AHC: give GB a French Guiana
- Thread starter Danth
- Start date
Malta had a referendum on becoming part of the UK proper in the 1950's that was only narrowly defeated mainly because the Nationalist Party boycotted it because a dispute over the use of Italian. Others are possible but you need there to be a completely different mindset in Britain, more like that of France. After Suez the policy was to get rid of as many colonies and commitments as possible so either avoid that clusterfuck or make it an Anglo-French victory and if Britain does much better economically then more colonies will be interested in a closer relationship.
If you want a British colony directly integrated into the UK (in other words, with representation at Westminster, rather than the OTL examples like Bermuda or the Falklands, which are mostly independent but with Britain handling foreign policy and the like) then Malta is likely your best bet.
Malta had a referendum on integrating into the UK in 1956, it was proposed that they would have a devolved parliament, but would also send MPs to Westminster and hand over control of foreign policy, defence, taxation etc. to London. Malta voted 77% in favour of the proposals, but it was never enacted due to low turnout and a boycott by the Nationalist Party (although a good 59.1% of the population did in fact vote). Have the referendum accepted or give it a better turnout and Malta becomes part of the UK. Simple
EDIT: Dammit, I've been ninjaed
If Malta gets it then there may have been more interest shown elsewhere, I'd say Gibraltar is likely, maybe Bermuda and some of the Caribbean colonies possibly Mauritius and the Seychelles as well as the Pacific Islands. Of larger, continental colonies maybe The Gambia as it is probably too small to be a viable nation, your OP mentioned Sierra Leone, that was entirely a reaction to the brutality of the civil war and the success of the British intervention. However SL has plentiful resources and would be a very rich state today if it had been properly governed post independence. But the regime of Joseph Momoh was, even by African standards, spectacularly corrupt and incompetent and led to the conditions that caused the civil war and made renewed colonialism seem a better option.
Not sure As the "commie" party tried to get elected their and GB declared martial law and banned the constitution in retaliation which didn't endear them to the people
India is a no go
Singapore is a maybe if Malta succeds and their is a mass integration movement
Newfoundland is a possibility
Well then the UK would need to work something out with China. Maybe if the Chinese civil war ends in different way...
Hong Kong is difficult; you'd need the UK to have a legal claim on the new territories past '97, and a Chinese government who won't do a Goa on you.
That's a tall order, and it's unlikely that having Chiang in charge is going to help- he tried to get the city after WWII but the British managed to beat him back to it.
... possibly the UK negotiates an extended lease on the new territories in return for forgiving Chinese debt?
That's a tall order, and it's unlikely that having Chiang in charge is going to help- he tried to get the city after WWII but the British managed to beat him back to it.
... possibly the UK negotiates an extended lease on the new territories in return for forgiving Chinese debt?
That's probably the best way.
I can see the idea of Tiananmen Square being a lot uglier than OTL (hard to do but possible), which makes the PRC outright hated by much of the western world, including Britain. Very loud calls for Hong Kong to stay British are heard after Tiananmen Square, complete with huge protests and the like, and the British government of the day decides that keeping Hong Kong could well be in their economic best interest. China loses big economically as nations pull out after the massacres, and China ends up with a big debt issue as a result, and the UK forgives its debt in return for a 100-year extension on the lease to the New Territories and the colony staying British. China agrees in 1993, eager to turn around its diplomatic problems in the West. Hong Kong stays under the British flag in 1997, and the territories of the old Hong Kong become part of Britain in 2004.
I think a more powerful Britain would certainly have tried to keep Hong Kong, as said above it would need for Britain to give HK full democratic self government and have a clear majority of the population behind Britain. Preventing HK being Goa'ed is possible if you're prepared to do the necessary, basically you make it official policy that if one PLA soldier crosses the border Beijing and Shanghai get nuked. IIRC Macmillan tried to get the Americans to give such a garuntee about HK in the 1960's, if Britain remains a major player in SE Asia then it's likely there will be nuclear weapons in the region, IOTL there were nuclear bombs and V-Bombers based at RAF Tengah in Singapore probably with such a scenario in mind.
Of course if the PRC leadership is sufficiently determined/crazy enough then they may try to call Britain's bluff...
Of course if the PRC leadership is sufficiently determined/crazy enough then they may try to call Britain's bluff...
Probably Belize, if you want a particularly "French Guiana-y" version. (i.e., a fairly large, mostly jungle covered, area, but with a low-ish population.
Devvy
Donor
Surely the simplest way would be for one or more of the OTL current British Overseas Territories to be incorporated into the United Kingdom. Gibraltar would be the first that springs to mind, as it's semi-close, had a semi-hostile country next door and would immediately benefit from entry into the EU under the UK banner.
Belize, Hong Kong & Singapore are all other candidates that spring to mind as they all have no entirely friendly neighbours and are small territories, and HK and Singapore were somewhat western aligned and trade orientated. Malta jumps out as a candidate as well as already mentioned due to the OTL history.
Jamaica, Newfoundland, Cyprus are longer shots, but maybe possible.
Belize, Hong Kong & Singapore are all other candidates that spring to mind as they all have no entirely friendly neighbours and are small territories, and HK and Singapore were somewhat western aligned and trade orientated. Malta jumps out as a candidate as well as already mentioned due to the OTL history.
Jamaica, Newfoundland, Cyprus are longer shots, but maybe possible.