Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon
Government of the Kingdom of England, Earth-4 (Clockpunk Earth), 1557
(SNIP)
Thoughts?
|
Renaissance England still featured a lot of nobles more loyal to themselves than to either crown or country. One of the most interesting parts about Queen Elizabeth I is that, when it came to policy-making, she was only about average -- or, at best, slightly above.
The big thing she had going for her was luck. Following the upheaval that brought her to power, most of her subjects were worn out from fighting. On top of that, the Spanish made sufficient nuisances of themselves that she was able to focus a lot of British ire on them, and the storm that wiped out their fleet was a stroke of sheer, random, good fortune.
It also meant that she could authorize privateers to prey on Spanish shipping, which gave the most ambitious of her nobles and gentry a means of social mobility that didn't including fighting at home. North America also provided a second safety-valve, of sorts.
Given all of this, I'd wonder what lessons her people get from news about the other Englands? I'd bet she keeps a tight reign on the information that gets out, and she strongly emphasizes the power of the Dp-British Empire and the Stp-British Empire. I bet she doesn't really allow too much information out about the reduced circumstances of the Ip-United Kingdom, or the fact that they got supplanted by the nation created by the rebel American colonists.
The smart move is to try to integrate the North American colonies more fully into the United Kingdom, including parliamentary representation. However, that dilution of power starts to step on a lot of toes of existing interests.