DBWI No Spanish Settlement of Australia?

[VictorVanBakker]

As we all know the first European settlement in Australia was a Jesuit mission in the 17th century set up in order to convert the Aboriginal population. Over the course of time a network of presidios, misiones and colonias created a Hispanic society, the new comers also mixed with the locals creating a mestizo cast in Australia. This was not to last however, and in the confusion of the Napoleonic wars Spain ceded her Australian colonies to Great Britain. Sporadic revolts by the Spanish throughout the rest of the nineteenth century followed. Today The tension between the Spanish and Anglo communities remains the most persistent issue in Australian politics, but what if this had been avoided? If there had been no Spanish settlements and Australia had been a British colony from the Start. Would Australia be a kinder more peaceful society?

OOC: The Australia in this world has tensions similar to those in Northern Ireland or South Africa, and Canada.

 

[Lost Freeway]

OOC: You might want to include a little less detail in your OP. It leaves more room for world building by subsequent posters.

 

[CaliBoy1990]

As we all know the first European settlement in Australia was a Jesuit mission in the 17th century set up in order to convert the Aboriginal population. Over the course of time a network of presidios, misiones and colonias created a Hispanic society, the new comers also mixed with the locals creating a mestizo cast in Australia. This was not to last however, and in the confusion of the Napoleonic wars Spain ceded her Australian colonies to Great Britain. Sporadic revolts by the Spanish throughout the rest of the nineteenth century followed. Today The tension between the Spanish and Anglo communities remains the most persistent issue in Australian politics, but what if this had been avoided? If there had been no Spanish settlements and Australia had been a British colony from the Start. Would Australia be a kinder more peaceful society?

OOC: The Australia in this world has tensions similar to those in Northern Ireland or South Africa, and Canada.

Well, while Australia might not necessarily be nearly a utopia, it probably would be a more peaceful place, yes. Also, there probably wouldn't be tensions between the Anglo and Welsh & Cornish communities, either, as both of the latter tended to be rather more sympathetic to the western and southern Spaniards than the Anglos and Scots-it got to a point where, by 1940, most of the Welsh and & Cornish who still lived in Oceania(others immigrated to California and other parts of the western United States) were in New Zealand, including a fair number who'd been born in Australia originally.

OOC: You might want to include a little less detail in your OP. It leaves more room for world building by subsequent posters.

OOC: No, this is fine. Some of the best, and most stable, DBWIs I've ever encountered have had a fair bit of detail in them, usually a little more than this one, in fact.

 

[Zorqal]

As we all know the first European settlement in Australia was a Jesuit mission in the 17th century set up in order to convert the Aboriginal population. Over the course of time a network of presidios, misiones and colonias created a Hispanic society, the new comers also mixed with the locals creating a mestizo cast in Australia. This was not to last however, and in the confusion of the Napoleonic wars Spain ceded her Australian colonies to Great Britain. Sporadic revolts by the Spanish throughout the rest of the nineteenth century followed. Today The tension between the Spanish and Anglo communities remains the most persistent issue in Australian politics, but what if this had been avoided? If there had been no Spanish settlements and Australia had been a British colony from the Start. Would Australia be a kinder more peaceful society?

OOC: The Australia in this world has tensions similar to those in Northern Ireland or South Africa, and Canada.

I don't know. I doubt it. I imagine that if the English and Spanish didn't have each other to be hostile against, then the aggression probably would have turned more against the natives, possibly even leading to pogroms. You just have to look at the US vs Mexico to see the difference in how the Spaniards and the English handled their natives.

Also, without the Spaniards, Australia would probably not be as devout as is it today, especially the western-central regions where the Spaniards congregated. Cities like San Hernando (1), which started out as a missionary, would probably not exist. Who knows what kind of people would have started colonizing Australia if not for the Spanish Jesuits.

(1) Hall's Creek

 

[CaliBoy1990]

I don't know. I doubt it. I imagine that if the English and Spanish didn't have each other to be hostile against, then the aggression probably would have turned more against the natives, possibly even leading to pogroms. You just have to look at the US vs Mexico to see the difference in how the Spaniards and the English handled their natives.

Also, without the Spaniards, Australia would probably not be as devout as is it today, especially the western-central regions where the Spaniards congregated. Cities like San Hernando (1), which started out as a missionary, would probably not exist. Who knows what kind of people would have started colonizing Australia if not for the Spanish Jesuits.

(1) Hall's Creek

Erm.....that may be true in some of the more conservative regions of the west, particularly in certain areas of the states of Swan River[1a] and New Kent[1b], but much of the rest of the country is actually fairly secular outside of there-nearly 25% of Australians identified as agnostic or atheist in the 2000 census(more atheist in Tasmania and Cooksland[2a], and more agnostic in New Devon[2b] and South Australia), and I do believe not a small part of that is thanks to lingering anti-Vatican sentiment in much of the rest of the country, at least amongst older Australians, anyway

OOC: To be honest, although this was definitely a decent post, given the situation, I honestly doubt Australia would be terribly devoutly Catholic, not with the major tensions between them and the Protestants having been a factor.

[1a]OTL's southern Western Australia-where most Hispano-Australians are concentrated, and also has the highest portion of people of Italian, Indian, and Japanese descent.

[1b]OTL's northern Western Australia-almost 40% of the mixed Hispano-Aboriginal Australians reside in this state. Also home to 400,000 Chinese, nearly a third of all those of Chinese descent.

[2a]This world's New South Wales, with a huge Irish presence, particularly around Brisbane(*Sydney).

[2b]This world's Victoria-home to the only remaining significant Cornish community in the nation and one of the two Welsh communities, the other in *Queensland.