1009 – Nor’easter Drives Karlsefni Expedition South

With more than 100 in its crew, the settlement fleet led by Thorfinn Karlsefni came under a powerful storm from the northeast. It bore the Norse ships far south of the winter settlement Thorfinn’s brother-in-law Leif Eriksson had set up ten years before. Leif himself had followed directions from Bjarni Herjolfsson, who had been blown off course and discovered a land west of Greenland while rescuing others lost in that storm. These same seemingly ill winds proved lucky as they took Thorfinn miles beyond lands where scuffles with locals before had ended in numerous deaths on both sides.

The wayward Norse finally found land, though it would take months more of exploration to determine where they were. First they established a base and made contact with locals who were happy to trade furs for Norse cloth and fresh milk from the cows they had brought. Eventually expeditions found that they were on the southern side of a great bay and, three hundred miles west, a large freshwater river that promised even more possibilities inland. The colony prospered, though Thorfinn had little choice: many settlers agreed they had gone too far south to effectively evacuate the colony in case of trouble.

Instead, trouble struck at home as Norse growing seasons turned shorter. Thorfinnsland proved to be a welcome new home, bringing thousands of settlers who established trading posts along the great river and the coast. Settlers marked their names with runes as they went and even built a great tower for defense on the islands of another bay southward that they called Newport. Traders explored even farther south, coming upon warm waters from a muddy river far bigger than the one in the north. There they met wealthy new trade partners who themselves had canoes rivaling Norse longboats. Peoples along this Misi zipi River built pyramid mounds in grand cities with tens of thousands of people fed by expansive maize fields. Their pottery and copperwork made valuable good that the Norse merchants traded for iron tools to enormous profit.

Disease among the traders plagued them, and ultimately both the Norse settlers and the Mississippians declined. North Atlantic trade did continue, although it paled in comparison to European expeditions to the gold-rich south and around Africa to the Far East. Hungry for more iron than what merchants could bring, deposits discovered north of the Great Lakes became valuable mining territory. Wars broke out over the iron pits until the coming of Deganawida, the Great Peacemaker. He built a confederacy that ended ritual cannibalism and organized a balance of local rule by chiefs to a national council that governed the whole. Five nations joined together to form what was known as the Haudenosaunee, though European traders called it the “Iroquois Confederacy” since all of the member tribes spoke related languages.

The Iroquois expanded rapidly across the Ohio Valley thanks to their power in numbers, the iron supply, and firearms supplied by European traders in exchange for valuable beaver pelts. Leaders agreed that, just as they controlled ironworks, they must come to control guns as well. Expeditions of young men were sent to Europe to determine its secrets. In addition to industrial espionage on gunpowder, the spies came to study with early chemists at universities in Spain, France, and England, bringing back cutting edge theory on gas law and metallurgy. After seeing the patents of Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont for steam-powered water pumps that could drain flooded mines, the Iroquois began creating and implementing their own engines.

It was not long before these engines were put to work doing other tasks like weaving cloth and milling timber. Mobile engines could not only move themselves but also haul goods across long distances to drastically cut travel time and cost. Soon the Iroquois found themselves attracting attention from Europeans eager to copy their successes. They invested their wealth in maintaining their borders, such as river fleets protecting their rights to what the French traders called the St. Lawrence and Mississippi. The confederationo welcomed more tribes into the fold to promote a wide frontier that would keep their homelands safe.

Balancing British, French, and Spanish empires against one another, the Iroquois laid claim to all lands west of French Thorfinnsland and the Appalachians above the 37 degrees north latitude. Louisiana would fall into British hands as European wars weakened French colonialism, causing strife with the Iroquois over river rights. Ultimately, the British would capitulate when the Shawnee General Tecumseh led Iroquois forces to seize New Orleans, granting Louisiana independence. Another war in the West over gold deposits in California with Mexico would affirm Iroquois rule to the Pacific.

Today the Iroquois Confederacy serves as the foremost economy in the world, rivaled by the German-led European Union and Japanese Empire. Each depends on one another for trade, although they readily, and often correctly, accuse one another of ongoing industrial espionage.

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In reality, according to the sagas, Thorfinn’s colony ended after his bull frightened the locals and sparked a battle that prompted the Norse to flee back to Greenland.

