The Dominion of Minorca: A very brief history

Little idea I had today. Thoughts? (In particular, does anyone know what Coat of Arms Minorca had under British rule? Trying to imagine what the flag would look like.)
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To the British mind today, “Minorca” most likely brings to mind images of pristine beaches and old Spanish and Georgian-style mansions, and indeed, to the thousands of Britons who will go there for holiday this year, it has much to offer. Sometimes, however, it is worth taking a step back and remembering Minorca’s long history, forged over three centuries of strife and empire.

Minorca’s history as a separate nation from Spain begins with the island’s capture by Britain during the war of Spanish Succession in 1708. Under governor Richard Kane, Britain expanded the harbor at Mahon, which replaced the old capital, Ciudadela, as the island’s main city. Spain would recapture Minorca in 1756, but it was returned in the Treaty of Paris and has remained British ever since, holding firm against a Spanish invasion in 1782 [POD: The Spanish IOTL managed to recapture Minorca that year] and attempts by the Spanish and French during the Napoleonic wars. After 1783, Britain undertook a large-scale expansion of Minorca’s fortifications, and even today, the looming watchtowers and shore batteries-alongside their more modern counterparts-testify to the value that the crown put in its far-flung possession.

During the 19th century, the British imposed minimal restrictions on Minorcan trade, and Port Mahon became something of an entrepot. The era’s prosperity is visible today in a stroll down the streets of old Port Mahon, with Victorian British and Belle Epoque-era Spanish architecture standing side by side. During the later part of the 19th century, the British began to encourage the use of English in Minorca’s government and education, and gradually it replaced Spanish as the island’s main language of prestige-a fact confirmed in the 1924 law which stripped Spanish of its official status, replacing it with English and Catalan (the language spoken natively by the islanders).

After Franco’s victory in Spain in 1939, many anti-fascist Spaniards, especially Catalans, fled to Minorca. During World War II, the island, heavily fortified by Britain, withstood almost two years of constant bombing, and intermitant blockades and naval bombardments, by the forces of Nazi Germany. Germany had hinted that Franco could have the island if he agreed to enter into the war against Britain, and Britain was determined to deny Hitler this little bargaining chip. The Minorcans, for their part, strongly resisted the imposition of Nazi or Francoist rule, ultimately becoming (along with Malta) one of only two nations to be collectively awarded the Cross of Saint George for their courage and persarvierence under the often harsh circumstances of the “Sixth Siege of Minorca”. During the latter part of the war, Minorca would serve as an important base for RAF bombing missions, and was one of the staging points for Operation Dragoon, Britain’s 1944 invasion of southern France.

Post-war, Britain granted Minorca dominion status in 1964, and the island became a favorite refuge for Spaniards fleeing Franco’s dictatorship (these were often of intellectual and artistic persuasions, and gave some areas of Port Mahon a rather Bohemian quality). Most of the exiles, however, relocated back to their homeland following Franco’s death in 1975. Today, Minorca is most famous for tourism, with tens of thousands of Britons and Americans vacationing there every year. Virtually all of the native population speaks Catalan, though English remains a major language of business, government, and higher education, understood by almost all of the islanders.
 
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I'm pretty sure the Minorcans used the Union Jack as their flag when the British controlled the island. This was very nice.
 
Besides a few dead butterflies lying in front of this thread, I like it. Will it continue/expand at all?

It's probably because relatively inconsequential places like Minorca aren't gonna make huge butterflies, and I guess it's for the sake of simplicity.

With Minorca as the immovable battleship of Britain TTL they likely won't have an impetus to try and take Malta unless the French Revolution goes as OTL.
 

Prefrence

Banned
It's probably because relatively inconsequential places like Minorca aren't gonna make huge butterflies, and I guess it's for the sake of simplicity.

With Minorca as the immovable battleship of Britain TTL they likely won't have an impetus to try and take Malta unless the French Revolution goes as OTL.

If minorca had little butterflies, wouldn't the Second Coalition still collapse and the British have to ceed the island to get peace? (maybe when Napoleon backstabs Spain, they return Minorca for british help) However its a good timeline.
 
If minorca had little butterflies, wouldn't the Second Coalition still collapse and the British have to ceed the island to get peace?

Well, IOTL, Britain had just retaken Minorca during the war of the Second Coalition. In this TL, its been British since 1763-or 1708 if you don't count the little interruption during the Seven Years War. So, rather than being seen as territory conquered during the war, Minorca will probably look more like Gibralter-which didn't get returned in 1802.

As for additions...this is basically all I have right now. I might try and make it more detailed if there's some interest. I just came up with the idea this morning, so this is kind of a first draft.

