Alternate Colonial Scramble

Hello please!
I need help with my TL. Currently I am planning the post-Civil War era, and as I am not familiar with the late 19th century, I will need help with planning an alt-colonial scramble. With a PoD in 1856, is it even sure to happen? What would be the Great Powers' desires in Africa and Asia in the period?

The great powers of this world are:
US
UK
France
Greater Germany
Hungary
Russia
Italy
Ottoman Empire

Other nations in Europe are similar to OTL, so they would be mostly passive, perhaps one of them gain a mostly inland colony (like Belgium did IOTL)?
 
Several factors to consider:

(1) Is the Suez Canal still built?

(2) Does the discovery of gold and diamonds in southern Africa occur as in OTL?

(3) Does the exploration of Africa occur as in OTL?

(4) Is Great Power rivalry in Europe more intense or less than in OTL? Your mention of Greater Germany and an independent Hungary (though I don't see how it could be a Great Power) suggests the former.

(5) Is there an equivalent to the Panic of 1873?

And keep in mind that Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands (yes, the Netherlands) also had African colonies at the time.
 
Maybe Greater Germany has less interest in Africa as they would be more interested in Europe.

Also maybe a greater defeat on France would cause France to try and overcompensate on Africa,.
 
Hello please!
I need help with my TL. Currently I am planning the post-Civil War era, and as I am not familiar with the late 19th century, I will need help with planning an alt-colonial scramble. With a PoD in 1856, is it even sure to happen? What would be the Great Powers' desires in Africa and Asia in the period?

The great powers of this world are:
US
UK
France
Greater Germany
Hungary
Russia
Italy
Ottoman Empire

Other nations in Europe are similar to OTL, so they would be mostly passive, perhaps one of them gain a mostly inland colony (like Belgium did IOTL)?

What about Portugal? They had colonies in Africa since 1421.
 
Several factors to consider:

(1) Is the Suez Canal still built?

(2) Does the discovery of gold and diamonds in southern Africa occur as in OTL?

(3) Does the exploration of Africa occur as in OTL?

(4) Is Great Power rivalry in Europe more intense or less than in OTL? Your mention of Greater Germany and an independent Hungary (though I don't see how it could be a Great Power) suggests the former.

(5) Is there an equivalent to the Panic of 1873?

And keep in mind that Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands (yes, the Netherlands) also had African colonies at the time.

1) I haven't covered that yet, but yes, it will still be built.

2)Presumably; I haven't decided upon that yet.

3) See 2.

4) Rivalry is a lot greater, and the alliances as I see them will be the same as in OTL, except Italy will not betray her allies. I had forgotten about Portugal, but I only assume that it is, like Spain, nearing it's end as a great power.

5) ???

Maybe Greater Germany has less interest in Africa as they would be more interested in Europe.

Also maybe a greater defeat on France would cause France to try and overcompensate on Africa,.

Hmmm, interesting… I will certainly consider that; but as France's rivals, Greater Germany will want to get some colonies. At this point owning a colony equals prestige.

What about Portugal? They had colonies in Africa since 1421.

They would be slowly decaying at this point, but they are certainly to consider.

A Dutch goldcoast is possible, a lot of opposition existed to selling it to Britain. Didn't Denmark still have its goldcoast outposts at that point?

Hmmm, I must look at this…
 
Didn't Denmark still have its goldcoast outposts at that point?

Sold them to the Brits in 1850.

1) I haven't covered that yet, but yes, it will still be built.

Then the Horn of Africa will become very desirable. If Egypt doesn' go deep into debt trying to expand to the south as in OTL (and there are major ramifications to that as well), expect them, rather than the Europeans, to dominate the Horn.

4) Rivalry is a lot greater,

The prolonged general peace that followed the Treaty of Berlin encouraged colonial adventures, so expect less interest in Africa if there is a sense among the Great Powers that they're about to lose or gain something in Europe.

and the alliances as I see them will be the same as in OTL, except Italy will not betray her allies.

That's pretty boring.

I had forgotten about Portugal, but I only assume that it is, like Spain, nearing it's end as a great power.

We're not talking Great Powers, we're talking colonial powers. Portugal experienced a massive expansion of its African empire in OTL between 1856 and 1914 and it was only Britain's interests in southern Africa that stopped them from linking Angola with Mozambique. Well in 1856 the British were still thinking that Cape Town was all they needed in that part of the continent; just a couple of years earlier they'd left the Orange River Sovereignty, which then became the Orange Free State. Take out the discovery of gold and diamonds and the British occupation of Egypt (set in motion by a series of events which started with the death of Egyptian heir Ahmed Rifaat in 1858 and easily avoided at several points) and that mentality will be much slower to change. Then there was Leopold II grabbing a lot of territory that would have otherwise gone to Portugal.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873
 
?When and how did Italy unite? During the 1870's Italy Invested heavily in Tunisia.
When France took Tunisia, at the Conference, it was part of a deal to keep Italy from Tunisia, Gave Italy future claims on Libya, and ended with Britain getting Cyprus.
Earlier/Later Italy or more Investment could change all this.

There was a lot of Backroom Deals at the Conference, and it didn't stop a Africa.
German Pacific came out of deals over German Africa. ETC ETC.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
IOTL, Denmark owned outposts in the eastern half of the gold coast, but sold them to pay off debts after the 1st Schleswig war. Of the lot the least likely to have much is Hungary, whose only sea access is through her croatian ports (and maybe but very unlikely Dalmatia depending on the circumstances under which it became independent as it wasn't part of the crown of Hungary-Croatia).

That's still only major ports at Fiume and (maybe, but I doubt it) Ragusa.
 
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It was very much possible to see Spain grab more of Morroco, Algeria and what would have been French West Africa. They sure were close to it.
 
I assumed that was the case for a lot of the weaker European colonial powers.

Heck, the French weren't in control of most of the interior of Algeria and French West Africa until the 30s (if they ever did get control). The world's largest desert tends to put a damper on crushing the locals.
 
The French, unlike the Spanish, went in and raised the flag over any location in their part of the Sahara that looked like it might be worth a flagpole at the same time that they asserted their authority. The Sahara is more than just a sea of sand - there's features like the Adrar, M'Zab, Touat, Air, Tibesti, Tagant, and Kaouar where actual control can be exercised, and France exercised it.
 
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