WI : French Nigeria ?

This one feature has appeared occasionally in maps, often partially, but I don't think this idea has been examined in-depth before...

British only acquired Lagos in the mid 19th century after decades of anti-slavery activity around the Gulf of Guinea which began well after the Napoleonic Wars. However, by that time British Nigeria seemed to be already an inevitability. But it was only because France lost the Napoleonic Wars as bad as it did.

However, say, would a surviving Napoleonic France be able to pull this off ? I don't mean the really big burly one that had everything up to Poland under its thumb. But perhaps either a more moderated success that will have better chance of lasting or one suffering less bad of defeat due to a well-timed death of Napoleon. Perhaps this France could've afforded to be more active at the seas, including in the suppression of slave trade (though the last part, of course, calls into question whether a persisting Napoleonic France will illegalize slavery soon enough)
 
I'll get back to you on this when I've caught up more from the storm, but the key might be an expansion of the French slave-trade forts along the Gold Coast and Ouidah during the 18th century - if they establish a presence in the Niger Delta during that period, they could pivot to slave-trade suppression and empire-building during the 19th.
 
I was just about to PM you about this, Herr Edelstein ! :D

I'll be willing to look forward to that. To be honest however, personally I'd like it to be a Napoleonic French Nigeria. Did this period of forts expansion you speak of extend into first decades of 19th century ?
 
I'll be willing to look forward to that. To be honest however, personally I'd like it to be a Napoleonic French Nigeria. Did this period of forts expansion you speak of extend into first decades of 19th century ?

Assuming that a modest expansion of France's West African forts during the later 18th century doesn't butterfly the revolution, they could easily form the fountation of a Napoleonic Nigeria during the 19th. If Napoleon inherits a presence along the lower Niger - forts at Lagos and Bonny, say - then Napoleon could use them as bases to forge treaty alliances with the coastal rulers and ultimately build an inland empire. I'm not sure exactly why he'd want to do this - maybe a palm-oil lobby would emerge - but if he manages to keep (or rebuild) a navy capable of keeping the sea lanes open, then he could.
 
Given the light presence of the British in the area even up to the Scramble, it strikes me as possible for France to seek out the Niger and Senegal basins the way Leopold wanted the Congo basin and Britain the Nile basin.
 
This one feature has appeared occasionally in maps, often partially, but I don't think this idea has been examined in-depth before...

British only acquired Lagos in the mid 19th century after decades of anti-slavery activity around the Gulf of Guinea which began well after the Napoleonic Wars. However, by that time British Nigeria seemed to be already an inevitability. But it was only because France lost the Napoleonic Wars as bad as it did.

However, say, would a surviving Napoleonic France be able to pull this off ? I don't mean the really big burly one that had everything up to Poland under its thumb. But perhaps either a more moderated success that will have better chance of lasting or one suffering less bad of defeat due to a well-timed death of Napoleon. Perhaps this France could've afforded to be more active at the seas, including in the suppression of slave trade (though the last part, of course, calls into question whether a persisting Napoleonic France will illegalize slavery soon enough)

Check out my TL: "Rubber, Revolutionaries, Republicans, and a young man named Bonaparte" In my TL, the French do get 3/4 of Nigeria, the British get the land on the west side of the Niger River. Cheers, joho:).


 
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