Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun

Seeing Sweden do better than otl is definitely a treat! I wonder how'll things turn out at the end. After all, England still have their two colonies as per otl, and they have the navy to kick the other powers out as per otl. I wonder would we see slight differences like the Swedes leaving a cultural footprint though. I also wonder what's happening with the Quebec and New France in general. Would we even have quebec as per otl, or would we have someone else take over the region? Do we have Acadia and Louisiana?
 

Chapter 75: New Sweden and New Holland

After the Peace of Prague in 1635, Sweden was at its greatest apex seen yet in terms of power, territory, and prestige. Not only had King Gustavus Adolphus triumphed as the champion of the Protestant cause but he had also become a direct player in imperial affairs as both the holder of northern German lands and as a guarantor of the treaty. An exhausted but proud Gustavus returned to Stockholm to be greeted by jubilant crowds and his own family, whom he had been away from for years. The next few years would see a period of unassuming calm in the realm, the king finally resolving his lack of a legitimate male heir with the birth of John Sigismund in 1637, the future John IV Sigismund.

Shortly after his birth, however, the Swedish king would endeavor upon his reign’s other big legacy: the beginning of Swedish colonial and maritime expansion. In 1635, right after the finalization of the Peace of Prague, the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf was signed to extend the 1629 Truce of Altmark despite Polish king Wladyslaw IV’s desire to renew conflict with the Scandinavian power, which saw the continuation of Sweden’s right to collect tariffs from Poland in the Baltic Sea and the retention of Swedish-occupied towns in Baltic Prussia [1]. This extended source of revenue would provide the monarchy more funding for the Swedish South Company, which had been founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish settlements between English Newfoundland and Spanish Florida. Up until now, the company had seen little activity due to difficulties in its establishment. Peace and revenue, however, would enable it to send its first expedition to the mouth of the Vasa River in early 1638 [2]. There, expeditionary leader Peter Minuit, the ex-governor of New Netherlands, would lead the establishment of Fort Maria Eleonora [3] and ultimately New Sweden. During its construction, the new colonial governor would gather the local sachems of the Lenape and Susquehannock tribes and use the same skills that had brokered the Dutch purchase of Manhattan Island back in 1626 to formally purchase lands around the Vasa River for the Swedish. These negotiations with the local tribes also served to override historical Dutch claims over the region.​

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Dramatized depiction of Peter Minuit’s meeting with the Lenape and Susquehannock sachems​

Although on the voyage back Peter Minuit would perish at sea while making a detour to the Caribbean, his accomplishments at Fort Maria Eleonora would secure the region for Sweden. Over the next few years, Finns and Swedes would come to settle in the new colony in small numbers and the Swedish South Company would rename itself the Company of New Sweden. To compensate for the small Swedish and Finnish populations at home, the new governor Peter Hollander Ridder would open the doors for prospective Livonian and German settlers and advertised the colony as the Lutheran star of the eastern seaboard in contrast to the Calvinists in New England and New Netherlands, the Catholics in Maryland, and the Anglicans in Virginia. This helped with population growth and by 1650, the colony boasted a total of 1,500 settlers [4] and was slowly expanding around the mouth of the Vasa River with the founding of outposts like Swedesboro. One notable aspect of the colony was the proliferation of log cabins from home as the primary architectural feature of New Sweden.

Further south, another nation had recently established a new foothold in the New World albeit through more forceful means. In its fight for independence and growing interest in the sugar plantations of Portuguese Brazil, the Dutch successfully invaded and captured Pernambunco, the richest sugar-producing region in the world, and other parts of northeastern Brazil. The Dutch West India Company, the counterpart of the VOC in the Americas, would further capitalize on their success and conquer the captaincies of Maranham, Rio Grande, Ceara, and Sergipi by 1637 [5]. Dutch Brazil, later to become New Holland, would subsequently conclude a truce that year with the Portuguese after the latter declared independence from Spain in 1635 and Cardinal Richelieu of France urged the Dutch to make peace with Lisbon. The peace would allow New Holland to consolidate its conquests and integrate the population into its institutions. The latter was particularly important as the Dutch represented only a small ruling minority in the colony and Dutch emigration to New Holland was matched by the emigration of many Portuguese settlers from Portuguese Brazil. Under the governance of John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, a member of the House of Orange-Nassau, religious tolerance was granted to the Catholic-majority population and previously ostracized Portuguese Jews were given protection. Municipal and rural councils were also established to facilitate local government and it was through them that infrastructural improvements were conducted in the colony. It was through these measures and John Maurice’s personal dedication and love for Brazil that the colony thrived.​

