Portuguese North America - The Unlikely Colony

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Revolt in Great Britain
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    After 1681, King Charles II had ruled England without parliament, and his successors too sought to whittle down the power of the legislature. His son and successor, Charles III (reigned 1685-1725) had sought to emulate the rule of his cousin Louis XIV of France. He sought toe build a great palace at Winchester (the British Versailles) in an attempt to obtain the loyalty of the nobility loyal and to keep them distracted through the magnificence of court life. The highest-ranking nobles were granted prestigious but powerless positions in the court or the government, and the royal treasury began to depend on its funding from the king's exclusive domains. Among these was The English East India Company, with the majority of shares belonging directly to the crown. Its scope had been increased under Charles II and it was among the most profitable crown ventures, with parliament having no say over its governance. The colonies too were exclusive domains of the crown, and the king exercised control over the sugar trade, tobacco, and slave trades. His successors, James II (r.1725-1749) and Charles IV (1749-1766) further eroded parliamentary power, particularly the House of Commons which had such a limited franchise, representing only a small landed elite. Charles IV during his reign increased the royal authority by expanding the size of King's Guard and establishing the particularly unpopular Royal Constabulary, acting as national gendarmes. In 1766, James III ascended to the throne and like his father before him, preferred to rule by decree and increasingly obtained loans to finance the Army and the Royal Navy.

    Though James III was at first a popular monarch, ascending to the throne at the age of 22, and being seen as a welcome departure from the reign of Charles IV, he would squander much of his goodwill. England and Scotland were experiencing continuing economic growth due the expansion of British commerce and industry during the 1760s and the Enlightenment seemed to promise greater rights for the growing merchant classes in England. James first missteps was to marry Mary Elizabeth of Savoy (1751-1801), whom was mistrusted for being a Catholic. The queen soon became unpopular for her spendthrift habits. Among them, the royal couple built a new palace at Kew Palace, costing some £6 million, burying much of the actual costs among different royal departments. To pay for the increased burden of wars, excise taxes on royal monopolies of importing tobacco and wine were increased. However, the king was unable to enact any meaningful sort of tax reform, despite the advice of his cabinet. Taxes on land had decreased from 50% of the revenues in 1661 to a mere 15% in 1780, as the burden of taxation fell on the poor and middle classes. The increasing taxation on imports only fuelled smuggling, with £3-4.5 million in revenue missing. Nearly one-fifth of all tea was smuggled imports, as duties reached 119% in 1779. Despite these obstacles, England became the leading trading power in Europe, supplying much of Europe's woollen textiles and developing new technologies. James was seen as a patron of the arts and sciences however, having built a royal observatory at Greenwich and having created Royal Academies for the Arts, Sciences and Ballet.

    Kew Palace in 1785
    1785.jpg



    In 1778, the King enacted a decree allowing Catholics to own property in England, in an effort to reward the loyalty of many from Ireland and Highlands who served him. This had largely been the result of his recruitment of Catholics from the Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in particular into the army. His Scottish and Irish Guards would become among his most loyal, but were considered foreign by many Englishmen. Additionally, the decree was seen as having been the work of the "Italian Queen". This only led to dissatisfaction among the bourgeois and secret societies, particularly in London began to grow. In 1780, the fear of Catholic Emancipation had led to riots led by Lord George Gordon, whom "Protestant Association" and criticised the King and Queen. He and several Calvinists began calling for the repeal of the decree and for return of parliament. The criticism soon spread to encompass other grievances among the populace, including the loss of trade as a result of the war along with falling wages, rising prices, and unemployment. The protests soon turned to rioting and included attacks on Irish communities in London, but also with a sacking and destruction of the Savoyard Embassy in London. Additionally, Newgate Prison was stormed with prisoners being released, and the Constabulary attacked. The king was swift in enacting reprisals, using the Irish Guards to round up the perpetrators and hanging Lord Gordon along with other conspirators. Censorship was imposed and the Constabulary was charged with planting informants to monitor "secret societies" along with any other groups hostile to the king.

    By 1784, the cost of the War of the disastrous Bavarian Succession had made it necessary for the obtain financing outside of the traditional excise taxes. England had accumulated a war debt of £250 million war debt, with yearly interest payments running at £15 million. Interest payments accounted for the majority of the budget by 1784, and the king was unable to obtain additional credit domestically or abroad. Additionally, there was growing unrest throughout the kingdom and even the nobles were loathe to pay taxes. As a result, James III was forced to convene parliament for the first time since 1744. With Scotland's finances in even worse shape, the king dissolved the Scots government and enacted a hasty Union of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This forced union was an attempt to make the new parliament more malleable, as James hoped that the addition of Scots members to the commons would give him greater leverage, particularly as the king enjoyed greater popularity in Scotland.

