What if the electric telegraph had gone differently?

For the first time, a message outruns the messenger.

If it had gone differently: News and prices still travel at the speed of a ship; markets and empires stay loosely coupled.

The real history on Wikipedia ↗

Later turning points that leaned on the electric telegraph. Change it in the game and the ripples reach all of these.

1. 1866The transatlantic telegraph cable. Without it, The Atlantic economy stays ten days wide; London and New York never quite move as one market.
2. 1870The first globalisation. Without it, The world economy stays a patchwork of regions; no belle-époque boom, and no 1914 shock when it unwinds.
3. 1876The telephone. Without it, Business and government keep running on letters and telegrams; the pace of decisions stays a day slow.