AHC: Any Germanic country colonizes South and Central America

How do you think Dutch Brazil would evolve? Would it be as populous as OTL Brazil? And how would the Netherlands evolve with such a large colony?
When I, and I assume most people, talk about a Dutch Brasil, it would only the area around Recife, not all of Brasil. Roughly this size:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nederlands-Brazillië.jpg
Nederlands-Brazilli%C3%AB.jpg


Not all of Brasil.

How would it look? Well, look at Surinam. It would be mainly a planting colony, with maybe some minor settlers colonies.
 

JJohnson

Banned
That's a good map, thanks!

I overlaid it on a map of Brazil, and it looks like it covers: Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande Do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhao (the last two more partially). Let's say the Dutch hold this successfully - where do they expand? West, South, Southwest, or all three?

dutch_brazil_by_jjohnson1701-d7dhjvh.png
 
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That's a good map, thanks!

I overlaid it on a map of Brazil, and it looks like it covers: Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande Do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhao (the last two more partially). Let's say the Dutch hold this successfully - where do they expand? West, South, Southwest, or all three?
It depends on the Dutch relationship with Portugal. The colony can only be safe the moment peace is made between Portugal and the Netherlands and Portugal accepts it lost this part of Brasil. If peace is made, the colony won't expand anymore, obviously. If peace isn't made, well, I don't think it can expand anymore. I believe the Netherlands (or the WIC) is (almost) overstretched here. See OTL in which they slowly lost the colony to Portugal.

So in my opinion basicly this is it. The Netherlands manages to create peace with Portugal. Appoints some competant rulers, who are able to handle the local population and this would be Dutch Brasil/New Holland. The more interesting question would be if this means no Dutch Surinam.
 

JJohnson

Banned
Don't forget Denmark. The Danish possessed the territory now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands until 1917 when they sold it to the US. This territory was the Danish West Indies, and I could easily see Denmark acquiring more West Indies territory after the Napoleonic Wars, just get them to side against France. Or, if they really wanted, they could buy Puerto Rico from Spain...

That is a good question - is Denmark in a position to acquire, hold, and colonize any territory in the New World?
 
That is a good question - is Denmark in a position to acquire, hold, and colonize any territory in the New World?

Depending on the size of the potential colony, Denmark might indeed be able to acquire and control a territory - but actually colonising it is out of question due to the relatively small population of Denmark.
 
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