    When parliament was convened in on 26 March 1785, it was joint session of the Houses of Lords and Commons. The king had the members come to Kew Palace, where they were to meet in a courtyard that had been hastily enclosed and converted to a large hall to accommodate all of the members. During the preceding months, the elections of members were based on voter rolls from 1744 and had largely excluded the urban mercantile classes. The elections were invariably corrupt the Commons itself was composed almost entirely of sons of peers, country squires and members of the Royal Household. The Whigs had collected funds to buy the votes of several of the Commons however and were able to achieve a Whig Majority in the Commons. In the House of Lords, however the King the Tories dominated. As a result, during the first months the two chambers could agree on little and the parliament was dissolved by the king in on 10 June. News of the dissolution led to rioting in London and crowds formed around various points in the city calling for a new parliament. The Constabulary, which was vastly outnumbered refused to fire on the crowds, with some even joining the rebels. Because of this, the King dismissed the Lord Mayor from his post, as his power base evaporated. On 12 June 1785 a huge crowd, estimated at 40,000 to 60,000 strong, assembled in Westminster and marched on to Kew Palace. In a panic, the king fled with a detachment of Irish Guards for Hampton Court and eventually taking refuge in army barracks.

    Most of the members of House of Commons convened at the Palace of Westminster on 14 June 1785 declaring themselves to the be "representatives of the people" and promulgating a series of rights, which would come to be known as a "Bill of Rights". The king was forced to eventually recognise the legitimacy of the House of Commons and through the mediation of the Duke of Sutherland, the king was forced to acquiesce to parliament's demands. The king was persuaded to leave Kew Palace and to reside in St James' palace along with the rest of the royal family while a constitution was drafted for the Kingdom of Great Britain. New elections were called whereby the franchise was greatly expanded to most property owners. The cities and towns were also given a much larger share of representation in parliament, reflecting the growing power of commerce. Additionally, the lords had their power curtailed and were no longer exempt from taxation, with the House of Lords now being an elected among the peers of the realm, and having lost veto powers over the Commons. Without a power base left, the king had no other choice but to swear an oath before parliament to uphold the new constitution on 15 June 1787.

    The following year, on 1 September 1788, and embattled King James III abdicated the throne, leaving his to his son Henry, Prince of Wales (born 1767) to become Henry IX. James and his wife left for Edinburgh, taking up residence in Edinburgh Castle where they would enjoy a great deal of popularity in the city. Henry IX cared little for government and was content to let parliament assume most of the governance of Great Britain. Additionally, he was more popular than his father, marrying Louise of Sweden (1771-1846), and assuming a far less grandiose court, eschewing Kew. Most importantly, Great Britain would have one of the more extensive franchises in Europe for many decades to come, and while the vote was based on property ownership, it would exclude Catholics until 1801.
     
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    • France and Spain and the Enlightenment
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    Throughout the first half of the 18th century, the Portuguese Monarchs attempted to engage in a diplomatic balancing act which would allow Portugal to maintain cordial relations with the Great Powers of Western Europe, namely Spain, France and England. Since 1640, Spain had been considered Portugal's primary threat, with the larger neighbouring kingdom surrounding Portugal in Europe. Additionally, the Portuguese territories in America bordered Brazil and by the late 18th century, Terra Nova. France was a threat as it possessed a large navy which could threaten Portuguese commerce. Additionally, the aggressive French expansion on the Indian Subcontinent was worrisome to the Estado da Índia, particularly once the French took established a fort at Mahé on the Malabar Coast.


    SPAIN
    Spain emerged from the War of Spanish Succession in a weakened state, with its new king, Charles III attempting to consolidate his rule throughout his vast domains. Throughout his reign, he began to rebuild Spain's fleet and entered into an alliance with Austria. Additionally, he in an effort to stave off the Anglo-French alliance, he maintained cordial relations with the two other naval powers, Portugal and the Dutch Republic. His insistence of bringing Spain into the War of Polish Succession during the close of his reign did establish a newfound respect for Spain as a military power, however, it left the royal treasury severely depleted. Leaving no male heirs, his eldest daughter Maria Theresa ascended to the throne as Queen Regnant in 1740. Like her father before her, Maria Theresa would rule for forty years, unlike him however she would restore the kingdom’s finances. At the beginning of her reign, many courtiers worried about the prospect of a female sovereign, fearing that she would be weak, with some in Aragon even questioning her right to rule. Her reign (1740-1780), however would be something of a renaissance for Spain. The Queen proved to be a wise ruler, listening to the advice of experts and relying upon her husband Francis of Lorraine (1708-1765) for advice. She rewarded him with the title of King Consort, and together they would have fourteen children, marrying into the various royal houses of Europe.

