AHC: Post-WW2 European Empires survive until 21st century

The challenge is to make the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal hold their post-WW2 empires (at least with the same extent as OTL 1960s, as seen in the map below) to the 21st century, with the POD no earlier than 1939.

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In regards to Britain, a few thoughts:
Hong Kong, fairly easy to maintain it.
Kuwait and the Trucial States were, I don't think, ever ruled directly, but rather as protectorates, so its fairly easy to keep them under the umbrella as it were.
 
All of it? With OTL's WWII, that might be rather difficult, probably impossible.

Look at Algeria and France, and that was with a very large settler population in Algeria itself.

A few parcels with larger settler populations or cooperative locals, sure. But vast tracts of territory populated by people who hate them and who now see they're vulnerable, with the Soviets willing to stir the pot?
 

Hendryk

Banned
The amount of violence necessary to meet this challenge leads me to conclude that if this is even possible, which I doubt, the result would be quite dystopian.

There comes a point, when a country won't let go of its colonies, where the backlash from the brutal methods used to repress independence movements actually threatens the survival of its regime. The Algerian crisis caused the French Fourth Republic to be toppled in 1958, and even the entrenched authoritarian Portuguese regime was eventually deposed in 1974 by its own officer corps, who could no longer stand trying to put down an endless insurgency.
 
All of it? With OTL's WWII, that might be rather difficult, probably impossible.
Well, I said the POD could be as early as 1939.

But vast tracts of territory populated by people who hate them and who now see they're vulnerable, with the Soviets willing to stir the pot?
I've been thinking about this. How about a somewhat more successful Barbarossa, but in the end the Nazis were still kicked by Red Army...but the Soviets have been weakened enough so that it collapsed in 1950s...?
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
This is somewhat easy for the Dutch. You need either a PoD that weakens the cohesion of Indonesia after 1949 (so that Indonesia isn't a threat to West Papua) or a POD that butterflies away the Pacific War or atleast the occupation of the DEI.

The only thing you need to keep Suriname Dutch is having someone else then that idiot Den Uyl be Prime-Minister. Suriname was basically kicked out of the Kingdom.
 
Kuwait and the Trucial States were, I don't think, ever ruled directly, but rather as protectorates, so its fairly easy to keep them under the umbrella as it were.

IIRC Britain only ended the protection agreements with the Trucial States and Oman as part of the general withdrawal from East of Suez and also because the state of the economy meant that it couldn't afford to keep large overseas garrisons. Devise a TL in which Britain's economy performs like West Germany's and they would probably still maintain the treaties.

Obviously Aden would be a different case and you would need to come up with strategy to defeat the insurgency while at the same time not pissing off the locals because of extreme measures.

The African Colonies are also tricky, perhaps if you can give them some reason to make them want to remain linked to Britain such as a free trade area or the right of their citizens to live in Britain (this would almost certainly antagonise race relations in Britain) then perhaps they will choose to remain as colonies.
 
If POD in 1939 is allowed then I propose France actively attacking Germany fafter invasion of Poland, resulting in British-French victor in 1940-41. Without long war and destruction it brought, perhaps colonial powers have enough confidence to keep colonies by force or gradual concession by now.
 
This is ASB. There is no reason and no money to do this if the Second World War goes even remotely like that of our timeline.
 
This is somewhat easy for the Dutch. You need either a PoD that weakens the cohesion of Indonesia after 1949 (so that Indonesia isn't a threat to West Papua) or a POD that butterflies away the Pacific War or atleast the occupation of the DEI.

The only thing you need to keep Suriname Dutch is having someone else then that idiot Den Uyl be Prime-Minister. Suriname was basically kicked out of the Kingdom.

I think with even a limited pod the independence of Indonesia will become only an independent Java and Sumatra, with Sumatra split in Aceh and the other part. The Netherlands most likely then could hold on to not just New Guinea, but also Celebes(sulawesi), the Moluccan islands and the dutch part of Borneo.

As for Suriname, supposedly the vote for independence was even rigged so the outcome would be a yes. (thanks to American pressure).

Could someone tell me if there were American presidential candidates that were actually in favor of the European countries keeping their colonies?
 
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How about the "Soviets collapsed much earlier" TL and then United States somehow supports colonialism...?

The surviving colonial empires will increase Soviet influence, not diminish it, so you'd have to end the USSR during the war. However, if that happened, the costs involved would only speed up decolonization anyway.
 
The surviving colonial empires will increase Soviet influence, not diminish it
Err, what?
My theory is the other way around: the lack of Soviet influence would be resulted into surviving colonial empires.

so you'd have to end the USSR during the war. However, if that happened, the costs involved would only speed up decolonization anyway.
American help might be useful, and like wietze suggested, having an American president who in favor of European countries keeping their colonies might be even more helpful.
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
As for Suriname, supposedly the vote for independence was even rigged so the outcome would be a yes. (thanks to American pressure).

There was only a vote in the Surinamese Council (which won by one (1) vote), never a referendum of any kind. It has always amazed my how precious few referenda have been used in decolonizations.
 
Err, what?
My theory is the other way around: the lack of Soviet influence would be resulted into surviving colonial empires.


American help might be useful, and like wietze suggested, having an American president who in favor of European countries keeping their colonies might be even more helpful.

The endurance of these empires would give the USSR greater power to undermine the governments of Western Europe as colonized people becoming more fervent in their agitation for independence..
 
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