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Wouldn’t it have a larger economy than Japan tho, since the U.K. (GDP of $3.2 trillion USD in 2021) and Canada (GDP of $1.8 trillion in 2021) almost match Japans economy ($5.1 trillion USD in 2021). The U.K. will miss out in not being a part of the EU, however I’d be surprised if the imperial federation didn’t have free trade deals with the United States and EU, that a are currently better than USMCA/NAFTA and EU-U.K. TCA as well due to having more power in negotiations. It’d probably be the 3rd largest economy today, behind the USA and China (not including the EU).
Yeah the Japan thing was referring mostly to Japans economic miracle, but you are correct. After Japans economy starts to stagnate the Federation would eclipse them again.
@@joshbentley2307if the imperial federation existed alongside America And European union. I don't think china's economy would have risen so quickly as in our timeline. China yes would be used like today. But not to the same scale. 3 western economic powers. Would be allies but would rival. Making the economic policies very different to today's. Export our economy don't matter. America couldn't let its economy fall as much as it did if 2 massive western powers were able to challenge it. Sure yes we would still export a lot to Asia. China mainly but probably more effort in the smaller nations like Philippines and Vietnam. Also imperial federation would have India similar to have us would use China.
Expected some cringe powerpoint about how Britain would be a superpower in 2022. Got a really intelligent, well-reasoned analysis. This is the kind of alt-history I love. You deserve way more subs.
I hope its possible to form the imperial federation in vic 3. My requirements would be number 1 GP, year is 1900, several million £ and an ungodly amount of prestige.
Interesting idea. In a very real sense, it is a scaled-up version of what happened with Australia. During the 19th century, Australia was made up of six separate British colonies, each with its own taxation, military, etc.. The concept of a union (called 'Federation') was an extremely hot political topic in the latter half of the century - much arguing, several referendums, and so forth. Federation finally took place in 1901, with each of the colonies becoming a State of the new nation. It is worth noting that New Zealand was a participant in the talks but opted to remain independent. Australia's Constitution allows for NZ to join if it ever chooses to. The closeness and kinship between Australia and NZ remains, but nobody expects a union anytime soon. Likewise, Western Australia almost stayed separate, and Fiji was, at one stage of talks, seriously proposed as a member. Not that these alt-Australias would be likely to have a HUGE impact on subsequent world history, but you never know. :)
Interesting take, The Imperial Federation was always an interesting What If scenario when I first found out about it, I always imagined Australia, New Zealand, and Canada as being part of it but your explanation for South Africa's inclusion seems plausible if it had happened that way.
South Africa was always a guaranteed partner until independence as one of the "white" dominions. It was included in the original plans. However, especially after apartheid, it changed too much to even really be considered.
I love the idea of the federation so much. I’m a big fan of multiethnic empires so projects like Poland-Lithuania and the Imperial Federation or even the integration of the French African colonies are all very exciting to me. I just wish they had worked :/
The Imperial Navy would be a similar size to the USN. But, probably, with more (smaller) carriers to allow for the ships to be dispersed to various ports. Which would provide for a more rapid response time to regional issues.
Thinking it through, I'd expect the IN to have something like 24 carriers in 8 CVBG, with about 60 aircraft on each . And I'd envisage a carrier battle group to be something like: 3 CVn, 1 LAn, 4 CAn, 8 CL(aw), 1 DDl(as), 7 DD(as). The *L*ittoral *A*ssault ship would be a nuclear powered Helicopter carrier with a brigade of Imperial Marines. Further, there would be 2 nuclear powered Support ships carrying extra fuel & other supplies for the light cruisers, destroyer leader and destroyers.
@@bigpapagorge9667 its no longer a major naval power since after the cold war, well perhaps each persons definition of major is different but its not a blue water navy, their fleet is small and shrinking not fit for major operations like it used to. most of the major european countries have seen a big loss in military size, as without the ussr they don't feel threatened.
@Apsoy Pike they’re literally one of 3 blue water navies their navy is like 4th or 5th in terms of tonnage, however this doesn’t factor in their tech i guess being able to sail the globe and strike anywhere on it is just a minor naval power, like every country can do that!
It’d be really interesting to see which smaller colonies would end up joining. The Bahamas, West Indies, Straits Settlements, Northern Borneo, and Hong Kong especially would be interesting. Given how long Hong Kong remained part of Britain before being turned over to China, I can’t imagine it wouldn’t become fully integrated well before then, leading to a potential conflict between the Federation and China over Hong Kong. Something I do want to point out though is that although the GDP figures would be vastly different, the Federation would emerge today as still the third largest economy on Earth at least. Japan and the Soviets would have briefly overtaken it but Russia isn’t even a question today, being smaller than 2 of the members while adding up those same 2, the UK and Canada, dwarf Japan’s current GDP figures by over $1 trillion. Depending on if or how a potential conflict went between China and the Federation over Hong Kong which could also carry heavy implications for Taiwan or the Korean Peninsula, it’s possible China wouldn’t be the second largest economy today as well. The west would be far less likely to massively invest in Chinese manufacturing if a war was fresh in their minds, especially if it devastated Chinese coastal infrastructure.
@@Me-yq1fl I mean even at 30% their given GDP figure, they still exceed Japan by $1 trillion. I definitely do agree that their numbers are inflated. The real GDP and even population are considerably smaller than officially stated but they are still the third largest economy. Any dream of catching the US is just that though, a dream.
@@Me-yq1fl there’s that one paper which says it’s 70% smaller but also many others that do not, maybe 30% smaller, but 70 seems like the more far fetched estimate.
The West Indies would almost certainly have joined the federation. One of the things often not known outside the Caribbean (and even within the Caribbean) is that the leaders of the early Caribbean nationalist movements and the fathers of Caribbean independence were also, paradoxically, staunchly pro-empire. The early Caribbean independence movements were by in large entirely in favour of dominion status, aka autonomy/independence, but within the framework of the empire. If the Imperial Federation ever happened, virtually the entire Caribbean political establishment would have been heavily in favour of the West Indies joining the federation
Bro theres no way America and Russia wont double team on Britain harder than a pornstar that just turned 18 if they so much as think about holding on to their territory, let alone leased one
Oh and since South Africa, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia would also be in the Imperial Federation, then this would also have a major change over the African Union. There would be 2 possibilities: - The African IF Members would not join the African Union, the same way the UK would not join the EU. - The entire IF might join due to either wanting to benefit from African Resources or the AU itself would beg the IF to join in order to make the AU grow faster with the IF's help There could be more possibilities that I haven't thought of yet, but you who is reading this might. So feel free to share me what you think would actually happen on this African Scenario.
