User blog comment:Enclavehunter/TL and OTL Events/@comment-4612798-20111220091842

Hell yeah! Just ignoring stuff like that isn't realistic. Unless of course your TL has technology much much more advanced then any natural event is going to have an effect... The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 basically destroyed Portugal as a front-rank colonial power. The eruption of Laki in Iceland in 1783 and subsequent 'nuclear winter' is often cited as a cause of the French Revolution.