AHC: French Brazil

You need to both smash the Portuguese colonies in Brazil and also get the France thoroughly established in "France Antartique" (aka Brésil). France could probably colonise from the OTL São Paulo and also perhaps from OTL Maranhão, and ideally drive the Portuguese out from Pernambuco and other strongholds.

This would likely come at the expense of Quebec (who needs a few acres of snow anyway?) and Louisiana, but Brésil would be far better in the long run.

The world wars, well, they get butterflied. Brésil doesn't need to care what goes on in Europe anyway. Look at OTL Brazil's record in the world wars.
 

CalBear

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It would depend on how they acquired the colony. The change would have to be enormous, so the impact could be as well.

Need much more detail.
 
Look at Haiti. France basically just imported as many slaves as they could fit on the island and overworked the soil until it was barren, which is why Haiti is so much worse of than the DR to this day. Imagine that, but on a massive scale. Brazil in this timeline would be by far majority African, and the condition of the soil would be terrible. The country would likely be dirt poor due to the soil, and we'd basically end up with a giant Haiti, a country with a proud history, people, and culture, but not the necessary resources to pull itself out of poverty.

Although, on the other hand, perhaps it could have a reverse effect. With more French colonies, the intensity of agriculture on Haiti may be different, causing Haiti to be better off and develop much more like the DR and the Spanish Carribean, while Brazil is just Brazil, but French, and perhaps a bit more advamced due to connections with the French super power.

Either works.
 
There was a serious claim to double the size of Guyane which got off in the late XIXth century when an adventurer got some territory in a card game.
Check out the Republic of Counani, it'd be a good start
 
Look at Haiti. France basically just imported as many slaves as they could fit on the island and overworked the soil until it was barren, which is why Haiti is so much worse of than the DR to this day. Imagine that, but on a massive scale. Brazil in this timeline would be by far majority African, and the condition of the soil would be terrible. The country would likely be dirt poor due to the soil, and we'd basically end up with a giant Haiti, a country with a proud history, people, and culture, but not the necessary resources to pull itself out of poverty.

Although, on the other hand, perhaps it could have a reverse effect. With more French colonies, the intensity of agriculture on Haiti may be different, causing Haiti to be better off and develop much more like the DR and the Spanish Carribean, while Brazil is just Brazil, but French, and perhaps a bit more advamced due to connections with the French super power.

Either works.

Well Haiti's poverty can also be traced back to the large debt forced to pay to France. Between 90 million and 150 million Francs. Finished paying by 1947. If they weren't to do that then I'd expect Haiti maybe on level of... Suriname, Guyana? At least... just a wild guess.

But then again, killing white colonists was not really helpful either...
 
Well Haiti's poverty can also be traced back to the large debt forced to pay to France. Between 90 million and 150 million Francs. Finished paying by 1947. If they weren't to do that then I'd expect Haiti maybe on level of... Suriname, Guyana? At least... just a wild guess.

But then again, killing white colonists was not really helpful either...
Actually yeah. French Guiana is probably the best analogy. Although Brazil will also likely have a lot of white Frenchman in the more mild south.
 

raharris1973

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Well Haiti's poverty can also be traced back to the large debt forced to pay to France. Between 90 million and 150 million Francs. Finished paying by 1947. If they weren't to do that then I'd expect Haiti maybe on level of... Suriname, Guyana? At least... just a wild guess.

But then again, killing white colonists was not really helpful either...

They were scared enough of France after 1940 to keep paying? Wow.
 
Well, France invaded Brazil in 1895 during the chaos of the "sword republic", attacking brazilian Amapá from French Guyana, but they were repelled after a guerrila campaign.
 
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