OTL, France ultimately lost the struggle for India to Britain. in the 7 years war. But sometimes the best way to win a game is not to play. So, what if instead of trying to grab India against the British, Paris focused on getting Indonesia/monopolizing the spice trade against Portugal or the Dutch? Or perhaps after the seven years war, Louis XVI starts trying to force the dutch out and finds unexpected success (the VoC didn't annex much directly til 1782) instead of fighting the revolutionary war. Obviously, Britain wouldn't exactly like this, but how would the rising BEIC handle this? Or would it be deemed unfortunate but not worth starting shit over?
WI: French Indonesia?
- Thread starter AltoRegnant
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if france is the one in indonesia ttl, will they take an interest in the cape, or would they leave it to the dutch giving the germanic protestantism of the settlers?
About as much as they did in Vietnam, I'd assume. Algeria was considered almost as much a part of France as any core region. It's close location also made it much less of a logistical issue, so I wouldn't compare any colony to Algeria.
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Religion is not really a problem here. In Alsace, Catholicism became the state religion after Louis XIV conquered it, but the Protestants were still allowed to practice their faith, even after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
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Alternatively, they could establish a colony in Western Australia as a waystation.
I see. So how would the french treat the dutch then? would it just be a repeat of otl with french instead of British, or would they try to assimilate it and accidentally recreate belgium?
If King Louis XVI focuses on the east indies instead of certain upstarts, might that be enough to stave off revolution?
I would be very interested to see how the French would govern Indonesia differently from the Dutch. Coming from Singapore, this is an alternate reality that I should have thought of earlier.
I do wonder if the French would have implemented a bigger and far more comprehensive economic superstructure (or infrastructure), compared to the Dutch.
i think it depends on if its the government specifically or a company; if the former I would imagine things would be a bit better for the natives, if not good, but better than all the humanitarian atrocities of the company. if it's a reconstituted FEIC, i can't see much improvement
Perhaps a Franco-Portuguese empire could make the french acquire Indonesia since Joanna of Portugal was once proposed to Charles viii.
Yeah not sure about that Franch pretty much fucked up both Algeria and Syria doesn’t know a lot about the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia but my first reaction would be to assume it would be worse than it as the Dutch seem to have less zealous crusader/zealous spirit
I thought britain only gained what little it did in Indonesia during the napoleonic wars? the general POD suggestion is XVI giving the patriots more tacid support while working to establish themselves in malaya
Grey Wolf
Donor
I concatenated things, sorry.
The Sumatra Presidency predates the Napoleonic Wars (1760-1785) whilst, yes, the Java occupation was during the Napoleonic Wars
The implications of this would be huge.
Like what are the Dutch going to do then? Will they try to colonize something else? Maybe Indochina?
Considering that Indonesia was a very profitable colony that enabled the Dutch to industrialize, how will the French fare when being considerably richer ITTL? Will more Dutch migrate to Cape Colony and the Americas?
What does this mean for the colonization of Australia? Will the French take it in order to prevent the British from being close to their crown colony? The French certainly would have the money to do so.
Would the French revolution still happen bearing in mind that France ITTL would be richer?
Like what are the Dutch going to do then? Will they try to colonize something else? Maybe Indochina?
Considering that Indonesia was a very profitable colony that enabled the Dutch to industrialize, how will the French fare when being considerably richer ITTL? Will more Dutch migrate to Cape Colony and the Americas?
What does this mean for the colonization of Australia? Will the French take it in order to prevent the British from being close to their crown colony? The French certainly would have the money to do so.
Would the French revolution still happen bearing in mind that France ITTL would be richer?
Perhaps,, though the VoC might also just be discredited with failures in both the subcontinent and malaya. Maybe they avoid getting into imperial adventures and simply trade everywhere
I would imagine we'd see a bit of a dutch screw (or is otl simply a wank that makes anything else seem like a screw?). France i could certainly see being bolder, but i doubt ttl Louis XVI rocking the boat after he barely stabilized the situation. his son might be more willing, but even then, without the napoleonic wars, France's continental enemies are stronger, so France's relative power might be closer to a "first among equals" on the continent even if they're peers on a global stage
maybe, but at the same time, why and how would they get immigrants to it compared to the jewl? would they, somewhat ironically, pull a Britain and send their criminals?
I doubt it- even if the colony isn't a giant money-maker, it's still significantly cheaper to get into than loans to a nation with no credit and years of war