Unblighted Americas - What if England never colonized the Americas?
- Thread starter North Western
- Start date
So in the Jacobite rebellions I get that there are many more catholics in the UK due to no 13 colonies but shouldn’t there also be significantly more Protestants? So how did the Jacobite end up even larger?
Also have the British founded any colonies elsewhere and have the Dutch still colonised South Africa? I’m sorry to ask all the questions I just found this tl and have really enjoyed it so far.
Very late reply but I got busy and kinda forgot about this TL. So it's very much dead, however, but I do have one chapter and one half-written chapter, and one map I hadn't posted which I will do now. The chapters aren't going to have maps alongside them like the others, however.
Last edited:
Part 9: The Caribbean
Part 9: The Caribbean
Didn't write the text for this part.
Didn't write the text for this part.
Part 10: The Consort of Europe
Part 10: The Consort of Europe
In the 1600s and 1700s Europe just had a thing where it had a large continent-wide war with constantly shifting alliances every few decades. In the 1700s, this was seen with the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Quadruple Alliance, and the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729 [1]. In 1733 most of Europe would end up at war again, this time started by a dispute on who was the rightful King of Poland. France, Spain and Parma supported one side, Stanislaus, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain, and Saxony supported Augustus [2].
In Poland, the legitimately elected King was pushed out of Warsaw by Russia, and then out of the country into exile by 1734. A group of Pro-Stanislaus nobles would try to fight back but would be mostly unsuccessful. In Italy meanwhile, Savoy was bitter about losing Sardinia to the Spanish so refused to let the French through to invade Milan. They however launched an invasion of Sicily which went smoothly. When they tried to take Naples however the British fleet blockaded the Spanish army and they were defeated. The Duchy of Parma was occupied by Austria too. France in the meantime occupied Lorraine. From there they launched an invasion of the Rhineland. They were stopped by an Austro-British (Hannoverian) army. They tried to get the Ottomans to join the war but they were busy losing a war to Persia. So France sued for peace.
The treaty ended the war with the borders unchanged and gave Augustus the throne, but Stanislaus was given Parma as compensation. After he died it was to pass to Austria. [3]
Right after the war ended, a war would be fought between a Russo-Austrian alliance and the Ottomans. It would largely be a stalemate with the Ottomans stalling both nations’ invasions but not able to push back either. After three years the nations signed a peace ending the war with no border changes.
After this, Europe would be relatively at peace for the next decade. Another war would start, however, this time due to Bavaria. Bavaria had, in the war of Spanish succession, gained the Spanish, now Bavarian Netherlands. This was part of a pattern of other German states, such as Prussia and Saxony, rising in power and challenging Habsburg domination of the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburgs, under Leopold II, weren't a fan of this development and tried to stop it. There was an opportunity for that when the Elector of Bavaria, Charles VII, died in 1745 without a male heir. He had two married daughters, the younger married to Leopold and the older married to the Elector of Saxony. There was also the eldest brother of Charles, Clemens August. [7] The leaders of Saxony and Austria supported their own claims, while Clemens had the support of the Archbishopric of Cologne and Münster, which he ruled.
The Saxon succession was more popular in Bavaria, as the Electress was the oldest daughter, and disliked the Habsburgs. Austria, realizing this, occupied Munich before Saxony could secure control. This inadvertently led to further support for Saxony in Bavaria, which took control of the Upper Palatinate. The Bavarian Netherlands meanwhile had fallen into the control of Clemens. The War of the Bavarian Succession had begun, and it would not take long for it to escalate. Austria had made many enemies who wanted to prevent their expansion. Prussia was the first to join. They, under Fredrick II, eyed the rich Austrian province of Silesia and overall were against Habsburg expansion. In the first parts of the war, Saxony fared poorly. The Austrian army advancing North and the Saxon army going south met at Regensburg on the Danube. The resulting battle was an Austrian victory and Saxony was forced back across the river. The distraction of a Prussian army in Silesia saved them, however.
In 1746, France and Spain would join the war, hoping to redeem their loss in the previous war. This escalation brought in Austria’s allies of Britain and Russia. Sweden, hoping to regain land lost in the Great Northern War, also joined the war.
