Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak

@Al-numbers
Remind me: did either the War of the Triple Alliance or the War of the Pacific happen ITTL?

The War of the Triple Alliance happened as per OTL; the knock-on effects of an altered Sarawak wouldn’t hit Europe or the Americas until the 1870s. However, the War of the Pacific did have a few quibbles. Chile took Antofagasta, Bolivia’s Litoral department and even Peru’s Tacna and Arica districts outright, instead of occupying the latter areas IOTL with a plebiscite promise. This has led to very sour relations amongst the three countries – Peru losing her best southern ports and Bolivia now a landlocked country – and there is high anti-Chilean sentiment with Peruvians and Bolivians.

With the Great War rolling, the jealousy has only intensified. Now that wealth of the Atacama Desert is clear for all to see, there are some murmurings on how unfair only one nation gets to exploit the world’s demand for nitrates. In any case, the boom in northern Chile is sucking up immigrants from Bolivia and Peru, which is also a good thing (more workers) and a bad thing (more workers – from neighbors who bear a grudge).
 
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Argentina jumping in on the Patras Pact would if anything boost the Emperors' alliance in the long and even medium term. Brazil is likely to join the opposite side as a matter of course, thus more than balancing the manpower and financial benefits of an Argentinean entry into the war. The RN might have a lot more to deal with than in OTL World War I due to both France and Italy being credible naval powers, but the open oceans are still theirs, meaning that the Argentinean navy is not long for this world. Also, any claims Argentina has on Chile might lead to Chile drastically raising the price of nitre for the Patras pact even if Argentina does not act on said claims.
 
Argentina jumping in on the Patras Pact would if anything boost the Emperors' alliance in the long and even medium term. Brazil is likely to join the opposite side as a matter of course, thus more than balancing the manpower and financial benefits of an Argentinean entry into the war. The RN might have a lot more to deal with than in OTL World War I due to both France and Italy being credible naval powers, but the open oceans are still theirs, meaning that the Argentinean navy is not long for this world. Also, any claims Argentina has on Chile might lead to Chile drastically raising the price of nitre for the Patras pact even if Argentina does not act on said claims.

Can I copy this? I really want to copy this. :biggrin:

Bad news, folks. I've gone down with the flu these past few days, so new updates are going to be delayed for a bit. In the meantime, I've been wanting to make a world map for this TL just before the Great War, yet have no idea how to commission someone to do it on my behalf, so I'll try and slowly make one up when I have the time (and after I've recovered). Look out for that soon!
 
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Throwing out speculations and guesses which prove right is enjoyable enough. To have the author wish to use one such speculation as a plot point is even better. So; please do feel free to make use of any suggestion you see fit to.

Do get well first of all, of course.
 
IMO, this is the most likely end result for the war :
EUROPE :
We already know that Serbia will collapse. However, I doubt that AH or OE will want to regain Serbia or be able to regain northern inland Bulgaria, so I expect that either an AH puppet Serbia will be created along with the independence of northern inland Bulgaria, or Serbia and tiny Bulgaria will end up united. The Ottoman Empire will probably also lose OTL mainland Greece west of Salonica and the western third of Crete. Italy will most likely take the most blame of all the Patras powers with a surviving government, and, as a result, will be hit hard, possibly harder than Germany during WW1. I expect that Venetelia and Dalmatia will be returned to A-H, southern Italy will become independent and Lazio will be made into a restored papal state. France may gain (part of) the Piedmont and the Corsican-majority area of Sardinia and Lombardy may be given independence, depending on how badly Italy is defeated. A Polish puppet state (either German or Austro-Hungarian) will be created in former Russia, possibly along with a “Lithuania”, “Latvia” and “Estonia. If Germany intervenes, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Latvian puppets are probable and Caucasian, Minsk-based, Estonian, and Finnish puppet states are possible. European Russia’s government is overthrown, although a rump state may remain as a “Greater Finland” or Siberia+Central Asia.

AFRICA :
France probably gets to keep Gambia and Sierra Leone except Freetown. Britain gets Dahomey and possibly the Ivory Coast and Haut-Volta. Sokoto gets French Niger. Central Africa remains status quo antebellum. The Ottoman Empire regains Libya and Tunisia. Italian Somalia is split between Majerteen, Germany and Ethiopia. Obock to Britain, Afar to Ethiopia, rest of Eritrea to Egypt. Britain may or may not get Réunion, Comores and Madagascar.

