AHC : Nicaragua Canal instead of Panama Canal

[LSCatilina]

As it's said on the tin : what changes would have been necessary for that the Atlantic/Pacific canal would have been located in Nicaragua instead of Panama?

If necessary, Panama Canal can still exist in the same time, but have to be secondary compared to its northern counterpart.

 

[David T]

Less volcanic activity in 1902--both in real life and on postage stamps... https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/ZOirMAuCWv4/_ESOLAZa3hAJ

 

[jahenders]

The Nicaragua volcano bogeyman did aid the Panama proposal, but the bigger thing was arguably the financial backing for the Panama route. The Panama concept had a strong financial group will lots of money at stake so they argued strongly for the Panama route, influenced key people, did PR, and raised the volcanic issue in the first play.

So, for the Nicaraguan route to win out, there would either need to be a similar group of investors/spokesmen on the side of that proposal or the Panamanian investors would have had to be weaker and/or less active.

Less volcanic activity in 1902--both in real life and on postage stamps... https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/ZOirMAuCWv4/_ESOLAZa3hAJ

 

[LSCatilina]

So, for the Nicaraguan route to win out, there would either need to be a similar group of investors/spokesmen on the side of that proposal or the Panamanian investors would have had to be weaker and/or less active.

Okay, but how would you do that?

 

[Napoleonrules]

Make the PoD that the French never give up their rights to a Panama Canal to the USA. In the USA, President Teddy working under the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corrollary decides a French canal in Panama is unacceptable! He ramrods through Congress that a canal be built in Nicaragua. Canal zone given (seized?) in Nicaragua and Costa Rican borders (hey, keeps them safer from each other right? It's an international public service! Peace in Central America brought to you by American Imperialism! Thank you, Teddy.) And so you have a Nicaraguan canal and possibly a Panama Canal if the French actually go ahead and Colombia lets them. Panama may not exist as an independent nation. And you have the possibility that once Bismark is out of Germany and Caprivi is in that France sells to Germany the rights to a canal and you have a German canal in Colombia/Panama which causes the USA to seize it during World War I. If it is French then World War II takes care of that, the British/Free French and then the USA after December 1941 administer the canal, in the 1950s or 1960s Colombia nationalizes it.