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I finally figured out what my next Timeline will be: Great Britain either gives or sells part of the Indian Subcontinent (or Sri Lanka) to Japan.

My thought was that alone or cooperating with Britain, Japan crushes the Dutch in Indonesia, and gets to keep it*. (Britain still has Singapore and its traditional holdings)

...so that, even if things go sour for Japan and Britain, no shots will be fired because they'll both have a grip on one another's jugular. And Japan isn't in China.

In England, it's decided to give Japan a bit of India (maybe no bigger than Portugese Goa had been, maybe bigger), both to ensure Japan only does business with Britain, and to keep Japan from holing itself up in its corner of the Pacific.

Yes, I know that this is highly unlikely, even with the OTL friendship of the two nations. My question is not if this could happen, but when. I will try to keep it plausible.


Some possible divergences:
Boer Wars go bad. (this one is mostly to get the Dutch to lower their guard at a crucial moment)
Oceania erupts. (an uprising or something happens in New Zealand or Australia that requires troops from the Raj)
China gets strong. (the warlord period ends before Japan can get troops on the ground; whether a new dynasty, a republic, or something different)
World War One ends in Allied loss.
World War One ends in stalemate.

* = Keeping alive the Russo-Japanese War levels of conduct for which Japan was commended by the Red Cross and others.
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