Guest Post from Chris Oakley: October 7, 1978--Idi Amin Assassinated

On October 7, 1978, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin paid a fatal price for his brutality and arrogance
when he was stabbed to death while taking part in an orgy at the Ugandan presidential palace in the heart of Kampala. News of his death plunged Uganda into political chaos as Amin supporters fought with rival factions seeking to restore democratic rule in the country; by the time of Amin’s funeral only four days after his assassination, Uganda was on the verge of civil war. Concerned that the violence might spill over into their own nations, Uganda’s neighbors formed a coalition under the leadership of then-Tanzanian president Julius Nyrere and deployed a peacekeeping contingent to Uganda to restore order. The regular Ugandan army offered only token resistance to the peacekeepers and the pro-Amin uprising collapsed when its leaders were arrested.

With the uprising ended, former Ugandan president Milton Obote, who’d been forced into exile when Amin overthrew him in 1971, was able to return home and resume his post; he led a caretaker administration until March of 1979, when elections were held to form a new full-time government. By the spring of 1981 the Uganda National Police would assume the peacekeepers’ role in maintaining law and order in Uganda’s cities. The Ugandan army underwent a top-to-bottom reorganization as part of a larger overall effort to de-politicize the Ugandan military and purge the last traces of Amin’s extremist ideology from its ranks.

The success of the Nyrere-led coalition’s intervention in Uganda planted the seeds for a broader
regional alliance, the African Union. The AU was established in 1991 at a twenty-two nation summit in Nairobi and would grow to thirty members when the Mandela government of South Africa ratified the AU charter in 1994. Among the organization’s most notable successes during its first decade were the deployment of peacekeepers to halt the Rwandan genocide and its victorious campaign against Somali warlord Mohammed Aidid. By 2007 the African Union’s membership had expanded to include nearly sixty countries and the organization was a major trading partner of the United States and the European Union.

By 2015, the AU would be a key player in international efforts to end the civil war in Syria and address global climate change. As of 2018 the AU was the world’s third-largest trading bloc and a major rival to China for the number two spot in the ranks of global economic powers; nearly one-quarter of the world’s known billionaires would call Africa home and the once strife-torn Kampala was nicknamed “Africa’s Silicon Valley” by virtue of the dozens of home-grown tech companies centered in the Ugandan capital.

******

In reality, Idi Amin continued to rule Uganda until the spring of 1979, when he was forced to flee
the country after his regime’s defeat in its border war with Tanzania. He fled to Saudi Arabia, where he stayed till his death in 2003. The African Union was formally established in 2001 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity. As of the time this article is being posted, the AU’s membership total stands at 55 countries; in 2016 the organization introduced continent-wide passports intended to make travel easier for AU citizens. Much of the AU’s defense resources are devoted to fighting the al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab jihadist organization in Somalia. The AU also maintains the AIDS Watch Africa program to combat the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan countries.

1433 - Zheng He arrives in Great Zimbabwe

In the early fifteenth century, Admiral Zheng He commanded the greatest expeditionary fleets the world had ever known. The Ming Dynasty invested heavily in expanding Chinese influence, especially its third emperor, Yongle, who outfitted a fleet to be commanded by his longtime supporter, Zhenge He. Born Ma Ho during the turbulent western wars between the Mongols and the Mings, he had been captured at ten and forced into the Ming army commanded by young Yongle. Ma Ho proved successful at all he did, and he was selected to become head eunuch with a new name, Zheng He.

In 1404, Zheng He was placed in command of the fleet dispatched to bring in the nations to the south as tributaries under the emperor’s influence. Among the 317 ships in the fleet were 62 “treasure ships,” said to be over 180 feet long and loaded with gifts of tea, silk, porcelain, and manufactured goods. In addition to the thousands of sailors, crews also included scholars and cutting-edge technology such as gunpowder rockets and cannons as well as magnetically-driven compasses for navigation. For the next 30 years, Zheng He would command seven expeditions through Indonesia, India, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa.

While pushing southward on the African coast past Mogadishu to Malindi and Zanzibar, Zheng He heard the traders’ discussion of an inland empire so rich with gold that it rivaled the legendary wealth of Mali. Messengers back to China had brought further news of the Xuande emperor’s disinclination toward these expeditions, and Zheng He feared this might be his last. Deciding to go for broke, Zheng He led an excursion inland to contact this empire while the main fleet explored the coast, mapping much of Madagascar. It was very different to take up an expedition on land, but Zheng He had already defeated the Kingdom of Kotte inland on Sri Lanka.