France launched an invasion of Lorraine and the Clemens-controlled Bavarian Netherlands. France had long wanted the region, and it would be the cost of French support. Saxony didn’t control the region and they needed the help so they agreed to give the Bavarian Netherlands to France after the war. This freaked out the Dutch quite a lot. They had been quite terrified of a French invasion considering how devastating the previous ones had gone. Belgium served as a buffer state between them and France. But if was annexed by France this would disappear. So it was in the best interest of the Netherlands to prevent this. The only problem, the person controlling the Bavarian Netherlands was Clemens, who had little support. Clemens however saw his position was untenable, so agreed to a compromise. He would be made governor of the Bavarian Netherlands under Leopold, and in exchange would get British and Dutch support.
It really only slowed the French down as they advanced towards the Netherlands and also occupied Lorriane. Meanwhile, the War in Italy began as Savoy joined the French side due to the promise of Milanese land. They advanced and captured the city by December. The Spanish at the same time launched another invasion of Sicily as well as Menorca. The first went relatively successful, the second less so. The Austrians at this point were split between many fronts: Sicily, Milan, Bavaria, Silesia, and Saxony. So they hoped to end the war by focusing on the main target, Saxony. If they could just take Dresden they could force Saxony to recognize the Bavarian succession and end the war. This was easier said than done. When they tried to take it the first time Prussia launched an assault in Prague, and they were forced to turn back to prevent being cut off.
It wasn’t all bad for the Austrian side, however. The pro-French hats party in Sweden launched a poorly planned invasion of Russia. They were defeated on their way to Vyborg, and Russia pushed back taking Villmanstrand. When spring arrived in 1747, they continued their advancement. The Swedish defenses were so bad that Russia was able to occupy all of the Southern coastlines of Finland. The local Finns weren’t going to put up any resistance either. In fact, the opposite, as the Diet of Finland offered the Finnish throne to a relative of the Tsarina. When peace was signed Sweden had to give up some Karelian borderlands to Russia and give independence to Finland (not including Åland).
It did the Job the French wanted though, in that it distracted Russia. Prussia didn’t have to face a Russian invasion and defended Silesia from Austrian attempts to retake it. In Bavaria, Saxony had taken Regensburg but was prevented from continuing further due to having to defend Dresden. Clemens, despite Anglo-Dutch support, had lost most of the Bavarian Netherlands save for Antwerp which was under siege. This changed at the beginning of 1748. The Pro-Austrian side had assembled a large British-funded army of Dutch and Hannovarian Soldiers along with some German mercenaries. Austria wanted them to attack Prussia from Hanover, but Britain wanted to focus on France since they were their main rival. Hanover had largely been ignored by the Prussians too and the Hanovarian King George II didn’t want to change this. So they moved south, ending the siege of Antwerp and pushing back the French considerably. They were pushed back to Brussels where they stopped the joint-army advance but with heavy casualties for both sides.
The war also saw fighting in the New World, where it was known as the Third Intercolonial War. The British occupied Martinique and the French occupied the two Dutch forts in Appalachia, Fort Hiensuis and Fort New Hague.
The Austrians by now had lost their advances made in the early part of the war. The Ottomans, having just defended against a Persian invasion, started to assemble their army near the Austrian border. The Austrians correctly assumed that the Ottomans were going to invade them while they were distracted. Peace negotiations began towards the end of January, and the nations involved agreed on a treaty by May of 1749.
The Austrians gave up their claim to the Bavarian throne and recognized Frederick Christian of Saxony’s claim. The Bavarian Netherlands was split. France annexed West Flanders, Hainaut, Namur, and most of Luxembourg. The rest was given to Austria, but Clemens August was made hereditary governor of it, essentially making it an Austrian vassal. Austria also annexed Innviertel from Bavaria. They would lose Upper Silesia however to Prussia. France annexed the Duchy of Lorraine. Spain would annex Sicily and Savoy would take Parma, with Austrian Milan annexing the Milanese exclaves. In the New World, the British returned Martinique to France, and France took over the two Dutch forts, forcing them to recognize land beyond the Appalachians as French. There were also changes in India that’ll be talked about in the next part.
[1] Goes roughly the same as OTL, but instead of allying with the Austrians Spain is allied with the French due to the Franco-British alliance breaking down earlier. A bit of French support arrived but they still fail to take the rock.
[2] Differences from OTL is Britain helping Austria and Savoy stays neutral.
[3] It’s been quite a few decades since the butterflies reached Europe so Maria Theresa isn’t born and Charles VI gets a male heir instead, which affects the negotiations.