I like the idea of big Federations where resources are generally pooled but solutions to problems are brought up and solved locally. Don't like where you live? Use your Federation Citizenship to move to a different member state that suits you.
A another way to organize the government would be an Imperial Senate, which function like the US Senate. Split the Federation into Imperial States, and have local legislatures. This would allow the integration of India and more in my mind, but maybe I’m missing something. Just a shower thought
I actually thought of something like this but I’m Canadian and because we are not a republic I never learned about that system in school so I only vaguely know how it works I think to unify all of the colonies they should do a combination of the usas system we’re they have a legislative executive and judicial branchs so the IF will have its colonies have autonomy to focus on their own issues and issues that affect the IF as a whole and the uk could decide to devide all the colonies by ethnic lines and have each of them have representation in the main government that does issues that affects the IF as a whole that way the populations will be less because there is more states and the uk could still have the majority of seats or at the very least a large portion of them but that’s very unlikely because I’m pretty Shure the UK don’t know what ethic lines are lol
@@Alterarc-n6v Honestly my thought process was a government structure like the United Federation of Planets from Star Trek. The Federation Government is responsible for foreign relations, common defense, etc, while the members govern themselves in accordance with the Federation Charter. A similar system could be applied to the Imperial Federation, with even the Untied Kingdom being consider just another member of the IF, but that I feel would be a hard pill for the British to sallow
@@davidpowell7945 ya it would have been interesting to see this happen the British government should’ve made the ultimatum clearer keep the empire and loose your sovereignty or loose the empire and keep your sovereignty and because of the eu they lost it anyways and now it’s on the verge of collapse they really made the wrong decision on that one lol
I imagine that some places would want to remain or rejoin e.g. Singapore when they were kicked out of Melissa also i emagin that the federation intentionally or otherwise would inspire further unions such as a scandanavion union and raise the opinion on the idea of super states
As a Canadian of British extraction I find this intriguing. I'm old enough to have experienced Canada for a large part of the 20th Century. Much of the population (even some of the immigrant population) strived to be; "More English than The English," for much of that time. The concept of Multiculturalism that came in with Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968 (Justin's father) would probably not have gained the traction it did historically. Also, yes, from my own experience with with and as a White Anglo in English Canada, Racism did and would have played a major role in their perceptions of who would "belong".
Nice video. The biggest question you didn't address though, IMO, was the Boers. Honestly I'd see the seat proportions being negotiated prior to every election, changing each time based on perceived power of each member as the most likely way it would work (EU parliament does something a bit similar today). Splitting South Africa and admitting only the Cape Colony would work the best.
The Quebecois would probably not be happy about Federation either. Although splitting South Africa up with just the Cape Colony joining the Federation would pretty much just be another India-Pakistan, since there'd be a notable of Brits in the Transvaal, and especially Natal, by far the old South African province with the most Brits composing of its white population ending up in the"Not-Federation half"and some of the more nationalistic Afrikaaners in cape colony stuck in the Federation. Not quite an easy situation to defuse really.
I could see that another branch of government for the Imperial Federation would be made where each state would have a seat in a House of Lords sort of establishment (could imagine Scotland would get included in this, to boost England's power). They wouldn't have that much power, but it would help fill the role of the House of Lords and allow the colonies to have some more influence.
Great video. But I disagree about the limitations on the federation and it’s members; they seem to be largely dependent on how you decided to structure this new Imperial Parliament. Rather than proportional representation in the parliament, which would make any local assemblies or parliaments in these countries redundant, it would most likely form a body similar to the US senate. No matter how small or large a dominion or realm is, they all have the same number of votes. India counts the same as Britain, even though the population is much much larger, and this body is probably not going to be popularly elected but an appointed body as well, perhaps even incorporating nobility, royalty, and aristocracy from across the empire.
@@Avghistorian77 Not really. Remember it’s always elites who rule, not the people at large, many of whom simply go about their days by habit. This is especially true in India where the princes still held a great deal of local authority. The British Raj was just a bunch of treaties between the Indian princes and the British who took over from the vacuum the Mughals left. India then was not really one nation but a collection of princely states owing “vassalage” to the British empire.
@@w33btrash69 it still would be better if the UK and it’s ex realms and dominions strengthens their relations, I say this as an Australian who despite CANZUK too
Honestly, i understand that Britain would be apprehensive of giving equal representation to all of their federal colonies, but i feel like equal representation for empire-wide affairs would be their best way of keeping it ALL together, but proportional representation could work for pretty much all the colonies except India.
@@stanleymcmillan4389 Mostly because of the population issue mentioned here. India would get pretty much unfettered control of the empires affairs due to their massive population. their one vote would be more powerful than all the other votes of the empires members combined. Thats why i say proportional couldnt really work with India there, because its just such a lopsided trade-off.
@@legofanaditya Im not entirely certain. I feel like that still winds up with the same problem occuring whether its population based, or single vote apportionment. An alternative idea is giving India more autonomy, a special status which gives them 2 votes instead of 1, and all nations have veto power in their region. This would let each nation have their own sphere, and allow them all to prevent the empire from destabilizing the region, or their countries directly. Im not sure. its a rough one to pin down how you would make the deal enticing while still keeping the empire definitively British-lead.
Good video, I appreciate your relatively realistic scenarios. Especially when juxtaposed to some of the worst, (Monsieur Z, WhatifAltHist) you are a paragon of the alternate history community.
What's the problem with whatifalthist? In fact, I just re-watched Whatifalthist's video on imperial federation, and in real terms, he has a very similar set of conclusions. But while Possible History here tries to map out the internal politics, whatifalthist goes on an entirely different part of the world and the colonial/post-colonial areas and how they're affected, with the last bit saying "on the whole it's not a huge change" with ultimately being possible to watch these videos complimentarily. I think the biggest difference is that since Possible History makes a specific system to integrate into, while Whatifalthist kind of hand-waves away that it's a parliament, there's a specific interaction with the colonies that's only possible with Possible History's video. However, it ultimately doesn't change very much the broader themes between either. I'm how going to go re-watch Mosieur Z's video on imperial federation, since it's been multiple years and I haven't heard great things about the guy
Since we'd get to call ourselves Imperial citizens I'm all for it. Realistically speaking, I can see a Anglosphere Federation forming in the next 50 years. Not as a unitary state, but with a combined military and foreign policy.