ASIA : Britain keeps Cambodia, Saigon, Annam, French India and French Polynesia. Britain gives up on Laos and Tonkin. Laos suffers from a lengthy civil war. Tonkin goes back to China. Aceh gets Phuket. Japan gets Sakhalin, the Kurils and part of Korea (border along the Sobaek?) with the rest becoming a Chinese or Sino-Russian protectorate. If there is a Siberian rump state, it may fall into a Chinese sphere of tributaries also including Tonkin, Joseon, Siam, Bhutan, Nepal as China attempts to restore its mandala, likely using the war to regain internal control. However, Shandong likely becomes split between European powers after the crushing of the Crimson Swords. Sarawak keeps Sabah. Australia gets Italian Papua, except the Bird’s Head area, which becomes a Dutch protectorate.
 
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IMO, this is the most likely end result for the war :

[snippety-snip]

*looks at post*

*glances at notes*

*scribble over now-revealed plot threads*


But with that said, some of the end results are peculiarly interesting. I won't spoil the coming years of the war, but there will be a few final twists that'll surprise everyone's plans.

On another note, I'm still not dead! The flu took longer to get kicked-off than expected and recent workloads have slowed down my free time considerably, but rest assured the next updates and TL-world map are being drafted. In fact, I may post the map first before continuing on Germany and Austria's Bizzare Adventure, so that some greater context can be gleaned before we return back to the hot steamy mess of the Great War.

And since I feel guilty for dropping off for quite a while, here's a little preview.

unfinished map.jpg
 
*looks at post*

*glances at notes*

*scribble over now-revealed plot threads*


But with that said, some of the end results are peculiarly interesting. I won't spoil the coming years of the war, but there will be a few final twists that'll surprise everyone's plans.

On another note, I'm still not dead! The flu took longer to get kicked-off than expected and recent workloads have slowed down my free time considerably, but rest assured the next updates and TL-world map are being drafted. In fact, I may post the map first before continuing on Germany and Austria's Bizzare Adventure, so that some greater context can be gleaned before we return back to the hot steamy mess of the Great War.

And since I feel guilty for dropping off for quite a while, here's a little preview.


please do not change the TL because of my shitpost . Nobody will read it anyway . I sure as hell did not, which is why it is full of typos and shitty grammar.

What are those tiny colonies and protectorates in the interior? Is the German protectorate beyond the Great Lakes *Koehlerland from MR?
 
please do not change the TL because of my shitpost . Nobody will read it anyway . I sure as hell did not, which is why it is full of typos and shitty grammar.

What are those tiny colonies and protectorates in the interior? Is the German protectorate beyond the Great Lakes *Koehlerland from MR?

Don't worry, the main plot and ending of this TL has been well-planned out in advance. It's the particularities, details, and "histories-of-nations-not-highlighted" that I change from time to time, mainly because of something new I learned that can change the outcome of national histories and world events. Besides, even shitposts can bear interesting ideas.

And funny enough, but I didn't think of adding Dietmar Kohler from Malê Rising into this TL until now, which is kinda ironic; he'd be the perfect foil to the Brookes and their Sarawakian paternalism. XD The Great Lakes protectorates are so because the kingdoms there are a minor player in Africa ITTL. The expansion of the Dervish Caliphate has led them to the very doorstep of the Great Lakes, which has spooked the kingdoms there to accept German and British protection. On the plus side, nothing unites people like a common enemy, so the rapaciousness of the dervishes has pretty much united the local kingdoms and the Germans together, with the latter giving the former autonomy in exchange for helping to kick the invaders out.
 
Don't worry, the main plot and ending of this TL has been well-planned out in advance. It's the particularities, details, and "histories-of-nations-not-highlighted" that I change from time to time, mainly because of something new I learned that can change the outcome of national histories and world events. Besides, even shitposts can bear interesting ideas.

And funny enough, but I didn't think of adding Dietmar Kohler from Malê Rising into this TL until now, which is kinda ironic; he'd be the perfect foil to the Brookes and their Sarawakian paternalism. XD The Great Lakes protectorates are so because the kingdoms there are a minor player in Africa ITTL. The expansion of the Dervish Caliphate has led them to the very doorstep of the Great Lakes, which has spooked the kingdoms there to accept German and British protection. On the plus side, nothing unites people like a common enemy, so the rapaciousness of the dervishes has pretty much united the local kingdoms and the Germans together, with the latter giving the former autonomy in exchange for helping to kick the invaders out.