    Domestically, Maria Theresa set about establishing a large standing army, along with maintaining Spain position as a major naval power. Throughout much of the 18th century, Spain would possess third-largest fleet. To pay for these increased expenditures, new taxes were implemented, among these were taxes on the nobility. To govern, the queen created a Council of State, surrounding herself with advisers whom would help her carry out reforms throughout the empire. Also, though still an absolute monarch, she insisted on allowing subjects to submit petitions and throughout much of her reign would invite Spaniards from all socioeconomic backgrounds to meet with her personally at the Buen Retiro Palace.

    In the New World, Maria Theresa helped create a less corrupt civil administration and liberalised imperial trade between the various territories, so that trade was no longer relegated to a small number of ports. Loathe to depopulate mainland Spain, though wanting to populate her territories, the Queen sponsored various colonisation schemes, sending thousands of settlers from the Canary Islands and her Italian Territories to the colonies. Additionally, as she was surrounded early on in her reign by many Germany advisers, she promoted the immigration of nearly 100,000 Catholic Germans, from the Rhineland, Franconia, the Palatinate, and Lorraine and the Bar to settle in Spanish America. Some were sponsored by the Spanish Crown, but many more paid their own passage, by making the lengthy voyage up the Rhine and to Cadiz, and from there across the Atlantic. Many of these Germans were sent to what were considered underpopulated regions, such as Chile, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Steps to make the colonial economies more lucrative for the crown were also implemented. The Spanish State took a more active interest in the production of mercury, by bringing foreign specialists to boost production. The result would be a dramatic increase allowing silver mining in New Spain to boost silver output to the largest levels in over a century.

    The reform of the Spanish State continued under Maria Theresa's son Joseph I, reigning 1780-1790. Greatly influenced by the enlightened thinkers of France, Joseph sought to transform Spain into a modern state. He made the first attempts to implement compulsory schooling in Spain, and in doing so attempted to enforce the exclusive usage of Castilian throughout the kingdom, supplanting Latin in higher learning. Additionally, he abolished the last vestiges of feudalism often granting peasants the rights to lands they worked, raising the ire of the nobility. He also sought to impose administrative uniformity throughout the Empire, issuing thousands of edicts and new laws, stripping both Catalonia and Navarre of their respective autonomy. He implemented new tariffs to promote the domestic textile industry. The king established royal factories, utilising Spain's merino wool and colonial cotton to produce textiles and cochineal and indigo for dyes. The production of textiles along with the production of iron in Navarre would be among the most successful export industries to the Spanish Colonies. By the end of the century, Catalonia was major centre of textile production, while Valencia produced silks. He also opened up all ports in Spain to trade directly with the New World, and as a result, Catalan Merchants became prominent. As a result, by the 19th century, Barcelona would supplant Seville and Cadiz as a port.

    In 1790, Joseph was succeeded by his younger brother, Louis I, whom would continue his reforms throughout his brief reign (1790-1792), abolishing capital punishment and formulating a new Penal Code. However, Louis rolled back some of the more radical administrative reforms, in an attempt to placate the nobility. In 1792, however Louis was succeeded by his more reactionary son, Charles IV. A conservative and pious king, he would reign until 1838 and would preside over a decline of Spain vis-à-vis the other great powers. This decline was the result of series of disastrous wars, along with a failure to continue the kingdom’s modernisation. Another major issue became the exhaustion of the oak forests on which the Spanish shipbuilding industry relied. Naval stores were now sourced from the Baltic, but during periods of war with England, the supply of timber for masts along with hemp sails became precarious.

    FRANCE
    After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, his nephew Philip VII (1715-1723) continued his foreign policy and as a result France maintained its alliance with the Stuart Kings of England. During the war of Austrian Succession, however, Louis XV (1723-1752) forged an alliance with Maria Theresa of Spain. The war was costly, and had exposed the weakness of the French Navy when compared with the English Navy. The result would be a major naval expansion undertaken by Louis XVI (1752-1785) further alienating England.

    Economically, France had become a leading industrial power in Europe. It was the leading producer of luxury goods in Europe, becoming the mother of luxury and style for all Europe. The French language was the most fashionable among Europe's aristocrats, and French art, music, fashions, and decor were emulated throughout the various royal courts of Europe. During Louis XV’s reign, French trade overseas would grow as well, particularly in the Indies with France establishing dominance in the Cormandel and Carnatic Coasts, while encroaching on Portugal's Malabar Trade. Local rulers, such as the Nizam of Hyderabad and King of Mysore became French vassals, and threatened the dominance of English East India Company in Bengal after the French Compagnie des Indes took control of the Northern Circars. Closer to home, French merchants also dominated trade with the Ottoman Empire, particularly the Levant, Spain, Italy and even began to trade directly in the Baltic.