I can only specifically see the Imperial Federation being effective if it had been strictly an attempt to maintain the union between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Basically the CANZUK nations. I don't think specifically having it be that each nation gets an equal vote. I would say a parliament based on population. Sure the United Kingdom would be the dominate driving force but collectively they would play a less unbalanced role into their relationship with the United States. I actually, as a Canadian, want CANZUK to become a reality, although statistically most people in all of the nations want it to be. There just isn't the political will to push for it in government. I would love to have the ability to live, work, travel, anywhere within, share a single currency, and so on.The potential is there, but likelihood in the next fifty years is unlikely.
The Royal Commonwealth/CANZUK is taking shape. As soon as Trudeau is out of power the RCN will be looking to acquire SSNs with the UK and Australia. This will weld together the alliance for 50 years.
@@1mol831 India isn't even in the Equation with CANZUK, not that they would even want to be, and given their recent provocations against Canada, we wouldn't want them either.
they could have a upper and lower houses of parliment. the lower house is based on poplation size. every country has the same number in the upper house how represent the hole country.
Honestly I could see a scenario where India does get integrated, just in a very "over time" manner as individual historical kingdoms/regions are raised fully to the federation, like say all those princely states Britain left to their own devices so long as they maintained their loyalty to the crown, they could hypothetically become the equivalent of US territories, disenfranchised yes, but not taxed either, and given a higher degree of home rule. Meanwhile territories with direct oversight could get representation as racism became more and more looked down on in Britain, until the imperial parliament has fully integrated, at the very least the directly ruled portions of the Indian subcontinent. The ethnic and cultural exchange that was already underway between the corners of the empire would probably also help grease the wheels over time.
In my own opinion intentionally or not the IF (Imperial Federation) would be an example to wide scale federation and the beginning of the Super States, which could lead more movements for economic or federal unions example in this alt history Denmark never joins the EU since they joined to regain access to British fishing waters, plus the IF is successful due to its shared heritage and culture which could lead to a Scandinavian economic union only issue is being would Sweden join NATO or not plus Finland can only join if it doesn't violate the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance forcing Finland into neutrality, or is force to wait for the collapse of the Soviets in the 90s. But that is just one idea you could see the African Union/League of South America evolve into there own economic Unions in theory, as you suggested the EU might be more united and might have a EU army with rising tensions in the 70/80s with the Euro missile crises. Oh and i Imagine that Commonwealth nations that recognise the British Monarchy might become Imperial associates similar to EU associates status just an idea
As what is considered a minority in the UK ( I'm welsh so not a traditionally classed as being Anglo ) I truly believe a strong united CANZUK union should be worked towards.
Wouldn't be all that surprised if New Zealand was a part of Australia in this scenario. Would make them more relevant as a part of the Australian voting block.
Since Cyprus would be a member of the Federation in this timeline, this would interestingly enough result on Greece and Turkey to remain friends today since the reason why the 2 today have even become fierce rivals in the first place, it was because of their dispute over Cyprus which started after the British gave it Independence. And this will not happen if Cyprus never becomes independent. And this right here is actually a big deal since this could also have an effect on what Turkey's Political Climate would be like as it remaining friends with Greece would result on Turkey not making any claims over the Greek Islands. Like you said, while the Map doesn't change much, geopolitics however does massively.
As a monarchist and an anglophile, I wish something similar to this happened. The Idea of a monarchy representing such a powerful nation in an age where there are hardly any monarchies just makes me happy.
Nice scenario, it is really realistic and I think it coul end really well, it would ensure that britain would keep her notoriety over the world, and in the 2000 with advances in the computer world, the federation would be unbreakable, as everyone along the federation could talk with other people from all around this imperial system. At the end it would work, specially if migration into africa is continued.
I feel there could be an Indian exceptional precedent were instead of getting direct voting rights in the Imperial Federation, it is treated as its own entity with common foreign policy and economic policy but internal autonomy that might work for the larger colonies for a time.
Not sure where you think Ireland fits into this. Separatist sentiment was already strong in the era you're proposing this would happen in, and the only part of Ireland that could be considered a "white settler colony" is the area would become Northern Ireland, there rest was just a regular colony.
Something that should be noted about French Algeria is that even though it was part of France, the native Algerians in it were not considered citizens until 1947, but by that time it was too late and decolonization sympathies were abundant. See @HistoryMatters video on French Algeria.
The Americans would do everything they could to sabotage it, its basically the best parts of the Empire without the money sinks or populations that wanted out.
I would like to add that in 1960 the population of this empire would be approx 86 million of people While in modern times it would have about 183 million of people!
What if the Federation uses a US-style of Congress? While there is a House of Parliament with representatives based on population sizes, there would be a second house with an equal number of representatives from each country
The incredible thing is if Britain did create the British imperial federation not only could we of kept all of pur territorys more nations could of asked to join an would of made Britain a super power with the US and the Soviet Union how different history could of been .
It'd be real interesting if the Imperial Federation , once it came to more modern times, instead of using China as the source of cheap labor, instead used India. It makes so much sense, especially since India would want it to fuel their industrialization.
“The French Empire was the closest to a cultural and linguistic assimilation of its colonies, even treating Algeria as just another province” Spain: I’m a joke for you?
With the Imperial Parliament I think it wouldn't be organised with a population based number of seats, I think it would be organised like the American and Australian senate's where each member state has a certain number of seats regardless of population. This parliament would allow the corporation of all member states fairly. However the British would like to keep their influence so perhaps they might host the capital and meeting place of the parliament. Perhaps they may even be two houses or even three houses with one of them being like the parliament in the video with it being based on population. This system would balance everything out like the American and Australian house if reps and senate. Just a thought lol. Seems slightly more realistic but then again this is the imperial Federation.
Can we get a video of the French joining the federation? Could this possibly make other dominions/colonies join now that the imperial parliament wouldn't be speaking only English?
It was always kinda sad to me that a once massive superpower, just became sort of an American puppet. This scenario is super interesting because if this had happened, they could have possibly have stayed as a superpower!
One more thing to take care into account: Scottish and Quebecois separatism. The Brits would again be facing the issu they had with their colonies, but in the 90 and 2000. While I can see the Scots being added to the Federation as a separate entity just as Ireland was, the issue of Quebec is more contentious.
India, and the highly populated parts of the Empire, joining the Federation, could still happen, if one used an Electoral College type method. California isn't crying for independence, is it?
What I find interesting about this theory and its perceived "unfairness" is that this Federal system is exactly the way Canada is set up. The provinces and the feds are always at each other, but the separation of powers means the provinces are ultimately beholden to the federal government (even if they can gain occasional concessions ).
Better to strengthen Five Eyes. Maybe add Japan as well. Just an alliance and some basic economic and military integration. There’s talk of Japan joining Aukus. The problem with CANZUK is all its members’ main security partner is the US. Developing Five Eyes/ Aukus makes a lot more sense.