Zheng He and his smaller boats followed rivers to the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a term referring to the stone fortresses built at defensive positions throughout the plateau. Zheng He trekked to its greatest city with towering stone walls over 30 feet tall. Though impressive even by the standards of China, the kingdom in the south was clearly in a state of decline. The land was turning arid, and much of the gold in the rivers had given out, prompting one prince, Nyatsimba Mutota, to move northward in conquest for new resources, especially valuable salt.

The kingdom struck Zheng He as an enormous new partner with its control of the gold and ivory of the entire region. He won favor with Mutota with gifts and dispatched scholars and craftsmen to show irrigation techniques for improved crop yields as well as methods for upgrading mines. Mutota was so impressed that he began collecting engineers, bringing them from China, Arabia, and later Europe. The most important exchange was with China for gunpowder and cannons, which furthered the Mutapa people’s position as the military superpower of the region.

Through the years, invention solved problems as they arose. As the miners needed to dig deeper into the earth for gold, iron, and copper, engineers developed pumps to use suction to clear the shafts of water. With the struggle for food for a large population, labor-saving devices were of the utmost importance, pushing the development of engines. Factories sprang up around the rivers driven by waterwheels. Threats of deforestation were overcome by the discovery of massive coal reserves to the west; coal in turn proved to burn more efficiently than wood and allow for leaps forward with metallurgy.

By 1700, the Zambezi River was the industrial center of the world. Steam-driven ships brought in textiles and other raw materials, then exported manufactured goods back to ports as far away as China and the Americas. The expansive Mutapa Empire dominated Africa south of the equator, serving as a balance between European influence in the northwest and Muslim influence in the northeast. Mutapan trade colonies would become thriving cosmopolitan centers for centuries to come all along the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

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In reality, Zheng He died in 1433 in Calicut, India. By then, expeditions had started to go out of fashion with the emperor as policies turned back toward isolationist Confucian ideals. Soon the size of ships was legally restricted to prevent reckless gambling on oversea ventures.

Sources on Zheng Ha

What if Napoleon's Suicide Attempt had Succeeded?

This article first appeared at Today in Alternate History.

April 13, 1814 -

The surrender of the leaders in Paris effectively ended the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Sénat conservateur then passed the Emperor's Demise Act, and Napoleon Bonaparte was officially deposed from power. Undeterred, he mustered his forces in the nearby canton of Fontainebleau and prepared to march on the capital. Although the rank and file might well have followed him, his marshals mutinied. In his despair, Napoleon committed suicide swallowing a pill that he had carried after nearly being captured by the Russians during the retreat from Moscow.

The sudden release of triumph across the British Empire was only matched by the scale of panic felt in the United States of America. Basking in her glorious victory on the continent of Europe, Great Britain would quickly re-focus her resources on the military sideshow they had dismissively called "the American War." A rapid escalation would trigger a series of tumultuous events that led up to New English Independence Day, the succession of the entire northeast region on January 5, 1815, during the Hartford Convention.

Although President James Madison was hardly Napoleon Bonaparte, it was during his second term that the War of 1812 raged, and Canada became victim to American campaigns. King George III was still on the throne, determined to push British interests primarily through exclusive trading arrangements. Even though many red-blooded members of the British elite still sought revenge for the American Revolution, their goal was always to break-up the nascent republic rather than re-occupy its territory. This disruptive approach of unsettling their former colonies was self-evident in the manipulative dealings with slaves and native Americans, and the primary role of the Royal Navy in leading the campaign. However, the capitulation of Napoleon was an opportunity for the British government to send its war-hardened veterans to North America before the end of military season ended.

It was decided that seizing control of the Great Lakes was the show of strength that would force the outcome. This was achieved through a hard-fought naval triumph at Lake Champlain followed up by victory on land at Battle of Plattsburgh. Due to the geography, it was unthinkable that these forces could conquer, let alone re-colonise, the continental United States, especially since the American population of five million had grown to match that of the British Isles and become proudly independent. However, the Tories still had their moment of satisfaction because news of their military achievements swung opinion at the Hartford Convention. This enabled arch-Federalist Harrison Gray Otis to win the argument for succession. After all, with the notable exception of John Adams, the United States had been dominated by Virginia planters, almost to the point of tyranny. While no one could speak ill of George Washington, the hero of the young country, the policies of Thomas Jefferson and his protege James Madison had infuriated New England. The unequal Treaty of Ghent redrew the map satisfying many of the British war aims. This provoked fury in the rump United States, and one man, General Andrew Jackson, began to plan for a third war with the Tories that would expel Great Britain from North America altogether.