    In America, France possessed the richest colonies in the West Indies, particularly the island of Hispanola, and island they had transformed into one of the richest sources of raw materials in the world. In Hispaniola, an army of slaves produced sugar, coffee, tobacco, cocoa and vanilla. Colonisation schemes in French Guiana floundered, but in Africa, French traders traded tobacco and rum from the West Indies and textiles from India for slaves. The French relied less on slave forts, trading in areas that were nominally Portuguese. They began encroaching on Portugal's areas of influence in the Kingdoms of Loango and Congo in West Africa and Zanzibar in East Africa. In 1784, the apprehension of French slaving ships at Cabinda by the Portuguese created a diplomatic crisis, which was only resolved by intervention by the English and Dutch.

    The wars of the 18th century had ballooned the Kingdom of France’s debt, and this would bring the kingdom on the verge of crisis. This was coupled with a series of bad harvests beginning in 1787 that would precipitate a series of famines among the peasantry along with social unrest and bread riots. Additionally, France's growing textile industry which had become dependent on exports to Spain and Spanish America was shutout by lower-cost competition from not only Britain (woollens) and Silesia (linens), but by increasing Spanish protectionism.

    Upon the death of his father in 1785, Louis XVII acceded to the throne, inheriting a kingdom in crisis. The new king had been strongly influenced by the enlightenment and had a general disdain for court life and etiquette, which in his youth he had found stifling. As dauphin, he had hosted many salons in Paris and was greatly influenced by the enlightened thinkers. After his accession to the throne, he spent less time at Versailles, preferring to make the Tuileries Palace in the heart of Paris his official residence. When not in Paris, he preferred the more modest and modern comforts of the Château de Compiègne. Like his cousin Joseph I of Spain, he sought to modernise France and rectify the kingdom's financial weaknesses. During the poor harvests in 1786, he took it upon himself to organise the importation of large quantities of grain from abroad, and imposed price controls until the situation stabilised. These measures gave him the popularity among the populace to carry on many of his reforms.

    Among his first acts was the abolition of corvée, whittling away at the remnants of feudalism. Additionally, he imposed more equal taxation, including taxes on the nobility and the clergy. He relied on the ideas proposed by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot to Louis XVI, allowing for the creation of elected Provincial Assemblies, giving the bourgeois a say in local governance along with taxation. Also, he abolished internal tariffs and tolls, creating a unified financial system. These actions restored investor confidence in the French State and reduced the borrowing costs. He went further, by establishing the Banque de France as the central bank and reformed the monetary system, establishing a new decimal currency in 1792, the franc. Interested in the bettering the lives of his subjects, he established a new legal code, and established many of new institutions of higher learning. Louis XVII also established laws granting freedom of worship to Protestants and Jews, though maintaining the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion. He was also one of the first monarchs to take interest in mental health, establishing sanitariums. This was perhaps influenced because his own mother, Anne of England had suffered from porphyria. As a result of his extensive reforms, by the time of his death on 11 September 1819, Louis XVII had laid the foundations for the modern French State.
     
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    • HonestAbe1809

    It seems like Spain continues their tendency for later monarchs to piss away their advantages. Like how they discovered a mountain of silver in OTL and still went into debt. Hopefully, they can recover from Charles's idiocy. If that's not possible I hope that the stronger colonial infrastructure leads to the nations that form there being more stable than in OTL.
     
    Lusitania

    Lusitania

    Donor
    It seems that both Spain and France have witnessed different monarchs that are fixing the problems that plagued their countries but that we are stuck with the same royals and ministers that held us back so much, shame. Don't get me wrong I love the TL and is one of the most original Portugal TL I have read. Just hope we get a break soon.
     
    Invasion of Portugal
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    Four decades after the departure of King Joseph I from Lisbon to the New World, the majority of the city's population had grown accustomed to living without a sovereign. Indeed, many regions in Europe were or had been governed by regents or viceroys, including much of Italy, Hungary, and Ireland. Since the dislocation of the court to Nova Lisboa, Lisbon had been the administrative seat for a number of princes or infantes, all of whom had been male relatives of the monarch. The Infantado, traditionally an appanage for the second son of the reigning monarch was expanded to cover all of the male infantes (7 in 1797), and in effect Lisbon's royal residences and properties were now part of the infantado. On 28 August 1797, Dom João, Duke of Guarda and third son of Queen Maria I, died suddenly, after less than three years as Viceroy of Portugal, leaving the post temporarily vacant.