I think this would actually be the 3rd largest economy today after only the US and China. Japan probably would've been above it in the 80s and 90s. But nowadays Australia, Canada and the UK alone is larger than Japan. I think Hong Kong and Singapore could be likely inclusions, maybe not actually in the federation and their parliament but instead as semi autonomous imperial city states.
A thing about seats and Parliament why not pull a US and make an upper house and lower house. One that is per population and the second per member state
You didn’t take the population growth of South Africa into account - today, South Africa would be the second largest member (by far), maybe even first if British migration to Canada and Australia increased sufficiently.
Relative South African population growth is alos going to be affected by the spread of the sexual revolution and women's rights. The sexual revolution is 1 of the contributing factors to the collapse of birth rates in western countries and did not spread into the black South African population anywhere near the extent it did in britian and Canada IOTL. A more integrated South Africa would probably face the same extent as the rest of the empire. Women's rights is another major factor and simiallry did not penatrate the black South African population as early as it did the British and canadian ones, a more integrated South africa would have similar women's rights and the affects thereof. Another factor is whether the Anglos engage in ww1 or not, it has been suggested a more colonial outlook within the UK, let alone the dominions that would be the result of such a federation would result in britian staying neutral, or mostly neutral, in ww1 (and thus probably ww2 if such a thing even happens), which would also affect relative populations.
13:27 Worth noting is that Malta came extremely close to becoming a full part of the UK, and even passed a referendum on it, but in our timeline there was resistance in the UK & Malta that never made it happen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Maltese_United_Kingdom_integration_referendum
I think the fairest plausible way to allocate seats is with allocations based on the colony’s GDP. Thus, Britain retains dominance, India gets representation and (hopefully) members are inspired to grow their economies to gain influence rather than seek independence.
Too many in Canada don't see the value of it (Quebec and recent immigrants) and they miss out on the freedom of movement and the access to other markets we would gain.
This was one of my favourite scenarios tho I do hugely disagree on when you say that The Imperial Federations Economy would be eclipsed by Japan. Let’s be honest here the proposed CANZUK Union alone has an estimated economy 1 trillion more than Japans current. If you add a bunch of Tiny economies and a few medium sized economies into that bunch there’s absolutely zero Chance Japans economy would eclipse them. and I’d argue due the weakness of the Soviet communist system it would be a fair amount larger than the Soviet economy. The Chinese Economy however would still eclipse them eventually and the European economy would definitely be larger too and obviously it wouldn’t come close to the American Economy however I just can’t see Japan being an economy to eclipse the Federations economy.
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Can you demote Marklin and Caudillo
Wouldn’t it have a larger economy than Japan tho, since the U.K. (GDP of $3.2 trillion USD in 2021) and Canada (GDP of $1.8 trillion in 2021) almost match Japans economy ($5.1 trillion USD in 2021).
The U.K. will miss out in not being a part of the EU, however I’d be surprised if the imperial federation didn’t have free trade deals with the United States and EU, that a are currently better than USMCA/NAFTA and EU-U.K. TCA as well due to having more power in negotiations.
It’d probably be the 3rd largest economy today, behind the USA and China (not including the EU).
Yeah the Japan thing was referring mostly to Japans economic miracle, but you are correct. After Japans economy starts to stagnate the Federation would eclipse them again.
Really want to see this with the French.
@@joshbentley2307if the imperial federation existed alongside America And European union.
I don't think china's economy would have risen so quickly as in our timeline.
China yes would be used like today. But not to the same scale.
3 western economic powers. Would be allies but would rival. Making the economic policies very different to today's. Export our economy don't matter.
America couldn't let its economy fall as much as it did if 2 massive western powers were able to challenge it.
Sure yes we would still export a lot to Asia. China mainly but probably more effort in the smaller nations like Philippines and Vietnam.
Also imperial federation would have India similar to have us would use China.
No Canadians would die for the Aussies in their Emu wars. Those things scare the maple syrup out of us.
That’s not very polite of you
We'd have to give the Emu's seats in the Parliament. We can't afford them getting expansionist ideals
@@zombiedalekweck2243 fortunately they can’t swim too far so they could never expand past Australia if that’s all we have to surrender then so be it
Also have to keep that Vegemite plague contained in Australia.
No you’ll be fine send your geese those 2 monsters will fight each other to the end
Expected some cringe powerpoint about how Britain would be a superpower in 2022. Got a really intelligent, well-reasoned analysis. This is the kind of alt-history I love. You deserve way more subs.
"British empire will reform by 2016!!!!"
@@averagejoe8358
Expectations:
Reality: Brexit
@@averagejoe8358 The sun will never set on Britannia or the Commonwealth. Long live the King.
@@UberAllez You mean the "it" it's 2023 learn the new 8 genders already
@@UberAllez the monarchy will be abolished in the next 20 years
Then somewhere in the 21st century there’d be a video of “what if the British federation broke up”
Most realistic "what if" scenario I've seen. Good job!
Agreed. He made it actually sound possible if everything went right
I sometimes wonder if things would have been different for the US and the Philippines.
I hope its possible to form the imperial federation in vic 3. My requirements would be number 1 GP, year is 1900, several million £ and an ungodly amount of prestige.
imagine all the infamy from doing that
@@moonshinei everyone got instant dismantle wargoal on you
GUYS IMPERIAL FEDERATION IN 1836!!!
£20 million sound good?
For those opposed to this idea, ducking cope it’s amazing.
Interesting idea. In a very real sense, it is a scaled-up version of what happened with Australia. During the 19th century, Australia was made up of six separate British colonies, each with its own taxation, military, etc.. The concept of a union (called 'Federation') was an extremely hot political topic in the latter half of the century - much arguing, several referendums, and so forth. Federation finally took place in 1901, with each of the colonies becoming a State of the new nation.
It is worth noting that New Zealand was a participant in the talks but opted to remain independent. Australia's Constitution allows for NZ to join if it ever chooses to. The closeness and kinship between Australia and NZ remains, but nobody expects a union anytime soon. Likewise, Western Australia almost stayed separate, and Fiji was, at one stage of talks, seriously proposed as a member.
Not that these alt-Australias would be likely to have a HUGE impact on subsequent world history, but you never know. :)
It's also a scaled up idea of what happened to Canada IIRC as Canada was itself simply a collection of North American colonies not a part of the USA.
Interesting take, The Imperial Federation was always an interesting What If scenario when I first found out about it, I always imagined Australia, New Zealand, and Canada as being part of it but your explanation for South Africa's inclusion seems plausible if it had happened that way.