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Harbor of Recife in 1640​

However, John Maurice was recalled to the Netherlands in 1642 when peace negotiations with the Spanish began and the Dutch felt the need to reduce military expenditures. Seeing an opportunity, disgruntled Portuguese planters rebelled the following year after years of resentment over the high interest rates they were charged to rebuild their plantations. They won at the Battle of Tabocas and within a year had retaken most of New Holland. In response, the Dutch sent an expeditionary force of 6,000 men and 41 ships to stamp out the rebellion and ensure the retention of key toeholds like Recife on the Brazilian coast. Despite some reversals, they were defeated at the 1st Battle of Guararapes in 1646. The Dutch would win the second clash in 1647, however, thanks to the timely arrival of a few thousand reinforcements including many Catholic Brabantines eager for new opportunities in a religiously tolerant, Catholic-majority Dutch colony [6]. The victors were able to regain most of their lost lands but at a very high cost: the constant infighting had significantly decreased the profitability of New Holland’s sugar plantations. Even as the process of redistributing plantations into the hands of Dutch-Flemish owners, the colony was dealt an ultimately fatal blow when the Portuguese retook Angola in 1648. As a result, New Holland now lacked their main slave market and in Amsterdam, New Holland came to be referred to as the “South American tumor”. In 1654, in the Treaty of the Hague, the Netherlands gave back their Brazilian possessions to Lisbon in return for an indemnity of 2 million guelders.

The treaty, however, proved to be a pyrrhic victory for Portugal for the Brazilian conflict permanently depressed the sugar industry in Pernambuco and Brazil's share in the sugar trade would precipitously decline for the rest of the century due to the rise of various plantations in the Caribbean. The biggest legacy of Dutch Brazil, however, would be the small number of Catholic Brabantine settlers who had come just after the Dutch Republic gained Flemish and Brabantine lands. They would stay for religious reasons and eventually would turn Recife into a Brabantine enclave within Portuguese Brazil.

[1]: TTL’s treaty is more favorable for Sweden compared to OTL because of the Protestant victory in the Imperial Liberties’ War putting Sweden in the superior position over the Commonwealth.

[2]: TTL’s name for the Delaware River

[3]: TTL’s name for Fort Christina

[4]: New Sweden’s population is much larger than OTL due to TTL’s changes.

[5]: The outright Dutch victory at Abrolhos paved the way for greater Dutch conquests ITTL.

[6]: Portuguese victory IOTL​
What a great chapter :3 Loving it <3
 
Seeing Sweden do better than otl is definitely a treat! I wonder how'll things turn out at the end. After all, England still have their two colonies as per otl, and they have the navy to kick the other powers out as per otl. I wonder would we see slight differences like the Swedes leaving a cultural footprint though. I also wonder what's happening with the Quebec and New France in general. Would we even have quebec as per otl, or would we have someone else take over the region? Do we have Acadia and Louisiana?
The other colonies are generally the same ITTL if that helps.
What a great chapter :3 Loving it <3
I love this, but sad to say but with the survival of the Vasa bloodline for at least a bit longer Charles XII of Sweden is butterflied out of existence.
 
I actually wonder if the United States will actually form ITTL....given that the Danes and Swedes are the ones putting up the second colony in what would become the United States of America (the Spanish colonized Florida in the 1530s). Unless, of course, they lose the first colonies to the British and the American Revolution happens because of that.
 
The other colonies are generally the same ITTL if that helps.
hmm that makes sense. We'd get the US like otl then, even with the minor differences in the starting colonies. At least the thirteen (or fifteen if the Canadians secede alongside the Americans) colonies are very plausible. I think seeing a US that has to contend with Quebec would be very interesting, and I defo hope we'd see differences in the ittl US. Hell, maybe we'd get Argentina to be a British colony or even an earlier takeover of South Africa by the British.
 
