A British Ibiza!

After the Napoleonic Wars Britain gets back and keeps the Balaerics. Remember that they had been under British rule for a lot of the previous century. What butterflies away from this? I had thought of it causing Franco to join the axis but the same reasons for him not joining in OTL still apply.
It would make a lot of British "teenagers" very happy ( no language or currency problems ) unless of course the Balaerics became just a warmer version of Jersey and Guernsey! Very nice to visit with children but not for 24 hr binge drinking and partying
 
After the Napoleonic Wars Britain gets back and keeps the Balaerics. Remember that they had been under British rule for a lot of the previous century. What butterflies away from this? I had thought of it causing Franco to join the axis but the same reasons for him not joining in OTL still apply.
It would make a lot of British "teenagers" very happy ( no language or currency problems ) unless of course the Balaerics became just a warmer version of Jersey and Guernsey! Very nice to visit with children but not for 24 hr binge drinking and partying

With a POD in the Napoleonic wars, it's unlikely Franco would still exist. But it would significantly affect British policy in the Mediterranean in the short term. Would they still care about Malta as much? Perhaps, I don't know.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
I don't know from what TL you are from but a)Britain only controlled Menorca in the Balearics and b)Britain and Spain were allies in the Napoleonic Wars.
 
I don't know from what TL you are from but a)Britain only controlled Menorca in the Balearics and b)Britain and Spain were allies in the Napoleonic Wars.

I think he's suggesting that as allies, Britain purchases the islands from Spain after the Napoleonic wars. Of course, I don't think Britain would have had any money with which to do so (weren't they hugely in debt?), so the whole thing is moot.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Spain kept taking Menorca from Britain. Britain was just a bit unhappy at that. Also it could be construed as payment for Wellington's army helping to liberate Spain.
 
Spain kept taking Menorca from Britain. Britain was just a bit unhappy at that. Also it could be construed as payment for Wellington's army helping to liberate Spain.

Spain took Menorca in 1783, and Britain didn't really care because it still had Gibraltar and Malta.

As for the second, any british diplomat who had suggested such a thing would have been politely told to fuck off.
 
OK All the Balaerics on reflection is too much. However is it much of a departure for Britain to want menorca?Extra base in the med to keep an eye on France and North Africa. Mao is a good harbour as well.
 
Spain took Menorca in 1783, and Britain didn't really care because it still had Gibraltar and Malta.

As for the second, any british diplomat who had suggested such a thing would have been politely told to fuck off.

Britain actually only took Malta (officially) in 1802. Minorca was handed away in 1783 on the assumption that Gibraltar alone could do the job. Cost also appears to be a consideration.

OK All the Balaerics on reflection is too much. However is it much of a departure for Britain to want menorca?Extra base in the med to keep an eye on France and North Africa. Mao is a good harbour as well.

I think public opinion as well as military by the end of the 18th century was that Minorca simply wasn't needed, and it was costing too much to maintain. After all, it had a tiny population which really contributed only a pittance to the island's income. I'd say that perhaps the only way of having the British keep Minorca would be to have a chance event happen which makes Minorca a kind of cause celebré back home which the public and the military consequently don't really want to abandon and thus are willing to somewhat overlook the negatives of. We're talking some massive bolt out of the blue, like Napoleon being caught in a storm and washing up on the island's shores and being taken prisoner, or something. I'm struggling otherwise to find reasons why Minorca would prove itself valuable to Britain, even though I am by nature a fan of bizarre exclaves and random territorial possessions.
 
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