I think that all of my theories on Europe and Asia are logical, possibly even the only logical, deductions from what has been posted earlier in the thread. Africa was mostly guesswork

It is plainly obvious that retaking most of Serbia, the core region of rebellious Bulgaria or the areas controlled by Greece would be a poison pill. I am pretty sure that the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian governments will understand this.

Russia’s government and Serbia’s government have already been either very heavily hinted (in the former case) or stated (in the latter case) to be doomed to collapse.

The only way I see Italy surrendering is if it either is completely crushed, with large amounts of territory under occupation, or if it has a revolution.

The government of France, having lost some colonies and with 2 of its allies collapsed, likely will make peace with Britain on terms approximating “we keep what we control, you keep what you control”, which Britain would probably accept, and then go after Italy, as gaining Piedmont and Sardinia would likely compensate for the lost colonies in popular opinion.

Venetelia and Dalmatia would almost certainly be returned to Austria-Hungary. If Italy loses Piedmont and Venetelia, it would probably be unable to retain Lombardy.

Southern Italy had (IIRC) the most developed nationalism of all parts of Italy IOTL and will not want any of the massive war indemnity that Italy will almost certainly be hit with. SI nationalists will campaign for independence at the peace talks and will almost certainly be accepted

The pope will want Rome back, and what’s left of Italy will be in no position to say “no”.

It has been heavily implied that Poland will gain independence. My guesses on the rest of former European Russia were educated guesses based on OTL.

Cambodia, Saigon, Annam and French India are a done deal.

You have stated that Laos has a protracted civil war, which seems to, along with the wording of a post that says that Britain took over Saigon and Annam but occupied the eastern bank of the Mekong and Tonkin, indicates that Britain gives up on Laos and Tonkin (I also see no way in which Britain could retain Laos without slowly bleeding itself to death, something that it seems that the British government is too sane to do)

It has been stated that China regains respect from European powers while remaining an empire. It is also stated that the Crimson Swords were a revolt, which indicates that they likely get crushed. I am guessing that European powers will want compensation, which likely comes in the form of slabs of Shandong.

I cannot think of any more effective way for China to regain respect than having a European vassal, even if it is just a rump Siberian Russia.

You have very heavily implied in the comments that Korea will be split, but that Japan still considers its ambitions there to have ended in failure, which seems to indicate that they failed to gain Seoul. With these conditions, a border along the Sobaek seems to be the most likely place.

Australia occupies all of the coastal settlements in Italian Papua which are not in the Bird’s Head. I cannot see any way in which they could take over Arfak, and Arfak will probably not surrender. The best compromise would be Dutch Arfak.

EDIT : bEiNg tHe rEiNcArNaTiOn oF ShErLoCk hOlMeS, i aM VeRy gOoD At pIcKiNg uP AnD MaKiNg dEdUcTiOnS FrOm sUbTlE ClUeS ThAt nObOdY ElSe wOulD rEmEmBeR.
 
Map of the World: 1905
So, after weeks of painstaking work and crashing browsers full of references, may I present to you all the world of Rajahs and Hornbills in 1905!

A4V25wK.png


(An unnumbered version of the map can be accessed here)
1. Canada: Just two months into the Great War, Alberta and Saskatchewan will be made into full-fledged provinces.

2. The United States: Is sorta-isolationist, but for how long?

3. Chan Santa Cruz: Weak, but still fighting.

4. U.S planners: “Hmm, should the transoceanic canal be built here, or in Colombia?”

5. Venezuela: With global tensions as it is, the government is slowly thinking of settling the Essequibo Question.

6. Brazil’s Empress Isabel cares less for international geopolitics and more about the continuing civil unrest caused by the abolition of slavery.

7. Peru and Bolivia: Still getting miffed over Chile’s takeover of the Litoral, Tacna, and Arica regions. In the meanwhile, the nitrate boom is making tons of local Bolivians and Chileans to migrate there.

8. Argentina: “Should I take the Malvinas? Should I not take the Malvinas? Should I take the Malvinas...”


9. Great Britain and Ireland: Being the center of the world’s biggest empire has some perks and downsides. Unfortunately, that also means getting dragged into geopolitical squabbles abroad and in their backyard.

