Vive l'Antipodée: A French Australia Timeline

[Spens1]

Interesting indeed.

I mean it isn't unfeasible at all, the French where the second (after the dutch i believe) to have found Tasmania and could have settled it if they had wanted to.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 4: La Révolution Française​

In 1789, ten years after the founding of the first French colonies in Terre Australe, France erupted into revolution. France had been in dire straights money-wise for years by this point, and years of bad harvests had put the pissed-off peasants on the brink. In addition, new anti-establishment philosophies had been spreading throughout the cities of France. The Estates General were convened for the first time in 175 years, but the third estate walked out in anger and protest and started their own National Assembly. Finally, on July 14th, 1789, the Bastille prison in Paris was stormed, mainly to collect weapons and supplies but also to free prisoners as a symbolic "f you" to the elite. Louis XVI attempted to flee, but was caught at the town of Varennes and returned to Paris as a prisoner. The Monarchy grew increasingly unpopular in and around Paris, until He was executed January 21st, 1793 (Antoinette was executed on October 16th, 1793). After that, France was caught in both wars with much of the rest of Europe and having a civil war, plus mass executions under Maximilien Robespierre.
The news of the revolution reached Terre Australe in 1790, but not much detail came. The opinion of the colonies on the revolution leaned toward the royalist side, since these settlers had strong loyalties to the crown and were by and large devout Catholics. After the news of the execution of the king came in, the colonies remained loyal to the deposed and decapitated king and viewed the government in Paris as illegitimate. This antirevolutionary sentiment was also felt in much of northwestern France, which resulted in several uprisings, such as in the Vendée (check out the timeline Vol de la Vendée as well) and in Brittany and Maine. These uprisings were brutally crushed, with hundreds of thousands being killed and tens of thousands fleeing. Between 1793 and 1800, over 16,000 royalists fled to the French Terre Australe colonies, largely taken on British ships, as Britain supported the revolt (OTL British convicts went to South Africa, not a Draka reference). While some settled in the existing colonies, most settled on Île Dufresne, founding the colonies of Cathelineau, named for the Vendée rebellion leader and Nantes, named for the city of that name in Western France, as well as settling in smaller towns and villages on the island. I'll get to Napoleon in Part 5, as well as touching on what the British are up to and more exploring and colonization.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 5: Napoléon and Other Stuff​

During the wars between France and pretty much the rest of Europe, a general named Napoléon Bonaparte rose through the ranks of French generals, eventually pulling off a coup and becoming the most powerful man on the face of the earth, then having a fall as dramatic as his rise, dying on St. Helena island in the south Atlantic, but let's start from the beginning.
Napoleone di Buonaparte was born to a minor noble family from Corsica in the Summer of '69 (1769), and moved to Mainland France when he was nine years old, but always spoke with a thick Corsican accent, of which he was bullied because of. Despite his Corsican background, he was accepted into France's top military school and became a lieutenant in the French Army, just in time for the revolution. He joined the revolution and became the leader of France's Army of Italy. Napoleon, through his military genius won the Italian campaign against the Austrians, and decided to invade Egypt afterword. He invaded Egypt in order to cut off Britain's Indian trade, and captured Malta along the way. While in Egypt, he found out that he had an opportunity to overthrow the Directory and become the leader of France, and so he pulled off a coup d'état and became the French Emperor. After he came to power, France went back to war with pretty much everyone ese, but conquered Spain and captured Vienna, then going on to capture much of continental Europe except for one: Russia.
So, in 1812, France invaded Russia, making rapid advances and capturing Moscow, but the Russians weren't concerned one bit, as they had a key ally that was about to come to the aid of the Russian Bear: Winter. During the winter of 1812/13, French troops froze by the thousands, and Napoleon had to retreat (another egomanianc with a funny hat tried the same thing over a century later, with the same results). After that, things started to fall apart for Napoleon, and he was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba in 1814, but later returned and regained control of France, only to lose it again (Waterloo being a famous battle) and be exiled to another island, only this time it was Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, over 1000 miles from any land, later dying there in 1821, being just a man who used to rule the world.
Despite his attention being mainly on Europe, he also had colonial ambitions. In order to discourage any British claims to the region, he sent a group of 2,000 settlers from Provence and his native Corsica to the Rivière du Cygne Noir in 1801, founding the colony of Port Napoléon. While they found the soil to be quite sandy and bad for grain, they could grow Grapes, Olives and Lavender, which became crops traded with the eastern colonies and France in exchange for grain. Napoleon would have founded more settlements, but he was busy with fighting in Europe.
Now, to backtrack to before the revolution, as I forgot to mention that there were French expeditions to explore more of Terre Australe before the revolution. In 1785, King Louis XVI ordered admiral Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse to explore the Pacific Ocean, as well as exploring more of the coast of Terre Australe in order to find more prospective settlement sites. So, he took off, exploring regions such as Hawaii, Alaska, California, East Asia and Polynesia, before stopping in Louisport for supplies. He took off and explored the south coast of Terre Australe, discovering that Île Dufresne was in fact an island, as well as finding places such as Havre Martinière, Golfe de Lepaute and Golfe de Lamanon, all named after members of his crew. He later arrived back in France in 1789, just as the revolution was getting underway.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 5.5: British Penal Colony in South Africa​

