Alternate Seven Years War

This is directly regading my current timeline I've been working on- if you don't want to bother reading skip to the bottom. One note- my TL sort of crosses the AH line and delves a bit into fantasy. Please, accept that I've made some stuff up and enjoy doing so and don't mind- bunnies won't be raining out of the sky but certainly there's some imagination involved and the divergence from OTL wasn't just straight historical fact.

It might help reading a bit on the Seven Years War, French and Indian War and any names mentioned if you want more info on them, via. wikipedia or google (I used both).

For the background of the TL:

Background: Jean Ribault was a French Huguenot who obtained royal ascent to travel to the New World to establish a colony there in the name of the King. Jean dreamed of a huguenot paradise free from the oppression of France, however he was soon beset with hostile natives and a repressing Spanish presence just south of his colony of Fort Caroline. He was eventually forced to flee after the colony went hungry, and was imprisoned for sometime before being forced to return to refurvish the colony. Many of the colonists turned to piracy and as a result, the Spanish had become aware of the Fort's existance. In OTL, Jean narrowly avoided being boarded- through the luck of a large storm and was stranded in-land before being captured and killed by Spanish forces.


PoD: In my TL, Jean Ribault is not killed by a sortee of Spanish troops but rather during a storm his ship is blown of course and he is wrecked on an island in the Bahamas. He and the remenants of his crew are found by a passing English vessel and after a short imprisonment, make it back to France. Upon returning, Ribault settles in La Rochelle, Normandy in aprox. 1568. He is old enough to still have kids, and he supports himself via. the slave trade, using a vessel he and other colonists bought following their return (with the meager funds they had).

Jean Ribault thereafter lives a rather uninteresting life and fathers several children. Amongst them, his eldest son and second eldest child, Jean-Paul Ribault (1571-1615) takes up the slave trade. He is far more successful then his father and runs regular trips from the Senegal throughout the New World, earning a small fortune. He manages to purchase some minor noble titles and his third-eldest son, Samuel Ribault (1602-1646) continues his fathers buisness, but is killed overseas. It is Samuel who eagerly wished to pursue, like his grandfather- a huguenot colony in the New World. Witnessing the horrible bloodbath that resulted during the prosecution of the Huguenots in France and the subsequent Thirty Years War, Samuel single-handidly rebuilt his father's buisness after La Rochelle was ruined by siege. He fathered a few children before being unfairly tried and executed for some petty crime- unable to fufill his dream overseas.

Typical of the Ribaults, his sons continued their lucrative buisness although under the oppression of the heavily anti-protestant catholic monarchy they found their fortunes and efforts continually hampered. His fourth eldest son, Samuel II (1636-1698) was inspired by his grandfather's maps, but could not find anyone to support a colonists mission overseas. Planning to flee to Geneva or east into the HRE should things continue to decline in France, Samuel II was fortunate enough to have acquainted the recently returned René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in a pub on December 28th, 1684. La Salle was speaking to several merchants about a possible colony in a place he called Louisiana, however the merchants were uninterested in financing an operation. Dejected, La Salle stayed for a few more drinks when Samuel- having overheard the conversation offered him financial support. Initially excited, La Salle was quickly dismayed to discover Ribault was a huguenot. He turned him down, rather hoping his audience with the King (arranged on behalf of the Governor of New France at the time) would inspire a mission there. His audience failed dismally however and ended with La Salle's mockery in the courts of Louis XIV. Feeling more then ever in need of support, he contacted Ribault accepting his proposal. Requiring permission from the King, he requested a second audience outlining the details of his proposed mission, fully payed for outside the jurisdiction of the King and requring none of his services.

The King at first was disgusted at the idea of having protestants colonize the New World, as well as there being a law strictly forbidding Protestants living overseas. With the help of Ribault however, La Salle bought over two priests in the King's court to support their cause, saying the colony was to be a penal-colony for protestants, where labour for the state would drive them to penance and re-conversion to the Catholic faith. The King was interested at the prospect of this and gave his support in the end. One clause not intended however by either La Salle or Ribault, was the priest's insistance that the colony have a temporary suspension of the ban on protestantism in order to prevent wide-spread dissent upon arriving at the colony. Ribault agreed, and gathered family, friends and anyone interested to travel overseas as the initial colonizers. Ribault gathered support and with 400 colonists, he crossed the sea along with a few dozen slaves along with La Salle to what is just east of modern day Venice, Louisiana- founding the city of New-Rochelle.