It would be an emigration from the British isles perhaps. And then move population into Australia Canada and New Zealand.
South Africa was always a guaranteed partner until independence as one of the "white" dominions. It was included in the original plans. However, especially after apartheid, it changed too much to even really be considered.
I love the idea of the federation so much. I’m a big fan of multiethnic empires so projects like Poland-Lithuania and the Imperial Federation or even the integration of the French African colonies are all very exciting to me.
I just wish they had worked :/
well often they were too little too late. Rome did it succesffuly
I pity you
@@NyalBurns wdym
@@-.blake.- He probably has an issue with the multi ethnic thing.
@@slimshady9147 Mfw ethnonationalism: 😕
I got to tell you, it was perfect. Perfect. Everything, down to the last minute details.
And ngl, I prefer this remastered one over the original one you made months ago.
Can't wait for you to also do the same thing with the others.
The Imperial Navy would be a similar size to the USN.
But, probably, with more (smaller) carriers to allow for the ships to be dispersed to various ports.
Which would provide for a more rapid response time to regional issues.
Thinking it through, I'd expect the IN to have something like 24 carriers in 8 CVBG, with about 60 aircraft on each . And I'd envisage a carrier battle group to be something like:
3 CVn, 1 LAn, 4 CAn, 8 CL(aw), 1 DDl(as), 7 DD(as).
The *L*ittoral *A*ssault ship would be a nuclear powered Helicopter carrier with a brigade of Imperial Marines. Further, there would be 2 nuclear powered Support ships carrying extra fuel & other supplies for the light cruisers, destroyer leader and destroyers.
@@EarlJohn61 the UK could have joined the EU navy and it would be A LOT bigger if all the nations united and built up
@Apsoy Pike britains literally a blue water navy
its already a major naval power
@@bigpapagorge9667 its no longer a major naval power since after the cold war, well perhaps each persons definition of major is different but its not a blue water navy, their fleet is small and shrinking not fit for major operations like it used to. most of the major european countries have seen a big loss in military size, as without the ussr they don't feel threatened.
@Apsoy Pike they’re literally one of 3 blue water navies
their navy is like 4th or 5th in terms of tonnage, however this doesn’t factor in their tech
i guess being able to sail the globe and strike anywhere on it is just a minor naval power, like every country can do that!
It’d be really interesting to see which smaller colonies would end up joining. The Bahamas, West Indies, Straits Settlements, Northern Borneo, and Hong Kong especially would be interesting. Given how long Hong Kong remained part of Britain before being turned over to China, I can’t imagine it wouldn’t become fully integrated well before then, leading to a potential conflict between the Federation and China over Hong Kong. Something I do want to point out though is that although the GDP figures would be vastly different, the Federation would emerge today as still the third largest economy on Earth at least. Japan and the Soviets would have briefly overtaken it but Russia isn’t even a question today, being smaller than 2 of the members while adding up those same 2, the UK and Canada, dwarf Japan’s current GDP figures by over $1 trillion. Depending on if or how a potential conflict went between China and the Federation over Hong Kong which could also carry heavy implications for Taiwan or the Korean Peninsula, it’s possible China wouldn’t be the second largest economy today as well. The west would be far less likely to massively invest in Chinese manufacturing if a war was fresh in their minds, especially if it devastated Chinese coastal infrastructure.
@@Me-yq1fl I mean even at 30% their given GDP figure, they still exceed Japan by $1 trillion. I definitely do agree that their numbers are inflated. The real GDP and even population are considerably smaller than officially stated but they are still the third largest economy. Any dream of catching the US is just that though, a dream.
@@Me-yq1fl there’s that one paper which says it’s 70% smaller but also many others that do not, maybe 30% smaller, but 70 seems like the more far fetched estimate.
Don’t forget Sierra Leone
The West Indies would almost certainly have joined the federation. One of the things often not known outside the Caribbean (and even within the Caribbean) is that the leaders of the early Caribbean nationalist movements and the fathers of Caribbean independence were also, paradoxically, staunchly pro-empire. The early Caribbean independence movements were by in large entirely in favour of dominion status, aka autonomy/independence, but within the framework of the empire. If the Imperial Federation ever happened, virtually the entire Caribbean political establishment would have been heavily in favour of the West Indies joining the federation
Bro theres no way America and Russia wont double team on Britain harder than a pornstar that just turned 18 if they so much as think about holding on to their territory, let alone leased one
0:12 Yugoslavia arguably tried to do just that. It just doesn't work that way
Oh and since South Africa, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia would also be in the Imperial Federation, then this would also have a major change over the African Union.
There would be 2 possibilities:
- The African IF Members would not join the African Union, the same way the UK would not join the EU.
- The entire IF might join due to either wanting to benefit from African Resources or the AU itself would beg the IF to join in order to make the AU grow faster with the IF's help
There could be more possibilities that I haven't thought of yet, but you who is reading this might. So feel free to share me what you think would actually happen on this African Scenario.
inviting the colonizers in after they left is an ironic idea
I like the idea of big Federations where resources are generally pooled but solutions to problems are brought up and solved locally. Don't like where you live? Use your Federation Citizenship to move to a different member state that suits you.
This would also have made the proposed Imperial Airship Network viable - perhaps even vital and necessary for 'rapid' travel.
A another way to organize the government would be an Imperial Senate, which function like the US Senate. Split the Federation into Imperial States, and have local legislatures. This would allow the integration of India and more in my mind, but maybe I’m missing something. Just a shower thought
india would still feel underepresented
But later down the line more of the Empire could be integrated and the Dominion would feel as they were more equal to Britain
I actually thought of something like this but I’m Canadian and because we are not a republic I never learned about that system in school so I only vaguely know how it works I think to unify all of the colonies they should do a combination of the usas system we’re they have a legislative executive and judicial branchs so the IF will have its colonies have autonomy to focus on their own issues and issues that affect the IF as a whole and the uk could decide to devide all the colonies by ethnic lines and have each of them have representation in the main government that does issues that affects the IF as a whole that way the populations will be less because there is more states and the uk could still have the majority of seats or at the very least a large portion of them but that’s very unlikely because I’m pretty Shure the UK don’t know what ethic lines are lol
@@Alterarc-n6v Honestly my thought process was a government structure like the United Federation of Planets from Star Trek. The Federation Government is responsible for foreign relations, common defense, etc, while the members govern themselves in accordance with the Federation Charter. A similar system could be applied to the Imperial Federation, with even the Untied Kingdom being consider just another member of the IF, but that I feel would be a hard pill for the British to sallow
@@davidpowell7945 ya it would have been interesting to see this happen the British government should’ve made the ultimatum clearer keep the empire and loose your sovereignty or loose the empire and keep your sovereignty and because of the eu they lost it anyways and now it’s on the verge of collapse they really made the wrong decision on that one lol
Would love to see greater unity between contemporary English-speaking speaking countries
Love your attempt at realism, and not editing what you think may happen for our modern day more pc ears. Good channel, man!