    Fort the majority of the inhabitants of the Portugal, being governed from faraway New Lisbon mattered little. Indeed, the many provisions in place, gave merchants from Portugal a privileged position in the imperial trading network, with Lisbon maintaining its position as the European entrepôt for goods from Brazil, Africa and the Indies. Additionally, goods from the rest of Europe were still required to pass through Lisbon before being exported to Brazil. Importantly, certain manufactured goods, such as cottons, lace and silks from Portugal were granted a monopoly in Brazil, helping support some early manufacturing. In reality however, much of the commercial activity in Lisbon was dominated by Englishmen, whom had established trading houses in the capital and were influential in importing not only goods, but new ideas to Lisbon. Among these, was freemasonry and after the English Revolution of 1785, other forms of political liberalism. From France too, the influence of the enlightenment reached Lisbon's bourgeoisie and nobility. By the 1790s, some of the masons had begun to criticise Queen Maria for not returning with her court to Lisbon, particularly as the rebuilding of the city was complete. Others were more radical in calling for the establishment of a republic. They were joined by a small number of people from Terra Nova and Brazil as well, some of whom would disseminate these subversive ideas back to their respective parts of the Portuguese Empire.

    After 1760, the mining boom in Brazil had been on the wane and the Portuguese Crown sought to reinvigorate the economy of its giant South American territory. Diversification of the economy, by promoting agriculture became a hallmark of this policy, with cotton, rice, indigo, along with hides and skins growing in importance. In 1795, in an attempt to further promote economic growth in Brazil, Maria I issued an edict allowing the establishment of certain manufactures in the colony. Among these, were iron forges in Sorocaba and cotton spinning. Though reaction to these decrees left many of the merchants of Lisbon indignant, it would be the "free trade" decrees which would really incense them. The crown now permitted ships from Brazil the right to sail beyond Africa directly to Goa and the Indies. In reality, this decree was just an acknowledgement of the growing economic might of merchants in Brazil (most of whom were born in Portugal). However, for Lisbon's merchant class it seemed to be the most injurious of what they considered a series of intolerable acts by the Queen's government. Many felt that the court was now out of touch with the reality of Lisbon and the centre of the Empire needed to return to Lisbon. In January 1796, there was an attempted plot to force the Viceroy to revoke the edicts. The plans were to have several army officers have troops surround Bemposta Palace. The army would force the Viceroy to sign a decree abrogating the decrees and convoke the Three Estates of the Cortes. The plan was poorly planned and the Viceroy became aware of the plot. The plotters were discovered, and as a result, 17 men were arrested and hanged.

    When Infante João, Duke of Guarda died unexpectedly in August 1797, his wife Maria Isabel of France, younger sister of Louis XVII was entrusted as regent. Before the news could reach Nova Lisboa, however Maria Isabel had assumed the reins of government, assuming the title of Regent. She dismissed most of the governing council, and appointed the liberal Marquis of Alorna as President of the Council. On 21 September 1797, the governing council issued a proclamation calling for a convocation of the Cortes of the Kingdom along with the immediate return of the Court to Metropolitan Portugal. Additionally, it called for the restoration of the mercantile system, with Portugal and Lisbon in particular being the primary beneficiary of this system. Though influenced by her liberal brother, Maria Isabel had her own motives for supporting the new Junta. Her cousin, Charles IV of Spain had promised her that Spanish troops would come to her assistance so that she could proclaim her young son Francisco as King of Portugal. Boosted by the recent successes of the Spanish forces in North Africa in recapturing Mers el Kebir, Charles IV was eager to demonstrate Spain's resurgence as one of Europe's Great Powers. France backed the Spanish actions in the hopes of bringing Portugal into the French orbit. The first Spanish troops crossed into the country in October, and in November a Franco-Spanish fleet blocked the passage of a ship carrying instructions from Nova Lisboa. The British government reacted angrily, threatening war if the Franco-Spanish forces did not evacuate Portugal. In Portugal itself, little resistance was encountered as an army of 60,000 occupied key fortresses along the coast along with the borders. Meanwhile, the governing junta hoisted a new flag, a green and gold flag with Portugal's arms in the centre, with the new colours representing those of the Freemasons.

    From Terra Nova, an expeditionary force was mustered to send 14,000 soldiers to Portugal, and this was to be combined with a British expeditionary force to occupy Madeira. However, major military operations would have to wait until the spring of 1798. Meanwhile, once it became clear that Portugal was to be partitioned between Spain, with the rest falling to Infante Francisco after being proclaimed "King of Lusitania". Spain annexed the territories south of the Tagus River, and sought to integrate the Alentejo and Algarve into Spain as two new provinces. In Lusitania, the French occupation forces imposed hefty taxes and coupled with their acts looting and pillaging, popular revolts against the occupation began in different regions of Portugal. They were further encouraged the defeat of a larger Spanish force at the Battle of Morazzo on 18 July 1798 by the British. This victory allowed an Anglo-Portuguese force to land just north of Lisbon, capturing the fortress at Peniche. Assisting them, were several thousand German and Swiss mercenaries, transported by the British and paid for by the Portuguese Crown. In Olhão in the South, proclaiming their loyalty to Queen Maria, as other towns soon followed. Meanwhile, the war spread to America and India.