[4] This is all not OTL as most of these people are born after the POD reaches Europe.
In the 1600s and 1700s Europe just had a thing where it had a large continent-wide war with constantly shifting alliances every few decades. In the 1700s, this was seen with the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Quadruple Alliance, and the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729 [1]. In 1733 most of Europe would end up at war again, this time started by a dispute on who was the rightful King of Poland. France, Spain and Parma supported one side, Stanislaus, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Britain, and Saxony supported Augustus [2].
In Poland, the legitimately elected King was pushed out of Warsaw by Russia, and then out of the country into exile by 1734. A group of Pro-Stanislaus nobles would try to fight back but would be mostly unsuccessful. In Italy meanwhile, Savoy was bitter about losing Sardinia to the Spanish so refused to let the French through to invade Milan. They however launched an invasion of Sicily which went smoothly. When they tried to take Naples however the British fleet blockaded the Spanish army and they were defeated. The Duchy of Parma was occupied by Austria too. France in the meantime occupied Lorraine. From there they launched an invasion of the Rhineland. They were stopped by an Austro-British (Hannoverian) army. They tried to get the Ottomans to join the war but they were busy losing a war to Persia. So France sued for peace.
The treaty ended the war with the borders unchanged and gave Augustus the throne, but Stanislaus was given Parma as compensation. After he died it was to pass to Austria. [3]
Right after the war ended, a war would be fought between a Russo-Austrian alliance and the Ottomans. It would largely be a stalemate with the Ottomans stalling both nations’ invasions but not able to push back either. After three years the nations signed a peace ending the war with no border changes.
After this, Europe would be relatively at peace for the next decade. Another war would start, however, this time due to Bavaria. Bavaria had, in the war of Spanish succession, gained the Spanish, now Bavarian Netherlands. This was part of a pattern of other German states, such as Prussia and Saxony, rising in power and challenging Habsburg domination of the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburgs, under Leopold II, weren't a fan of this development and tried to stop it. There was an opportunity for that when the Elector of Bavaria, Charles VII, died in 1745 without a male heir. He had two married daughters, the younger married to Leopold and the older married to the Elector of Saxony. There was also the eldest brother of Charles, Clemens August. [7] The leaders of Saxony and Austria supported their own claims, while Clemens had the support of the Archbishopric of Cologne and Münster, which he ruled.
The Saxon succession was more popular in Bavaria, as the Electress was the oldest daughter, and disliked the Habsburgs. Austria, realizing this, occupied Munich before Saxony could secure control. This inadvertently led to further support for Saxony in Bavaria, which took control of the Upper Palatinate. The Bavarian Netherlands meanwhile had fallen into the control of Clemens. The War of the Bavarian Succession had begun, and it would not take long for it to escalate. Austria had made many enemies who wanted to prevent their expansion. Prussia was the first to join. They, under Fredrick II, eyed the rich Austrian province of Silesia and overall were against Habsburg expansion. In the first parts of the war, Saxony fared poorly. The Austrian army advancing North and the Saxon army going south met at Regensburg on the Danube. The resulting battle was an Austrian victory and Saxony was forced back across the river. The distraction of a Prussian army in Silesia saved them, however.
In 1746, France and Spain would join the war, hoping to redeem their loss in the previous war. This escalation brought in Austria’s allies of Britain and Russia. Sweden, hoping to regain land lost in the Great Northern War, also joined the war.
France launched an invasion of Lorraine and the Clemens-controlled Bavarian Netherlands. France had long wanted the region, and it would be the cost of French support. Saxony didn’t control the region and they needed the help so they agreed to give the Bavarian Netherlands to France after the war. This freaked out the Dutch quite a lot. They had been quite terrified of a French invasion considering how devastating the previous ones had gone. Belgium served as a buffer state between them and France. But if was annexed by France this would disappear. So it was in the best interest of the Netherlands to prevent this. The only problem, the person controlling the Bavarian Netherlands was Clemens, who had little support. Clemens however saw his position was untenable, so agreed to a compromise. He would be made governor of the Bavarian Netherlands under Leopold, and in exchange would get British and Dutch support.