I imagine that some places would want to remain or rejoin e.g. Singapore when they were kicked out of Melissa also i emagin that the federation intentionally or otherwise would inspire further unions such as a scandanavion union and raise the opinion on the idea of super states
As a Canadian of British extraction I find this intriguing.
I'm old enough to have experienced Canada for a large part of the 20th Century. Much of the population (even some of the immigrant population) strived to be; "More English than The English," for much of that time.
The concept of Multiculturalism that came in with Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968 (Justin's father) would probably not have gained the traction it did historically.
Also, yes, from my own experience with with and as a White Anglo in English Canada, Racism did and would have played a major role in their perceptions of who would "belong".
Nice video. The biggest question you didn't address though, IMO, was the Boers.
Honestly I'd see the seat proportions being negotiated prior to every election, changing each time based on perceived power of each member as the most likely way it would work (EU parliament does something a bit similar today). Splitting South Africa and admitting only the Cape Colony would work the best.
The Quebecois would probably not be happy about Federation either. Although splitting South Africa up with just the Cape Colony joining the Federation would pretty much just be another India-Pakistan, since there'd be a notable of Brits in the Transvaal, and especially Natal, by far the old South African province with the most Brits composing of its white population ending up in the"Not-Federation half"and some of the more nationalistic Afrikaaners in cape colony stuck in the Federation. Not quite an easy situation to defuse really.
HAHA! I am so happy your remaking videos! Not only to get better audio on them but to revise them as well! Keep up the great work Possible History!
I could see that another branch of government for the Imperial Federation would be made where each state would have a seat in a House of Lords sort of establishment (could imagine Scotland would get included in this, to boost England's power). They wouldn't have that much power, but it would help fill the role of the House of Lords and allow the colonies to have some more influence.
Great video. But I disagree about the limitations on the federation and it’s members; they seem to be largely dependent on how you decided to structure this new Imperial Parliament. Rather than proportional representation in the parliament, which would make any local assemblies or parliaments in these countries redundant, it would most likely form a body similar to the US senate. No matter how small or large a dominion or realm is, they all have the same number of votes. India counts the same as Britain, even though the population is much much larger, and this body is probably not going to be popularly elected but an appointed body as well, perhaps even incorporating nobility, royalty, and aristocracy from across the empire.
A structure like that would mean that Britain will lose most of its power which is just not gonna happen
That would leave many feeling underrepresented in the Federation, and then they would simply leave
@@Avghistorian77 Not really. Remember it’s always elites who rule, not the people at large, many of whom simply go about their days by habit. This is especially true in India where the princes still held a great deal of local authority. The British Raj was just a bunch of treaties between the Indian princes and the British who took over from the vacuum the Mughals left. India then was not really one nation but a collection of princely states owing “vassalage” to the British empire.
This was a great upload You should make a video on What If the Franco British Union was actually formed.
Such a shame the UK never went down this path in history. Now their more isolated than ever.
No they aren't.
Mate you live in caves or something?
The UK is not isolated as much as the tabloids tell you. We left a club - we didn't leave the planet.
@@w33btrash69 it still would be better if the UK and it’s ex realms and dominions strengthens their relations, I say this as an Australian who despite CANZUK too
@@w33btrash69 Nah, didn't you hear? The tories picked up britain and threw it into space, the sky is an illusion
Honestly, i understand that Britain would be apprehensive of giving equal representation to all of their federal colonies, but i feel like equal representation for empire-wide affairs would be their best way of keeping it ALL together, but proportional representation could work for pretty much all the colonies except India.
Why do you think it wouldn't work for India?
@@stanleymcmillan4389 Mostly because of the population issue mentioned here. India would get pretty much unfettered control of the empires affairs due to their massive population. their one vote would be more powerful than all the other votes of the empires members combined. Thats why i say proportional couldnt really work with India there, because its just such a lopsided trade-off.
@@firedeath1154 is a solution diluting the Indian vote between the provinces?
@@legofanaditya Im not entirely certain. I feel like that still winds up with the same problem occuring whether its population based, or single vote apportionment.
An alternative idea is giving India more autonomy, a special status which gives them 2 votes instead of 1, and all nations have veto power in their region. This would let each nation have their own sphere, and allow them all to prevent the empire from destabilizing the region, or their countries directly.
Im not sure. its a rough one to pin down how you would make the deal enticing while still keeping the empire definitively British-lead.
Good video, I appreciate your relatively realistic scenarios. Especially when juxtaposed to some of the worst, (Monsieur Z, WhatifAltHist) you are a paragon of the alternate history community.
What's the problem with whatifalthist?
In fact, I just re-watched Whatifalthist's video on imperial federation, and in real terms, he has a very similar set of conclusions. But while Possible History here tries to map out the internal politics, whatifalthist goes on an entirely different part of the world and the colonial/post-colonial areas and how they're affected, with the last bit saying "on the whole it's not a huge change" with ultimately being possible to watch these videos complimentarily.
I think the biggest difference is that since Possible History makes a specific system to integrate into, while Whatifalthist kind of hand-waves away that it's a parliament, there's a specific interaction with the colonies that's only possible with Possible History's video. However, it ultimately doesn't change very much the broader themes between either.
I'm how going to go re-watch Mosieur Z's video on imperial federation, since it's been multiple years and I haven't heard great things about the guy
Awesome as always!
Since we'd get to call ourselves Imperial citizens I'm all for it. Realistically speaking, I can see a Anglosphere Federation forming in the next 50 years. Not as a unitary state, but with a combined military and foreign policy.
Finaly, America will have 55 states
Canzuk
@@happyelephant5384 lol
Malta nearly joined the UK
I could see them letting Egypt in to secure the Suez canal
@@AmritDillon how so? Are you going to tell me your brilliant word to the contrary
I can only specifically see the Imperial Federation being effective if it had been strictly an attempt to maintain the union between the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Basically the CANZUK nations.
I don't think specifically having it be that each nation gets an equal vote. I would say a parliament based on population. Sure the United Kingdom would be the dominate driving force but collectively they would play a less unbalanced role into their relationship with the United States.
I actually, as a Canadian, want CANZUK to become a reality, although statistically most people in all of the nations want it to be. There just isn't the political will to push for it in government. I would love to have the ability to live, work, travel, anywhere within, share a single currency, and so on.The potential is there, but likelihood in the next fifty years is unlikely.
