AHC: Sovereign Military Order of Malta state post-Napoleonic Wars

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a "stateless sovereignty" that currently has the rights of a sovereign state without any territory. The Order controlled Malta for centuries before Napoleon expelled them in 1798.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to give the SMOM physical territory to rule over after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Bonus points if it is not in Europe.
 
Well the obvious answer is for them not to declare neutrality but side with the Coalitions, IIRC the French had already seized the Order's property and assets in France, annexed large areas of the Papal States a couple of years beforehand and fairly recently invaded Rome itself and declared a republic so why they stayed neutral is somewhat odd. The only things I can think of is that they just didn't have the stomach for a fight any more, granted against what was probably long odds, and that since a large percentage of the Order was made up of Frenchmen they had worries about their political reliability. Asking the British for a defensive treaty, some quiet financial subsidies - the Cavalry of St. George, protection via the Royal Navy and perhaps a small contingent of troops - possibly British, possibly from a suitably Catholic country - to help garrison key points seems like the best solution. Of course that assume that they decide to chance it, the French were looking pretty successful at this point. Perhaps they get wind of French intentions and decide that if they're going to lose their territory anyway they might as well throw in with the British?
 
Its a simple matter of having the British honor the conditions as laid out in the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, where they had promised to return the islands to the Knights. Carrying out such an action however is not as simple, given the main reason for the continued occupation of Malta (and by extension, large parts of Egypt) was due to the threat Napoleon continued to present in Europe.

If you can manage to get Napoleon to limit his conquests, to establish some sort of detente with the United Kingdom at least for a short period of time (say five years), then conditions regarding Malta would likely be honored.

Outside of Malta, a land grant by Czar Paul I of Russia, possibly one of the Baltic Islands, seems the best bet, though there are not such discussions to have occured despite having become a Grand Master of the Order.


Edit: Just realized you wanted it after 1815. If you mean a substantial territory, it can't be done, as far as I know. In OTL however, they do technically control one of the Forts in Malta, and two other places in Rome, though jointly with the Maltese and Italians.
 
Its a simple matter of having the British honor the conditions as laid out in the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, where they had promised to return the islands to the Knights. Carrying out such an action however is not as simple, given the main reason for the continued occupation of Malta (and by extension, large parts of Egypt) was due to the threat Napoleon continued to present in Europe.

If you can manage to get Napoleon to limit his conquests, to establish some sort of detente with the United Kingdom at least for a short period of time (say five years), then conditions regarding Malta would likely be honored.

Outside of Malta, a land grant by Czar Paul I of Russia, possibly one of the Baltic Islands, seems the best bet, though there are not such discussions to have occured despite having become a Grand Master of the Order.


Edit: Just realized you wanted it after 1815. If you mean a substantial territory, it can't be done, as far as I know. In OTL however, they do technically control one of the Forts in Malta, and two other places in Rome, though jointly with the Maltese and Italians.

Not anything large. City-state size is all I can see.

Perhaps SMOM joins in the Scramble for Africa and controls a treaty port of some sort?
 
Not anything large. City-state size is all I can see.

Perhaps SMOM joins in the Scramble for Africa and controls a treaty port of some sort?
They simply were not that notable, at least on the scale required to get a seat at the Berlin Conference. :/

Really, I can only see the Knights getting either Malta back, or land from Paul I of Russia; after that point the Order fades from relevance.

Now though I am getting an idea of a Congo-Free State run by the Knights :p
 
They simply were not that notable, at least on the scale required to get a seat at the Berlin Conference. :/

Really, I can only see the Knights getting either Malta back, or land from Paul I of Russia; after that point the Order fades from relevance.

Now though I am getting an idea of a Congo-Free State run by the Knights :p

That last part is awesome. Elaborate.
 
That last part is awesome. Elaborate.

That last part had not sense of reality. :p

No, I had for some reason been reading up on the Congo, and the main conflict was how to handle the issue given it was not supposed to be assigned, at least in its entirety, to a major world power. Germany for example actually had not interest in the region (in an actual territorial sense), but they didn't want either the British or French to have it. For a time it actually seemed as if it was going to be given to the Portuguese, who had historical connections throughout the region, and was supported by the British (possibly even as a gift so as to prevent Portuguese adoption of the Pink Map).

Eventually, we ended up with the OTL horror known as the Congo Free State; Leopold III's little Hell on Earth.

Now, even if the Order were to maintain itself in Malta, I can't see it being able to possess a territory such as the Congo without foreign backing, either national or through investors. Fortunately however, it can be quite certain they would not be nearly as brutal as Leopold was, given their encompassing goals would not add up solely to "Profit".
 

That last part had not sense of reality. :p

No, I had for some reason been reading up on the Congo, and the main conflict was how to handle the issue given it was not supposed to be assigned, at least in its entirety, to a major world power. Germany for example actually had not interest in the region (in an actual territorial sense), but they didn't want either the British or French to have it. For a time it actually seemed as if it was going to be given to the Portuguese, who had historical connections throughout the region, and was supported by the British (possibly even as a gift so as to prevent Portuguese adoption of the Pink Map).

Eventually, we ended up with the OTL horror known as the Congo Free State; Leopold III's little Hell on Earth.

Now, even if the Order were to maintain itself in Malta, I can't see it being able to possess a territory such as the Congo without foreign backing, either national or through investors. Fortunately however, it can be quite certain they would not be nearly as brutal as Leopold was, given their encompassing goals would not add up solely to "Profit".


You mentioned something about Russia giving them some land. Where in the Empire would that be?
 
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