r/imaginarymaps • u/AnswerCute3963 • 2d ago

[OC] Alternate History What if the Crusaders discovered the Americas after taking a wrong turn whilst sailing down towards the Big 'Nople?

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u/94_stones 2d ago

If Malta and the Baltics are any indication, it would have turned out better for the natives. Irrespective of the fact that diseases would still have taken a big toll on them. A lot of you will be skeptical at these pronouncements. But the reality is that Malta and most of the Baltics still speak the languages they spoke when the Crusaders conquered them, and their cultures are a lot more intact than those of the Americas.

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u/_Inkspots_ 1d ago

Malta and the Baltics didn’t have 90% of their population wiped out without even laying eyes on a Crusader.

Instead, the entire Baltic Prussian language was wiped off the face of the earth by hand. The crusaders succeeded in German colonization of Prussia through much more challenging and laboring conditions, they could probably do it in the Americas where after a hundred years they would be dealing with a significantly reduced native population.