Failed European Imperial Projects (?)

Hey guys!

I'm a newcomer to the forums so forgive me if I'm not posting this under the right section, but do you know of any interesting European imperial projects by any of the European Great Powers during the 19th century that could've had great ramifications, but failed for some reason? I'm thinking about stuff like Napoleon III's Mexican intervention. Please, also note how a successful outcome of "your" project may have changed the geopolitical landscape of the timeframe in question.

Thanks in advance.
 
In 1878 the Consul of Austria-Hungary in Hong Kong happened to buy the rights to North Borneo and later sold it. In 1898 Spain tried selling Rio de Oro to Austria-Hungary. The idea of the Habsburgs becoming a late colonial power like Germany or Japan is interesting, as with a PoD in 1878 there's still time for Austria to wiggle into the Pacific (although I think the African coast was pretty much locked down by this point.

In 1857 the Kingdom of Kongo became a vassal of Portugal, it wouldn't take to much for them to be able to "legitimize" this territorial claim at Berlin (OTL a large portion of Kongo was awarded to France and Belgium). There's also the whole thing with the Pink Map, but there's really not much hope for that after Brazil is lost.

The Dominican Republic's government opted to return to Spainish Rule in 1861, have the Dominicans not become convinced that the Spanish want to reinstitute slavery and they can probably hold. This would set of alarm bells across Spanish America, would shatter any notion of the Monroe Doctrine, and come the Spanish-America War (should it still happen) would mean another theatre of war in the Caribbean.
 
Nino Bixio, a leader in Italian Unification, was involved in Italian interests in the Indies, where he died of cholera. Had he lived another 20 years, he could've started an Italian colonial empire in the region which would've included Aceh and North Borneo. If we use an earlier POD of Italy buying the Nicobar Islands from Denmark, we can get a slightly bigger Italian empire.

I don't know how much profit Italy would get out of the Nicobars, North Borneo, and Aceh (and remember that Aceh will take a lot to subdue, as the Netherlands learned), but it changes Italy's situation bigtime since now they have to maintain a Pacific empire. Maybe when the Philippines revolt against Spain, Italy can have an Italo-Spanish War to grab the Balearic Islands (an Italian plan) and Spanish Morocco, as well as ensure Filipino independence. I don't know if Italy could conquer the islands like the United States did, but maybe they could recognise the First Philippine Republic in exchange for some concessions, gaining a loyal ally in the region. Italy could also grab Spain's Pacific island colonies in Micronesia, which OTL were sold to the Germans (and later taken by the Japanese).

In 1878 the Consul of Austria-Hungary in Hong Kong happened to buy the rights to North Borneo and later sold it. In 1898 Spain tried selling Rio de Oro to Austria-Hungary. The idea of the Habsburgs becoming a late colonial power like Germany or Japan is interesting, as with a PoD in 1878 there's still time for Austria to wiggle into the Pacific (although I think the African coast was pretty much locked down by this point.

Not necessarily, since Italy was still able to colonise Eritrea and Somalia so in theory Austria could find some interior areas to colonise if they devoted the resources to it (of course, they have to fight Italy for those scraps).
 
Nino Bixio, a leader in Italian Unification, was involved in Italian interests in the Indies, where he died of cholera. Had he lived another 20 years, he could've started an Italian colonial empire in the region which would've included Aceh and North Borneo. If we use an earlier POD of Italy buying the Nicobar Islands from Denmark, we can get a slightly bigger Italian empire.

I don't know how much profit Italy would get out of the Nicobars, North Borneo, and Aceh (and remember that Aceh will take a lot to subdue, as the Netherlands learned), but it changes Italy's situation bigtime since now they have to maintain a Pacific empire. Maybe when the Philippines revolt against Spain, Italy can have an Italo-Spanish War to grab the Balearic Islands (an Italian plan) and Spanish Morocco, as well as ensure Filipino independence. I don't know if Italy could conquer the islands like the United States did, but maybe they could recognise the First Philippine Republic in exchange for some concessions, gaining a loyal ally in the region. Italy could also grab Spain's Pacific island colonies in Micronesia, which OTL were sold to the Germans (and later taken by the Japanese).



