Uneducated pleb writes bad TL, seeks council

Md139115

Banned
And thank you for giving me a very interesting evening researching all of this. I was merely curious, but then I, in the words of Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes “fell down the rabbit hole a bit further than intended, but have emerged... enlightened.:evilsmile:
 
Thoughts?
I've been stewing over it and I definitely like the idea, though I may have to fiddle with it some since I was planning for the country to only gain independence post-migration to the archipelago following financial disinterest(Or, at least, that was my take on it) and difficulty from France.
I could definitely see Alberic's family having oversight and thus control over the Socolinian* experiment even after being reabsorbed into greater France and somewhat disassembled, by extension becoming a major ruling party over the archipelago colony and maintaining it/becoming THE ruler after independence?
Hmm...

*As I have revealed the name I suppose I can do away with the silly Fauxland pseudonym, hm?
*counsel

I'm sorry, I have no self control
Oh, thank you! No need to apologize. I have the bad habit of using words correctly but misspelling/pronouncing them, so it's a good thing to look out for to fix the issue in the future. :)
 

Md139115

Banned
I've been stewing over it and I definitely like the idea, though I may have to fiddle with it some since I was planning for the country to only gain independence post-migration to the archipelago following financial disinterest(Or, at least, that was my take on it) and difficulty from France.
I could definitely see Alberic's family having oversight and thus control over the Socolinian* experiment even after being reabsorbed into greater France and somewhat disassembled, by extension becoming a major ruling party over the archipelago colony and maintaining it/becoming THE ruler after independence?
Hmm...

Well that’s the beauty of it. So long as the territory is in Europe, although the Count is still the most independent count in Europe west of the HRE, he’s essentially a puppet who jumps when the King of England tells him to.

However, any islands settled would technically be claimed by the count on behalf of Sa Majesté, Le Roi de France, not His Majesty, the King of England/Great Britain. As a result, the King can’t take the islands without giving up the pretense of being King of France, he can’t really assign a governor to the islands like he can the properly English colonies, he can’t give them to the “other” King of France, or Spain, Portugal, or the Netherlands because it would give them too valuable a base in the New World, and communications issues mean that once the Count and his court have decamped there following the loss of the European territory, he is almost completely independent in every sense of the word, offering only nominal allegiance to the King. It would be one hell of a legal mess.

It may even result in the British Kings claiming the throne of France well into the 20th Century.
 

Md139115

Banned
Ohhh... I just had a very evil idea... :evilsmile:

Instead of Socolinia just being a very complicated entity of the British Empire, have them recognize James II and all the Stuarts post-Glorious Revolution as the rightful kings of France (and England, Scotland, and Ireland) so that it’s his French backers who are now stuck defending the Islands in order to maintain their puppet’s claim to the throne of England (and France!) as per OTL! XD
 
Ohhh... I just had a very evil idea... :evilsmile:

Instead of Socolinia just being a very complicated entity of the British Empire, have them recognize James II and all the Stuarts post-Glorious Revolution as the rightful kings of France (and England, Scotland, and Ireland) so that it’s his French backers who are now stuck defending the Islands in order to maintain their puppet’s claim to the throne of England (and France!) as per OTL! XD

That is positively hilarious. I love it!
My original idea had a political "subplot" of sorts where Socolinia was heavily internally divided over international loyalties(Mostly between France, England, and a few of the eastern powers), religious disputes(Though much more prevalent during the colonial phase since there was a sudden influx of paganism and unorthodox religious beliefs), and general mayhem over Socolinia's future as a whole, so the ruling party making confusing and charged decisions would absolutely fuel the civil war I have planned later.
(Socolinia has a lot of "close calls" during its lifetime from just about every threat concievable, it seems...!)
 
I suppose Socolinia is historically similar to America in a lot of ways, but smaller, more passive, and more prone to miraculously coming back to life. ;)
 

Md139115

Banned
“Only three people have ever fully understood the Schleswig-Holstein question... and no one has ever come close to understanding the Socolinia question.”

- The Viscount Palmerston​
 
The OP sounds suspiciously close to the background story for The Mouse That Roared. Perhaps name it the Duchy of Grand Fenwick
 
Okay, so if I understand it all correctly, the current proceedings are as follows:

Socolinia is created as an attempt at a pseudo-autonomous military puppet state serving under France and located in or around the county of Boulogne. Originally I had chosen the arbitrary date of 1228 as a formation marker, so I suppose that will be the de-facto for now.
The British Isles and eastern neighbors to France vie over the territory, as Socolinia is not as strong or tactically fruitful as originally planned. It is repeatedly captured, annexed, lost, reclaimed, and captured again due to the calamitous nature of the political landscape, and due to Count Alberic's decision to maintain rights to power in the area despite fleeing, he has incentive to ally Socolinia with England and is essentially eating right out of the King's hand. This causes some civil unrest among the populace, as loyalties are primarily divided between France and the HRE, so bolstering English ties only complicates the matter.
Eventually, likely after Alberic's death, Socolinia's public riots and France takes the opportunity to reclaim its prime real estate. Unfortunately, though, too much change has occurred, and the country is still chaotic and giving the government aching problems.
The solution of shipping all willing parties(And a few convicts...) off to their own little island chain in the northwest where they can have their own government and proceedings(As long as they remain loyal to France, right, everyone?) and washing their hands of the matter for the most part.
Naturally, the whole "loyalty" part flies out the window fairly early on, as the bitter Socolinian winter takes a chunk out of the settlers' population with too-little help from the homeland, the rift between countries splits open, and Socolinia declares independence.
Does this check out?
 
The Mouse That Roared is a fun little read, although something of a Cold War artifact now. They made a movie about it in the 60s with Peter Sellers, but it wasn't very good.
 
The Mouse That Roared is a fun little read, although something of a Cold War artifact now. They made a movie about it in the 60s with Peter Sellers, but it wasn't very good.
I haven't actually read any proper alternate history fiction, so I hope I don't come off as a plagiarist unintentionally! I'll definitely check it out in my spare time.
 
Well, you could look at Lorraine, which managed to exist for centuries without anyone really noticing it until its ruler married a Habsburg empress

In fiction, try Googling TARRARANTRT if there is anything left to find of that world these days
 
As a pedant shouldn't the New Calais-Boulogne country be Socoligne rather than -linia? As per French and Anglo-Norman tradition, and often maintained into English.
 
Tarrantry bugs me as it's too big and close to Europe not to break the damn "butterfly net"! Especially where Brittany is concerned.

I see I had a major typo in my message, grrrrr

Yeah, but Rick was pretty good at involving it in a believable way in all major periods and events. If you assume that OTL only happened this way BECAUSE of Tarrantry's minor involvement it sort of makes head-cannon sense
 
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