Chapter 194
May 1883
London
With the death of Disraeli in 1881, Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote had taken over the Conservative Party in opposition. With the fall of Gladstone (hopefully for the last time, God willing), an alliance was made with the Liberal Unionists under Chamberlain. Compromises had to be made in policy and positions, but anything to get Gladstone out of power was acceptable.
Of course, the new coalition faced many of the same problems which had haunted Gladstone, namely India and Ireland. Gladstone had been negligent in allowing so much Indian political involvement. Now it seemed almost impossible to put that genie back in the bottle. Disraeli must be turning over in his grave.
Fortunately, the defection....once more....of the Irish MP's back to the Liberal Party was more than offset by the new coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Unionists. It was impossible to see the opposition regaining power in the foreseeable future as long as Gladstone and his minions supported Irish Home Rule. In the end, the rural voters of Britain that were the bedrock of the Liberal Party were simply unwilling to accept the inevitable sundering of Ireland from Britain which Home Rule must bring.
Gladstone was simply an idiot.
The question was if the Conservatives could do better. No one was certain of this at all.
As it was, the new government was happy enough to follow SOME of the Liberal policies, most notably the pseudo-alliance with the United States and the prevention of any other European power to reestablish colonies in Asia and Africa (Russia's eastern Empire didn't count).
France and Italy were always sniffing about Africa with an eye for colonization. With the power of the Royal Navy, the alliance of America, Egypt, Madagascar and Ethiopia and the resources of India, it seemed fairly straightforward that no European nation was likely to interfere in the southern hemisphere.
However, the complexity of maintaining this tenuous system of colonies and alliances would continue to strain Britain's political and social systems. Gladstone had been anti-colonial to the core and may have permanently hampered British interests in Asia.
In order to keep their allies in Africa happy, Gladstone had even offered seats on each of the new "Co-Protectorates" Administrative Councils of Africa to the King of Morocco (the Maghreb), the Khedive of Egypt (and the Levant), the Emperor of Ethiopia and the King of Madagascar. This seemed insane at first but the new government realized it would bond the African Kingdoms more tightly to the Co-Protectorates and ensured it would be virtually impossible for a competing European power to lay a claim on the African continent.
If Great Britain (and, yes, their allies) controlled Africa, then India and the Far East were safe.
Oddly, the actions of Gladstone to "protect Africa from colonization" may actually expedite the process to defacto British control over the continent and Asia to boot.
As it was, a British expedition from India had seized Zanzibar on the pretext of "anti-slaving" in the notorious Muslim slave-trading station. The Indian troops involved were entirely volunteers as no sane British administrator would attempt to force the Indian Sepoys to do ANYTHING these days lest there be another Mutiny.
Hawaii
After several months of chasing the Mormons through the hills, the Australian Army finally managed to crush the remnant of the insurgency. While polygamy had always been formally illegal, the Anglo-Australian government had largely turned a blind eye until the Mormons rose up. Now, the practice would be viciously put down. The "Honeycomb" houses of Polygamists (a minority among the Mormons) were burned where they were found, much as they had been in Utah. Any plural marriages were annulled.
Dozens of senior Mormon leaders were arrested and deported to a prison colony on Pitcairn Island.
While mass-eviction of Mormons....somewhere....maybe back to America......was considered, there seemed to be no way to maintain the Hawaiian economy if the labor was lost. Instead, a large garrison was left in Hawaii (at local expense) and Britain was formally requested to assist in settling large numbers of Anglo-Australians to Hawaii.
There was another option, of course, in obtaining labor. However, the Australian officials were adamant that no Asians were to enter "Australian Territory". That they should so openly describe it as so was disconcerting to some Britons but, in the end, the Metropolis acceded to their "colony's" demand.
Guajira Peninsula
After months of negotiations came to nothing, the American diplomats warned the Venezuelans that further aggression in the Guajira Peninsula would lead to American intervention. A British observer was dismayed to see American flexing its muscle....again.....but was not inclined to argue publicly. The American propensity to intervene in Latin America was making the old "Monroe Doctrine" look like something akin to an actual barrier to European (i.e. British) involvement in North and South American affairs.
But the alliance with the United States was too new and too valuable for Great Britain's already buy new government to reconsider. Best let the Americans have their way involving themselves in a petty South American border conflict. They'll probably exhaust themselves if they plan on doing this again and again in the future. It was even possible the still-largely isolationist elements of American society may decide the whole enterprise of International Politics to be too complex and cede the matter to Britain in the future.
Maybe ALL of Africa might someday fall under British colonial control and not this "Co-Protectorate" nonsense.