    Four_frigates_capturing_Spanish_treasure_ships,_5_October_1804.jpg

    British Victory at the Battle of Morazzo
     
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    • India
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    For Portugal's monarchs, restoration of Portuguese power and prestige in the Indies had been paramount. By the 18th century, the improved finances of the kingdom made this possible. For that reason, large sums of gold from Brazil had been expended on expanding the navy and supplying it with soldiers to regain control over the Persian Gulf. That economic and military control expanded to East Africa and allowed the Portuguese to begin a lucrative triangular trade between India, Africa and Arabia, largely supplanting the loss of the spice monopoly. Indian textiles from Diu were traded in Basra for Arabian horses, with the latter being sold to various Indian rulers to equip their cavalries. From Mozambique, slaves were sold to Arabia and to a lesser extent India, while ivory was sent from Sofala and Mombasa to Damão in exchange for cotton calicoes. In contrast to the British and French trading companies, this trading empire, was largely self-contained, with only 10% or so of the trade being directed towards Europe. Portuguese India did have one benefit compared with the latter however, as the Estado da Índia possessed a far larger administrative apparatus than the British or French companies.

    Out of all of the European powers, by the 18th century, the Portuguese had the largest number of soldiers and sailors in Asia. Beginning in the 17th century, sailors from Terra Nova had made their way around the Cape of Good Hope accompanying the "Carreiras da India" to profit from the lucrative trade with the Indies. By the 18th century, the densely populated fishing villages of Terra Nova could no longer support so many fisherman, leading many to seek wealth from trade in the East, while many more became sailors. By 1800, the trickle of sailors and soldiers turned into a flood with some 30,000 Europeans spread among the various Portuguese settlements. Added to that were many more mestiços, persons of mixed-race background with at least one European ancestor and almost always being Catholic. The largest communities of these were in Goa and the "Província do Norte" at Bassein where they formed the majority of the government bureaucrats.


    By 1799, the war in Europe had reached Indian Ocean. The Portuguese along with their British allies fought the French and their allies for control over the Indian subcontinent. The French Compagie des Indes had received tremendous support from the French state and as a result its strength had been augmented by the introduction of new warships. This allowed the French to use the Mascarenes to harass Portuguese and British shipping to India. French corsairs sailing with small but fast corvettes attacked merchant ships, forcing them to use convoys sailing along the East African Coast. The French also funded large armies for their allies, such as the King of Mysore whom they encouraged to attack and occupy the Portuguese settlements along the Malabar Coast, including Cochin and Mangalore. In the Northeast, they allied themselves with the Bhonsale against the British.

    After the war, the three powers agreed to return to their antebellum status and formalised their regions of influence. In India however, it weakened and divided the various states, making them dependent on the European powers as subsidiary allies. The ability of Indian rulers to negotiate directly with foreign powers was curtailed, as most were now vassals of the Estado da Índia or the French and British East India Companies. Internally, several states were also forced to allow domestic control over their respective domains. The Maharajah of Tanjore for instance was given a pension by Pondicherry and lost all control over domestic affairs. The Peshwa was now giving one-fifth of his revenues, called the Quinto to Goa. As a result, when the conflict formally ended in 1805, the partition of the Indian Subcontinent been accomplished. The Portuguese were left in control of the region corresponding to Western Ghats and had expanded their sphere of influence to Gujarat. The British East India Company expanded its hold from Bengal to the Central Highlands, while the French Compagnie des Indes controlled the Coromandel and the Deccan Plateau.
     
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    • Diego

    Sceonn said:
    Nice, but maybe a map, however crude. Just to give an idea because I have no id3a what these names means.
    Click to expand...
    Well take this map with an ocean of salt and as pure fanfiction, but based on what I understood from the last post:

    india.png

    Blue is France, Red Britain, and Green Portugal, note that OTL Bangladesh is probably British and I don't know what parts are directly controlled by the Europeans and what parts are just Spheres of Influence.

    Anyway, what matters is that Portugal controls the west coast, France the center-east and southeast, and Britain the Northeast and maybe the North too.
     

    Sol Zagato

    There should be a corresponding story about the decline of the Mughals and how the vacuum is being filled. Who's in charge of the emperor-in-name-only in Delhi, and which foreign power has the most influence there? This gives big opportunities for some kind of resurgent Delhi Sultanate or the Sikh Empire.

