a Mongol vassal state** - Byzantium becomes the Mongol Empire's "administrative contractor" for the Balkans and Anatolia: - Provides bureaucratic expertise - Provides limited naval capability (Mongol weakness) - Manages intelligence and diplomacy with European states - Controls the Bosphorus trade route (Silk Road goods -> Black Sea -> Constantinople -> Mediterranean) - Balkans organized through Byzantine indirect management - Role similar to Han Chinese bureaucrats under the Qing Dynasty ### Hulagu's Middle Eastern Campaign (~1256-1265) - Assassins destroyed (same as historical) - Abbasid Caliphate destroyed, Baghdad falls 1258 (same) - **Mamluks defeated** (unlike historical Ain Jalut) - Hulagu's forces have fire weapons - No recall due to succession crisis (eastern front is not a priority) - Byzantine logistical support available from Mediterranean - Ilkhanate expands to include Syria, Palestine, possibly Egypt - Crusader states: likely become Byzantine vassals or are absorbed - Crusader states and Mongols historically attempted alliances against Mamluks - Contested between Byzantium and Ilkhanate (potential V3 event chain) --- ## Mongol Empire Structure at Peak (~1260s-1270s) ### Great Khan's Domain (Ogedei's line -> merges with Jochi's line after succession crisis) - **Capital**: New city on the Volga River (near historical Sarai) - **Direct territory**: Volga region, Rus settled territories (Kiev, Novgorod, Moscow as major cities), Ukrainian steppe, Galicia-Volhynia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Hungarian Plain, Wallachia - The core forms an "L-shape": - Horizontal axis: Mongol steppe -> Kazakhstan -> Ukrainian steppe -> Black Sea coast - Western extension: Moldavia -> Transylvania (through Carpathian passes) -> Hungarian Plain ### Golden Horde (Jochi's line) - Black Sea steppe, Kuban, North Caucasus - Eventually merges with the Great Khan's domain after succession crisis ### Chagatai Khanate - Central Asia (Transoxiana), Xinjiang, parts of Afghanistan - Capital: Samarkand area - Nominally submits to Great Khan, but practically independent - Closer to the Volga-based Great Khan than historically (Karakorum was much further) ### Ilkhanate (Hulagu's line) - Persia, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, possibly Egypt - Eventually independent after succession crisis - Islamicizes over time (historical pattern) ### Tolui Khanate (Far East) - **Mongol homeland** (now the imperial periphery, not the center) - Northern Manchuria (Jianzhou/Jurchen tribal areas north of Song border) - Siberia and Russian Far East (nominally - actually scattered tribes) - Very sparse population, poor but strategically positioned - **Interesting V3 playable faction** with multiple gameplay paths: - "Mongol Restoration": claim Great Khanate during Mongol-Rus instability - "Mandate of Heaven": exploit Song internal crisis to invade, recreating the Qing scenario - "Far Eastern Balancer": play Song and Mongol-Rus against each other --- ## Succession Crisis and Empire Split (~1270s-1300s) Ogedei dies (alcoholism, historical pattern). Succession crisis ensues, but fundamentally different from our timeline: ### Why It's Different - Almost all claimants are concentrated in the Rus core (not spread across Eurasia) - No Chinese theater to fight over - Crisis plays out more like Ottoman fratricide than historical Mongol cross-continental civil wars - Resolved faster (proximity) but more violently ### Outcome: Possibility B (Rus core consolidates, periphery separates) - **Mongol-Rus Empire**: Ogedei/Jochi lines merge. Controls Rus + Golden Horde territories + Hungary + direct corridor. Strongest successor state. - **Chagatai Khanate**: Central Asia becomes fully independent - **Ilkhanate**: Middle East becomes fully independent, Islamicizes - **Tolui Khanate**: Retains Mongol homeland + Far East, becomes a peripheral power - Volga capital's geographic advantage: close enough to maintain stronger authority over Golden Horde and Central Asia than historical Karakorum, but still loses control of distant Ilkhanate --- ## The Mongol-Rus Empire (Post-Split, ~1300 onward) ### Nature: Between Ottoman Empire and Qing Dynasty - Not as many radically different ethnic groups as the Ottomans - Not as unified a subject population as the Qing's Han Chinese - Slavic majority population with no single unified identity (Novgorod republic tradition vs. Kiev tradition vs. northeast forest principalities) - Mongol ruling minority can exploit these divisions ### Qing Dynasty Parallels | Qing Dynasty | Mongol-Rus Empire | |---|---| | Manchu minority rules Han majority | Mongol minority rules Slavic majority | | Adopts keju examination system | Adopts Orthodox Church + Slavic civil service | | Eight Banners maintain Manchu military privilege | Mongol cavalry nobility maintains military privilege | | Manchu language