• Hi Guest!

    The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress

AHC/WI: Independent Cape Dominion

Nanwe

Designated VOLTer
Location
(B)XL, EU
Pronouns
he/him
Building on the thread back in December on the possibility of a federal Union of South Africa, I was very curious as to how to keep the Cape Colony as an independent dominion, separate from the other British entities or Boer republics in modern-day Soth Africa.

I believe that there was mention of avoiding the expansion into OTL's Eastern Cape (Transkei?) and the subsequent rise in the number of Xhosa people in the Colony.

But how would things have to evolve to keep the Cape Colony separate? And what might the politics of an independent Cape look like?
 
Building on the thread back in December on the possibility of a federal Union of South Africa, I was very curious as to how to keep the Cape Colony as an independent dominion, separate from the other British entities or Boer republics in modern-day Soth Africa.

I believe that there was mention of avoiding the expansion into OTL's Eastern Cape (Transkei?) and the subsequent rise in the number of Xhosa people in the Colony.

But how would things have to evolve to keep the Cape Colony separate? And what might the politics of an independent Cape look like?

I doubt Natal would have joined South Africa if the Cape didn't. They were always reluctant to join.
 
If a more peaceful political settlement can be reached with the peoples of what became the Eastern Cape, that's one potential route. The issue is that settlers are land-hungry; that's always the case with settlers. Maybe the political scene in the Cape is too unstable and settlers go elsewhere. But the Cape then and now is rich in resources that will attract settlers. That inevitably means expansion, and that means conflict. And conflict is going to lead to demands for some sort of united South Africa if only to stop all the fighting.

And a separate Cape Dominion is no guarantee that a United South Africa won't emerge later in some sort of Newfoundland/Canada situation.
 
The best way I can see for achieving it would be a more powerful and more unified Beor Republic which means the Xhosa as a buffer state between them and the British.
 
Back
Top