Author's Note

In reality, the potency of Napoleon's pill had weakened with age. He survived to be exiled to Elba, while his wife and son took refuge in Austria. Weary of war, Britain agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812 in North America.



Addendum - War of 1832

Having lost the Michigan Territory, the Jeffersonian-endorsed James Monroe lost control of the Democratic-Republican Party, prompting Georgian William H. Crawford to win the presidential election of 1816. Many argued that he had been the Secretary of War during the bleakest times of the fight, although supporters stated that things could have gone even more badly, such as Jackson's heroic victory at New Orleans (though it was technically an illegal battle with the war already ended by the Treaty of Ghent). Crawford noted that the final military action of the war had actually been the capture of the Nautilus, an East India Company brig, by the USS Peacock. If the United States were going to compete with Britain for land, it would need to stand up to them at sea as a world naval power.

The expansion of the United States Navy was timely with the next conflict, the Spanish War (1818-1820). General Jackson invaded Florida, pursuing escaped slaves and outlaws into the chaotic region where Spanish influence had all but disappeared due to exhaustion during the Napoleonic Wars. With American ships threatening Spanish islands in the Caribbean, Spain was quick to accept terms of the surrender of Florida. With the Crawford Doctrine telling Europeans to "leave America for the Americans," the American Navy added a good deal of threat to colonies.

Although physically unwell (Jackson had two bullets permanently lodged in his body), his applauded efforts in the war prompted his election to the presidency in 1824. He and Crawford had broken over the issue of national banking laws, especially in the fallout of the Panic of 1819. Expansionism meanwhile turned northwestward along with the removal of Native Americans to Indian Territory. New Englanders in the Federated States decried the rapid expansion of slavery, but Americans dismissed them with vocal derisive language.

Jackson nearly achieved his "Canadian War" in 1827 when tensions between Upper Canada and Lower Canada escalated being the British governor and the French-speaking locals of had been Quebec. Popular reformer Louis-Joseph Papineau had been elected speaker of the assembly in 1815, but Governor George Ramsey, Earl of Dalhousie, called for new elections in 1827 in an attempt to bump him out. Jackson offered to liberation, but Britain simply responded to petitions for change with the withdrawal of Governor Dalhousie.

His war finally came in 1832 with the new election. Newspaper publishers had been arrested on vague grounds, and three people were killed by British troops when they opened fire on a protesting crowd. Jackson called it a repeat of the early days of the American Revolution with arrests and the Boston Massacre. Although Papineau wanted only approval of his Ninety-two Resolutions for reform, Jackson-inspired revolutionaries led to conflict and ultimately a declaration of independence. Jackson dispatched his navy for the St. Lawrence River and coordinated generals in Ohio to seize the Great Lakes region. Britain responded with its own navy, and battles continued up and down the North American east coast for years. Riding the call for war, Jackson was elected to an unprecedented third term as president.

New England's Federated States fought to remain neutral, though it suffered numerous incursions from both sides. As the war dragged on through the 1830s, both sides became exhausted with Britain troubled by financing such a large-scale and distant war while Jackson becoming increasingly dictatorial, only narrowly winning reelection in 1836. New England at last was able to broker peace with Quebec's independence and the purchase of Upper Canada by the United States (including large payments to those who had suffered in the war). Britain maintained it colonies along the Atlantic with the exception of Labrador.

The United States proclaimed it as a great victory, and new warhawks began turning their heads toward Mexico for further conquest in the 1840s.

Guest Post: Maratha Supremacy of India Assured

This post originally appeared on Today in Alternate History.

14 January, 1761 - Reinforcement Arrive at Battle of Panipat

"Death strikes where his shadow falls" ~ Ahmad Shah Abdali (father) described by veteran Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who played the Afghan founding father and hero in the film Panipat

The timely arrival of reinforcements commanded by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao tipped the balance in an epic battle fought between the Maratha Empire versus Afghan forces and their Muslim allies from the North Indian kingdoms. The invaders were chased all the way back to Kabul, ending the dream of Pashtun leader Ahmad Shah Durrani to found a modern state of Afghanistan. Ironically, the invasion of Northern India by the Durrani Empire was triggered by the angry reaction to the Marathas driving his son Tamir Shah Abdali out of Kashmir.