It really only slowed the French down as they advanced towards the Netherlands and also occupied Lorriane. Meanwhile, the War in Italy began as Savoy joined the French side due to the promise of Milanese land. They advanced and captured the city by December. The Spanish at the same time launched another invasion of Sicily as well as Menorca. The first went relatively successful, the second less so. The Austrians at this point were split between many fronts: Sicily, Milan, Bavaria, Silesia, and Saxony. So they hoped to end the war by focusing on the main target, Saxony. If they could just take Dresden they could force Saxony to recognize the Bavarian succession and end the war. This was easier said than done. When they tried to take it the first time Prussia launched an assault in Prague, and they were forced to turn back to prevent being cut off.
It wasn’t all bad for the Austrian side, however. The pro-French hats party in Sweden launched a poorly planned invasion of Russia. They were defeated on their way to Vyborg, and Russia pushed back taking Villmanstrand. When spring arrived in 1747, they continued their advancement. The Swedish defenses were so bad that Russia was able to occupy all of the Southern coastlines of Finland. The local Finns weren’t going to put up any resistance either. In fact, the opposite, as the Diet of Finland offered the Finnish throne to a relative of the Tsarina. When peace was signed Sweden had to give up some Karelian borderlands to Russia and give independence to Finland (not including Åland).
It did the Job the French wanted though, in that it distracted Russia. Prussia didn’t have to face a Russian invasion and defended Silesia from Austrian attempts to retake it. In Bavaria, Saxony had taken Regensburg but was prevented from continuing further due to having to defend Dresden. Clemens, despite Anglo-Dutch support, had lost most of the Bavarian Netherlands save for Antwerp which was under siege. This changed at the beginning of 1748. The Pro-Austrian side had assembled a large British-funded army of Dutch and Hannovarian Soldiers along with some German mercenaries. Austria wanted them to attack Prussia from Hanover, but Britain wanted to focus on France since they were their main rival. Hanover had largely been ignored by the Prussians too and the Hanovarian King George II didn’t want to change this. So they moved south, ending the siege of Antwerp and pushing back the French considerably. They were pushed back to Brussels where they stopped the joint-army advance but with heavy casualties for both sides.
The war also saw fighting in the New World, where it was known as the Third Intercolonial War. The British occupied Martinique and the French occupied the two Dutch forts in Appalachia, Fort Hiensuis and Fort New Hague.
The Austrians by now had lost their advances made in the early part of the war. The Ottomans, having just defended against a Persian invasion, started to assemble their army near the Austrian border. The Austrians correctly assumed that the Ottomans were going to invade them while they were distracted. Peace negotiations began towards the end of January, and the nations involved agreed on a treaty by May of 1749.
The Austrians gave up their claim to the Bavarian throne and recognized Frederick Christian of Saxony’s claim. The Bavarian Netherlands was split. France annexed West Flanders, Hainaut, Namur, and most of Luxembourg. The rest was given to Austria, but Clemens August was made hereditary governor of it, essentially making it an Austrian vassal. Austria also annexed Innviertel from Bavaria. They would lose Upper Silesia however to Prussia. France annexed the Duchy of Lorraine. Spain would annex Sicily and Savoy would take Parma, with Austrian Milan annexing the Milanese exclaves. In the New World, the British returned Martinique to France, and France took over the two Dutch forts, forcing them to recognize land beyond the Appalachians as French. There were also changes in India that’ll be talked about in the next part.
[1] Goes roughly the same as OTL, but instead of allying with the Austrians Spain is allied with the French due to the Franco-British alliance breaking down earlier. A bit of French support arrived but they still fail to take the rock.
[2] Differences from OTL is Britain helping Austria and Savoy stays neutral.
[3] It’s been quite a few decades since the butterflies reached Europe so Maria Theresa isn’t born and Charles VI gets a male heir instead, which affects the negotiations.
[4] This is all not OTL as most of these people are born after the POD reaches Europe.
Part 11: Erythraean Adventures
Part 11: Erythraean Adventures
The beginnings of European presence in the Indian subcontinent were with Vasco de Gama’s voyage to India in the late 1400s. From there, the Portuguese would be the dominant European power in India, having control of several trading posts in the South. They lost their head start, however, and the Dutch became more dominant in the region, taking Ceylon from Portugal and having their own trading posts in the south as well as in Bengal. The Mughal Empire had been slowly splintering, its local governors becoming more and more autonomous as well hereditary. Combined with the rise of the Marathas, the Emperor only had de-jure control of much of the Empire by the 1700s. This opened the path for European expansion. And the two nations that would take the most advantage of this were the French and British.
