AHC: A failed American Revolution, Napoleon takes over the UK, British Empire rebuilds in the Americas

Reflection

This was inspired by Code Geass. In that alternate history, the gist is that the American Revolution failed and Napoleon successfully took over the United Kingdom, forcing the British Empire to rebuild on the other side of the Atlantic. That anime is very fantastical overall, but it did inspire me to propose this real world-based scenario that has three PODs.

If the British Empire had won against the American rebels, but then had to rebuild in the Thirteen Colonies after losing to Napoleon, how well would that work out? What would happen if the British Empire essentially had to reset all the way across the ocean in the Americas? What would be the capital? I'm guessing New York City, Philadelphia and Boston are the most likely, and they might be renamed "New London" in this case.

This is the challenge: Imagine how a British Empire would rebuild after losing their home country in the Isles and having to relocate to the colonies. How well does it go? Let's find out.
 
ETGalaxy

ETGalaxy

Such a scenario has to kill off a lot of butterflies, but I think it's doable. In fact, I actually did a similar idea of having the Thirteen Colonies become the site of a British government-in-exile following a failed American Revolution in one of my own ongoing TLs, although the Loyalists had to flee across the Atlantic ITTL because of a domestic revolution rather than a foreign invasion.

Speaking of a foreign invasion, while Napoleon rising to power and going on a conquest spree of Europe in a world where the Americans lost the ARW is certainly possible, a successful occupation and deposing of the government of Great Britain during this time period is highly unlikely. I really do think there being an internal overthrow of the United Kingdom is a much more plausible way to oust the House of Hanover to the New World. Either way, you get a similar end result. I don't actually think you'd be seeing the exiled government call itself "the British Empire" or anything or really view itself as a continuation of Great Britain. Instead, I think much of British North America would be organized into an Empire of America or something, where the monarchy claims the throne of Great Britain but the nation it governs has a completely separate national identity and local government. Think of it like the British monarchy fleeing to Canada, a nation separate from the UK that shares a head of state with the British via the monarchy. This means that there won't be any large name changes, and local colonial governments will likely stay intact.

The elephant in the room for the Loyalist America, however, would be local insurrections. If we want to assume that the fall of Great Britain happens sometime around the planned Napoleonic invasion of Great Britain (basically, around the early 1810s), then the ARW would have ended at most a little less than forty years ago. Plenty of people who fought in the ARW would still be alive and, depending on how harsh the British are towards the local governments following their victory, potentially holding local public offices. What this means for the Loyalists is that there will likely still be a lot of people that don't recognize the authority of the House of Hanover and whatever government is set up under them, thus causing a lot of local resistance. This resistance would very likely be armed, which means that you have the potential for a situation in which the Loyalists have to fight off local revolutionaries in a sort of Second American Revolutionary War. Assuming the Loyalists win, the cultivation of loyalty from the local population would be a top priority of whatever nation they form in the Americas for much of its early history. I don't think you'd see a lot of outward expansion, at least at first, by the Loyalists ITTL.
 

Nivek

The question is how? Code Geass was ripped here wide open because that ASB scenario even in a setting with actual magic
 
ETGalaxy

ETGalaxy

Nivek said:
The question is how? Code Geass was ripped here wide open because that ASB scenario even in a setting with actual magic
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I don't think how exactly the UK is forced into exile is relevant here. Generally speaking, regardless of who kicks the monarchy out of Europe, the end result would likely result in the pursuit of similar policies regarding the reorganization of British North America and would cause the Loyalists to face similar challenges to maintaining control.
 

triscreen

A bit of a curve-ball, but perhaps Napoleon could somehow find his way to Great Britain as a Corsican refugee, and tensions boil over in Britain to have a "British Revolution", with Napoleon managing to take over Britain in a similar way he did to France IOTL and having the monarchy flee to the Americas.
 
ETGalaxy

ETGalaxy

kasumigenx said:
It is because the French Revolution would be butterflied if the American Revolution does not happen.
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I'd actually disagree with this. I'd argue that the origins for the conditions that led to the French Revolution began with the bankruptcy the Kingdom of France faced after its defeat in the Seven Years' War whereas the worsened economic situation following the American Revolution was just the icing on the cake. So even if the specific events might be different, I think an alternate version of the French Revolution would occur regardless of the outcome of the ARW. The biggest difference would be in what the initial government and political ideologies of the French First Republic would look like without the United States to serve as inspiration. Personally, I've always been interested in the French Revolution looking to the Roman Republic rather than the United States in this kind of scenario.
 
Lusitania

Lusitania

Donor
The biggest issue I have is that much of the French Revolution ideas was inspired by the successful ARW. So like others I find it hard for someone to say this does not happen but all other things inspired by ARW and independent America happens. That is as some said ASB. Might as well get a big wand.

Why did ARW fail? Did both France and Dutch go into debt to try finance ARW? Was the British navy that much superior? So many questions and so many butterflies.
 

xsampa

Banned
This *America would still have issues related to westwards expansion and relations with Spain, although if Spain is caught with the issues affecting France/England I can see them pushing west
 

triscreen

xsampa said:
Also, how would it deal with Slavery and the *seccessionism likely to arise from it
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This is an interesting question, since this British America would have control over Canada as well as Britain's Caribbean territories. My guess is the South would try to overcompensate southwards, probably looking at Spanish (or formerly Spanish) possessions in the Caribbean and Central America for potential filibustering.

Another question raised would be the fate of India - does the BEIC manage to keep its grip over its Indian holdings, and if so what will it try to do?
 

xsampa

Banned
triscreen said:
Another question raised would be the fate of India - does the BEIC manage to keep its grip over its Indian holdings, and if so what will it try to do?
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In Look to the West the BEIC becomes increasingly native dominated to pay off the costs of the Indian Jihad that devastated North India, eventually becoming independent.

Maybe gradual independence as America looks to her own affairs first
 
Lusitania

Lusitania

Donor
I keep thinking of the book two Georges. When BNA continues United and over time become a autonomous part of empire.
 
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