Panipat was more a crisis of leadership than an ultimate military showdown. Having emerged as the successor to the Mughals, the Maratha were a truly formidable force, comprising fierce soldiery and modern long-range, French-made artillery. However, the combination of bickering of internal politics and their weak, fractured leadership during the current Peshwa's rule had brought into question their claim of hegemony over the whole of Hindustan. Their hard-fought victory answered all of these questions, and they were now the undisputed masters of India with their influence spreading beyond the sub-continent. It consolidated the Maratha power through the authority of the Peshwa over the other Maratha chieftain. Internal enemies were severely punished. In simple terms, the Marathas had finally succeeded in replacing the Mughals as the strong central power in India. Even more significant in the long run of history was the re-installation of a Hindu ruler after nearly six hundred years.

The foreign invasion had come at the worst possible time. With the rising threat from European powers, it was rather fortunate that the Maratha had established their control of all the smaller powers in India. This was because the Empire would soon face a protracted series of Anglo-Maratha Wars as the British East India Company sought to expand out of Bengal, their foothold in India. As events were to transpire, the Marathas would prevail and Anglo influence would be restricted to the cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. The result was that British India was a constrained strip of land just like Portugese India. Imperial interest from Britain would now move on to fresh pickings in China and Japan.

Thankfully, the new growth of stronger Maratha leadership that followed filled a critical gap. This had been woefully missing ever since the death of the Peshwa's late father, Balajirao. A big part of this resurgence was Sadashiv Rao Bhau, the victorious commander at Panipat. Under Peshwa Vishwasrao, he would ensure that the reinvigorated Maratha rule from Pune would be based upon the sound principles of honesty,ethical and fair way of governing a country captured in Swaraj. This ideology had been developed by Chatrapati Shivaji and would serve Hindustan well over the coming centuries and long after the dissolution of the British and Portuguese Empires.

Author's Note from Wikipedia

In reality, Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao arrived too late due to the extended celebration of his second marriage.

Panipat was the last major battle between South Asian-headed military powers until the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947. The outcome weakened both sides inadvertently accelerating the paramountcy of the British East India Company.

Addendum

After its humbling defeat at Buxar thanks to aid from the Dutch to the Bengal Army, the East India Company returned the favor to its old rival by edging into its sphere of influence in Indonesia. While able to tap into the valuable sandalwood trade, the islands proved as troublesome to the British as they did for the Dutch. Colonial wars weakened interest from both mother-nations thanks to small returns on expensive conflict. Maintaining spheres of influence on largely jungle territory was largely a matter for cartographers while the real money settled on a few plantations. Britain's national attention turned to more important dealings, such as satiating the demands for expansion by colonists in North America. After much political struggle to find a balance between self-rule and control by London, Massachusetts was the first colony to be granted dominion status in 1787 with Virginia and South Carolina to follow.

The East India Company's greatest goal was control of the trade with China. The amount of money to be made was immense, yet it proved largely one-sided. Confucian ideals prevented many Chinese from being interested in foreign goods. The similar Shinto beliefs in Japan had prompted the Company to give up attempts to trade there a century before. Trade ships from Europe had to bring a great deal of coinage in largely empty holds. Upon their return, they would make handsome profits selling Chinese porcelain, spices, textiles, and especially tea. It was an outrage to traditionally minded mercantilists, but the promise of high returns prompted a staggering growth of banking in London and other Company ports. The trade deficit did prompt some captains to attempt to smuggle opium, which had been declared illegal by the Chinese emperor several times through the 18th century. Scandal at discovery bruised Chinese opinions of the British, ending the attempts in fears that the Dutch would be granted a monopoly.

Struggling to find goods to trade in China, the East India Company surged into the Pacific following Captain Cook's explorations. Furs proved to be the best commodity, which led to a rapid settlement of the western coast of North America along with British ports established in Hawaii as well as colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Over-hunting led to a decline in the fur trade as the nineteenth century continued, just as British manufactures proved to be a new option. Mass-produced goods came at such a low price that Chinese buyers could not refuse them. Even Japan reopened as a market with several shoguns welcoming improved British designs on the old guns they had received from the Dutch and Portuguese. Fueled by intercontinental banking, the East India Company began establishing steam-driven factories to produce goods on the site of raw materials, industrializing all through its holdings. The need to communicate readily prompted the Company to invest in undersea telegraph lines and ultimately worldwide radio.

To this day, the re-branded EICo serves as one of the major players in international trade with focuses on banking, telecommunications, and international economic relations.