The British had an earlier start than the French, having, under the East India Company, established a factory in Surat in the early 1600s, and establishing more factories such as Bombay and Madras. The British, unlike other colonial powers in India, didn’t have large colonies elsewhere. They had a few Caribbean islands, but other than that not much. So a lot more focus and investment were put into the East India Company. The French meanwhile, would have a later start with the French East India company being established in 1664. Based in Pondicherry, they established their own trading outposts in Southern India. With the two countries being such fervent rivals, the EIC and the FEIC would make alliances with Indian states to try to dislodge the other from the subcontinent. Especially when they were at war in Europe. Soon after news of the War of the Bavarian Succession reached India, the two companies began fighting.
The French started off well, taking Madras in 1747. Seeing an opportunity, the Nawab of the Carnatic attacked Madras as well. Despite being heavily outnumbered the French troops managed to repel the attack. But their position was weakened, and the British took it back by 1748. They then launched an attack on Ponticherry, sieging the city for 5 months before it fell. In the ensuing peace treaty, there was some discussion of using France’s victories in Europe as negotiating leverage for the British to return Ponticherry, but they instead used it to get them to return Martinique. The sugar-producing island was considered more valuable than Ponticherry.
The FEIC was significantly damaged from this loss. They regrouped, establishing Mahé as their new base of operations. But by losing Ponticherry they also lost a lot of influence among the Indian states. With the company’s finances not looking good either, they went for a different approach. The East Indies referred to not just the Indian Subcontinent but South East Asia as well, and the FEIC hoped to try to focus there instead. The French hadn’t had any influence in South East Asia before this, and so they looked for a spot to make their headquarters for their insular operations. And they found a strategic spot, the island of Singuapoure, right at the end of the Strait of Malaca. The island was ruled by the Sultanate of Johor. The Sultanate was heavily influenced by the Bugis, who installed puppet Sultans. There were some who opposed the Bugis influence, and with some French backing, started a civil war. After the Anti-Bugis faction lost and the puppet Sultan was overthrown, the new Sultan gave the Singuapoure to the French in 1753 inexchange for the support. They also acquired other forts in the region.
The other European powers in the region, observed these events keenly. The EIC in particular had its main focus in India, but was worried about their possessions in Bengcoolen possibly being threatened. Of course there was also the rivalry between the two company’s and their parent countries that made the EIC want to stiffen the FEIC company’s profits. So they hoped to counter the French by furthering their own influence. As part of this, an expedition to map South East Asia was funded, led by one Henry Washington. [1] While it would explore and map Borneo, Papua, and the other islands, the expedition would be well known for being the first British expedition to Australia.
There was a desire in London to just dump the people they didn’t want somewhere, so they didn’t have to deal with them. Criminals, Catholics, and the Black population of London. This had been partially done with the British Catholics that left for New France. After the Acadian fiasco however, France wasn’t willing to take in any British catholics. A colony in the New World was proposed, but the only part of the North American East coast still uncolonised, where failed Virginia colonies were, was claimed by Portugal. Australia, after more information about it was known due to the Washington expedition, was proposed as a place for this. There were some downsides, such as its distance, but it became the favoured option for a colony.
Acharter granted the EIC claims to the entire island as the Presidency of Australia in 1761. The first fleet left Britain the following year, arriving at Washington Bay. [2] The settlers, mostly prisoners and former slaves, faced a tough few years. They established the settlement of Falkland, but more supplies failed to arrive due to being shiprecked. They instead had to depend on trade with the aborignals for food. Once the colony managed to become self sustainig however, it grew quickly, with many new arrivals. Culturally, the colony was quite different from Britain and England in particular. The colony was largely Catholic and Gaelic culturally, as Britain encouraged Catholic immigration to the colony. It also had African influences as well.
This arrival of new settlers would be stopped from 1775-1781 due to the outbreak of the 6 years war, which would also see fighting in the Indian Ocean. In India, the British captured the FEIC’s headquarters in Mahé as well as their other possessions of Karikal and Yanam. The French focus, however, was in South East Asia. There they took Malacca from the Dutch, as well as Fort George, which the British established to counter the French. This development was mutually beneficial for both companies in a way. The British could focus on India with no competition, and same for the French in South East Asia. Well, other than the Dutch.