10. Kingdom of Spain: Rising rapidly in industry and trying to reclaim their Great Power status, though the rest of the world isn’t buying it. For what it’s worth, at least they still have a colonial empire.

11. (a) Austro-Hungarian Empire: A European mindbender, the land of the Habsburgs is simmering with autonomist and nationalist aspirations from her multi-ethnic peoples.

11. (b) The German Empire: Desires to be the hegemon of the European continent, especially under Kaiser Wilhelm II. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t go down with her neighbors, most notably the-

12. -Third French Republic: Whom are still annoyed that the Germans nabbed Alsace-Lorraine. Otherwise, it has vastly expanded across Africa and has made new alliances to counter their eastern neighbor.

13. The Low Countries: Getting jittery at being squished between large nations and their politics. The Netherlands in particular is way of getting entangled, for both the mainland and their East Indies holdings. So do the Belgians.

14. Kingdom of Italy: Currently casting political webs of her own, especially in the light of what happened over in Tunisia and her neighbors. One nation that has taken their interest is the-

15. -Kingdom of Greece: Still dreaming of the Megali Idea. Still dreaming of anti-Ottomanism. The latter of which has made them some new friends in both Italy and another country-

16. -The Kingdom of Serbia: Which seeks to expand in Rumelia, but not without some allies as backup.

17. Crete: Another mindbender, this time to Athens and Kostantiniyye. A part of the Ottoman Empire, yet separately administered, the island is a keystone for the clash of Powers.

18. Go here to find cranky and disgruntled Poles!

19. Imperial Russia: Big, brash, absolutist, and strong! (or… is it?)

20. Grand Duchy of Finland: getting pissed at its autonomy being recently taken away.


21. Kingdom of Morocco: Currently feeling the pinch from French pressure. The sultan trying to get British and German protection has not helped matters.

22. Algeria (French Third Republic): Where colons are moving in and the Rights of Man are held in full (unless you’re not a Muslim évolué.)

23. Vilayet of Tunisia (Ottoman Empire): Some jokes have abounded of a region-renaming to ‘the place with too many exclaves'.

24. The Khedivate of Egypt (Ottoman Empire): Comparatively prosperous, Cairo is fast becoming a hub for new Islamic ideologies, though not everyone is happy at still being part of the Turco-Albanian regime.

25. Ethiopian Empire: Defensive and a tad militaristic, emperor Menelik II is concerned at the rising global tensions. Otherwise, he’s glad the empire still has a coast.

26. The Dervish Caliphate: Here, extreme rigorism shall be upheld! or else... every pissed-off neighbor shall invade and smite them all out of existence.

27. The Sahelian sultanates: Darfur (right), Ouaddai (middle), and Kanem-Bornu (left), are all under pressure from either righteous-feeling Europeans or righteous-feeling Dervishes. No wonder they all became military recipients of the Turks.

28. German East Africa: But thanks to those Dervishes, just about everyone in Equatorial Sudan and thereabouts are now allied with each another, even the Germans! The high army pay helps too in enticing new schutztruppe recruits.

29. Ankole: or, The Little Buffer State that Could.

30. Portuguese Africa: They had almost gotten away with their Pink Map, if it weren’t for those meddling Brits in northern Mutapa!

31. The Boer republics: After a brief war in the 1880’s, Transvaal (brown) and the Orange Free State (orange) have successfully kept themselves afloat, though they are feeling some pressure from the Cape.

32. Spanish Congo: Now with 100% more Philippine exiles and rubber barons! International outrage has made them consider using other forms of labor instead of the locals.

33. Kingdom of Benin: juuuuust managed to get itself a sweet deal with the incoming British, nabbing themselves the same rights and freedoms as the better Indian and Malay princely states. Now they have to watch out for the missionaries… and imams.

34. The Sokoto Caliphate: does not like getting boxed in from all sides.


35. The Ottoman Empire: Looks large on paper, and their surprising resilience has earned it fanboys from as far as Aceh. But with internal divisions simmering here and there, who knows if they can withstand the storm.

36. Southern Hejaz: Shh…. Stay quiet here, for the Zaidis are scheming with their Yemeni counterparts on French and Italian cash.

37. Oman: “If I stand very still… there’s a chance no one will see me.”

38. Qajar Iran: The Qajar dynasty as a whole are bewildered, unhappy, and slightly intrigued by how much the world has moved on from them. Too bad they only control Tehran and thereabouts.