gradually dies, elite sinicizes | Mongol language gradually yields to Slavic | | Late Qing Manchu-Han tensions explode | By V3 era: Mongol-Slavic tensions as event chain | ### Capital and Major Cities - **Capital**: New city on Volga River (similar to historical Sarai's location) - **Kiev**: Major city, symbolic importance (spiritual capital of Rus civilization) - **Novgorod**: Northern trade hub, gateway to Baltic, retains some republican self-governance traditions - **Moscow**: Major city in the forest zone ### Key Characteristics for V3 - Enormous territory, relatively low GDP - Multi-ethnic stability problems (similar to vanilla Austria/Ottoman) - Industrialization reform as main storyline (technology dependent on Song imports) - Relationship with Song: trade dependence vs. geopolitical rivalry - Internal Mongol identity vs. Slavic identity conflict --- ## Vassal and Neighbor States ### Hungary: Absorbed into Mongol-Rus Core - Hungarian Plain = western terminus of the Eurasian Steppe - Directly incorporated, not vassalized - Mongol/Kipchak/Cuman nomads settle the eastern plain - Magyar population pushed to margins (Transdanubia, northern mountains/Slovakia) - By 1836: ethnically mixed region (Mongol/Turkic/Slavic/Magyar), core province of Mongol-Rus Empire - Magyar identity possibly extinct or reduced to minority status (like historical Avars) ### Poland: "Korean Model" Vassal - **Territory**: Greater Poland (Poznan), Lesser Poland (Krakow), Masovia (Warsaw), Kuyavia - Lost Silesia to Greater Germany (already Germanizing) - Lost Galicia to Mongol direct control (Rus territory, strategic corridor) - Lost Pomerania to German/Novgorod Baltic sphere - Piast dynasty (or successor) retains throne - Mongol darughachi (resident overseer) stationed in Krakow - Polish szlachta (nobility) retains local power - Catholic Church allowed to operate (Mongol religious tolerance) - Must pay tribute, provide troops, defer on foreign policy - **Core V3 tension**: Catholic/Western cultural identity under Eastern/Orthodox Mongol suzerainty - Strong potential for independence movement event chains ### Bulgaria (Bulgar Khanate): Mongol Vassal - Balkan region north of Byzantine territory, south of Danube - Danube serves as boundary between Mongol direct territory (Wallachia, north bank) and Bulgarian vassal (south bank) - Mongol vassal from the first western campaign ### Byzantine Empire: Mongol Vassal / Indirect Manager - Restored in Constantinople (1261) with Mongol support - Manages Balkans and Anatolia on behalf of the Mongol system - Controls Bosphorus strait - Provides: administration, navy, diplomacy, trade management - Various smaller Balkan entities under Byzantine indirect management - Seljuk Sultanate of Rum remains as vassal under Byzantine oversight - Similar to Han Chinese bureaucrats serving the Qing ### Lithuania: Mongol Military District - Too small to resist Mongols in the 1250s - Incorporated as a directly-administered border military zone - Lithuanian people serve as border military caste (similar to Mongol Banners for ethnic minorities) - Guards the western frontier against Germany ### Baltic Region (Estonia, Latvia, Old Prussia) - Teutonic Order destroyed by Mongol advance - German colonization of Prussia interrupted -> Prussian Germans remain a small minority - Teutonic Order remnant: submits to some power for protection, eventually becomes a German-minority autonomous district (parallel to historical Livonian Order fate) - Region managed by Novgorod as the Mongol-Rus Empire's Baltic proxy - Baltic tribal peoples (Latvians, Estonians, Old Prussians) persist without German colonization pressure - Denmark may retain northern Estonia --- ## Western Europe ### Greater Germany (Grossdeutschland) - **Formation**: Mongol destruction of HRE feudal structure -> accelerated German national consciousness -> unification - **Led by**: Hanseatic League cities (least damaged, strongest economy, bourgeois/civic nationalism) - **Territory**: From the Low Countries (Dutch-speaking areas, pre-separate identity) to Switzerland and Austria - **Excludes**: Poland (Mongol vassal), Prussia (destroyed/Mongol sphere), Bohemia (independent) - **Relationship with Mongols**: Initially loose vassal/tribute, gradually asserts independence as Mongol grip weakens - **V3 status**: Major European power, commercially strong, but lacking overseas colonies (?) - **Includes Silesia**: absorbed from Poland due to existing Germanization ### Bohemia - **Status**: Independent kingdom, allied with but not merged into Greater Germany - **Protected by**: Mountain basin geography (Sudetes, Ore Mountains, Bohemian Forest) - **Possibly bypassed** by main Mongol thrust along the northern plain - Czech national identity too strong for absorption into German nationalism - Silver mining wealth, industrial potential - Strategically positioned