AHC: Britain ruled from Australia

I was thinking the other way around. It seems likely that Bonnie Prince Charlie would simply have been executed if they'd caught him, but if someone was stupid enough to exile him to Australia we could see a rival country fighting for control of the Empire. It would certainly be advantageous to the Americans to have the British government on the other side of the world, and they might throw in their lot with the Jacobites if Charlie's descendants grow to love Australia and don't want to leave.

Given that a failed rebellion is much more likely than a successful one, I love this idea. I'm not sure @darcykelso wants that though, since (as I mentioned) the Hannovers are the legitimate family.
 
I was thinking the other way around. It seems likely that Bonnie Prince Charlie would simply have been executed if they'd caught him, but if someone was stupid enough to exile him to Australia we could see a rival country fighting for control of the Empire. It would certainly be advantageous to the Americans to have the British government on the other side of the world, and they might throw in their lot with the Jacobites if Charlie's descendants grow to love Australia and don't want to leave.

Of course, this exact scenario is why no one in the British government would allow it.
Creative idea. Definetly plausible but not very probable.
 
I was thinking the other way around. It seems likely that Bonnie Prince Charlie would simply have been executed if they'd caught him, but if someone was stupid enough to exile him to Australia we could see a rival country fighting for control of the Empire. It would certainly be advantageous to the Americans to have the British government on the other side of the world, and they might throw in their lot with the Jacobites if Charlie's descendants grow to love Australia and don't want to leave.

Of course, this exact scenario is why no one in the British government would allow it.
While an entertaining scenario, the drawback is that if Bonnie Prince Charlie was exiled to Australia, he would quite literally be the only European there - barring the occasional shipwrecked sailors - since European settlement of Oz didn't begin until the year of his death.
 
While an entertaining scenario, the drawback is that if Bonnie Prince Charlie was exiled to Australia, he would quite literally be the only European there - barring the occasional shipwrecked sailors - since European settlement of Oz didn't begin until the year of his death.

Unless we're assuming a French vessel took him there and set up a Jacobite colony.
 
While an entertaining scenario, the drawback is that if Bonnie Prince Charlie was exiled to Australia, he would quite literally be the only European there - barring the occasional shipwrecked sailors - since European settlement of Oz didn't begin until the year of his death.
Unless we're assuming a French vessel took him there and set up a Jacobite colony.
Given the timeframe, that could easily turn out like setting up the Draka on another continent. Some Jacobites set up an isolated colony on the far side of the world, and since the only way to survive the wildlife of Oz is to become totally badass, decide that they're the superior race and go on to conquer the rest of the world.
 
So the _earliest_ possible POD would then be the act of union of 1707? Otherwise we could have the Australians come across that superior yam a couple millennia [1] early and have the Nuttana Far West Peninsula Company use divide and rule to establish mastery over the Celts. :biggrin:

[1] They certainly have quite a bit of time to do so.
 
1899: UK and much of France go to war over Fashoda as France implodes into 5-way civil war. Britain supports Fourth Republic faction, Germany supports Orleanist faction, etc. Nascent chemical warfare erupts and blimps become unstoppable bombers. In a panic, the Royal Family and Imperial Government flee to the farthest point they can concieve - Sydney - until the crisis abates.
 
More importantly, they have a choice between a place full of tropical diseases, heat which many of the people won't open revolt, and already quite crowded. Or a place with plenty of open spaces, more temperate climate, and no danger of revolt or tropical diseases. Personally, i think that choice is a no-brainer.

Problem is, though, that Australia's mostly desert, hence its potential carrying capacity is relatively low. It would be kind of difficult for Australia to keep control over the rest of the Empire when the other colonies often have a bigger population than the mother country.
 
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