After the American Revolutionary War (which still happens BTW), Britain needed a place to dump it's convicts. They had considered Terra Australis, but found out about the French colonies on the continent. Patagonia was also an option, but it might piss off the Spanish and was very dry. New Zealand was too far at this point, and while Canada was an option, American Loyalists were already flooding into Upper Canada (Ontario). So, in the end, they decided to settle in between the Dutch Cape Colony and Portuguese Mozambique.
So, on May 13th, 1787, the First Fleet departed from Portsmouth with supplies, sailors and hundreds of British convicts. After months at sea and with a stop in Rio de Janeiro for supplies, the First Fleet finally arrived at Port Natal on October 27th, 1787. Over the years, thousands of British convicts were dumped into Port Natal, as well as other South African penal colonies like Algoa and Charlottetown.
Just a brief update on the ATL British Penal Colonies in South Africa.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 6: Across the Hills & Into New Colonies​

The Napoleonic Wars actually didn't have a huge affect on Terre Australe (aside from the new colony on the west coast), since Terre Australe is too dang far away from Europe (or frankly any other region of the world) for fighting to take place. During the 15 year period from 1800-1815, 8,000 settlers arrived in Terre Australe, 6,000 if you exclude the settlers Napoleon sent. The French population in Terre Australe grew from about 34,100 in 1800 to about 61,100 in 1815, and with the increased population pressures inevitably came settlers looking to make the daring trek across The Austral Alps (French: Les Alpes Australe). Explorers looked for routes across the hills, following Aboriginal paths and seeking sites for possible settlements and farms, as well as any natural resources. In 1807, the town of Borel was founded as the first town on the other side of the hills (technically it's on a plateau in between the hills, but close enough). Despite this new town, the French remained rather settled around the three original colonies, as well as in the areas of the two Dufresne colonies. Speaking of colonies...
After the Napoleonic Wars were over, the French went back to colonizing Terre Australe. In 1820, the Terre Australe colonies had a population of about 72,000, growing by around 3% per year on natural growth. In early 1821, the French sent 6,000 settlers, largely from Northern and Western France to Havre Martinière, arriving in September and October of that year, founding the city of La Martinière on October 9th, 1821, and the city of Coréau to the southwest on October 22nd, 1821. The bay had a similar oceanic climate to much of France (with the exception of the occasional heat wave), so the adjustment to their new home was rather smooth. Farms sprung up along the rivers and on fertile patches of land, while cattle and sheep roamed the pastures around them. Further up the Birèrung River, Gascon settlers from around Bordeaux started vineyards, and over the next few years wine became the region's greatest export (for the time being). Another fleet of 3,000 Frenchmen arrived in 1827 to te Martinière colony, and by 1830 over 10,000 Frenchmen lived around the bay.
Fearing British settlement around Golfe de Lepaute, as the British had settled in New Zealand in the early 1820s (earlier than OTL, since the Brits didn't have Australia in this timeline), 2,500 settlers were sent to colonize it, and Charlesville was founded on July 18th, 1828. The Mediterranean climate was familiar to some of the settlers (1/3rd had come from Provence), so they were able to adjust, although some summer days were almost unbearably hot (up to 42 degrees Celsius/108 degrees Fahrenheit). The major crops grown were typically Mediterranean, such as grapes and olives, although grain was grown in some areas and cattle and sheep grazed in others.
Aside from the recruited settlers, 8,500 Frenchmen arrived between 1820 and 1830, as well as over 1,500 from other parts of Europe, dramatically growing the European population of Terre Australe to 118,000 by 1830.

 

[Gabingston]

The reason I haven't mentioned the Aborigines yet is due to me not being sure how Franco-Aborigine relations would be. It sure wouldn't be like the rather benign relations in New France, but I don't think it'd be as bad as the British (or lord forbid King Leopold II's Congo). Any ideas?

 

[Ameck16]

not being sure how Franco-Aborigine relations would be

Look at the native Americans in new France, missionaries went in a converted a lot, fur trappers (in your case goldminers) will "intermarried" (basically had kids) with the locals. Also French colonial society didn't generally have the hatred for natives anglo colonies did (which may have been due to the fact the French settled in small number unlike your scenario).

