How would the Scandinavian/North European history be changed if the Falun Mine was either never discovered or no one ever appreciated the sheer potential size of it?
WI: Falun mine never used
- Thread starter Sian
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A couple of things that I see changing are: Europeans finding an alternative source for their copper needs and the Swedes not having the reliable income from selling copper. The Wikipedia article points out that Japan produced quite a bit of copper as well. I would imagine that, unless another reliable source were found, that more focus would be placed on Japan. More western contact would definitely change the history of Japan.
This might be ignorance speaking, but is the trade network between Europe and Japan robust enough to carry any (significant) copper trade? ... could copper even be considered worth enough to make such a distance worth it?
Of cause PoDing away the largest copper mine in Europe, Bronze is sure to be harder to come by, but other than making cannons weaker (hence castles and other fortifications having a longer shelf life) how critically needed were bronze (and hence copper) in Medieval/Renaissance Europe?
Of cause PoDing away the largest copper mine in Europe, Bronze is sure to be harder to come by, but other than making cannons weaker (hence castles and other fortifications having a longer shelf life) how critically needed were bronze (and hence copper) in Medieval/Renaissance Europe?
No Falun means no Sabaton, making this TL a nightmarish dystopia worse than Green Antarctica, VME, 1984, AAPA, Protect and Survive and Twilight of the Red Tsar combined. 
No Falun means no Sabaton, making this TL a nightmarish dystopia worse than Green Antarctica, VME, 1984, AAPA, Protect and Survive and Twilight of the Red Tsar combined.
NO SABATON??!!
It's my understanding that for some considerable time Bronze cannons were superior to iron ones (not entirely sure why) however if there is a distinct lack of copper in Europe we might see a speed up in iron developing, since it is simple necessary to build more cannons out of iron than OTL
IIRC, the trade network between Europe and Japan was not robust enough. However, if there were someone interested enough there was a mine that could possibly help fill the void. The Ashio Mine was owned by the Tokugawas around 1600 and produced roughly 1500 tons of copper annually (half of what Falun produced at its height of production). When Ashio mine became privately owned in the 1800's it produced over 4000 tons annually at the height of its production.
There are sources of copper much closer than Japan, even if they aren't as prolific. More likely you get more imported from places like Anatolia (which has been a major copper mining area since antiquity), and later increases in importation from the New World. Sweden is obviously much poorer, and likely can't really challenge Denmark to the same extent
Yes, absolutely. The Ashio mine was just an example of another place that had a large amount of copper extracted prior to 1900. Another example of an area where copper was and still is being extracted is in the Ural Mountains in Russia. I do not have figures available at the moment for copper production in that region but I would imagine that if there is still a market for copper that the state in control of that area would attempt to bring it to market.
At one time early on bombards were made of iron but eventually people switched over to bronze because they realized that it was not only stronger but could propel stones further than iron cannon. Also, the processes used to smelt iron were different at that time and some individuals did not use it due to its tendency to rust. Advances in iron production could be possible if copper were not as prominent ITTL.