Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
Challenge: Have either the Dutch or the Indonesians take over Papua New Guinea instead of the British.
What happens?
What happens?
AHC//WI: Dutch/Indonesian Papua New Guinea
- Thread starter Will Kürlich Kerl
- Start date
Very little difference in terms of internal society. The British/Australian governance of Papua New Guinea did little to change Papuan society, except making Port Moresby bigger than it would be otherwise. Dutch or Indonesian control of the whole island of New Guinea would promote an Eastern port, given the need for communication with the islands to the West.
If you had a really early PoD (pre-1900) with a Dutch Australia, they'd likely have PNG as well, given that no-one else would have any need to be there.
assuming we still have a British Australia, any major Pacific War will still have Australian troops present in PNG, since the East Indies (particularly New Guinea) form a convenient outer perimeter for the defense of Australia. Without Australian occupation though, its likely that the Australians would be less effective than they were against the Japanese OTL as they're unfamiliar with the terrain. Nevertheless, the terrain of New Guinea can make even small forces a big headache, so they won't be irrelevant.
If you had a really early PoD (pre-1900) with a Dutch Australia, they'd likely have PNG as well, given that no-one else would have any need to be there.
assuming we still have a British Australia, any major Pacific War will still have Australian troops present in PNG, since the East Indies (particularly New Guinea) form a convenient outer perimeter for the defense of Australia. Without Australian occupation though, its likely that the Australians would be less effective than they were against the Japanese OTL as they're unfamiliar with the terrain. Nevertheless, the terrain of New Guinea can make even small forces a big headache, so they won't be irrelevant.
The lingua franca of this alternate Papua New Guinea is based in Malay language, unlike English in OTL. (Tok Pisin is the lingua franca of OTL Papua New Guinea, by the way.)