I've heard of New Netherlands, but what's New Sweden? Never heard of that.
Ambassader huntsman's new update just discussed that, and I think the only difference to otl is that the Delaware river is called the Vasa river ittl in honour of the Swedish monarchs of the time.
otl new sweden (which is basically the same to ittl new sweden):
I defo hope New Sweden holds out against the Dutch at least, and considering the name difference it may be the case. Hell, maybe the Brits buy the colony off the Swedes and so the colonists aren't chased off and the places aren't renamed.
 
Hopefully. The Japanese will probably follow the Russian's route of colonisation in otl,
Going to be interesting to see competition between Russia and Japan for the Amur River basin, Karafuto island, Chishima islands, kamchatka peninsula, and Alaska. Also can’t wait to see what role the Ainu will play in the coming conflict.
At the very least I hope we see more Japanese colonists
We Will probably see the Japanese people replace the ethic niche the Han Chinese peoples would have inhabited in south east Asia in OTL for many reasons. an outward looking Japan, a surviving Ming dynasty, good relationship with the Dutch, recovering relations with an expanding Thailand, a direct hold over norther Luzan, and a strong Reputation with the Islamic powers thanks to fighting and defeating the Iberian powers.
more rice cultivation.
Iam more interested to see Japan introduce new world crops, I wonder how potatoes might grow in the Ezo islands.
 
Going to be interesting to see competition between Russia and Japan for the Amur River basin, Karafuto island, Chishima islands, kamchatka peninsula, and Alaska. Also can’t wait to see what role the Ainu will play in the coming conflict.
I think the Russians won't be able to take anything beyond mainland Siberia considering how much closer Japan's heartlands are compared to Russia's. I think we'd at least get karafuto/shakalin, chinshima/Kurils and the Aleutian Islands be Japanese, and Alaska and cascadia would be Japanese dominated for at least a century.
We Will probably see the Japanese people replace the ethic niche the Han Chinese peoples would have inhabited in south east Asia in OTL for many reasons. an outward looking Japan, a surviving Ming dynasty, good relationship with the Dutch, recovering relations with an expanding Thailand, a direct hold over norther Luzan, and a strong Reputation with the Islamic powers thanks to fighting and defeating the Iberian powers.
Nah the Chinese demographics (especially in the south where the ppl congregate areas where the arable lands are, which are the lowlands and valleys) would probably push them to move beyond the ocean. The southern Chinese have a good naval tradition too (a bunch only go on shore to sell fish and get stuff necessary to live) so a bunch leaving for SEA is going to happen, with or without the destabilisation of the Ming. Tbf I think we'd have less extreme volumes of ppl moving in and settling down, but the Japanese authorities would encourage it to increase the ppl loyal in them in the colonies beyond the Japanese peasants they took/encouraged to move.

Tbf I think Japanese (the language) would be like Malay or the European lanfuages: a Lingua franca and trading language that spreads due to traders and ppl settling down in the region. We probably would get European competitors too so idk how things would get, but there's a substantial chance that the Japanese dominated regions and the European regions develop very differently, with Japanese language and nihon-chinese settlers being much more substantial in those regions than in the European controlled regions of sea. The Chinese and Japanese peasants that go to sea do see sea as land that they can very much live in unlike the Europeans who see it much more as the place where they can get silk and spices.
Iam more interested to see Japan introduce new world crops, I wonder how potatoes might grow in the Ezo islands.
Potatoes are a major crop in Ezo otl, and I don't think that'll change ittl since potatoes have great yields and can be grown anywhere, same with sweet potato and the like. Rather I think stuff like oca and yacon from America and sorghum from Africa would be interesting as they'd be very useful in SEA and be introduced by Japanese traders travelling far and wide, which would be interesting secondary crops that the Japanese could enjoy.
 
I think the Russians won't be able to take anything beyond mainland Siberia considering how much closer Japan's heartlands are compared to Russia's.
I think we'd at least get karafuto/shakalin, chinshima/Kurils and the Aleutian Islands be Japanese, and Alaska and cascadia would be Japanese dominated for at least a century.
Don’t forget that after the Ming-Yuan-Chosenalliance defeated the Jin, The Amur river valley would be wide open. If the Russians settle the region and/or converts the locals that would be a major populated strong hold in the area that would produce soldiers, settlers, bureaucrats, and supplies for Russian expansion.

