Different owners for the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira Islands, and Cape Verde

JJohnson

Banned
In our timeline, the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira Islands, and Cape Verde were parts of Portugal and Spain. With a date of 1492 or later, when could any or all of those islands be transferred to the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, "Germany" (or its predecessors), or Norway, Sweden, or Denmark, and under which circumstances? They would be transferred such that today, 2014, an Englander would be able to vacation in the Canarys, for example, and feel perfectly at home there.
 
I believe the flag of one of the Canary Islands is the Scottish Saltire. This was because they fought off a Scottish raid in the medieval period and were impressed with the fighting qualitiesof the Scots and adopted their flag. This was pre Spanish conquest. If the battle had gone differently the Canaries could have become Scottish and (allowing for butterflies) eventually part of the British Empire.
 
If during a dust-up any time after 1800 or so, the Islands could change. I can easily see Britain in the 19th Century grabbing them if Spain aligns more completely with Napoleonic France, for example.

In the 20th, if things go worse in Europe during WWII, I can see either the UK or US using them as naval bases.

Mike Turcotte
 
In the 20th, if things go worse in Europe during WWII, I can see either the UK or US using them as naval bases.

If the Spanish civil war went better for the fascists and Franco brought Spain in on Nazi side I can see England or later the US grabbing the islands since Gibraltar won't be safe.
 
If you didn't restrict it to 1492, then the Canaries could feasibly have been conquered by several other nations. Since you did...

The Dutch would seem like your best bet. The Eighty Years War and the Dutch-Portuguese War saw a lot of Spanish and Portuguese territory change hands. I know there was at least one major Dutch assault on the Canaries (under Pieter van der Does in the 1590s), but I have no idea whether the Dutch would have attempted to keep them if they were more successful.
 
Bretons/ Irish! Considering how far Breton fishermen sailed, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Celts started settling these islands. The culture that would follow would be, well, unique...
 
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