Hello everyone, I have been building an alternate story a few months ago in which Brazil became a great power comparable to the power of France during the 19th and 20th century. In this world Brazil industrialized very early being one of the first places to industrialize, after its independence annexed half of the Portuguese empire and from its independence begins a period of massive territorial expansion in south america.
The point of divergence begins around 1200 to 1300 in which Portugal annexes the region of Galicia before beginning the great navigations, thus Galicia integrates the Portuguese nation centuries before the beginning of colonialism; but what I am having trouble with is finding the exact period in which Portugal could have annexed Galicia before starting its empire and that Galicia is integrated into Portuguese culture, becoming just another region of Portugal. Thus Portugal annexing Galicia would increase its territory by about 30%, meaning that the Portuguese empire would be larger and thus would lead to a larger Brazil, since we would have more Portuguese to colonize.
Another difficulty I am having is finding a justification for Portugal (and later independent Brazil) to show interest in another region of South America besides the Plata region, leading Brazil to acquire a coast in the Pacific (I know that unlike North America South America has the Andes which is a geographical challenge).
After much analysis of South America's colonial history and the history of Portugal and Spain I came to the conclusion that:
• The best region for Brazil to expand to pacific in this story would be the region of Bolivia and northern Chile since this region even with the Andes in the middle is the least populated region between Brazil and the pacific, and if you look This map below shows the westward expansion of Brazil in that direction.
• The other point I noticed is that much of the Brazilian expansion beyond the Tordesillas treaty came during the Iberian union, so I would like to know that Portugal with Galicia during the Iberian union would expand further than it expanded in our line. from time, as you can see on this map before and after Brazil (all of this came because during the Iberian Union the Sao Paulo bandeirantes in Brazil started expeditions that caused Brazil to double the size of its territory as)
So I ask a question how Portugal with Galicia, centuries before the beginning of his empire would justify the Portuguese and later Brazilian interest in this region of South America, leading Brazil to this territory today?
The point of divergence begins around 1200 to 1300 in which Portugal annexes the region of Galicia before beginning the great navigations, thus Galicia integrates the Portuguese nation centuries before the beginning of colonialism; but what I am having trouble with is finding the exact period in which Portugal could have annexed Galicia before starting its empire and that Galicia is integrated into Portuguese culture, becoming just another region of Portugal. Thus Portugal annexing Galicia would increase its territory by about 30%, meaning that the Portuguese empire would be larger and thus would lead to a larger Brazil, since we would have more Portuguese to colonize.
Another difficulty I am having is finding a justification for Portugal (and later independent Brazil) to show interest in another region of South America besides the Plata region, leading Brazil to acquire a coast in the Pacific (I know that unlike North America South America has the Andes which is a geographical challenge).
After much analysis of South America's colonial history and the history of Portugal and Spain I came to the conclusion that:
• The best region for Brazil to expand to pacific in this story would be the region of Bolivia and northern Chile since this region even with the Andes in the middle is the least populated region between Brazil and the pacific, and if you look This map below shows the westward expansion of Brazil in that direction.
• The other point I noticed is that much of the Brazilian expansion beyond the Tordesillas treaty came during the Iberian union, so I would like to know that Portugal with Galicia during the Iberian union would expand further than it expanded in our line. from time, as you can see on this map before and after Brazil (all of this came because during the Iberian Union the Sao Paulo bandeirantes in Brazil started expeditions that caused Brazil to double the size of its territory as)
So I ask a question how Portugal with Galicia, centuries before the beginning of his empire would justify the Portuguese and later Brazilian interest in this region of South America, leading Brazil to this territory today?