Japan will have to fight skirmishes and wars to secure its dominance in the north and force the Russians to accept that there will be no warm water ports for them.
Nah the Chinese demographics (especially in the south where the ppl congregate areas where the arable lands are, which are the lowlands and valleys) would probably push them to move beyond the ocean. The southern Chinese have a good naval tradition too (a bunch only go on shore to sell fish and get stuff necessary to live) so a bunch leaving for SEA is going to happen, with or without the destabilisation of the Ming
just to be sure we are on the same page but I am not talking about historical minorities from China that immigrated south like the Tai peoples that make up Thailand and Laos or Sino-Tibetan speaking peoples of Burma.

I am talking about the Han Chinese (and to a lesser extent the Hakka Chinese) that would have gone on to immigrate to the the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippines during the 18th and 19th centuries when the Qing ruled China and the Europeans dominated South East Asia.

It’s been mentioned already that the Japanese already have a policy of maintaining close ties with the immigrant-merchant quarters that have sprung up all over south east Asia.
 
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Don’t forget that after the Ming-Yuan-Chosenalliance defeated the Jin, The Amur river valley would be wide open. If the Russians settle the region and/or converts the locals that would be a major populated strong hold in the area that would produce soldiers, settlers, bureaucrats, and supplies for Russian expansion.

Japan will have to fight skirmishes and wars to secure its dominance in the north and force the Russians to accept that there will be no warm water ports for them.
Yeah they'll have to fight the Russians as they start to settle the land. Tbf I think the Koreans are the more likely option to take over bits of Manchuria.
I am talking about the Han Chinese (and to a lesser extent the Hakka Chinese) that would have gone on to immigrate to the the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippines during the 18th and 19th centuries when the Qing ruled China and the Europeans dominated South East Asia.
Ye I am talking about han Chinese. The tai defo didn't use boats to get to Thailand. I'm just saying that the Han Chinese that live there would have the same insentives to leave because arable land isn't widely available and are concentrated in pockets in southern China.
It’s been mentioned already mentioned that the Japanese already have a policy of maintaining close ties with the immigrant-merchant quarters that have sprung up all over south east Asia
Yeah it makes sense that Japan takes over as the Lingua franca.
 
Yeah they'll have to fight the Russians as they start to settle the land. Tbf I think the Koreans are the more likely option to take over bits of Manchuria.
It was mentioned in chapter 61 that the Chosen have started expanding north absorbing Anti-Jin Jurchen tribes. So they will probably deny the Russians most of Jilin and some southern parts of heilongjiang and Primorsky Krai.
I'm just saying that the Han Chinese that live there would have the same insentives to leave because arable land isn't widely available and are concentrated in pockets in southern China.
The Chinese under the Qing left due to political and economic reasons not out of a lack of farming land. They were there to work, mine, open business, and not be ruled by the Manchus.
Yeah it makes sense that Japan takes over as the Lingua franca.
Japanese is in like the top three hardest languages to learn. Unless the foreign minister pushes for a standardized simplified southeast Asian Creole-dialect for Japanese immigrants communities I don’t think it will become a lingua franca.
 
We can see that the rise of Japan is affecting China, it is likely to grow stronger sooner. But is the emissary to the Mughal Court and the stronger interaction of the Mughals to the Eastern Civilizations causing butterflies in the Mughal Court, in particular on the importance of overseas voyage?

Are the Japanese merchants likely to take on a share of the Indian trade to Europe?
 
Japanese is in like the top three hardest languages to learn. Unless the foreign minister pushes for a standardized simplified southeast Asian Creole-dialect for Japanese immigrants communities I don’t think it will become a lingua franca.
I know Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn for English speakers. But is it true for speakers of Asian languages too?
I mean, I understand that it would be hard for an English speaker like myself. I remember trying to learn Cantonese when I was younger, I found it very hard and I almost caused my tutor (technically a low paid international student) a mental breakdown at my inability to learn.
But is true for those with a different native tongue though. I've spent the last twenty minutes trying to find out and can only find sources that give a perspective for English native speakers.
 
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