between Greater Germany and Mongol-Rus sphere - In V3: mid-tier independent power ### The Partition of France and the Plantagenet Kingdom Mongol raids into northern France (Flanders, Picardy, ~1240s-1250s) weaken the Capetian dynasty. England exploits this rather than allying (medieval political logic). The result is not "England conquering France" but the **Plantagenet dynasty reclaiming and unifying its continental and insular domains**. #### Why England Claims the French Crown - The English court already speaks Anglo-Norman French - The Plantagenet kings are originally French nobles (Anjou, Normandy) - Losing continental territories (1204, King John) was the anomaly; reclaiming them is "going home" - Population ratio ~4:1 (France:England) means the continental territory is the real center of power #### Capital: Paris - Paris (~200,000) dwarfs London (~40-50,000) - An English king who gains France would move the capital to Paris - same logic as any peripheral conqueror moving to the richer core (Norman -> England in 1066, but in reverse now) - England becomes an "overseas province" of a Paris-centered kingdom - Over time, French identity absorbs English identity at the elite level #### Plantagenet France Territory (~1300) - **Core**: Île-de-France (Paris), Normandy (recovered), Anjou/Maine/Touraine (recovered), Picardy, Champagne - **Original English holdings**: Aquitaine/Gascony (Bordeaux region) - **Insular**: England, possibly Wales, contested Scotland/Ireland - **Vassal**: Brittany (semi-independent, in Plantagenet sphere) - English Channel becomes an internal waterway #### Contested with Burgundy - Plantagenet king claims all of France -> includes sovereignty over Burgundy - Burgundian duke (Capetian cadet branch) may claim to be the true French heir - Creates a **legitimacy war**: two "Frances" competing for the Capetian inheritance - Disputed territories along the Burgundy-Île-de-France border #### Long-term Implications - French language remains elite/court language (English court already French-speaking) - English language persists on the islands as commoner language, developing independently - England/Scotland/Ireland may develop distinct identities resisting continental French elite - By 1836: Atlantic power centered on Paris, controlling northern/western France + British Isles. French-speaking court, English-speaking island populace. ### Duchy of Burgundy (Independent) - **Formation**: Capetian cadet branch declares independence as France collapses - **Territory**: Duchy of Burgundy (Dijon) + County of Burgundy / Franche-Comté (Besançon) - **Language**: Almost entirely French-speaking (~100%). The Franco-German linguistic border runs along the Vosges Mountains; Burgundy is fully on the French side. Franche-Comté was in the HRE but linguistically Romance. - **Relationship with Greater Germany**: Strategic ally but NOT part of German unification. German ethnic nationalism cannot absorb a purely French-speaking state. Alliance based on shared threats (Plantagenet France to the west, Mongol-Rus to the east). - **Claims**: May claim to be the legitimate successor to the French crown (Capetian blood vs. Plantagenet usurpers) - **V3 role**: Mid-tier independent French-speaking state, buffer between Plantagenet France and Greater Germany ### Iberian Peninsula (Divided) - Reconquista effectively complete by ~1270 (only Granada remains as Castilian tributary) - **Castile and Aragon do NOT merge** (unlike historical 1469 marriage union) #### Crown of Aragon (Mediterranean Power) - **Territory**: Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, **Languedoc** (reclaimed from collapsed France - Occitan/Catalan cultural affinity) - **Possibly also**: Provence, Mediterranean islands (Sicily, Sardinia - historical Aragonese expansion) - **Absorbed Navarre**: France's collapse removes Navarre's protector; too small to survive independently; culturally/geographically closer to Aragon - **Orientation**: Mediterranean, facing Italy and North Africa - **Language zone**: Catalan-Occitan continuum across Pyrenees #### Kingdom of Castile-León (Atlantic Power) - **Territory**: Central and western Iberia (largest Iberian state) - **Orientation**: Atlantic, facing Africa and potentially the open ocean - **Granada**: Emirate survives as Castilian tributary - without Aragon's help, Castile may never muster the political will to finish the Reconquista. Granada could survive to V3 era as a small Muslim vassal state. - **Competitor**: Portugal for Atlantic expansion #### Kingdom of Portugal - **Territory**: Western Iberian coast, Reconquista completed 1249 - **Orientation**: Atlantic, historically the pioneer of maritime exploration - **Competitor**: Castile for Atlantic routes - **Small but independent**, may punch above its weight in exploration/colonization #### Emirate of Granada (Surviving Muslim