Ribault was eventually joined by several other thousand huguenots before Edict of Nantes was revoked. When the Edict was revoked, La Salle was able to push the court to send several thousand more settlers over, resulting in the deportation of some 20,000-30,000 Huguenots to the region. One clause forgotten by the King was the small permission of freedom religion, assumed by the inhabitants to be still in effect but assumed by the court (as of all his subjects) to be wrought in favour of the revokation of the Edict of Nantes. Following this, the colony would be largely forgotten by the French until the end of the War of Spanish Succession.


So What Am I Saying?
So my timeline has to do with a more successful Louisiana colony. I'm tired and wanna get this post done- so skipping ahead a bit essentially, the colony grows substancially and ends up being a commercial and social success. The area is settled by many different groups: although the colony is still French, its actual administration is largely local and persectuion of religion is very slim. Some catholic immigration occurs, but mostly protestant immigration into the region- particularly those lured by the potent Mississippi River, filled up the area. Louisiana's growth outwards was only limited by native hostility- which occured only in the northern extremes of the Lower river. Many tribes were left to do their own buisness by the French, and many in the immediate vicinity of their settlements intermarried with the French and locals, mixing the cultures.

Louisiana, although not nearly as economically or demographically successful as say, Virginia, managed to maintain steady growth, and its attraction- though not marketed heavily by the French government, was freedom. Many protestants were weary of a French government- no matter how far away, and as well its relatively difficult position and regular outbreaks of disease did prevent outright incredible growth. The colony boasted a modest population, perhaps slightly less then that of the Massacheusets Colony or the Carolinas.

In the north however, Canada remained ever underpopulated. History continued much as it ever was until the end of the War of Spanish Succession, with the loss of Acadia and various other claims in the area. A census was conducted in Louisiana which revealed the population's success: but government investment in Canada and the desire to set up a Catholic colony in the New World that wasn't Spanish-controlled spurred the government to take up moderate action. A small population effort was made, with the Filles du Roi passing over the sea- like OTL, and with some significant alternative immigration, particularly of indentured servants, peasants and small nobles. It was not enough however to match the significant immigration of Louisiana and in the 1730s, a law was passed against the immigration of Protestants into Louisiana. Catholics settled the region slightly but- as with much of the colony's history, France's less-then-positive mainland situation prompted no great garrisons of troops to prevent immigration into the Louisiana countryside. It did however prevent significant growth in the colonies and was harmful in the long-run. In Canada, more-then-intense immigration efforts by France bolstered the population greatly in comparison in the modern-day, but was still very substandard in comparison to the exploding British-colonies.

Now I come to my point. War culminates just as it did in our time; in the Seven Years War and "French and Indian War" (I call it the Fourth Intercolonial War- pompous yeah but it's a little more sensual in this TL) come together. I've already devised a situation in North America; General Montcalm is sent over like OTL but manages to hold Quebec and withstand the Siege, and although parts of it are occupied there is by no means any major victory as there was in OTL. Louisiana is only held through New Orleans and every other city puts up a large local resistanace against the British. Ultimately, although it is clear the British have made some small gains there is no outright major victory in the French colonies; and therefore they do not have that leverage as they did in OTL.

Now my question is: should the Seven Years War diverge in Europe and the East with regards to this timeline? I know I haven't put much up for juice and obviously, typing this fast I've probably made a few weird errors in fast-thought and somethings just I simply haven't thought through/known enough. I'd like to diverge it-I feel it should, but as a learned base of individuals who understand the bowels of history much more intimately then myself I would like to know what you think would happen- or, if you're like me, what'd be cool.

Some PoDs obviously possible:

- Prussia was saved by the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg with the early passing of Empress Elizabeth. Would this have happened in my TL? If not, if she lived- would it have made a difference? If Peter ascended would he simply give whatever territories Russia took back to Prussia, and we'd be in a Prussian Silensia-less world- or what?

- Possible PoDs in India exist. I've set up small ones in North America- it's just as possible that several things in India could've happened (something with Robert Clive for instance)

- With all the battles he fought, there was a good chance George Washington was shot. Would this effect the future of the United States (would it exist? differently?)

- Louisiana and Canada were very hurt by war. Louisiana has major conflict with France now over its protestant religion; and Canada's future remains on how the powers perform in Europe. However, a British take-over of Canada would be probable in exchange for France keeping Louisiana and some of its Carribean Islands.

- Any other PoDs obviously, I'm up for.

Thanks for the long read, appologize for the roughness of the post.
 
Guess I wrote a bit much- or this one isn't too interesting.

Sorry for the double-post, discouraged at the lack of responce XD. I am so impatient!
 
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