London
With the death of Disraeli in 1881, Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote had taken over the Conservative Party in opposition. With the fall of Gladstone (hopefully for the last time, God willing), an alliance was made with the Liberal Unionists under Chamberlain. Compromises had to be made in policy and positions, but anything to get Gladstone out of power was acceptable.
Of course, the new coalition faced many of the same problems which had haunted Gladstone, namely India and Ireland. Gladstone had been negligent in allowing so much Indian political involvement. Now it seemed almost impossible to put that genie back in the bottle. Disraeli must be turning over in his grave.
Fortunately, the defection....once more....of the Irish MP's back to the Liberal Party was more than offset by the new coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Unionists. It was impossible to see the opposition regaining power in the foreseeable future as long as Gladstone and his minions supported Irish Home Rule. In the end, the rural voters of Britain that were the bedrock of the Liberal Party were simply unwilling to accept the inevitable sundering of Ireland from Britain which Home Rule must bring.
Gladstone was simply an idiot.
The question was if the Conservatives could do better. No one was certain of this at all.
As it was, the new government was happy enough to follow SOME of the Liberal policies, most notably the pseudo-alliance with the United States and the prevention of any other European power to reestablish colonies in Asia and Africa (Russia's eastern Empire didn't count).
France and Italy were always sniffing about Africa with an eye for colonization. With the power of the Royal Navy, the alliance of America, Egypt, Madagascar and Ethiopia and the resources of India, it seemed fairly straightforward that no European nation was likely to interfere in the southern hemisphere.
However, the complexity of maintaining this tenuous system of colonies and alliances would continue to strain Britain's political and social systems. Gladstone had been anti-colonial to the core and may have permanently hampered British interests in Asia.
In order to keep their allies in Africa happy, Gladstone had even offered seats on each of the new "Co-Protectorates" Administrative Councils of Africa to the King of Morocco (the Maghreb), the Khedive of Egypt (and the Levant), the Emperor of Ethiopia and the King of Madagascar. This seemed insane at first but the new government realized it would bond the African Kingdoms more tightly to the Co-Protectorates and ensured it would be virtually impossible for a competing European power to lay a claim on the African continent.
If Great Britain (and, yes, their allies) controlled Africa, then India and the Far East were safe.
Oddly, the actions of Gladstone to "protect Africa from colonization" may actually expedite the process to defacto British control over the continent and Asia to boot.
As it was, a British expedition from India had seized Zanzibar on the pretext of "anti-slaving" in the notorious Muslim slave-trading station. The Indian troops involved were entirely volunteers as no sane British administrator would attempt to force the Indian Sepoys to do ANYTHING these days lest there be another Mutiny.
Hawaii
After several months of chasing the Mormons through the hills, the Australian Army finally managed to crush the remnant of the insurgency. While polygamy had always been formally illegal, the Anglo-Australian government had largely turned a blind eye until the Mormons rose up. Now, the practice would be viciously put down. The "Honeycomb" houses of Polygamists (a minority among the Mormons) were burned where they were found, much as they had been in Utah. Any plural marriages were annulled.
Dozens of senior Mormon leaders were arrested and deported to a prison colony on Pitcairn Island.
While mass-eviction of Mormons....somewhere....maybe back to America......was considered, there seemed to be no way to maintain the Hawaiian economy if the labor was lost. Instead, a large garrison was left in Hawaii (at local expense) and Britain was formally requested to assist in settling large numbers of Anglo-Australians to Hawaii.
There was another option, of course, in obtaining labor. However, the Australian officials were adamant that no Asians were to enter "Australian Territory". That they should so openly describe it as so was disconcerting to some Britons but, in the end, the Metropolis acceded to their "colony's" demand.
Guajira Peninsula
After months of negotiations came to nothing, the American diplomats warned the Venezuelans that further aggression in the Guajira Peninsula would lead to American intervention. A British observer was dismayed to see American flexing its muscle....again.....but was not inclined to argue publicly. The American propensity to intervene in Latin America was making the old "Monroe Doctrine" look like something akin to an actual barrier to European (i.e. British) involvement in North and South American affairs.
But the alliance with the United States was too new and too valuable for Great Britain's already buy new government to reconsider. Best let the Americans have their way involving themselves in a petty South American border conflict. They'll probably exhaust themselves if they plan on doing this again and again in the future. It was even possible the still-largely isolationist elements of American society may decide the whole enterprise of International Politics to be too complex and cede the matter to Britain in the future.
Maybe ALL of Africa might someday fall under British colonial control and not this "Co-Protectorate" nonsense.