AHC: Sweden participates in the Scramble for Africa

Have them purchase the Dutch colonies and get some part of the Gold Coast?

EDIT: I mean Danish.
 
Last edited:
Sweden has enough funds to go through with the Madagascar scheme in the 18th century or somehow is able to keep its African forts in the 17th.
 
Would a Scandinavian Union led by Sweden Count? They would get all the Danish territories during the integration, giving them a footholds. They could have Gold-Ivory Coast area and the Timbuktu, Mali Empire sorta place.
 
Why would Sweden want it?

The Congo did have abundant ivory and rubber, and I think that Leopold initially went after it for ivory. I think a significant factor in Leopold's acquisition of the Congo was his desire for colonies, however, and I'm not sure if that would have been as prevalent in Sweden.
 
Sweden can participate in the Scramble for Africa if they're a semi-relevant power. For that to happen, there needs to be something approaching a balance of power in Northern Europe; Russia needs to be weaker. Maybe Charles XII launches a follow up campaign in Russia instead of Poland-Lithuania, deposing Peter the Great and incidentally touching off another Time of Troubles. Before Russia can fully recover, Prussia will have risen as a major military power. There should be enough disparate factions for a balance of power to emerge if the Swedes play their cards right. From that point, any significant maritime presence would allow Sweden to jump on Africa when the time comes.
 
Sweden can participate in the Scramble for Africa if they're a semi-relevant power.

You don't need to be a power to have colonies.

Historically the tiny Duchy of Courland (in the Eastern Baltic) had colonies in the America's and Africa, and those more or less were lost because the country was on the losing side of a war (and was eventually annexed by another country), to use an extreme example.

What Sweden (without changing its history much) needs to do is find a part of Africa that's not being colonized or claimed by anyone that's atleast sort of worthwhile (IE it does'nt have to be super prosperous) and focuse their efforts on it while later remaining neutral, but cordial towards the countries that end-up colonizing the surrounding area.

Another scenario, much later on could be during/right after the Spanish-American War Sweden approaches Spain with an offer to buy Annobon and/or Spanish Guinea (maybe with the intention of stopping slavery, which was unofficially perpetuated by Europeans there until the 1920's) from them, like how Spain sold its small Pacific island posessions to Germany.
 
Top