Help needed for aftermath of a British Invasion of California in 1862

The Californians wouldn't want to be given back to Mexico, so it would be a non-starter - they wouldn't go, and Mexico couldn't hold them.

Maximilian btw has a better chance of staying on the throne in this timeline

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Thande

Donor
An independent California Republic (again) would be interesting. Although initially engineered as a British puppet, the USA would soon be exerting subtler influences there again. And if the CSA becomes independent in TTL it might be a three-way intrigue, as even if Britain is allied with the CSA it's unlikely Britain would want California to become Confederate.

As far as I know, the USA didn't have a Pacific railway yet at this point (construction was interrupted by the ACW, I think) so in the aftermath of the war and Californian independence that project could collapse, leaving California more isolated from the eastern US (and CS) states than you might think.
 
An independent California Republic (again) would be interesting. Although initially engineered as a British puppet, the USA would soon be exerting subtler influences there again. And if the CSA becomes independent in TTL it might be a three-way intrigue, as even if Britain is allied with the CSA it's unlikely Britain would want California to become Confederate.

As far as I know, the USA didn't have a Pacific railway yet at this point (construction was interrupted by the ACW, I think) so in the aftermath of the war and Californian independence that project could collapse, leaving California more isolated from the eastern US (and CS) states than you might think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Pacific_Railroad

Interesting reading, especially

Planned by Theodore Judah, the Central Pacific Railroad was authorized by Congress in 1862. It was financed and built through "The Big Four" (who called themselves "The Associates"): Sacramento, California businessmen Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. Crocker was in charge of construction.

These would be the people who would be amongst the main power brokers in this Callifornia

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
independent CA? Not sure there would be any sentiment for that among the people there. IIRC, about 2/3 of the population was solidly for the Union, and about 1/3 had sympathies for the Confederacy. The Brits don't have a lot of choices here. If they try to give CA to the CSA, they'll irk 2/3 of the population. If they try to make CA independent, no one will be happy with that. If they try to annex the place, they'll make everyone there mad. Seems to me that the best thing to do with CA once they've captured it is use it as one more lever to force the USA to the bargaining table, get the terms they want, and then leave...
 
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