Retain as much European colonies as possible

[Kotka]

Without becoming an ASB, which European colonies could be held realistically to this day with a POD after 1945.

I've thought of these:

• Portugal: Cabina, Timor, Macau, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome & Principe
• Spain: Bioko Island
• Netherlands: Dutch New Guinea, Suriname
• Britain: Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore

 

[walmart]

• Britain: Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore

Malta is fine but the rest are too big and for Hong Kong China says no

• Portugal: Cabina, Timor, Macau, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome & Principe

China's an issue for Macau

 

[Lalli]

United Kingdom: Malta, some Caribbean islands
France: Some Algerian cities, Gabon, Djibouti
Portugal: Cabinda, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe and Goa
Spain: Spanish Guinea and Spanish Sahara
Netherlands: Suriname

 

[OurSacredWar]

Italy could definitely have held onto Libya and Eritrea if they had remained neutral in World War 2 - Somalia is debatable, Ethiopia is a definite no.

 

[The Ranger]

By giving the colony that most wanted it independence and then strangling it's trade so it became a 3rd world hellhole and offering freedom to the others but warning them that the same would happen to them, the colonies could be kept for 5 to 10 years longer.

 

[Ratmancampidori]

Malta is fine but the rest are too big and for Hong Kong China says no


China's an issue for Macau

With a Post-1945 divergence that can be resolved. China can’t threaten Hong Kong if China is a divided, poor unstable backwater.

The best possibility is to follow the scenario laid out in Twilight of the Red Tsar. The Soviet Union collaspses into Civil War, China is nuked and Britain/France wins at Suez.

This ends most of the flow of weapons to guerillas in the colonies and would allow plenty of empires to hold on.

 

[DracoLazarus]

By giving the colony that most wanted it independence and then strangling it's trade so it became a 3rd world hellhole and offering freedom to the others but warning them that the same would happen to them, the colonies could be kept for 5 to 10 years longer.

So... What De Gaulle did to Guinea ?

 

[Open Green Fields]

All of them

By doing this:

Make each person a full citizen in each "home" country, so the colonies and their people stop being colonies but instead all become full citizens in this new larger country, wont work with Hong Kong however because it was a lease.

 

[Lalli]

All of them

By doing this:

Make each person a full citizen in each "home" country, so the colonies and their people stop being colonies but instead all become full citizens in this new larger country, wont work with Hong Kong however because it was a lease.

After WW2 it was already too late. There was too strong decolonisation movement. And Europeans hadn't much will power to do that.

 

[Modern Imperialism]

Like mentioned above, a pod starting right after ww2 is probably too late for most colonial powers to hold on to most colonies. Avoiding ww1 or anything like it would make this easy. Europeans could keep a lot of colonies if both world wars are avoided. I think Portugal could keep their colonies after 1945. So could Spain if they settle their with more of their people.

 

[Blue cat]

Without becoming an ASB, which European colonies could be held realistically to this day with a POD after 1945.

I've thought of these:

• Portugal: Cabina, Timor, Macau, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome & Principe
• Spain: Bioko Island
• Netherlands: Dutch New Guinea, Suriname
• Britain: Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore

I suppose Newfoundland remaining a Dominion (and not part of Canada) isn't entirely out of the question. I suspect that today a surviving Newfoundland that was a Dominion would be seen as a defacto colony by many Canadians.

 

[DrHackenslash]

United Kingdom: Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands (plus all those associated with the aforementioned).

Beyond the existing BOTs, hard to picture many others with a post-WWII POD.

 

[Blue cat]

Without becoming an ASB, which European colonies could be held realistically to this day with a POD after 1945.

I've thought of these:

• Portugal: Cabina, Timor, Macau, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome & Principe
• Spain: Bioko Island
• Netherlands: Dutch New Guinea, Suriname
• Britain: Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore

I suppose St Pierre et Miquelon could also be regarded as a defacto colony.

 

[DracoLazarus]

France has already retained quite a lot, but you could easily add Djibouti, Gabon and maybe even Senegal to this day.
In addition to that, it could have retained most of its Subsaharan colonies for much longer had it had the political will and not dropped them infamously.
With a 1945 PoD, you can get a shot at Algeria, but it's iffy, if you butterfly away the Sétif Massacre and give away French citizenship to the Algériens generously.

 

[walmart]

With a Post-1945 divergence that can be resolved. China can’t threaten Hong Kong if China is a divided, poor unstable backwater.

Hong Kong would gain independence once the lease runs out as it removes any reason why the UK is there. Hong Kong is too big to be integrated into Britain.

 

[walmart]

France has already retained quite a lot, but you could easily add Djibouti, Gabon and maybe even Senegal to this day.

With a 1945 PoD, you can get a shot at Algeria, but it's iffy, if you butterfly away the Sétif Massacre and give away French citizenship to the Algériens generously.

Senegal and Algeria's populations are too high to be integrated

 

[DracoLazarus]

Senegal and Algeria's populations are too high to be integrated

France has a better record than most other countries with integration, and Algeria only has 10 million inhabitants in 1945, barely a quarter of continental France.

 

[walmart]

only has 10 million inhabitants in 1945, barely a quarter of continental France.

Exactly what I was talking about. France is not going accept a 25% and growing non-white,non-Christian, and to not mention far poorer voting population.

 

[DracoLazarus]

Exactly what I was talking about. France is not going accept a 25% and growing non-white and non-Christian voting population.

Around one million people there were Pied-Noirs, there was a sentiment that the Algerians that had fought in WWII had to be rewarded, and so on.
And Algeria was already part of the Métropole strictly speaking, it was divided into three départements.

 

[walmart]

Around one million people there were Pied-Noirs,

despite that it would still leave a very large and rapidly growing very poor Algerian population as French citizens.

there was a sentiment that the Algerians that had fought in WWII had to be rewarded, and so on.

Expect that still doesn't solve the population issue and there no reason or incentive for them not to keep the status quo without Algeria revolting like otl.

And Algeria was already part of the Métropole strictly speaking, it was divided into three départements.

Expect the Algerians weren't French citizens.