So. I wrote a draft to a book. It's yet another alternate history where the Byzantine Empire survived to the modern day 2016. Yeah yeah, I'm a Byzaboo. Only, it's the sort of ridiculous alternate history where there has to be a series of ridiculous, improbable events. And, even worse, it's the sort of alternate history where the modern timeline isn't even affected that much. My head-canon is that this neo-Byzantine Empire fulfilled the same void as the Ottoman Empire.
Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to write a matrilineal modern-day Byzantine Empire. Yeah, you can see where this is going when I mentioned matrilineal. And, of course, I chose the point of divergence to be 1453--or rather, a few decades earlier when Constantine XI's sole daughter didn't die in childbirth.
Yup. Revived Byzantine Empire from a tiny rump state in 1453? I may have been too influenced by my EU4 games. And, uh, after the Napoleonic Wars, this Roman Empire controlled most of the eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Crimea, Anatolia, Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Sicily and Rome. Yeahhhh, shit, it's pretty ridiculous it conquered all of that in roughly 350 years or so.
As I mentioned, this cursed timeline doesn't even affect modern events too much. It joined the Central Powers during WWI and got the shit beaten out of them. Boy, you thought the Ottoman partition was bad. This Empire lost everything except mainland Greece and Anatolia. Even eastern Anatolia seceded to form the Republic of Turkey, presided by the glorious Ataturk. Cyprus was snatched by the British, and honestly, in my head-canon the partition was basically exactly the same as OTL Ottoman partition after WWI. One important detail is that the Imperial government remained intact. Pre WWI there were talks about transitioning to a republic, but the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and, in the same time and place, Imperator Zoe Palaiologos left the Empire in a regency during WWI. The regency council was corrupt and incompetent, and this led the people to restore the monarchy after the devastating loss.
In WWII, the Empire was attacked by the Axis and thus joined the Allies. Most of mainland Greece and Crete fell in around the same dates as OTL, but Constantinople held out until the end of the war. For the Empire's efforts, the Allies rewarded them with Cyprus and wiped debts from WWI. Oh, and a permanent seat on the UN. Yay. The Empire was in no position to bargain, and its Imperator (Alexandra "The Pirate") didn't push the issue.
Imperator Alexandra "the Pirate" was a racist twat (she loathed Germans, Italians, Turks, Japanese, etc), but she was amazingly competent at keeping the Empire together during the Cold War. She finally abdicated in 2000, (she's still living in 2016!) and her successor, Imperator Ophelia "the Feeble", while not as flashy as her predecessor, was good at diplomacy and easing Romano-Turkish tensions in a post 9/11 world. Which leaves us to here. Yup. It's literally modern day borders except for OTL Greece and Turkey and Cyprus.
Mind, the Empire is crumbling in 2016. While most positions are reasonably democratic, the head of state is still a monarchy and has considerable power much to the chagrin of the populace. Unless drastic action is taken soon, the Roman Empire will finally join the 21st century and become a Roman Republic.
I could already hear the questions.
How tf did the Balkans end up the same way as OTL?
In 1453, the Byzantine victory at the battle of Constantinople killed Mehmed II, but didn't decisively defeat the Ottoman army. Surviving heirs competed and eventually the Ottomans split into the Western and Eastern Ottoman Empire. The Western Ottoman Empire had the main army since, well, they were still stuck on the European side of the strait. And they were a terror to the Balkans. They somehow replicated the OTL Ottoman Empire's successes and nearly conquered Vienna just like OTL. They weren't fully stamped out until the mid-late 1800s by Austria-Hungary and the Byzantines. And then Yugoslavia formed after WWI, like normal.
How similar are we talking about to OTL in 2016 do you mean...?
Syrian Civil War is happening. Pokémon Go was still released. Bitcoin was also around $300. The Chicago Cubs finally won. Leicester City won the Premier League. A gay nightclub is bombed in Florida, Turkey has a coup, Olympics were in Rio, and an airport is bombed in Istanbul/Constantinople. Panama Papers are released. All on the same dates. Yup. That similar.
Wait, you can't just do that. The Byzantine revival surely would affected those events somewhat.
Probably? Those events were slightly affected. The Panama Papers, for instance, had some hidden corrupt Byzantine officials. And certainly demographics in Syria would be different, but remember, the Entente still owned it after WWI. There's surely some world where events largely play out the same.
So why is the Byzantine Empire matrilineal?
After dueling and decapitating Mehmed II in 1453, Imperator Konstantina "the Great" ascended to the throne after her father's death, his only heir. Of course it was disputed, but the public loved her for being the hero of the Siege of Constantinople. Of course, she also had to kill and blind and castrate cousins and uncles, but don't they all?
And it happened she only had daughters. And the next Imperator also only had daughters. It kinda stuck. Of course there were eventual civil wars when sons would argue, but eventually the Palaiologoi would become the world's only matrilineal dynasty.
This does have societal implications, such as the Empire becoming more feminist than most. It was also able to punch above its weight, drafting both men and women into their wars.
You are aware Imperator Alexandra and Imperator Ophelia are old? And they had their daughters at like, what, fortyish?
Yup.
Why did you post this...?
I'm not a historian. My only historical knowledge extends from Paradox games and curiously browsing through Wikipedia articles and Reddit and videos on interesting subjects. I am also aware this scenario is, like, 0.00000000000000001% probable. But...is there anything I hadn't accounted for? Like, I dunno, maybe the Chicago Cubs could only win the World Series if and only if the Ottoman Empire existed. But in my limited, primitive understanding, most current world events could be traced back to post WWI, and the existence of a Byzantine Empire instead of a Greece and Turkey shouldn't affect the timeline too much, Syrian Civil War included. Mind, the Republic of Turkey does still exist. It's in NATO and everything.
I am sorely aware I should have asked this question after I wrote my draft.
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