What if the Fourth Crusade Never Happened?

An alternate history video. What if the dreaded Fourth Crusade never happened, and how would the Byzantine empire be impacted as a result?
I plan on making more content like this, please comment if you would like more alternate history scenarios, or just general history content.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:21 - The "New" Fourth Crusade and Venice
2:53 - The Mongols and Anatolia
5:26 - Italy, Great Schism, The Balkans
8:14 - Ottomans, Timurids, Persia, Russia
11:15 - Renaissance, Colonialism, Industrialisation and Modern Day
14:48 - Conclusion

Music Credits:
Lost in prayer - YouTube Music Library
Gates of Constantinople - Europa Universalis IV Copyright [2013] Paradox Interactive AB
Welcome to Constantinople - Europa Universalis IV Copyright [2013] Paradox Interactive AB

[pillow_ben]

Then i woke up and realized it was a video and cryed myself to sleep :(

[mysteryjunkie]

Good video I wish the 4th Crusaders weren’t so stupid. I’m glad you understand real history the Byzantine Empire was the Roman Empire the Holy Roman Empire was a pretender state. Thank you for bringing up the Armenian Genocide they tried to downplay it

[Theodoros_Kolokotronis]

The notable work “Chronographia” of Michael Psellos (Psellus), prominent Byzantine Historian and Imperial Courtier to several Byzantine Emperors (11th century), is one of the best accounts and series of biographies from emperor Basil II to Nikephoros III.

A unique and valuable source on the history of the 11th century Greek Byzantine Empire. Truly, a historic and academic treasure.

[floridaball]

13:39 I highly doubt the byzantines would just give up Egypt after getting it back It would make the rest to Europe invade them to take it back because Egypt was a core part of the Byzantine Empire and they weren't going to give it back

[santiagoparra]

is like having a Christian ottoman empire I LOVE IT

[damjankrstevski]

I barely stopped myself from crying....

[OperatorMax]

i really wish Byzantium survived both the fourth crusade and the fall of Constantinople
this is the one and only dream i wish it would come true

[wires-slgs]

Great video! With this level of quality I would say you're easily one of my new favorite alternate history youtubers, alongside Alternate History Hub, Whatifalthist, and Monsieur Z.

[richmeisterradio]

Good stuff. However one tip for your oration. You use your throat to speak a lot, so some sounds are hard to differentiate from others. Almost like you are slighly slurring your words.

My suggestion is to take a deep breath before each sentence.

[alexandersiddiqui]

This content is underated, how the heck do you now have 5k+ subscribers? Anyways, love the content man, keep it up!!! God bless! :)

[budahbaba]

I've always wished some one would do this "what if?" :)

[James-rmsr]

I see WW2 playing out very differently or even WW1. If Rome(Byzantium) begins to see a people looking to national identity and they consider themselves Roman. I think it is likely we would see them at the very least make an attempt to go for Rome. Especially, if we apply them to say WW2. Mussolini cannot happen as our timeline. If anything he would be a Roman at heart and being want to reunite Italy with Rome. The biggest issue is the two might actually fight over who has the right to the name and thus causing Rome to be reunited regardless of who would win. I do agree with your timeline as a very likely situation for Rome. Now it is important to know that the Romani (Romans) in much larger numbers would be still alive today. We likely would have a history written by Rome. America would be created as our time in a creation to be like Rome. I think that some Romans might take the chance and actually enter into the young republic creating a very Romanic United States of America. It really is an interesting idea how this actually the reverberates throughout history. Now WW2 Hitler I think would be effected by the change. I am not totally sure on what Germany would look like as Rome still would be alive and perhaps fighting to reunify. The only part here would be depends on if either sided with the Axis or Allies or just a personal war between Italy and Rome for control of the Empire.

[crysis]

Really good video man, can't wait for more in the future.

[Christian_Sannino]

A Christian Turkey?
This is just beautiful

[Galante]

Good video keep this up and you'll be one of the great what if history channels 👍 great quality for a newcomer too👌

[flaviusbelisarius]

It's not as simple as it's painted. Even in 1203 the Greeks had already been suffering under decades of corruption and due to that most of anotolia was functionally independent (many of the post 1204 fragmentary states were actually lead by these regional nobles). Before you can think of major expansion these nobles would have to be dealt with and possibly admistrative reform. The reconquest could happen that rapidly if the Mongol collapse causes chaos among the turk tribes but it would lead to 2 or 3 centuries (at absolute minimum) of unrest while Greek recolonisation and integration occurred, a few regions would probably have remote populations of Turks, though not massive populations as Turks were not very populus at that time.

The Bulgarian identity was very established by the 1200s, as established as English identity in the same time. It's the 800-900 that Bulgarian identity was formed.

[emilianohermosilla]

If there was a moment in history in which the east could be reclaimed and at the same time maintaining the advancements and evolution of the Christian world as it did in our timeline (more or less), it would be this one. I don’t think the Eastern Roman Empire could be able to expand much towards Italy nor what would be the southwestern balkans. Their nature moves more towards the consolidating of their gains, it’d probably take them quite a while to assimilate these populations. I definitely think Armenia and Georgia would be pretty safe in what could be described as an “ unofficial autonomous zone” within the empire, such as they were in our timeline when they got swallowed by it.

[celdur]

With adopting Gunpowder and Cannon first + navy, Egypt and the Levant would be recovered in teh 1600's. Easily. Also they had majority christian population until 1800s.

[joshfish]

I could imagine the empire wouldve survived longer if the 4th crusade never happened, I doubt they'd reconquer all of Anatolia though (the Byzantine Empire rarely seemed to expand that much since about the 8th or 9th centuries) but probably parts of it, maybe parts of Bulgaria too

but survive to the modern day? Pretty hard to know that, with 800 years more to speculate.
The Byzantine Empire wouldve naturally lagged behind the rest of Europe once the age of colonialism would start, and the Turks wouldn't exactly go away as an issue in this timeline

Idk, at best in this timeline, if the Byzantine Empire did somehow survive to the modern age, it might’ve just essentially been Greece surviving as independent to the modern age, and instead of being known as Greece, it wouldve just been known as Byzantium, or even still just the Roman Empire, with the Greeks having called themselves that into even the modern era

[hydroac]

I like the analysis. I play a strategy came called Europa Universalis IV, which starts in 1444. I mostly play as Byzantium, and try to re-form the Roman Empire. Needless to say, taking on the Turks in 1444 is **ahem!** a challenge. But, I like nothing better than to vanquish the Turks from Anatolia, reclaim the Levant, restore Egypt to the Empire, re-take the Balkans, and take Italy. Of course, the ultimate goal is helping wayward Catholics and later Protestants see the error of their ways (usually by force) and heal the schism once and for all.