39. The Caucasus: A hotbed of new industries and old conflicts, all sandwiched between three irrepressible empires.

40. The Emirate of Bukhara (a.) and Khanate of Khiva (b.): For now, they are Russian protectorates, though ‘protection’, aren’t exactly what the locals call their new overlords.

41. The Emirate of Afghanistan: Agreed to let the British handle ‘foreign affairs’, but already there are rumblings of discontent over this in Kabul.

42. British India: The pride of the Empire, and an old source of its headaches. Now with nationalism on the pile!


43. British Burma: Being annexed into British India has led to millions of Indians immigrating to the Irrawaddy basin, much to the consternation of the Burmese.

44. Kingdom of Siam: King Chulalongkorn’s gambit with Russian relations has turned fruitful, for Siam remains independent and free despite repeated French and British pressures.

45. Russian Phuket: As thanks to their diplomatic relations, the island has become the most tropical holding in the Russian Empire. Too bad it already has made some neighbors anxious, most especially-

46. -the Sultanate of Aceh: Being independent on Ottoman protection has made many locals suspicious of the Russian presence, so close to their shores. In the meanwhile, the nation’s economic recovery has attracted a slew of foreign immigrants, which has already raised a few eyebrows.

47. British Malaya: A patchwork of princely states and crown colonies make up this part of the British Empire, and they are finding the place a lot more lucrative than expected, thanks to tin and rubber.

48. Sultanate of Johor: As the last independent Malay state, Johor is trying hard to experiment with crash industrialization, though they may need to check on their minority-majority issues first.

49. Dutch East Indies: Currently, they seem peaceful, but the recent Ethical Policy has opened deep fissures within the 17,000 islands. On another note, has anyone noticed how… Polish the city of Medan is becoming?

50. Italian Borneo: Thanks to coal and oil, the region has become the unlikely crown jewels of the Italian colonial empire. Too bad they are now eyed by-

51. -the Kingdom of Sarawak: Where the Brooke family dreams of swallowing Bandar Brunei, once and for all.

52. Sulu and Zamboanga: Reduced to little more than tribal guerillas fighting in the hinterlands, the remnants of these two sultanates are pursued endlessly by Spanish troops and indigenous forces.

53. The Spanish Philippines: Has grown to be the richest and most vibrant territory in all of Southeast Asia. Just don’t mind the extreme inequality.

54. Qing China: The Empire of A Million Issues, the imperial court reformists are desperately perusing modernization to deal with current realities and maintain some sort of cohesion. The rise in weird religious groups persecuting Chinese Christians are not making things easier.

55. Empire of Japan: Rising faster than ever, Japan yearns to flex her power over her neighbors and on the world stage, starting with a certain peninsula called…

56. …the Korean Empire, whose government has erred to Russian influence in an attempt to just be free, dammit!

57. Qing Manchuria: The world’s biggest (and oddest) Free Trade Zone, the rise of Russian enterprises here has induced a swell of Chinese Christians to move in, much to Qing concerns.

58. Mongolian herdsman: “Has anyone noticed how… odd some of the settlers are becoming?”


59. Italian Papua: "We actually have a colony over there?”

60. German New Guinea: Otherwise known as Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, the colony is barely explored and inhabited, save for the outer islands whom are headed by Emma Coe, the Queen of the South Seas.

61. Federation of Australia: Newly federated, Australia has been getting reeeeeally anxious at being surrounded by different neighbors. Just don’t check the bookstores if you are Chinese or Japanese.

62. New Caledonia: The jail cell of the French Empire. If you’re lucky, you can find Algerian rabble-rousers working alongside French anarchists.

63. Yap Island: remarkably, this little land is also inhabited by a White Rajah-ish figure, David O’Keefe, whom has plans in continuing his lineage here.

64. The Kingdom of Hawaii’s fear of being annexed is slowly giving its royal family some dreadful nightmares.
 
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Very useful map, but it looks like the numbering in the European and African sessions has gone wrong- for instance, the Boer Republics have moved to the Congo and the French are now based out of the Netherlands.
 
Very useful map, but it looks like the numbering in the European and African sessions has gone wrong- for instance, the Boer Republics have moved to the Congo and the French are now based out of the Netherlands.

And there goes my chance of a perfect unveiling. The numberings are corrected now.
 
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