WI: Cuba sold to Belgium in 1837?

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I recall reading that Spain attempted to sell Cuba to Belgium in 1837, but, as we know, Belgium didn't go for it. So what if it had purchased Cuba?
 
By 1837 the country is still in a low level war with the Netherlands and do not have the finance to buy it.
 
Belgium wasn't yet stabilised so I can't see that it can keep that. Brits or Americans would take the island quickly if Spain sells that.
 
Would Spain have accepted a payment plan, or something besides cash?

Oh I know. Spain accepts a 35 year payment plan. The first 5 years is no pay (Belgium controls Cuba and bulds up interest) and the ret is payment down. Then... Cuba revolts and Belgium can't hold it. Then they default, claiming the Spanish gave them an albatross on purpose and the Belgians have no obligation to pay in full when they were lied to about the stability of the island. The British back up the Belgian claim that the island was too unstable (I mean, it revolted didn't it?)
 
See My "Belgian Cuba" post at https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/belgian-cuba.314282/ ("So...suppose Palmerston had given his blessing to Van de Weyer? Do we get the Belgian-American War of 1898? Admiral Dewey's conquest of the Belgian Congo? Probably not. The Cubans were restless enough under the Spaniards, and Palmerston was probably right that a transfer to Belgium would lead to a successful revolution--which the US wouldn't mind, provided that the revolutionaries were white and determined to keep slavery...")
 
The Isle of Pines strikes me as an interesting alternative; would be fascinating to consider how Belgium would handle having a modest Caribbean colony. If they purchased it around 1838-9 they might be able to establish control and divert the colonists who in OTL went to Guatemala to create a foothold.
 
Belgium wasn't yet stabilised so I can't see that it can keep that. Brits or Americans would take the island quickly if Spain sells that.

Ya, I honestly think if the Spanish sold the island to a power, that at the time was, facing turmoil and distracted elsewhere, the United States government might just move in. If not the government, then I'd say the likelihood of some Filibuster activity is high. For a long time Cuba was viewed as an ultimate prize of annexation by a large portion of the United States.
 
Fun and games might ensue - if (and this is supposing a large butterfly net) when Max and Charlotte of Belgium get made emperor and empress of Mexico, her dad (the then king of the Belgians) decides to give Cuba to them as a belated wedding present (maybe it's a drain on Belgian resources; maybe it's productive, but nowhere near as highly productive as Spain made it out to be). Max and Charlotte then travel to the new world, and Mexico ends up in PU with Cuba during their reign, and Mexico conveniently forgets that it was the imperiales who brought the island after they shoot Max, and keeps it. Of course, Charlotte's now insane, and her brother's on a landgrabbing spree, so he'll claim the island, which might lead to a low-level Belgian-Mexican War, saying that it will pay for his cuckoo sister's upkeep. Then when/if the United States/Confederacy gets involved it turns into a big glorious mess:winkytongue:
 
Belgium will need to develop a competitive navy unlike in OTL.

The biggest question is if they can defend Cuba from American filibusters and other American interests. If Belgian runs short on money, they might be willing to sell it to the US.
 
Fun and games might ensue - if (and this is supposing a large butterfly net) when Max and Charlotte of Belgium get made emperor and empress of Mexico, her dad (the then king of the Belgians) decides to give Cuba to them as a belated wedding present (maybe it's a drain on Belgian resources; maybe it's productive, but nowhere near as highly productive as Spain made it out to be). Max and Charlotte then travel to the new world, and Mexico ends up in PU with Cuba during their reign, and Mexico conveniently forgets that it was the imperiales who brought the island after they shoot Max, and keeps it. Of course, Charlotte's now insane, and her brother's on a landgrabbing spree, so he'll claim the island, which might lead to a low-level Belgian-Mexican War, saying that it will pay for his cuckoo sister's upkeep. Then when/if the United States/Confederacy gets involved it turns into a big glorious mess:winkytongue:
Utterly mad, but this is getting a like for producing a Belgio-Mexican War.
 
Fun and games might ensue - if (and this is supposing a large butterfly net) when Max and Charlotte of Belgium get made emperor and empress of Mexico, her dad (the then king of the Belgians) decides to give Cuba to them as a belated wedding present (maybe it's a drain on Belgian resources; maybe it's productive, but nowhere near as highly productive as Spain made it out to be). Max and Charlotte then travel to the new world, and Mexico ends up in PU with Cuba during their reign, and Mexico conveniently forgets that it was the imperiales who brought the island after they shoot Max, and keeps it. Of course, Charlotte's now insane, and her brother's on a landgrabbing spree, so he'll claim the island, which might lead to a low-level Belgian-Mexican War, saying that it will pay for his cuckoo sister's upkeep. Then when/if the United States/Confederacy gets involved it turns into a big glorious mess:winkytongue:

Alternatively, Max and Charlotte flee to Cuba and we see the Mexican Empire in exile based in Havana. A tale of two Mexicos?
 
The best thing is that the Carlists win the war in Spain, and that Isabel II takes refuge in France, and that Carlist Spain sells Cuba to Belgium in the 1860s, while the United States is occupied in the war civil. It remains for the Belgians to know how to administer the island to avoid any revolt.
And it would be necessary that the Belgians have a more substantial fleet.
 
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