If they include india and let them vote… then it will be india centric.
@@1mol831 so very true, if only India wanted to join hands on this one.
The Royal Commonwealth/CANZUK is taking shape. As soon as Trudeau is out of power the RCN will be looking to acquire SSNs with the UK and Australia.
This will weld together the alliance for 50 years.
@@1mol831 India isn't even in the Equation with CANZUK, not that they would even want to be, and given their recent provocations against Canada, we wouldn't want them either.
they could have a upper and lower houses of parliment. the lower house is based on poplation size. every country has the same number in the upper house how represent the hole country.
Honestly I could see a scenario where India does get integrated, just in a very "over time" manner as individual historical kingdoms/regions are raised fully to the federation, like say all those princely states Britain left to their own devices so long as they maintained their loyalty to the crown, they could hypothetically become the equivalent of US territories, disenfranchised yes, but not taxed either, and given a higher degree of home rule. Meanwhile territories with direct oversight could get representation as racism became more and more looked down on in Britain, until the imperial parliament has fully integrated, at the very least the directly ruled portions of the Indian subcontinent.
The ethnic and cultural exchange that was already underway between the corners of the empire would probably also help grease the wheels over time.
In my own opinion intentionally or not the IF (Imperial Federation) would be an example to wide scale federation and the beginning of the Super States, which could lead more movements for economic or federal unions example in this alt history Denmark never joins the EU since they joined to regain access to British fishing waters, plus the IF is successful due to its shared heritage and culture which could lead to a Scandinavian economic union only issue is being would Sweden join NATO or not plus Finland can only join if it doesn't violate the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance forcing Finland into neutrality, or is force to wait for the collapse of the Soviets in the 90s. But that is just one idea you could see the African Union/League of South America evolve into there own economic Unions in theory, as you suggested the EU might be more united and might have a EU army with rising tensions in the 70/80s with the Euro missile crises.
Oh and i Imagine that Commonwealth nations that recognise the British Monarchy might become Imperial associates similar to EU associates status just an idea
Does it need to join NATO? The Nordics are hardy people and should be around as strong as USA as Nordic Union. People there are crazy strong anyways.
Why does the *Spanish* Anthem start sounding at 7:32?
you earned my subscription with this one. I will be back for more althist from you!
As what is considered a minority in the UK ( I'm welsh so not a traditionally classed as being Anglo ) I truly believe a strong united CANZUK union should be worked towards.
The Welsh are not considered a minority in the UK.
@@LollipopLozzy454545
Yes we are? What are you going on about? One of the options on our national census is white (welsh).
Wouldn't be all that surprised if New Zealand was a part of Australia in this scenario. Would make them more relevant as a part of the Australian voting block.
We don't want to be part of Australia - that might mean we have to pay for our own defense.
Since Cyprus would be a member of the Federation in this timeline, this would interestingly enough result on Greece and Turkey to remain friends today since the reason why the 2 today have even become fierce rivals in the first place, it was because of their dispute over Cyprus which started after the British gave it Independence. And this will not happen if Cyprus never becomes independent.
And this right here is actually a big deal since this could also have an effect on what Turkey's Political Climate would be like as it remaining friends with Greece would result on Turkey not making any claims over the Greek Islands.
Like you said, while the Map doesn't change much, geopolitics however does massively.
I mean the Greeks would still hate the turks for the genocide though
As a monarchist and an anglophile, I wish something similar to this happened. The Idea of a monarchy representing such a powerful nation in an age where there are hardly any monarchies just makes me happy.
Hell nah
Fr
Bro, who in their right mind is a monarchist? Unless you're Brazilian I guess lmao
Nice scenario, it is really realistic and I think it coul end really well, it would ensure that britain would keep her notoriety over the world, and in the 2000 with advances in the computer world, the federation would be unbreakable, as everyone along the federation could talk with other people from all around this imperial system. At the end it would work, specially if migration into africa is continued.
I really enjoyed the video!
I feel there could be an Indian exceptional precedent were instead of getting direct voting rights in the Imperial Federation, it is treated as its own entity with common foreign policy and economic policy but internal autonomy that might work for the larger colonies for a time.
Not sure where you think Ireland fits into this. Separatist sentiment was already strong in the era you're proposing this would happen in, and the only part of Ireland that could be considered a "white settler colony" is the area would become Northern Ireland, there rest was just a regular colony.
Something that should be noted about French Algeria is that even though it was part of France, the native Algerians in it were not considered citizens until 1947, but by that time it was too late and decolonization sympathies were abundant. See @HistoryMatters video on French Algeria.
So so beautiful, imagine how great this would be not just for the nations involved but humanity as whole.
The Americans would do everything they could to sabotage it, its basically the best parts of the Empire without the money sinks or populations that wanted out.
(other than if WW2 never happened) but best scenario. Should have happened irl.
By the way what software do you use for video editing?
I've been really enjoying all these alternative history scenarios. Lots of little tidbits and reasonable speculation.
awesome. would be cool if you DID do some complex economic theorising. also would be nice to see more talk of civil rights
That “well would you look at that” blummin priceless.
I would like to add that in 1960 the population of this empire would be approx 86 million of people
While in modern times it would have about 183 million of people!
Actually 185 because I didn't count Namibia in modern times !
3:39 that's a cool painting
I feel like this channel is one of the few alt history channels that doesn't let their bias impact the realism of their predictions
I think the idea of imperial parliament being just population based seems very unlikely.
I would love a follow up video of:
This video + France joins the Federation in WW2. That would be awesome to watch.
Great channel
What if the Federation uses a US-style of Congress? While there is a House of Parliament with representatives based on population sizes, there would be a second house with an equal number of representatives from each country
Could you explain what the colors represent at 0:20? Why is romania painted? Seems very random.
The incredible thing is if Britain did create the British imperial federation not only could we of kept all of pur territorys more nations could of asked to join an would of made Britain a super power with the US and the Soviet Union how different history could of been .
13:40 Yugoslav sea looks so peaceful.
It'd be real interesting if the Imperial Federation , once it came to more modern times, instead of using China as the source of cheap labor, instead used India.
It makes so much sense, especially since India would want it to fuel their industrialization.
Wow didn’t expect so much detail
“The French Empire was the closest to a cultural and linguistic assimilation of its colonies, even treating Algeria as just another province”
Spain: I’m a joke for you?
