Ok, so Austria got off much lighter than I expected.
I wonder how Italy is going to integrate its new lands.
I wonder how Italy is going to integrate its new lands.
Ok, so Austria got off much lighter than I expected.
I wonder how Italy is going to integrate its new lands.
Uhm...I don't know why but this peace treaty won't last long 🤔
Honestly, I don't see these lands as that much valuable (due to hindsight). What's the point of colonizing Egypt if they are not going to be able to keep the Egyptian colony indefinitely?With South Germany still not bending on Berlin, switching allegiances from Vienna to Paris, and Trieste still in Austrian hands, there are plently of reason for the four Central-Western European main continental powers to still have attrition between each others.
But the ATL balance of power is not currently favorable for Berlin - because it lost respect to OTL 17 years to unify Germany, and the gap is widely going to increase while Bismarck is already into an advanced age. The balance is instead favorable to Italy which instead got the advantage of an early unification - of the North albeit the South did follow not too later - and of a true colonial Empire - Tunisia itself is a great boon, Eritrea and Somalia are way more useful for the route to the surprising Far Eastern Asian Empire - Aceh is the normal step for any 19th century Italian wank, the slice of Malaya by British concession is surely surprising, but Cochinchina was the unexpected jackpot, and Xiamen the cherry on the top.
Sudan is expected to come soon because of the tensions between such country and Ethiopia, and therefore it could lead to what would be the jewel of the crown of the Italian Empire... And I am not talking of Libya.
and Austrian silesia and sum parts of saxony or even full integrationI'm assuming that Prussia at least managed to annex Schleswig-Holstein.
Honestly, I don't see these lands as that much valuable (due to hindsight). What's the point of colonizing Egypt if they are not going to be able to keep the Egyptian colony indefinitely?
Corsiga, Istria, Dalmatia and Albania are, in my opinion, worth more than Egypt, in the long run. Italy could keep them forever and turn the Adriatic into an Italian lake.
Why bother with Egypt if they are going to lose the land of pharaohs eventually? If they are lucky the situation would go like India, but if they are unlucky they got a much bigger Algeria.
Suez and cotton are certainly important points (as well as solidifying even more Italian trading position in Egypt), but the satisfaction of colonial appetites (which can be also seen as "finding a place in the sun") is the most important bonus in a long-term perspective.First of all, for effective control of the Suez. Each year of Italian soldiers in the canals would mean safe profits, prestige, and a hold on the Middle East and the Indian Ocean route. Even Britain didn't keep Egypt under direct control for long, but until it did, surely it squeezed the best. Also, more Egyptian artifacts will take the path of Italy rather than Britain, and is not a bad "cultural bonus". Third, control of Egyptian cotton would be very valuable for Italian textile industry. Fourth, control of all of Africa "From Tunis to Mogadishu" and therefore of an African colonial empire from sea to sea, without interruption of border and land routes, had its own economic advantages. Holding all those territories, whatever being protectorates or colonies, would make harder for other Great powers to break them in case of war. Such an Italian Africa could eventually hold the ground against France or Britain if it has to be - as long there would be ensued loyalty from part of the locals of course. But TTL Italy has an earlier experience in colonial affairs, so could make its place in the sun work well.
And last with Egypt Italy would see its imperialistic appetites satisfied - without need to search further expansion in the future. Also if in the early 20th century there would be an economic depression, such colonial range will help assuage Italian difficulties like France and Britain, lowering the risks of political derangement.
After Suez, there are little chances that Egypt can keep an effective independence (also because I can see Egypt caught in a kind of development trap, with the foreign debt raising). However a co-dominium of some sort (Anglo-Italian or Anglo-Franco-Italian) is the most likely solution.As to Egypt, given how many powers have interest there ITTL, I don't see any one country colonising it.
Either it stays "independent", or it becomes an official Anglo-Franco-Italian three-way condominium. Maybe Alexandria gets the Shanghai treatment, and becomes an international city with multiple concessions.
Besides, it's not as if Italy doesn't have plenty of other avenues for colonisation elsewhere.
Anyone has other colonial ideas for Italy? Because I was thinking that Chad and Kenya could be the last territories claimed by the Confederation (not for long) in the Dark Continent, which is still a sizeable chunk of it.
About Egypt, someone has guessed it right but we'll get there eventually. Also, I remind you that at the moment Abyssinia is still "independent" but falls under the Italian sphere. It's only in 1894 that they become an official protectorate
ITTL Alexander will go out in a much better way than OTL, but you're right: under the industrialization and modernity that are sweeping Russia, malcontent on both sides is brewing and someone might have a nasty surprise down the lineTsar alexander should watch his back or he might be at the mercy of some very unhappy nobles