what if austria hungray colonized?

Osman Aga

Osman Aga

Banned
You gotta put in more effort... When? Where? Settler colony or a plantation colony or a protectorate over a non-European State?

My idea... I assume Austria-Hungary... They get a useless or irrelevant part of Africa. Maybe Djibouti or Western Sahara. Best case scenario is Zanzibar or Somalia, which seems more valuable than Western Sahara and Djibouti. Another option might be Brunei, though that could lead to conflict with Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. The first is in Civil war in the mid 1870s. The Dutch are not really impressive militarily and are about to start their Aceh War. If the UK consents then there is Brunei. Last but not least: Danish Virgin Islands and/or Chinese concessions. The former if Denmark offers it during a war in the 1860s. The US is unable to offer more money to get those islands. The latter is gained during the Boxer rebellion.
 
Last edited:
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
Austrian thalers were, for a reason I completely forget, very important currency in Egypt, Sudan, Abyssinia area.

The Chinese port is a good call - they always had a cruiser or more out there. I guess it needs willpower in Vienna and the desire to seize somewhere - Ningpo?
 

alexmilman

personthatisperson said:
this is just a thought i had
Click to expand...
“Look at the map, there is an island ‘Land of Francis Joseph’ called after our glorious emperor. This is Austrian-Hungarian colony and it supplies ice to the Prague refrigerators.... “ (Good Soldier Schweik). The quote is not precise but it gives you an idea. 😂
 

GuildedAgeNostalgia

Possibilities:

- Cyrencia/Libya (Don't let Italy get a fourth shore)
- Malta (HRE help the Templars out)
- Congo (had to go to someone without a colony)
- Chinese Sphere of Influence (economic reasons)
- Palestine (religious/anti Ottoman reasons)
 
anotherlurker

anotherlurker

Option 1: Big WW1 victory and scooping up some French or Italian colonies because all the big boys have colonies.

Option 2: Victory over Italy in 1866 where the navy manages to score some points which can be turned into political influence for the sake of funding and manpower. Cue 1880 and the Berlin Congress happens, A-H now being the premier naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean is now in a good positionto scoop up some Ottoman possessions in Africa.
 

UnaiB

Wikipedia says that:
In 1898, in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War, Spain attempted to sell Spanish Sahara to Austria-Hungary; Spain wished to recoup its losses from the conflict and several Austrian ministers wished to obtain an overseas colony to justify naval expansion. However, as Austria-Hungary operated as a dual monarchy with Austria and Hungary having joint control over financial and foreign policy matters, the Hungarian House of Magnates vetoed the purchase and the colony was retained by Spain.
Click to expand...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_colonial_policy#19th-century_colonial_possibilities
After the humiliation in the Spanish–American War, Spain wished to divest itself of its colonies, and Spanish diplomats approached the Austro-Hungarian Colonial Society about a possible purchase of the trading port of Rio de Oro. The society's vice-president, Ernst Weisl, made a quiet deal with Agenor Goluchowski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Austria.[15] Goluchowski later convinced the Austrian Imperial Council, and Emperor Franz Joseph openly supported the deal. A treaty was drawn up to purchase and transfer ownership over to Austria-Hungary. However, the Hungarian House of Magnates blocked the colonial purchase on the eve of its finalization.[15]

This colonial move made by the Austrians was primarily to justify the naval aspirations of several Austrian ministers. The Hungarian Parliament had been for some time opposed to naval expansion, and the Austrians had slowly been pressuring the Hungarians for increased naval expenditures in the national budget.[15] With the Hungarian veto of this purchase, this ended further potential colonial expansion and ideas of dramatic naval expansion in Austria-Hungary.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Clandango

Clandango

A lot of the colonies in Africa were based partially on the merchants and explorers who already went there. Portugal had heavy influence in Angola and Mozambique for centuries so got those areas, with the British, French, and Germans each going for areas they had some level of influence in. For the Germans it was more what others didn’t already have or want. I suppose we should find some maps showing what areas were nestled at this time. If we look at the places the Danes, Dutch, and Swedes had we can see if and when the Austrians might buy it up. For most of their history they had a limited amount of coastline though, not counting the Belgian and Italian areas. Even when they got most of Venice’s territory it would still be a looong trip to get out of the Mediterranean. Maybe do something with Habsburgs having one or two Caribbean islands as a dowry or something? I suppose that would be the Habsburg Empire or the Austrian Empire rather than Austria-Hungary, though. Perhaps we should think of Austria-Hungary here like the US. They wanted to settle land, get money, and keep nearby neighbors as banana republics. There was a Pig War where the Serbians started trading with Greece instead of Austria to get to the coast and have a chance at not begin an economic satellite.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top