Long Live The Republic

In our world, republics constitute the vast majority of the world's regimes. Yet, various monarchies still exist, albeit most of these are constitutional or ceremonial ones, with only a few absolute monarchies surviving. Monarchy is increasingly seen as an outdated anachronism, though this is far from universal and there are still many supporters of this system of government, with monarchies like the United Kingdom seeming to have little opposition. In other countries like Australia there is an active and major republican movement to abolish the monarchy. And in countries like Saudi Arabia the concept of republicanism is completely unknown.The concept of monarchy has managed to survive in our world, and many still view it as a legitimate form of government.

But what if monarchy was not seen as serious form of government? What if the ideal of republicanism was spread to all corners of the world? What if the world was free from the chains of hereditary monarchs?

Monarchy is dead, long live the republic.

Points of Divergence

 * The Roman Empire does not convert to Christianity and continues to persecute Christians in their lands. Christianity stays mostly underground and re-emerges as the dominant religion of Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The two main branches at first are Magdalan Catholicism and Roman Catholicism, with Magdalan Catholicism ultimately emerging as the strongest of the two. Magdalan Christianity serves as a catalyst for the revolution of women's rights after the Roman Empire's collapse.
 * Centuries after the collapse of the Roman Empire, the city-state of Rome rises once more to conquer all of Italy and re-establishes the Roman Republic as the Republic of Italia, for most of its history this republic was not that democratic as it was controlled by various powerful families, yet this republic stood as a challenge to the absolute monarchs of Europe and beyond and would form the inspiration for later republican movements.
 * The Englishman Henry Redclyffe 'discovers' the continent of America in 1508 for the Kingdom of Britannia, leading to an earlier colonization of Northern America by the British. In contrast, Spain and Portugal do not succesfully found ther first colonies until 1568. The British lay claim to all of the Eastern Northern America and large parts of the Caribbean.
 * The Native Americans still experience a drastic population decline due to plagues brought by the European arrival, but the Spanish expeditions to the Aztec and Inca Empires result in failure, as their leaders defect to the Natives' side, which results in enduring Aztec, Inca and Maya civilizations. Following expeditions were defeated and the native empires became British protectorates. The British also colonize parts of northern South America, while Spain colonizes Brazil and Argentina. Portugal only manages to colonize the Lesser Antilles.
 * The Kingdom of Britannia experiences a period of constitutional crisis after the High Queen Victoria attempts to return the country to absolutie monarchy, leading to a civil war. The civil war results in a parliamentary victory, which results in the abolition of the monarchy, the execution of Victoria for treason and the establishment of the first United Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ireland.
 * As a result of the earlier colonization of Northern America, the United States of America have a much larger population and after their independence emerge as an equal power to most European countries. Instead of 13 colonies, there are 15 original colonies who declare independence (the OTL 13+Florida and Canada). As a result, Canada does not exist as a sovereign state.
 * As the world's most powerful nations, the USA and the United Commonwealth have republican governments, this causes an earlier shift to republicanism, resulting in a world where monarchy is mostly seen as obsolete by the mid 20th century.