 

[Gabingston]

Ameck16 That's why I'm not sure how the French would treat the Aborigines. The French in 1830, after fifty years of settlement are well over 100k, while the French in Canada in 1760, after over 150 years of settlement were around 70k. It's not the same ballgame here.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 7: Further Up the Coast​

The French had virtually colonized the entire Southeastern coast of Terre Australe, as well as Île Fresne and part the Southwest Coast. However, the coast north of Port Morlaix was still uncolonized, ripe for a British penal colony. In order to secure French control of the region, King Louis Philippe I sent 4,000 French colonists to the northern coast of Terre Australe, arriving on September 29th, 1832, founding the town of Philippeville. Some of the colonists moved further south and founded the town of Méouar. The warm and sunny climate proved quite good for the growing of tobacco and cotton, while corn and to a certain extent rice were the main food sources. Further north, Caribbean sugar growers wondered if they could grow sugar on the northeast coast of Terre Australe, so they set up their own private colonization effort, founding the town of Amalia, named for Louis Philippe's wife. Turns out that sugar could grow on much of the northeastern coast, and before you knew it massive sugar plantations appeared up and down the coast.
With Europeans not being willing (or arguably able) to work under the hot tropical sun and African slavery going out of style, another source of labor was needed. As a solution, various different South and East Asian groups were imported to work as either indentured servants or very cheaply paid employees on plantations, the largest groups early on being Tamils, Cantonese and Melanesian (Blackbirding). Europeans also settled in the sugar colonies, but not to work in the fields. Philippeville and Méouar also saw Asian laborers come in, but not to nearly the same extent, and the population remained mostly European.
By 1840, the population had grown to 180,000, due to a high birth rate and the arrival of about 21,000 new settlers (13,000 Frenchmen, 5,000 Other Europeans and 3,000 Asians). The amount of European immigration had remained rather low because unless you were willing to travel to the other side of the world to live pretty much the same life you had back home (the vast majority of early settlers were farmers), you probably wouldn't decide to move to Terre Australe, but that was about to change, as something big was about to happen...

 

[Gabingston]

A brief comedy clip relevant to this timeline.

 

[Gabingston]

Dutch arrive in useless part of Western Australia.
"Well thish is ridiculoush, we cannot grow marijuana cropsh here"
They sailed off...
French arrive in (probably mosquito filled) marshland/swamp.
"Well I agree wit de Dutch, dis place est shit-e. "(stereotypical French gibberish "les Dutchs" more stereotypical French gibberish "merde (French for shit)".
They sailed off...
Captain Cook shows up "this place is fooking shite!"
The Brits colonize it anyway.

 

[Palantir]

From the 1830's, Algeria will be the main contender for french and european colonists if the otl conquest take place.

 

[Gabingston]

From the 1830's, Algeria will be the main contender for french and european colonists if the otl conquest take place.

True, Algeria is after all much closer to France (a quick hop across the Mediterranean) than Australia is to France (a long @$$ boat ride to the other side of the world), but the gold rush is coming up and Algeria has a massive, disease-immune native population, while Aboriginal Australians will have likely been crippled by conflict and disease with European (mainly French at this point) settlers. In addition, it's possible that the French Australian governments could pay for travel to Australia like the British did in OTL.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 7.5: British Patagonia & New Zealand​

The British Empire during the 19th century was the world's greatest superpower. As the old saying went, the sun wouldn't set on the British Empire, and the Brits would make full sure of it. The Brits had been trading with the Maori for a while before, but they finally decided to found a penal colony on the North Island, in order to deter French settlement, choosing a small isthmus with large harbors on either side, founding the colony of Auckland on January 26th, 1827. Two years later, on February 4th, 1829, the second colony of Wellington was founded at the other end of the North Island. In order to secure the South Island, the Brits founded Christchurch in 1833. New Zealand was locked down as a British colony by these three colonies.
However, the Brits weren't quite done yet. Patagonia, the southernmost region of South America remained uncolonized by any European power or the nations of Argentina and Chile, so the Brits decided to colonize the strategic Cape Horn/Tierra del Fuego region. The British colony of Patagonia was founded on April 7th, 1836, with the establishment of Port Desire. The early colonists struggled, since the climate was very dry and quite cold, but they found that ranching could work. The second colony, Sandy Point, was founded on June 29th, 1841, and became a major port for ships traveling around South America. Ranching, especially sheep became the major industry in the colony, and much of the population ended up being from the Scottish Highlands, Wales and Ireland, although that'd change later on. The border between British Patagonia and Argentina was set to be the Rio Negro/Black River and the Limay River, while the border with Chile was set to be the Estero Reloncaví/Reloncavi Sound, with the island of Chiloé being part of Chile.