    With multiple foreign powers competing in India, the princely states should have more room to manuver anyways. Even if they're still declining, they should be much stronger than OTL. The foreigners just need them that much more. I especially don't see the Marathas knuckling under easily.

    Eventually, I guess the Portuguese and British will cooperate to split the subcontinent between them. The French just can't repel their combined seapower, and they're waaaay outweighed in India.
     
    War in America
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    • Viriato

    Prior to the Portuguese War, the economic reforms of undertaken by Louis XVII in France had allowed his kingdom to undertake a major naval expansion programme, and as a result by 1797, its fleet was in size at least nearly equal to that of Britain's. In England meanwhile, the revolutionary troubles coupled with fiscal mismanagement had left the navy neglected and it would not be until the second half of the nineties when parliament, worried by the naval expansion of France, Spain, and Russia authorised the construction of new ships. As a result, at the start of the war, the Royal Navy and Portuguese Navies on paper at least, were outmatched by French and Spanish fleets. The Royal Navy and Portuguese Navy did have one strength, and that was their sailors whom were considered to be far better trained than their rivals. However, for the first half of the war the Royal Navy remained largely on the defensive. The British Government ordered that the navy concentrate the bulk of its forces in the North Sea to stave off any possible Franco-Spanish invasion and maintain access to the Baltic. This situation became particularly critical when a popular uprising in Ireland began in 1798. While the French Navy did land forces in Cork in 1799, the attempt at an invasion was poorly executed and they were repelled by British forces. Perhaps a more strategic role played by the Royal Navy was to deny the French and Spanish navies supplies of naval stores, particularly pine masts from Russia and Sweden. This meant enforcing a blockade on trade with both countries, even to the detriment of the neutral states. Of all the neutral countries, the Dutch became leading suppliers of naval stores to France, with merchants from Holland heavily involved in the trade in the export of naval stores to France. To counter this, the British government declared naval stores to be contraband and began arresting Dutch and other neutral ships on the high seas. This led to strong protests by the Dutch Republic, who instituted convoys to escort Dutch merchantmen to the Baltic. Not wanting to provoke a war with Russia or Sweden, the British backed down and agreed to respect neutral shipping. Meanwhile in Eastern Europe, Russia and Austria joined forces to prey upon the weakness of the Ottoman Empire, acquiring Serbia and Moldavia respectively.

    Shortly after the invasion of Portugal, news of war reached America. The Portuguese saw most of the action in South America, where their forces crossed the Paraguai River from Matto Grosso to attack Upper Peru. Additionally, in December 1799, the Portuguese repelled a Spanish invasion force which had attempted to recapture Montevideu. More significantly, the Portuguese were able to blockade Buenos Aires, which had been poorly defended by the Spanish Navy. A series of skirmishes between Portuguese and Spanish forces would ensue throughout the conflict, but these were largely small in scale and undertaken mostly by provincial troops. Perhaps the most significant action was a French bombardment of Salvador, with the city being sacked by some 2,400 French sailors and corsairs, proving that the French Navy was able to strike at long distances. This action caused a panic in Rio de Janeiro and the government was forced to hastily reinforce coastal defences and to reorganise the militia. In the North, the Portuguese were able to expel a small French force from Pará and retaliated by capturing Cayenne in December 1803 with a force of 1,200 soldiers and sailors from Belém. In North America, an expedition of over two-thousand men was sent overland from Nova Lisboa to the Pacific Northwest to destroy the Spanish and French trading posts in the region and establish a Portuguese fortress at the mouth of the Rio São Martinho (Columbia River). This action would open up this region to Portuguese settlement and the soldiers were soon followed by fur traders and settlers, numbering 13,427 by 1813.

    The British were also active in the war in the Americas, with several skirmishes with both the Spanish and French Navies taking place in the West Indies. In March 1801, the Royal Navy attempted to capture Cartagena de las Indias, but were defeated after a two month siege in May. In North America the British had more success. By 1800, the British colonies had grown with 3.7 million inhabitants, 2.3 million of whom were whites. They posed a significant threat to New Spain, particularly after the capture of New Orleans from the French. The city which they had renamed New York, had grown to become a city of 25,800 by 1800 and served as an important trade hub between the American interior and the Caribbean. From New York, a British Army invaded New Spain, capturing several missions in Texas in 1799 and 1800, but the British forces were prevented from pushing further south after they suffered several losses from yellow fever, presumably having been brought to New York by a regiment which had been in Jamaica previously. The Spanish intended to use their Indian allies to ward off the British and their first actions was to agitate the Choctaw Indians, many of whom had taken refuge from the expanding British settlement in Florida. The Spaniards and their Indian allies raided various border towns in Carolina, provoking a panic among the frontier settlers, and leading the Carolina Militia to organise an invasion force. With fewer than 8,000 Spaniards in Florida, the half dozen Spanish settlements were all captured by 1803, with the largest fortress, San Agustín falling to the British in April of that year. With the coming of the peace in Europe in 1804, the Spanish government became increasingly anxious about the two juggernauts to the North of New Spain. As a result, after the war it began undertaking the settlement of the northern regions of their territory.
     