With the Imperial Parliament I think it wouldn't be organised with a population based number of seats, I think it would be organised like the American and Australian senate's where each member state has a certain number of seats regardless of population. This parliament would allow the corporation of all member states fairly. However the British would like to keep their influence so perhaps they might host the capital and meeting place of the parliament. Perhaps they may even be two houses or even three houses with one of them being like the parliament in the video with it being based on population. This system would balance everything out like the American and Australian house if reps and senate.
Just a thought lol. Seems slightly more realistic but then again this is the imperial Federation.
Can we get a video of the French joining the federation? Could this possibly make other dominions/colonies join now that the imperial parliament wouldn't be speaking only English?
Yugoslavia be like: The sea...it is calling to me
It was always kinda sad to me that a once massive superpower, just became sort of an American puppet.
This scenario is super interesting because if this had happened, they could have possibly have stayed as a superpower!
We may yet rise again however. All of the potential CANZUK nations show high opinion in polls for such an idea.
Lmao britain think they are more important than they really are these days
@@Daniel-ll2cl very true 😂
@@rustyshackleford234 holding on to nostalgia noone can actually remember because Britain was a superpower preWW1 and noone is even alive from then
Britian is a Brussels puppet, not an American puppet
love your content thank you
One more thing to take care into account: Scottish and Quebecois separatism. The Brits would again be facing the issu they had with their colonies, but in the 90 and 2000. While I can see the Scots being added to the Federation as a separate entity just as Ireland was, the issue of Quebec is more contentious.
Scotland isn't going to leave the uk. We are firmly in the United Kingdom
Scotland and Quebec both support CANZUK.
Please do the Franco British union followup. Which could potentially have been a beginning of a more European Union around Britain.
Britan said no to it
India, and the highly populated parts of the Empire, joining the Federation, could still happen, if one used an Electoral College type method.
California isn't crying for independence, is it?
@1:40 made me LOL
What I find interesting about this theory and its perceived "unfairness" is that this Federal system is exactly the way Canada is set up. The provinces and the feds are always at each other, but the separation of powers means the provinces are ultimately beholden to the federal government (even if they can gain occasional concessions ).
Better to strengthen Five Eyes. Maybe add Japan as well. Just an alliance and some basic economic and military integration. There’s talk of Japan joining Aukus.
The problem with CANZUK is all its members’ main security partner is the US.
Developing Five Eyes/ Aukus makes a lot more sense.
This is not canzuk, this is the pre-ww1 imperial federation.
I think this would actually be the 3rd largest economy today after only the US and China. Japan probably would've been above it in the 80s and 90s. But nowadays Australia, Canada and the UK alone is larger than Japan. I think Hong Kong and Singapore could be likely inclusions, maybe not actually in the federation and their parliament but instead as semi autonomous imperial city states.
we might have even seen Hong Kong remain free of China. Old agreements be dammed. They'd certainly be more free.
A thing about seats and Parliament why not pull a US and make an upper house and lower house. One that is per population and the second per member state
This seems very close to the idea of CANZUK .............. perhaps still possible?
Wow! Helps out massively
Interesting idea! Man the cold war and present day would be pretty different with a much larger democratic superpower also on the side of the US.
We would probably go our own way like China while still having some partnership with the US
Damn we couldve had this? Far better than the current timeline.
Maybe they would accept India if they split it up into very many discrete parts, but I don't think they would want that
Has anyone here heard of Canzuk? Probably worth checking out if you’re interested in this.
You didn’t take the population growth of South Africa into account - today, South Africa would be the second largest member (by far), maybe even first if British migration to Canada and Australia increased sufficiently.
Relative South African population growth is alos going to be affected by the spread of the sexual revolution and women's rights.
The sexual revolution is 1 of the contributing factors to the collapse of birth rates in western countries and did not spread into the black South African population anywhere near the extent it did in britian and Canada IOTL. A more integrated South Africa would probably face the same extent as the rest of the empire.
Women's rights is another major factor and simiallry did not penatrate the black South African population as early as it did the British and canadian ones, a more integrated South africa would have similar women's rights and the affects thereof.
Another factor is whether the Anglos engage in ww1 or not, it has been suggested a more colonial outlook within the UK, let alone the dominions that would be the result of such a federation would result in britian staying neutral, or mostly neutral, in ww1 (and thus probably ww2 if such a thing even happens), which would also affect relative populations.
Blacks don’t count.
13:27 Worth noting is that Malta came extremely close to becoming a full part of the UK, and even passed a referendum on it, but in our timeline there was resistance in the UK & Malta that never made it happen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Maltese_United_Kingdom_integration_referendum
So United Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales could of been potentially Federated States in an Imperial Federation
No they’d likely be devolved states within the United Kingdom, which would itself be a member of the federation
@@Mickyway What do you mean by "seen"? At the time it was uncommon to speak English in most of Wales.
From Ireland no chance . Not then ...not now
@possiblehistory at 3:27 it's the german Reichstag Building? a bit false for the UK :)
Really would be interested in a video that has the Franco-British union work in this scenario.
What if Austria won the brothers war of 1865
Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssss!
The realistic scenario is that the Imperial Parliament would likely look something more like the current EU Council or Council of the EU.
i would have actually liked a british federation, but i’m british so i guess i’m biased
I love your channel keep up the great stuff
I think the fairest plausible way to allocate seats is with allocations based on the colony’s GDP. Thus, Britain retains dominance, India gets representation and (hopefully) members are inspired to grow their economies to gain influence rather than seek independence.
India could not work with this concept. Royal Commonwealth countries only.
What would happen today? India is now by far the largest economy in this mix. Would the UK accept Indian dominance?
For the voting system in the imperial federation, a system akin to the EU could be used, where small states get more influence per inhabitant.
Or make their vote weeker then great british
Probably the closest thing we would have to this maybe in the future is CANZUK
Too many in Canada don't see the value of it (Quebec and recent immigrants) and they miss out on the freedom of movement and the access to other markets we would gain.
@@marklittle8805Canadian public is massively in favour of it. UK public opinion is slowly creeping up. It makes sense and will happen
This was one of my favourite scenarios tho I do hugely disagree on when you say that The Imperial Federations Economy would be eclipsed by Japan.
Let’s be honest here the proposed CANZUK Union alone has an estimated economy 1 trillion more than Japans current.
If you add a bunch of Tiny economies and a few medium sized economies into that bunch there’s absolutely zero Chance Japans economy would eclipse them. and I’d argue due the weakness of the Soviet communist system it would be a fair amount larger than the Soviet economy.
The Chinese Economy however would still eclipse them eventually and the European economy would definitely be larger too and obviously it wouldn’t come close to the American Economy however I just can’t see Japan being an economy to eclipse the Federations economy.
Nice video!