AHC Austria colonies

Don't know abt rivalling GB and France. You'd need a really early PoD for that if it can be done at all.

It's not hard for them to get a middling one. Say if Max was Emperor instead of FJ, he might hire Stanley and get the Congo instead of Leopold. If he also pre-empts Germany in East Africa, then he's got a "Mittelafrika". Not sure what else is likely though.
 
Don't know abt rivalling GB and France. You'd need a really early PoD for that if it can be done at all.

It's not hard for them to get a middling one. Say if Max was Emperor instead of FJ, he might hire Stanley and get the Congo instead of Leopold. If he also pre-empts Germany in East Africa, then he's got a "Mittelafrika". Not sure what else is likely though.
They had some short-lived ones in East Asia, so maybe some Spice Islands?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Geography is against it. Whoever controls the Otranto straits, the Suez Canal, or Gibraltar can effectively shut down an Austrian colonial empire anytime it wants to. What would be the point of going to the trouble and expense if they're likely to lose it during pretty much any major war?
 
That's why I'd suggest: Austria retains the Netherlands (when her father wanted to guarantee Maria Theresa's reign, Britain demanded he'd shut down the equivalent of the East Asian trade company in Belgium). Maria Theresa is born a boy, and you start from that.
 
If Austria can get in on the ground floor of the Suez Canal, if not going halfsies maybe putting in a third of the costs they can get a foot in on East Africa
 

Musica

Banned
If Austria tried to annex Libya instead of Italians could it actually defeat and hold Libya from ottomans?
 
Wasn’t Bosnia essentially a colony?

Otherwise, Gustav von Overbeck attempted to attract the support of Austria, Italy, and Germany in colonizing North Borneo, but failed. If the Austrian Emperor was more pro-colonialism, perhaps it could have been an Austrian colony.
 
I think it does hinge on the reign of Charles VI. Say he holds on to Naples and Sicily. And he helps Venice hang on to Morea. Colonies in modern day Lebanon and Israel. Thru the Ostend Company there are some holdings in India and China. I can't see much else. One fun idea is that Viennese Jews launch a successful development of "Austrian Palestine" in the late 19th century and Russian refugees follow in very large numbers. And maybe German is the preferred language of Maronite Christians in Lebanon.
 
The challenge is to have Austria have a colonial empire that rival to french and british that survive to minimum ww1 is that possible? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_colonial_policy
For a post-1815 POD, Metternich dies sooner and is replaced by someone who cares more about maintaining Habsburg power than turning the clock back to 1789 (no they aren't the same thing). Realizing that geography put it at a disadvantage in the German Question he instead decides that the best way to preserve and expand Habsburg power is to ride the wave of Italian nationalism and has the Habsburg duchies in Italy organized into a Habsburg Kingdom of Italy. This removes one of the biggest drains on Habsburg resources in the 1800s, obliterates the first naval choke point, and generally puts Austria in a better position to project power overseas.
 
Maybe it doesn't have to be overseas. An alternate austria that can deal with its internal strifes, such as the rising nationalism of many ethnicities that its empire contained, could have a much better chance of securing colonies. The Habsburgs, or perhaps an ATL austrian republic that would govern over this vast european land empire, could, in theory, actively take part in dismantling the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s, taking large swathes of Anatolia, the Levant and maybe even Iraq. They could always ally the russians and agree to share the ottoman lands with them. In this case the Austrians have a pretty decent colonial empire land empire, stretching from Wien to Baghdad, perhaps even Palestine.

Not sure how could they manage to keep such a mess together, but they certainly have the means to go so far, provided they industrialize properly.
 

B-29_Bomber

Banned
Perhaps in the division of Charles V's Empire you have Spain give Habsburgian HRE some bits of the New World?

From there Austria is successful in unifying the HRE in the next couple of Centuries?

As for the religious aspects, perhaps the Habsburgs co-opt the Reformation somehow, perhaps with an edict of tolerance, like in France?

From there, with a secure Germany/HRE the Habsburgs use the funds gained from controlling such and their minor colonial holdings in the New World to fund colonial ventures.

Such colonial ventures are likely spear headed by the Dutch and with the resources of the HRE backing them up, it'll probably look like a slightly wanked Dutch Colonial Empire.
 
Could Habsburg control of Corfu and Albania help the issue with the straits? Also, Maximilian as emperor, instead of Franz Josef (just have the assassin succeed).
 
Far cheaper to import the stuff. Besides, the Austrians were mostly dealing with issues in Germany or against the Italians and Ottomans. Always the ever popular Ostend Company route, but back then most countries went for ports. I take it we are desiring the colonial system that ended up in Africa, rather than the settlement system of the Americans, Russians, and British Dominionists? Anyways, the first main issue is getting Austria a port. The Ottomans and Venetians had most of the north Adriatic coast, I imagine Flanders is a bit far out of the way. Need to find a way for someone to give the Austrians a spice island in the Caribbean.
 
Far cheaper to import the stuff. Besides, the Austrians were mostly dealing with issues in Germany or against the Italians and Ottomans. Always the ever popular Ostend Company route, but back then most countries went for ports. I take it we are desiring the colonial system that ended up in Africa, rather than the settlement system of the Americans, Russians, and British Dominionists? Anyways, the first main issue is getting Austria a port. The Ottomans and Venetians had most of the north Adriatic coast, I imagine Flanders is a bit far out of the way. Need to find a way for someone to give the Austrians a spice island in the Caribbean.
Spice islands are in the Indonesia/Malaysia area, sugar islands are in the Caribbean... which one do you mean? Caribbean islands are never called spice islands.
 
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