Independent Dutch Cape Colony

In 1795 the colonists of the towns of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet in the Dutch Cape Colony rebelled against the Dutch East India Company due to mismanagement and briefly declared independent republics before the British invaded the colony.

Could this nascent state survive, take over Cape Town, and form a new nation governing South Africa? How would this affect the region and the rest of the world?
 
Could this republic survive by allying with the British?

It would pretty much have to in order to survive. The Cape is hella strategic and the Brits really needed it in order to control India. So even if the Cape remains independent and Dutch, it's going to wind up more or less as a British client state. Now, in order to keep it from becoming a British colony outright, you'd need more Afrikaners to keep the British from thinking they could take it as is.
 
Perhaps that Icelandic evacuation Stirling had?

If the Americans lose the war of independence could you see large numbers of exiles move to the Cape?
 
It would pretty much have to in order to survive. The Cape is hella strategic and the Brits really needed it in order to control India. So even if the Cape remains independent and Dutch, it's going to wind up more or less as a British client state. Now, in order to keep it from becoming a British colony outright, you'd need more Afrikaners to keep the British from thinking they could take it as is.

The British took over the Cape because they wanted to keep France out of the area, then gave it back to the Batavian Republic to improve relations. Perhaps if the Afrikaners rebelled against a Netherlands allied to France then maybe Britain could chose to support the rebels instead and set up a friendly client state with a Hong Kong-like port in Cape Town, giving them all the advantages of having a colony with none of the drawbacks. If they really needed a colony in the area they could always settle in Natal.
 
Perhaps that Icelandic evacuation Stirling had?

If the Americans lose the war of independence could you see large numbers of exiles move to the Cape?

Why would the Afrikaners tolerate that at all? In 1806, the Dutch Cape Colony had 26,720 Europeans. Iceland at the time had 45,000 people. If the Afrikaners accepted an Icelandic evacuation, they would quickly be a minority in their own nation. This reason is why Apartheid South Africa was so hostile to immigrants in the 1940s to 1960s: the Afrikaner's wanted to maintain the demographic edge within the White community.
 
Why would the Afrikaners tolerate that at all? In 1806, the Dutch Cape Colony had 26,720 Europeans. Iceland at the time had 45,000 people. If the Afrikaners accepted an Icelandic evacuation, they would quickly be a minority in their own nation. This reason is why Apartheid South Africa was so hostile to immigrants in the 1940s to 1960s: the Afrikaner's wanted to maintain the demographic edge within the White community.

Indeed, one needs to find a reason for them to accept such large white influxes (because that is the only way you can have the Cape become independent). Post-Iceland though I'm not certain the Afrikaners matter enough for their input to stop the American influx though. Not sure about the Dutch colonial legal system at the time though, could the Cape have refused them if Amsterdam decided it was okay? You could end up with an earlier Great Trek perhaps, which could result in earlier discovery of gold and then the consequent immigration and development of the region.


I suppose the other way to get an independent Cape would be to somehow have large numbers of Dutch people moved there somehow.
 
If it remains independent, what if a lot of Dutch people move there after the war when a monarchy is foisted upon them and they would rather be a republic?
 
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