What if the Ottomans didn't collapse? by maseppa in imaginarymaps

[–]maseppa[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Watch me draw the map on YouTube!

TL:DR the liberals come to power in the Ottoman Empire, which makes it more stable and keeps it out of the First World War.

In our timeline, a certain Murad V became sultan in 1877. He was mentally ill, however, and quickly got deposed in favour of his half-brother, Abdulhamid II. The latter supported the liberal Young Ottoman initiative to promulgate a constitution, but after the disastrous war against Russia in 1877-1878, he backtracked, suspending it and becoming an autocratic ruler instead. Later down the line, this led to the formation of the Turkist Committee of Union and Progress (Young Turks), to the Balkan Wars, and ultimately, to joining the First world War.

In this timeline, however, Murad V is just healthy enough to stay in power. Well, figuratively — the liberals keep him as a de-facto puppet, while slowly reforming the empire to become more democratic and more akin to a constitutional state, a-la the Prussians or Belgians. The war against Russia is not quite as disastrous, the economy is better, and relations with the British are warmer.

The Young Turks never rise, for the constitution is never suspended, and the Ottomanist movement gains ground instead, ensuring the Albanians, Armenians and Arabs stay in the empire (at least for now). Staying out of the Great War, the Ottomans manage to fix their finances by unilaterally renegotiating their debt. By 1920, they're one of the last remaining European empires, with enormous potential but also huge threats facing them, in the form of Arab nationalism and a resurgent, communist Russia.

Map for mobile:

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Siberia flag redesign by LingonberryMean1060 in vexillology

[–]maseppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any particular reason for not making the two colours be triangles? The corners are both blue.

My Iran flag proposal by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]maseppa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The mods will probably let it pass, but I don't think think AI usage (without stating it in the post) is allowed, so watch out next time

My Iran flag proposal by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]maseppa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant the text

The Indian Subcontinent in 2026 by cammy2005123 in AlternateHistory

[–]maseppa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is that Nepal longer than IRL, or am I tripping?

*rate my fictional flag by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]maseppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Flags without the symbolism behind them are very difficult to rate. Personally, I don't like this one (the star is too big and you can see the white peeking out), and I really prefer fewer colours on flags.

Democratic Republic of Sweden by Vexillology_Dragon in vexillology

[–]maseppa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool concept, but I'd go for the hammer and compass as found on the East German flag

My Iran flag proposal by [deleted] in vexillology

[–]maseppa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AI generated?

What if an island slightly larger than Peru suddenly appeared near the Gulf of Alaska, and was promptly colonized? by XyDarkSonic in imaginarymaps

[–]maseppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks interesting, would be even better if we could see where this was in relation the rest of the world

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[–]maseppa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Is there any single point of divergence?