 

[Gabingston]

Part 8: Political Organization​

With the Colonial population in Terre Australe approaching 200,000 people as of 1840, the French government back in Paris decided that some better organization was required. So, as a result, the following colonial provinces were created.

• The province of La Pacifique was created around the original three colonies, with its borders along the 148th parallel east, Tongalle River, 141st parallel east and 30th parallel south, pretty similar to OTL New South Wales.
• The Province of Martiniére consisted of all lands south of the Tongalle River, pretty similar to OTL Victoria.
• Île Dufresne is basically OTL Tasmania.
• The Province of Lamanon had it's eastern border with Pacifique and Martiniére, its northern border at the tropic of Capricorn (wherever that would turn out to be, as no Frenchmen dare venture into the hot, dry, dangerous wasteland called the Outback by OTL Australians) and its western border at the 130th parallel east.
• Aloüarnia (Aloüarnie in French) is pretty much OTL Western Australia, its only land border being the 130th parallel east (OTL Western Australia's border is the 129th)
• Orléania (Orléanie in French) had it's southern border at the 30th parallel, its western border at the 130th parallel and its northern border also being the Tropic of Capricorn
• Des Tropiques was all the land east of the 130th and north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

The provinces, wanting to increase their own colonial populations started to subsidize travel for settlers wishing to go to Terre Australe, so that they could at least hold a finger to countries like Brazil, Argentina and of course the U.S. in attracting European (or other) immigrants. Then again, they may not have had to, as the next update or two will show...

 

[Gabingston]

Part 9: (un)Luck of the Irish​

It's the 1840s, and while Terre Australe is thriving, things aren't going so well on the Emerald Isle. Most Irishmen were poor peasants who were second-class citizens in there own homeland. As the amount of land the average Irishman had shrunk over time as massive Anglo-held estates spread across the country, they increasingly became dependent on one small but really nutritious crop to survive: the potato. In 1845, the potato harvest failed across much of Europe, but the Irish were hit the hardest. Between 1845 and 1849, about one million Irishmen died, a number that is hard to comprehend that one million people just like you and me starved to death in just five short years ("The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin (an expert on the topic of mass death, as his regime killed tens of millions), while around one million more emigrated.
The new provincial governments of French Terre Australe, while hearing about the deteriorating conditions in Ireland from previous Irish émigrés, the Terre Australe provincial governments didn't find out about it until early 1846 when French ships showed up with Irish immigrants who told them about the mass starvation. The provincial governments, looking to start a humanitarian effort AND increase the population, gladly took in the devoutly Catholic Irishmen, and said to the Frenchmen that the Irish could be transported to Terre Australe cost-free. The word made it back to Europe, and Irishmen flocked on to ships that'd transport them to France, and then on to clipper ships that'd transport them to Terre Australe in about three months, a short amount of time for the mid 19th Century. In 1847, over 9,000 Irishmen arrived in Terre Australe, compared to about that amount for 1840-46 combined. 1848 and 1849 each saw about 7,000 Irishmen arrive, totaling 32,000 Irish settlers in the 1840's. Many Irish were attracted to the cooler climate of Île Dufresne and the southeast, as about 85% went to the provinces of Île Dufresne, Martiniére or La Pacifique, although some settled on the frontier. In addition, about 15-20% of Irishmen died on the ships, mostly given burial at sea as, you know, dead corpses spread disease. Other Europeans arrive as well, totaling around 11,000 in the 1840s and the French totaled around 16,000 during the 1840s. The population in 1850 had grown to 300,000 people, and another significant event was about to happen.

 

[Ameck16]

Stop teasing us, and give us the Gold Rush.........

 

[Sceonn]

Interesting, by 1850 Australia had a little over 400,000 OTL so Terre Australe is lagging behind a bit.

 

[Gabingston]

Sceonn I don't think tons of Frenchmen would want to move down under, considering that Algeria and Quebec both had troubles attracting settlers, but maybe the gold will help. Beside, the Italians will be quite keen on moving to Terre Australe (spoiler alert).
Also, the gold rush is the next update

 

[Sceonn]

Sceonn I don't think tons of Frenchmen would want to move down under, considering that Algeria and Quebec both had troubles attracting settlers, but maybe the gold will help. Beside, the Italians will be quite keen on moving to Terre Australe (spoiler alert).
Also, the gold rush is the next update

British colonists had many other destinations available and populated Australia solely through Prisoners, OTL France had a higher population and didn't have any other natural destination available for colonists so they went to the United States, Canada, Australia and Latin America and assimilated with them numbering around 300 Million by 2009. So the population is kinda low.