By the final years of the 1700s, British settlers in Australia had started to settle on the other side of the Blue Mountains. One of these settlers was Jacob Arnold, a former cotton plantation owner in St. Lucy [3] While visiting London, he got into a fight with someone while drunk and killed them accedentally, getting arrested and sent to Australia. When he arrived he settled past the Blue Mountains, and envisioned restoring his old life. in Australia. Via a friend of his he had cotton sent on the next ship, kidnapped a bunch of aborignal people, and began a cotton plantation. [4] He would grow quite rich from this, leading to other people following the model, and soon enough it became a major industry for the colony.
The main problem was that the aborignal slaves would often die disease or knew the landscape well enough to escape. The solution to this was the same done before in the New World, an slave trade. Ships traveled from Falkland northwards mainly to Indonesia where there was more contact with European diseases, but also to Tasmania, Nova Scotia, the Soloman Islands, and other islands. [5] The slave trade was done by the EIC who profited massively from it.
This had a great effect on not just Australia, but the surrounding regions as well. The surrounding islands were heavily depopulated by the slave raids and warfare caused by slave raids. It also, particularly in New Guinea, led to centralization. Beforehand, the only centralized state in New Guinea was the Tidore Sultanate in the West. With the slave trade however, there was an influx of European weaponry that was traded in exchange for the slaves. This led to a series of conflicts known as the Musket Wars. Intertribal conflicts esclated in scale and deaths due to guns and the profit to be made from the slave trade. New Guinea due to its geography was very culturally diverse, with 77 language families, not languages, language families on the island. However with the slave trade there was a need to defend against slave trades and launch slave raids there was increasing centralization and cultural merging along rough language families. Many smaller groups were completely destroyed and the cultural landscape of the island overall heavily affected. Similar events happened in Tasmania and the other islands, but most of the slave trade occured in New Guinea so it was to a lesser extent in the other islands.
[1] The Washington family doesn’t move to Virgina due to Virgina, you know, not existing. This guy is fictional however.
[2] OTL Botany Bay
[3] St. Lucia
[4] One thing to note is that the restrictions for convicts in Australia are less ITTL. It’s less of a prison colony but a colony for dumping a bunch of people the British don’t want in Britain
[5] Tasmania is New Zealand, named after the first European to see it, Nova Scotia is New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands are the same as otl
The beginnings of European presence in the Indian subcontinent were with Vasco de Gama’s voyage to India in the late 1400s. From there, the Portuguese would be the dominant European power in India, having control of several trading posts in the South. They lost their head start, however, and the Dutch became more dominant in the region, taking Ceylon from Portugal and having their own trading posts in the south as well as in Bengal. The Mughal Empire had been slowly splintering, its local governors becoming more and more autonomous as well hereditary. Combined with the rise of the Marathas, the Emperor only had de-jure control of much of the Empire by the 1700s. This opened the path for European expansion. And the two nations that would take the most advantage of this were the French and British.
The British had an earlier start than the French, having, under the East India Company, established a factory in Surat in the early 1600s, and establishing more factories such as Bombay and Madras. The British, unlike other colonial powers in India, didn’t have large colonies elsewhere. They had a few Caribbean islands, but other than that not much. So a lot more focus and investment were put into the East India Company. The French meanwhile, would have a later start with the French East India company being established in 1664. Based in Pondicherry, they established their own trading outposts in Southern India. With the two countries being such fervent rivals, the EIC and the FEIC would make alliances with Indian states to try to dislodge the other from the subcontinent. Especially when they were at war in Europe. Soon after news of the War of the Bavarian Succession reached India, the two companies began fighting.
The French started off well, taking Madras in 1747. Seeing an opportunity, the Nawab of the Carnatic attacked Madras as well. Despite being heavily outnumbered the French troops managed to repel the attack. But their position was weakened, and the British took it back by 1748. They then launched an attack on Ponticherry, sieging the city for 5 months before it fell. In the ensuing peace treaty, there was some discussion of using France’s victories in Europe as negotiating leverage for the British to return Ponticherry, but they instead used it to get them to return Martinique. The sugar-producing island was considered more valuable than Ponticherry.