Not necessarily, since Italy was still able to colonise Eritrea and Somalia so in theory Austria could find some interior areas to colonise if they devoted the resources to it (of course, they have to fight Italy for those scraps).

I think that for Aceh Bixio had more in mind a sort of protectorate, but would Italy really risk war against the Netherlands in that corner of the world?
In general, while that plan is ambitious, the Italian situation is not really conductive to an Indo-Pacific empire in the last third of the xix century.
 
Prussian California?

"In the course of the nineteenth century many attempts had been undertaken to establish "New Germanies" in North America. None were successful. Perhaps the most curious events are those which concerned California in the mid-century. Mexico offerred the territory of California in 1843 to Prussia for six million dollars. Representatives of the Prussian government in Washington and London were negotiating the matter when suddenly and unexpectedly Prussia withdrew from the negotiations. One may only speculate as to what a German nation on the North American continent under Prussian protection might have meat for future political developments."
- Early German Influence in the Development of California, Don Heinrich Tolzmann

Quote stole from paradox
 
I don't know how much profit Italy would get out of the Nicobars, North Borneo, and Aceh (and remember that Aceh will take a lot to subdue, as the Netherlands learned), but it changes Italy's situation bigtime since now they have to maintain a Pacific empire.
Actually that would be more of an Indian Ocean Empire, and likely it could be serviced by an enlarged Red Sea Flotilla.
 
1896 Italo-Abyssinian War. So with an Italian victory in 1935/36 Mussolini won't invade Ethiopia, and he'll remain an ally of UK and France against Germany.
 
It might butterfly the WWI we know (though it's likely another would happen) and even more Fascism and WWII though.
Uhm. Maybe yes, if the imperialists are more pleased around 1911 than OTL for having Ethiopia the Italo-Turkish War for Lybia can be averted, averting also the two Balkan Wars and the 1914 powderkeg.
 
I think that for Aceh Bixio had more in mind a sort of protectorate, but would Italy really risk war against the Netherlands in that corner of the world?
In general, while that plan is ambitious, the Italian situation is not really conductive to an Indo-Pacific empire in the last third of the xix century.
An Italian adventurer, Cesare Celso Moreno, became prime minister of Aceh (and married a daughter of the sultan). Moreno traveled to Italy in late 1865, and was received by the Italian government in Florence, where he proposed a plan for an Italian protectorate over Aceh.
Nothing happened immediately, in consideration of the war of 1866 which obviously took the precedence. However the opening of the canal of Suez produced a renewed interest in trade with the Far East, and also in the purchase of the bay of Assab (which was the beginning of the colonization of Eritrea. Nino Bixio was sent on a mission to Sumatra in 1871, ostensibly with the instructions to look for commercial opportunities in the trade with China and to gain some concession on Borneo where a penal colony was planned. There were no explicit mention of the Aceh gambit proposed by Celso Moreno 6 years before (and anyway Celso Moreno had already left Aceh before 1869) and Bixio was the leader of a private trade mission. It is quite possible that he was aware of the Moreno's proposal, and of the fact that the Dutch were on the verge to start the 30-year Aceh war (1873-1903): he might have decided to look more into the matter, also in consideration of his semi-official status (in 1870 he was appointed to the senate by royal decree). He might also have seen the opportunity of selling arms to Aceh. What is known is that nothing came out of the attempt to obtain concessions on Borneo, and that Nino Bixio died of cholera in 1873 at Bandar Aceh.
I suppose that an Italian protectorate might have been a remote possibility, and I doubt it would have ended in a direct war between Italy and Holland, but it was not a priority for sure.
 
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