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    • Viriato

    As the war dragged on, the British were able to capitalise on the popular uprising in Portugal to not only organise a defence of the kingdom, but to breakout of Portugal and capture several important Spanish fortresses, among them Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. Additionally, news of Portugal's invasion of Upper Peru led the Spain's Foreign Minister, Pedro Cevallos to make the first peace offerings to the British in 1803. Additionally, that year Savoy entered into the war against France and Spain, invading the Republic of Genoa which was seen as a Spanish ally. The French quickly invaded Savoy and won some important battles, but were bogged down in the Alps. War weariness led the French to join the negotiations as well, with the final peace being signed in September 1804 at Compiègne.

    France emerged from the war as Europe's leading power, and as a result it gained Savoy and Aosta which were quickly incorporated as its newest provinces. Additionally, its rights in India were recognised with Britain and Portugal agreeing to treat Mysore and Hyderabad as vassals of the King of France and to only negotiate with them through Pondicherry. In exchange, the Kingdom of Mysore relinquished Portuguese fortresses in the Malabar and the French were restored Mahé along with Cayenne. The King of Portugal was restored to his ancient territory, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves with its prewar borders. In South America Portugal was granted rights to territory along the Paraná and Paraguai Rivers, and to the North the boundary with French Guiana was formally agreed upon. Additionally, France and Spain both agreed to recognise Portuguese territory in the Northwest Pacific north of the 42nd parallel. Spain ceded to Britain the territory of La Florida in exchange for territories in Honduras, where the British were granted the right to obtain timber. To Savoy, Spain ceded the Kingdom of Sardinia along with the territory formerly belonging to the Republic of Genoa.

    For the Portuguese monarchs, the war had made them wary of returning to Europe, with Nova Lisboa seemingly far safer than Lisbon. In Portugal itself, the Freemasons were largely discredited as reactionary forces entrenched their hold on the kingdom. Additionally, the destruction of much of the kingdom's factories during the war, left it far more dependent on Terra Nova than ever. Portugal had been sidelined by its colonies, and this was only more evident in 1817 when King Pedro IV signed a decree allowing all Portuguese territories to trade directly with friendly nations. With that decree, the last remnant of mercantilism was dead.

    For Spain, the war had proven to be unnecessary and had exposed the weaknesses of the Spanish Empire. Undaunted, Charles IV turned to North Africa. In 1815 and 1816 the Spanish Navy bombarded Tunis and Tripoli in an effort to end their piracy and free enslaved European Christians. The Beys agreed without resistance, with 3,000 Corsican, Sardinian and Sicilian fisherman freed, however this did not satisfy the Spanish monarch's quest for military glory. In 1817, a full fledged invasion of Tunis began with an armada of 600 ships and 34,000 soldiers landed in June 1817. After a month siege, the Bey capitulated and the Turkish janissaries departed the territory, thereby ending the nominal Ottoman Rule in both territories.
     
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    • Beausoleil

    With a Terra Novan population of 18.2 million in 1800, it seems like they are under performing quite a bit if their only action was 2-3k men marching overland to seize a West Coast trading post. The British are packing a lot more punch despite their significantly smaller population and less access to the interior waterways. With such a large population, Terra Nova should have been able to significantly expand to the South and West, including with full annexation of Louisiana and a West Coast presence far further south. I would have expected an army several hundred thousand strong being raised from the Terra Novans. What am I missing?
     

    Diego

    Beausoleil said:
    With a Terra Novan population of 18.2 million in 1800, it seems like they are under performing quite a bit if their only action was 2-3k men marching overland to seize a West Coast trading post. The British are packing a lot more punch despite their significantly smaller population and less access to the interior waterways. With such a large population, Terra Nova should have been able to significantly expand to the South and West, including with full annexation of Louisiana and a West Coast presence far further south. I would have expected an army several hundred thousand strong being raised from the Terra Novans. What am I missing?
    Click to expand...


    Several hundred thousand would be a too much (well, to be fair if Terra Nova had a state like Paraguay under Solano Lopez it would be possible). But Brazil sent 130k to the Paraguayan War less than a hundred years later IOTL with a population that was around 10 million at the time, because of that I would say that the number should be of many tens of thousands, something around 50k probably.
     
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