The FEIC was significantly damaged from this loss. They regrouped, establishing Mahé as their new base of operations. But by losing Ponticherry they also lost a lot of influence among the Indian states. With the company’s finances not looking good either, they went for a different approach. The East Indies referred to not just the Indian Subcontinent but South East Asia as well, and the FEIC hoped to try to focus there instead. The French hadn’t had any influence in South East Asia before this, and so they looked for a spot to make their headquarters for their insular operations. And they found a strategic spot, the island of Singuapoure, right at the end of the Strait of Malaca. The island was ruled by the Sultanate of Johor. The Sultanate was heavily influenced by the Bugis, who installed puppet Sultans. There were some who opposed the Bugis influence, and with some French backing, started a civil war. After the Anti-Bugis faction lost and the puppet Sultan was overthrown, the new Sultan gave the Singuapoure to the French in 1753 inexchange for the support. They also acquired other forts in the region.
The other European powers in the region, observed these events keenly. The EIC in particular had its main focus in India, but was worried about their possessions in Bengcoolen possibly being threatened. Of course there was also the rivalry between the two company’s and their parent countries that made the EIC want to stiffen the FEIC company’s profits. So they hoped to counter the French by furthering their own influence. As part of this, an expedition to map South East Asia was funded, led by one Henry Washington. [1] While it would explore and map Borneo, Papua, and the other islands, the expedition would be well known for being the first British expedition to Australia.
There was a desire in London to just dump the people they didn’t want somewhere, so they didn’t have to deal with them. Criminals, Catholics, and the Black population of London. This had been partially done with the British Catholics that left for New France. After the Acadian fiasco however, France wasn’t willing to take in any British catholics. A colony in the New World was proposed, but the only part of the North American East coast still uncolonised, where failed Virginia colonies were, was claimed by Portugal. Australia, after more information about it was known due to the Washington expedition, was proposed as a place for this. There were some downsides, such as its distance, but it became the favoured option for a colony.
Acharter granted the EIC claims to the entire island as the Presidency of Australia in 1761. The first fleet left Britain the following year, arriving at Washington Bay. [2] The settlers, mostly prisoners and former slaves, faced a tough few years. They established the settlement of Falkland, but more supplies failed to arrive due to being shiprecked. They instead had to depend on trade with the aborignals for food. Once the colony managed to become self sustainig however, it grew quickly, with many new arrivals. Culturally, the colony was quite different from Britain and England in particular. The colony was largely Catholic and Gaelic culturally, as Britain encouraged Catholic immigration to the colony. It also had African influences as well.
This arrival of new settlers would be stopped from 1775-1781 due to the outbreak of the 6 years war, which would also see fighting in the Indian Ocean. In India, the British captured the FEIC’s headquarters in Mahé as well as their other possessions of Karikal and Yanam. The French focus, however, was in South East Asia. There they took Malacca from the Dutch, as well as Fort George, which the British established to counter the French. This development was mutually beneficial for both companies in a way. The British could focus on India with no competition, and same for the French in South East Asia. Well, other than the Dutch.
By the final years of the 1700s, British settlers in Australia had started to settle on the other side of the Blue Mountains. One of these settlers was Jacob Arnold, a former cotton plantation owner in St. Lucy [3] While visiting London, he got into a fight with someone while drunk and killed them accedentally, getting arrested and sent to Australia. When he arrived he settled past the Blue Mountains, and envisioned restoring his old life. in Australia. Via a friend of his he had cotton sent on the next ship, kidnapped a bunch of aborignal people, and began a cotton plantation. [4] He would grow quite rich from this, leading to other people following the model, and soon enough it became a major industry for the colony.
The main problem was that the aborignal slaves would often die disease or knew the landscape well enough to escape. The solution to this was the same done before in the New World, an slave trade. Ships traveled from Falkland northwards mainly to Indonesia where there was more contact with European diseases, but also to Tasmania, Nova Scotia, the Soloman Islands, and other islands. [5] The slave trade was done by the EIC who profited massively from it.
