What countries could annex Hawai before the USA does?

Which nation has the best chance to annex Hawai?

  • United Kingdom

    Votes: 142 88.8%
  • Spain

    Votes: 6 3.8%
  • Russia

    Votes: 8 5.0%
  • France

    Votes: 4 2.5%

  • Total voters
    160
IMHO Britain. Spain is already on the downslide, Russia really has no Pacific presence except up north and is way too busy consolidating its land mass.
 

Maoistic

Banned
Britain. It was them who arrived there, and they had pretty much reduced Hawaii to a colony in practice, just like Thailand. Hawaii retained its nominal independence, like Thailand, but other than that was completely under British control just like India or Jamaica. There really isn't any substantial difference between the independent Hawaiian kingdom and the later "protectorates" of Britain.
 
Britain almost certainly would have grabbed it immediately if they thought Russia or France was eyeing it too hard. It was a bit of a tossup whether it went to the US or Britain for a while.

Spain could have in the 17th or 18th century and honestly it's always struck me as a bit odd they didn't plop down a small colony considering it's halfway between South America and the Philippines
 
Britain of course, because it has the ships, the interests and the contacts. But in interests of the alternate part of alternate history: RAC (not Russia per se) had some interest while no French entity did, though neither are completely out of the picture as far as establishing a protectorate goes, if Britain itself allows them to do so before America turns its merchant marine presence into military presence (so most of the 19th c. to get it done is available to the ambitious writer). Why would it, though, is a different question left to British-history experts.
 
Britain and France both briefly occupied the archipelago.

Russia had an agreement with the Kingdom of Kauai to build a fort on the island, but ultimately abandoned it.
 
Spain could have in the 17th or 18th century and honestly it's always struck me as a bit odd they didn't plop down a small colony considering it's halfway between South America and the Philippines

It wasn't on the usual Manila galleon route, only being reached by ships which were off course. But it's pretty easy to imagine that more solid Spanish exploration of the place in the 16th/17th century could set in motion the eventual conquest of Hawaii by the Spanish.

Unfortunately, the 1800 POD as specified by OP almost certainly rules out Spanish rule. Spain would have to retain Mexico at the very least to even have the most remote shot at it.
 
Britain.

France has a chance to annex it with a post-1815 POD for sure, though, over one of the controversies over Catholic missionaries, and Spain absent the Peninsular War and therefore the wars of independence is also well-placed to annex Hawaii as a stopping point between the Philippines and the Americas. Britain is simply the most likely.
 
Britain almost certainly would have grabbed it immediately if they thought Russia or France was eyeing it too hard. It was a bit of a tossup whether it went to the US or Britain for a while.

Spain could have in the 17th or 18th century and honestly it's always struck me as a bit odd they didn't plop down a small colony considering it's halfway between South America and the Philippines

Trade Winds. Sailing ships need to follow the prevailing winds to travel in the south Pacific, and if you're going west (Which is really the only way they want to go, shipping silver from S.A to China to buy their goods) you're well south of the Hawaiian Islands.
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
Trade Winds. Sailing ships need to follow the prevailing winds to travel in the south Pacific, and if you're going west (Which is really the only way they want to go, shipping silver from S.A to China to buy their goods) you're well south of the Hawaiian Islands.
And on the way back they sailed to the north of them ...
 
Britain or France. The Hawaiian flag is an amalgamation of those two flags and the American one. Probably Britain.
If you don't know what the Hawaiian flag looks like, then scroll up to my first post on this thread (I know that you know what it looks like, Colonel Zoidberg).
 
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