AHChallenge: United Caribbean

With any POD, come up with a scenario in which all islands of the Caribbean are unified politically, linguistically, and culturally into a single nation by the modern day. Bonus points of this union includes Florida. Belize and Guyana (and Suriname and French Guiana) are optional.
 
How about this:
The Spanish Armada succeeds and Spain controls England for a while (not conquers, but England becomes a vasal state of Spain), this avoids English colonisation of the Caribbean. Because of this the Dutch revolt fails (so no Dutch colonization). As Spain now effectively surrounds France (England, the Netherlands, Spanish Italy and ...well ... Spain), it manages to prevent France to get a foothold in the Caribbean. This leads to a Caribbean colonised by only Spain. After a couple of centuries and some political changes the Spainsh colonies try to become independent and the Carribean colonies end up as one country. Belize will not be part of it, although Spanish it probably ends up as part of a central American nation. Neither will Guyana, which will either be Portuguese or part of New Granada or maybe independent. I see no reason for it be included into the Caribbean. Same is true for Florida, although I consider it more likely to become part of the Carribban nation.
 
The real problem with that is that the Spanish Armada is pretty much the 16th century version of the sea-mammal. To put it into perspective, the Duke of Parma, who was to lead the army, was so sure that the plan couldn't succeed that he simply took his army off to fight the Dutch rather than turning up at the rendezvous with the fleet.

Also I think people drastically overestimate the amount to which Spain would put England in thrall. They didn't want another territory, and they'd never manage to rule it as one. They just wanted a Hapsburg on the throne and Papal supremacy restored. With a Hapsburg ruler (probably Philip's daughter Elizabeth) they'd be happy to then allow the English to colonise America, using family ties to ensure that Spanish merchants dominated the English colonies. Also of course, they'd make sure that Spain got to cherry-pick the best locations, but you'd still likely see an English America sprawling up the coast from about North Carolina up to Newfoundland - assuming no other countries got a slice of the action, which is a push.
 
The real problem with that is that the Spanish Armada is pretty much the 16th century version of the sea-mammal.
Ok, some better planned invasion of England maybe?

they'd be happy to then allow the English to colonise America,
I really doubt that. As far as I know, the Spanish didn't like anyone but themselves colonizing the America's. They considered themselves the rightful rulers of all of it (besides Brazil) after the treaty of Tordesillas. Sure the other countries didn't care one bit about it, but as long as Spain controls England somehow, it will enforce it as long as possible.
 
Napoleon doesn't invade Russia and the French Empire last longer. The British gradually take the rest of the Caribbean islands. Eventually the high financial costs of war mean a long period of tension but no fighting. Eventually a ceasefire is signed recognising the status quo. The Caribbean is later created as a single dominion, before getting independence.
 
The British have controlled every single island in the West Indies at some point or another, reaching a head during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Keeping the Lesser Antilles is easy... they're all spoils of war, rich spoils, that Britain can easily claim and keep away from their weak parent countries. Thus the Danish Virgin Islands, Dutch Lesser Antilles, and French Guadeloupe and Martinico/Martinique fall to Britain.

Keeping the bigger islands is harder. You'd need a new Cuba campaign, a successful Puerto Rico campaign, and them keeping Hispaniola...perhaps an even more battered Spain gives them up for assistance, or whatever.

From there, the Federation of the West Indies is formed on schedule in TTL anyway. :D
 
Ok, some better planned invasion of England maybe?

I'm not convinced, but maybe. Really just getting one country to be the hegemon of the Caribbean in the same way that Britain captured all of North America seems more likely to me.

I really doubt that. As far as I know, the Spanish didn't like anyone but themselves colonizing the America's. They considered themselves the rightful rulers of all of it (besides Brazil) after the tre
aty of Tordesillas. Sure the other countries didn't care one bit about it, but as long as Spain controls England somehow, it will enforce it as long as possible.

At first they believed they had a divine mandate to rule the Americas yes, but tbh I think if you look at it all they were truly interested was the bullion and the money. They claimed all of the Americas sure, but they only made any kind if effort to capture the major civilisations and then the islands which they could easily dominate, and because they knew of the value of. Central and southern America pumped out gold and silver and they wasted no time at all in capturing it but they rapidly learned that the north was disparate politically and had no gold and instantly lost interest. They made no attempt at exerting control except placing a half-dozen missionary outposts on the coast and sending a small flotilla to ward off foreigners every few months. Because there was no profit to be made, they couldn't care less.

The other thing they did, which shows their priorities, is jealously guard their trade monopoly. They declared all trade with the America had to go through Cadiz and they passed a law making it punishable by indefinite imprisonment for a foreign ship to even dock in an American port, let alone attempt to trade. On top, if the foreign sailors were Protestant then the Inquisition tended to mysteriously appear in their cells to drag them away to never be seen again.

See, the Spanish had no real interest in expansion, they just wanted the juicy bits and they wanted the trade. If England came under Hapsburg control and converted to Catholicism, I suspect that the Spanish would've found them the perfect people to suck up all the bits of America that the Spanish had no interest in conquering. The only caveat would be the subjection of the English colonies to Spanish trading laws. All trade would have to be toured through Spanish ports - either Cadiz or maybe Havana first to double the number of Spanish tariffs they had to pay. They'd also be forced to cough up protection money or some sort of reimbursement to make sure that most of their profits ended up in the King of Spain's treasury. But I just can't see the Spanish turning up the chance at making the English do their hard work, and as a result, English colonies follow.
 
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