This had a great effect on not just Australia, but the surrounding regions as well. The surrounding islands were heavily depopulated by the slave raids and warfare caused by slave raids. It also, particularly in New Guinea, led to centralization. Beforehand, the only centralized state in New Guinea was the Tidore Sultanate in the West. With the slave trade however, there was an influx of European weaponry that was traded in exchange for the slaves. This led to a series of conflicts known as the Musket Wars. Intertribal conflicts esclated in scale and deaths due to guns and the profit to be made from the slave trade. New Guinea due to its geography was very culturally diverse, with 77 language families, not languages, language families on the island. However with the slave trade there was a need to defend against slave trades and launch slave raids there was increasing centralization and cultural merging along rough language families. Many smaller groups were completely destroyed and the cultural landscape of the island overall heavily affected. Similar events happened in Tasmania and the other islands, but most of the slave trade occured in New Guinea so it was to a lesser extent in the other islands.
[1] The Washington family doesn’t move to Virgina due to Virgina, you know, not existing. This guy is fictional however.
[2] OTL Botany Bay
[3] St. Lucia
[4] One thing to note is that the restrictions for convicts in Australia are less ITTL. It’s less of a prison colony but a colony for dumping a bunch of people the British don’t want in Britain
[5] Tasmania is New Zealand, named after the first European to see it, Nova Scotia is New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands are the same as otl
Unfinished Part 12
The Six Years War is significant in European history for being the last of the “Cabinet Wars'', where wars were fought between royalty rather than between nations. Its origins were in the War of the Bavarian succession. After its loss in that war, Austria faced an Ottoman invasion. Having just lost a war, Austria was unable to defend against it and lost control over Banat. Archduke Leopold II would die soon after. The throne passed to his 19 year old son, Francis II, who would be remembered as one of the more incompetent leaders of Austria. He believed that Austria should focus east towards the Ottomans instead of West to the H.R.E, which he heavily disliked. As part of this, Francis tried to put Prussia and Saxony-Bavaria against eachother, allowing Austria to focus east. Austria would lose much of its influence in the H.R.E due to Francis’s eastward focus.
Saxony and the House of Wettin grew immensely from the war, having united Bavaria and Saxony under one dynasty. The two disconnected realms were connected when Saxony-Bavaria purchased Bayreuth [1]. Prussia meanwhile, had also gained land, Upper and Middle Silesia. While they had been previously allied the two Kingdoms found themselves at odds, and this was encouraged by the Habsburgs. Saxony previously had been in a unique situation where a Catholic ruler ruled over a Protestant state without any conflict. This was due to the Electors of Saxony allowing religious freedom for their mainly protestant subjects, and even favouring them over the Catholics somewhat. This changed when Saxony gained Bavaria, who was predominantly Catholic and x3 it’s population. With the Protestants becoming a quarter of the population and a new elector, the Catholics started to be favoured more. This began unrest in parts of Saxony. It would remain a relatively minor thing if it wasn’t backed by the Austrians (covertly) and Prussia (less so). Prussia intentionally trying to provoke a war, and it worked
Saxony and the House of Wettin grew immensely from the war, having united Bavaria and Saxony under one dynasty. The two disconnected realms were connected when Saxony-Bavaria purchased Bayreuth [1]. Prussia meanwhile, had also gained land, Upper and Middle Silesia. While they had been previously allied the two Kingdoms found themselves at odds, and this was encouraged by the Habsburgs. Saxony previously had been in a unique situation where a Catholic ruler ruled over a Protestant state without any conflict. This was due to the Electors of Saxony allowing religious freedom for their mainly protestant subjects, and even favouring them over the Catholics somewhat. This changed when Saxony gained Bavaria, who was predominantly Catholic and x3 it’s population. With the Protestants becoming a quarter of the population and a new elector, the Catholics started to be favoured more. This began unrest in parts of Saxony. It would remain a relatively minor thing if it wasn’t backed by the Austrians (covertly) and Prussia (less so). Prussia intentionally trying to provoke a war, and it worked
So yeah, the timeline is over, that's all I had left. The last 3 chapters you may have noticed have a (larger then normal) amount of typos and reading back have some unrealistic bits, I wrote this around half a year ago so I don't really remember my justification for a lot of the events.
I will miss this timeline and its good maps. Any chance of an overall map of the Americas a century or two down the road?
This timeline is returning soon. However, I'm going to redo it from the start since it's been so long and I'd like to change a few things. I'll link to the thread for the new timeline when that begins.
I feel you. As someone who’s been in this position, it’s sometimes better to start over for a variety of reasons. But nice to see that this TL will be rebooted.
raharris1973
Gone Fishin'
Next time around, I wonder if you would consider New Netherlands to be an enduring thing or to be subsumed under New France? Similarly with New Sweden.