State) - Last remnant of Al-Andalus - Castilian tributary/vassal - Without united Spain, may survive to 1836 as a small but culturally significant Muslim enclave in Europe - V3: interesting minor power, potential flashpoint ### Scandinavia / Kalmar Union - Mongols don't reach Scandinavia (too cold, too forested, too poor) - **Kalmar Union will form** (even more pressure than historical): - Anglo-French union across the Channel - Earlier unified Greater Germany - Mongol-Rus Empire with Novgorod buffer - Denmark may lose northern Estonia to Mongol-Rus sphere - Sweden continues Finnish expansion unopposed - Norway maintains Atlantic possessions (Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands) - No Great Northern War equivalent (Mongol-Rus doesn't prioritize Baltic access - their window is Black Sea/Constantinople) ### Italy (~1300: No significant divergence yet) - Protected by Alps from Mongol invasion - no direct impact - City-states continue as in our timeline (Venice, Genoa, Florence, Papal States, Naples/Sicily, etc.) - Northern Italian economic connections to Germany weakened by Mongol destruction of HRE, but butterfly effects have not yet materialized by 1300 - Status at 1300: essentially same as our timeline's Italy. Divergence will come later. - **Post-1300 evolution: TO BE DETERMINED** --- ## Key Trade Routes ### Silk Road (Enhanced) Song goods -> Central Asia -> Mongol-Rus territory -> two routes: 1. **Northern route**: -> Novgorod -> Hanseatic League -> all of Europe 2. **Southern route**: -> Black Sea -> Constantinople (Byzantine) -> Mediterranean ### Song Maritime Trade - Song's historical maritime trade was already strong - With industrialization, likely expanded into: - South China Sea / Southeast Asia (colonization?) - Indian Ocean trade network - Possible competition with European maritime exploration --- ## Manchuria / Jianzhou ### Division - **Southern Manchuria** (Liao River corridor, southern Jilin): Song-controlled - Site of Song's northern industrial expansion - Jurchen minority gradually sinicized - Key to Song's industrialization story (labor scarcity -> mechanization) - **Northern Manchuria** (Heilongjiang, outer Manchuria): Tolui Khanate sphere - Forest/tundra, very sparse population - Jianzhou and other Jurchen tribes maintain semi-independent hunting/fishing lifestyle - Too cold and poor for Song expansion, too marginal for Mongol attention ### Why Manchu/Qing Never Happens - Historical Manchu unification required: weak Ming control of northeast + space for Jurchen consolidation - In this timeline: Song industrial control in south + Mongol sphere in north = two strong powers squeezing Jurchens - Jurchens never unify into a single state - By 1836: minority ethnic group split between Song (assimilated) and Tolui Khanate (tribal) --- ## Religion in This World ### Eastern Orthodoxy - Becomes the dominant religion of the Mongol-Rus Empire - Mongol ruling class likely converts to Orthodoxy (similar to Bulgars converting after conquering Slavs) - Reasoning: ruling a majority Orthodox population, deep integration, Orthodox Church provides administrative network - Constantinople remains the spiritual center (under Byzantine vassal state) ### Catholicism - Survives in: Western Europe (Germany, France, England, Iberia, Italy, Scandinavia) - Poland: Catholic enclave under Orthodox Mongol suzerainty (major tension source) - Bohemia: Catholic - Papacy: survives in Rome (Italy protected by Alps) ### Islam - Ilkhanate/Middle East: continues to Islamicize (historical pattern for Mongol states in Muslim regions) - Central Asia (Chagatai Khanate): Islamic - North Africa: Islamic, relatively unaffected by these changes - Possible absence of Ottoman Empire means no single dominant Islamic power by 1836 ### Song China - Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism (historical pattern) - No significant change from baseline --- ## Open Questions (1300 Snapshot Remaining) 1. **Italy (post-1300 evolution)**: How do city-states develop differently? Renaissance? Unification pressure? 2. **Ilkhanate / Persia / Middle East**: Mamluk submission degree? Persian cultural dynamics? Islamic world without a caliphate? 3. **North Africa**: Maghreb states' relationship with post-Ilkhanate Middle East? ## Open Questions (Post-1300 Chronological Development) 4. **1300-1500 era**: Each region's evolution through late medieval period 5. **Age of Exploration**: Delayed? Led by whom? Song maritime expansion vs. European exploration? 6. **The Americas**: Who discovers/colonizes them? 7. **Africa and India**: Song colonial sphere? European competition? 8. **Song's North-South civil war**: When? Outcome? What does Song look like by 1836? 9. **Mongol-Rus internal evolution**: Slavic nationalism? Industrialization attempts? 10. **1836 technology levels**: Who has what? Is Song far ahead of everyone?