Hey Guys,
How could you stop the French and Spanish getting too involved (or better yet not involved at all) with the American Revolution? I'm unsure around that whole area of history and so it would be good if someone could explain why they got involved other than to piss of and weaken the British.
Also how would the Revolutionary War go? Without the French and Spanish support could the British keep more land after the end of the war? Could the British even win the war or is that just ASB?
Thanks to anyone who can help me in this area of history
well a jackass American will tell you our independence was pre-ordained and any loss was ASB, I, OTOH, am not that kind of Jackass.
To keep out the Spanish and French, I think you need the Americans to lose at Saratoga. If they lose then strategically the Americans are really SOL. If Burgoyne wins at Saratoga then the Americans are split in two. The more rebellious N.E. colonies are blocked away from the Mid Atlantic (read New York) and the south (both regions were lukewarm about the whole Revolution thing anyway). Provided these dominoes fall you have an American loss in the Revolution. As for post war strategies in the recently subdued colonies, I am not sure but I think you end up with summary hangings for most of the true blue revolters (Adams', Jefferson, Franklin, Patrick Henry, Washington, Arnold, Lord Stirling) and prison, hard labor, forfeiture of property or any combo of the aforementioned, for most of the lukewarm ones (John Dickinson, Lees of Virginia, etc).
In the scenario I outlined above any territorial gains are out of the question because they just fight the Americans and not Spain and France.
I think any sort of British victory is really less and less likely as the war goes on and is in my opinion increasingly unlikely by the 1780s, bordering on the ASB by OTL Treaty of Paris in 1783. The thing that really ended the ARW was the falling of Lord North's Govt not what caused it, Cornwallis wasn't defeated so much as boxed into a corner, if the English Political will was greater than it was in OTL than the Brits can win in the 1780s if it isn't than it goes the way we remember it. For the British to win and really control the situation you need the war over quick before it festers and before the colonials get it in there head they can win.