Perhaps Malta might be TTL's peace offering, going, say, back to the Knights or directly to France (French Malta itself might be interesting, though I think it would wind up being ceded to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on Napoleon's downfall)
 
Liked it a lot.

However (and apologies for the nitpick): If Minorca was obtained in the War of Succession, and never returned, English would not have replaced Spanish as the language of prestige in Minorca. The main reason being that Spanish wasn't it at the time either.

Castilian (Spanish) was only imposed as the language of administration in the territories of the Crown of Aragon by Bourbon rule after the War of Succession.

While many in the Aragonese courts spoke Castilian, the masses did not. And in stark contrast to the prosecution and marginalization it suffered elsewhere in Spain, the British actually were not against it.

In fact they did not seem interested at all in imposing or even teaching English as a language to the people in the island in OTL. Then again, I presume the situation would change ITTL once compulsory education came into being.

And in that case, it would have been English first and Catalan second from pretty early on.

Spanish might have, around our time, the same status of Italian in Malta, at best. At worst it might be unofficially, but actively discriminated against.

And for the same reason: It'd be Ciutadella and Port Mahoe (as an approximation of Maó into English).

Ciudadela and Mahón are the names in Spanish.
 
Liked it a lot.

However (and apologies for the nitpick): If Minorca was obtained in the War of Succession, and never returned, English would not have replaced Spanish as the language of prestige in Minorca. The main reason being that Spanish wasn't it at the time either.

Castilian (Spanish) was only imposed as the language of administration in the territories of the Crown of Aragon by Bourbon rule after the War of Succession.

While many in the Aragonese courts spoke Castilian, the masses did not. And in stark contrast to the prosecution and marginalization it suffered elsewhere in Spain, the British actually were not against it.

In fact they did not seem interested at all in imposing or even teaching English as a language to the people in the island in OTL. Then again, I presume the situation would change ITTL once compulsory education came into being.

And in that case, it would have been English first and Catalan second from pretty early on.

Spanish might have, around our time, the same status of Italian in Malta, at best. At worst it might be unofficially, but actively discriminated against.

And for the same reason: It'd be Ciutadella and Port Mahoe (as an approximation of Maó into English).

Ciudadela and Mahón are the names in Spanish.

Thanks-I'll make the changes you suggested (the end result is the same-English in Minorca has about the same status as, well, English in Malta, and everyone speaks Catalan).

The one thing I'm kind of uncertain about-what effect, if any, would Minorca (a Catalan speaking place that is both relatively democratic and comfortably safe from Francoist Spain) have on Catalan culture during the 20th century? I kind of imagine a lot of Catalans-and maybe even other anti-Franco Spaniards-might seek refuge their, and that maybe even a couple Catalan nationalist parties might use it as a base of operations until 1975.
 
Thanks-I'll make the changes you suggested (the end result is the same-English in Minorca has about the same status as, well, English in Malta, and everyone speaks Catalan).

The one thing I'm kind of uncertain about-what effect, if any, would Minorca (a Catalan speaking place that is both relatively democratic and comfortably safe from Francoist Spain) have on Catalan culture during the 20th century? I kind of imagine a lot of Catalans-and maybe even other anti-Franco Spaniards-might seek refuge their, and that maybe even a couple Catalan nationalist parties might use it as a base of operations until 1975.

Actually, the effects on Catalan culture would be very significant. It is said that a language is a dialect with an army.

In this case, Catalan would be a language with the British Navy behind it -not in front, mind-. And more importantly, with a radio station, potentially several.

I'd say more speakers as a direct result. Minorca would definitely be more populated than IOTL as well.

However, what that Catalan might sound like to us would be curious to hear. The dialects of the Balearics are IOTL some of the more divergent from Catalan Standard.

This wouldn't be the case here, and they might end up being the model from which the standard is created in the first place: it would be where the language would have been preserved in a purer form.

The British would likely take some interest in studying it and preserve it. As, apparently, was already the case IOTL, even during Kane's term as governor. Not necessarily back it, and teach it in schools, although that might come later.

Between this and anglicisms replacing many castilianisms, it would sound pretty odd to us that speak the language.

I would not discard, as a further influence from English, a resurgence of the rhythmic stress pattern, which Catalan, I'm told, also had in the past: I'm referring to the da-Dum-da-Dum-da-Dum way of stressing words, which is the basis of the iambic pentameter. It might be going a bit far.

Anyhow, with a radio station, and much later television, and a tradition of independent broadcasting to rely on, I'd say the health of Catalan in the coast, maybe up to Alicante, would be better than IOTL, for starters.
 
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Here's my rather quick version of the Dominion Flag

MinorcaDom.png
 
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