Let's say the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth survive and they have a decent Navy
Would they want to be in on the Scramble for Africa?
Would they want to be in on the Scramble for Africa?
No more than Austria-Hungary.Let's say the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth survive and they have a decent Navy
Would they want to be in on the Scramble for Africa?
What do they need a decent navy for? Their coastline is small and the only sea they have access to is a sea locked behind a sea.
It's not like the PLC can hope to to outspend or outbuild any of their neighbors that actually matter, namely Russia and Germany, so what's the point in wasting money there?
Why? To show the world they are a great power? If so, maybe an Equatorial Guinea-esque enclave or some random islands?Would they want to be in on the Scramble for Africa?
Neither Russia, nor Austro-Hungary felt the need to show that during the scramble. Only Germany and Italy truly did*. And they were only recently created countries, who had to prove themselves. PLC would have been around for quite a while and would not have to prove themselves, just like Austria-Hungary OTL.Why? To show the world they are a great power?
What do they need a decent navy for? Their coastline is small and the only sea they have access to is a sea locked behind a sea.
It's not like the PLC can hope to to outspend or outbuild any of their neighbors that actually matter, namely Russia and Germany, so what's the point in wasting money there?
Probably not without a POD which does more than just ensure their survival. With and early enough POD they could perhaps have taken over Courland's colonies, and that could serve as a impetus for further expansion. The "Scramble" for Africa is a bit of a misnomer, most of the participants, and all of the big winners (other than Belgium), were states which had had presence and interests in those regions for centuries before hand. States which didn't and were instead motivated only by prestige (Italy and Germany) ended up with rather slim pickings.Let's say the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth survive and they have a decent Navy
Would they want to be in on the Scramble for Africa?
If Poland (OK, Poland-Lithuania) annexes its African colony/ies, then we could eventually see a lot of Blacks move into Poland (and Lithuania as well). That would be interesting.But Russia was not looking for the colonies in Africa and Germany went into that race quite late. After all Courland was vassal of the PLC and DID get colony in Africa (for a while) so why not the PLC? At least in the early XVII its navy (or Danzig navy?) was good enough for dealing with the Swedes so if we assume <a long list of things to assume starting with an absence of the pertitions or at least retaining Danzig> then, yes, PLC may get some piece of the African coast as long as nobody else wants it. This could be even a monarch's enterprise, as was the case with Leopold II of Belgium who got, as a result of the Berlin Conference 2,344,000 km2 for his single-shareholder "philanthropic" organization as the Congo Free State privately controlled by Leopold II through a non-governmental organization. Get some ATL Polish monarch ahead of Leopold and you have a nice Polish colony (which later could be annexed by the state).
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If Poland (OK, Poland-Lithuania) annexes its African colony/ies, then we could eventually see a lot of Blacks move into Poland (and Lithuania as well). That would be interesting.
Yeah, the 20th, 21st, and 22nd centuries."Eventually" as in the XXI century? Well, this is outside of our timeline so I'll keep my mouth shut.![]()