What if Denmark sells the Danish West Indies to Britain instead?

Pretty self-explanatory - what if Denmark decides to sell the Danish West Indies to the British Empire rather than the United States? Do they get added to the administrative division of the British Virgin Islands, or are they eventually governed as a separate overseas territory?
 
Pretty self-explanatory - what if Denmark decides to sell the Danish West Indies to the British Empire rather than the United States? Do they get added to the administrative division of the British Virgin Islands, or are they eventually governed as a separate overseas territory?
Well the question is why would the British want them? After 1867 they are a money sink, hence the Danish were willing to sell as early as 1867 but didn't pan out due to US politics, again it was tried in 1902 but Danish nationalism stopped it. The US was interested because they wanted a base in the area, whereas the British already had that, so why do the British want a money sink?

The US finally bought them to keep them out of German hands as a submarine base, this was okay because both nations were neutral at the time, whereas Britain was not, the purchase had to be rushed so it would occur before the US entered WWI

So you need the British to really not want someone else to get them, be willing to outbid the US and not trigger Danish nationalism, and do it before WWI or equivalent breaks out
 
Well the question is why would the British want them? After 1867 they are a money sink, hence the Danish were willing to sell as early as 1867 but didn't pan out due to US politics, again it was tried in 1902 but Danish nationalism stopped it. The US was interested because they wanted a base in the area, whereas the British already had that, so why do the British want a money sink?

The US finally bought them to keep them out of German hands as a submarine base, this was okay because both nations were neutral at the time, whereas Britain was not, the purchase had to be rushed so it would occur before the US entered WWI

So you need the British to really not want someone else to get them, be willing to outbid the US and not trigger Danish nationalism, and do it before WWI or equivalent breaks out
What if Britain buys the Danish West Indies after World War I? Say, in 1927 or so?
 
What if Britain buys the Danish West Indies after World War I? Say, in 1927 or so?
That makes even less sense. They have even less money, even less reason to want to make sure nobody else gets the place and the islands are still a money sink. At least before WWI they could worry about Russia or Germany buying them, or with sufficient POD the US, after WWI they have no real naval enemies left until the Japanese go nuts, and they won't be offering to buy the islands I tell you that
 
That makes even less sense. They have even less money, even less reason to want to make sure nobody else gets the place and the islands are still a money sink. At least before WWI they could worry about Russia or Germany buying them, or with sufficient POD the US, after WWI they have no real naval enemies left until the Japanese go nuts, and they won't be offering to buy the islands I tell you that
Well, what if after WW1 Germany is still a threat (this is for a TL where WW1 ended in a stalemate)?
 
What if Britain buys the Danish West Indies after World War I? Say, in 1927 or so?

Well I guess in that TL the US didn't get to purchase them before joining the war and thus the purchase is delayed again?

RamscoopRaider made very good points about the difficulty in getting the British to purchase the Danish West Indies.

An acquisition before 1918 makes more sense than one after the War but I think the last time when the British could foreseeably have acquired the islands was during the Napoleonic Wars.

If Britain had acquired them at any point between 1801 and 1917 they would likely have been merged with the British Virgin Islands as part of the federal colony of the Leeward Islands (which was formed officially in 1871, but the Leewards had been governed collectively from Antigua for basically 200 years up to that point). Given that the Danish West Indies had 27,000 people in 1911 while the British Virgin Islands only had around 5-6,000 at the same time any potential merger would radically redefine the British Virgin Islands (though not in language since the Danish West Indies already had English as the common and widespread language).
 
Well, what if after WW1 Germany is still a threat (this is for a TL where WW1 ended in a stalemate)?
Then you need a US that is not worried enough about Germany to buy them themselves, which would suit the British just fine, let the yanks take the financial hit, and a Denmark willing and able to sell them given Germany right next door might very well have opinions on the subject. It isn't exactly a simple matter
 
Then you need a US that is not worried enough about Germany to buy them themselves, which would suit the British just fine, let the yanks take the financial hit, and a Denmark willing and able to sell them given Germany right next door might very well have opinions on the subject. It isn't exactly a simple matter
So it's difficult, but not impossible, given the scenario I've laid out?
 
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