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British Ryukyu

Simon

Oblivious
I’m trying to plot how get the Ryukyu Kingdom to become a British protected state similar to the Kingdom of Tonga and the most likely point of divergence so far appears to be the Bombardment of Kagoshima and its aftermath. The general idea is that due to [REASONS] – more forces, better planning, simple luck etc. – the British are more successful and in the negotiations are able to force the Satsuma to declare invalid their previous claims over the Ryukyu Kingdom. This is followed up by a speedy diplomatic agreement with Sho Tai for the kingdom to become a protected state. That still leaves China however as the kingdom was a tributary of the Qing until 1874 so I need to find a way to get them to recognise both Ryukyu’s independence and their agreement with Britain. The best I can find so far is the Chefoo Convention thirteen years later, so was wondering if anyone knew of any diplomatic agreements in the intervening period which could be used instead? Thanks.
 
What if you adapt what happened between Ryukyu, Japan, Taiwan, and the Qing in the Mudan Incident and the 1874 invasion somehow?
Possible.

This all came out of my reading Saul David's new book Crucible of Hell about the battle of Okinawa and – aside from how brutal it was – it got me thinking about how WWII in the Far East you had the KMT/CCP in China, the Commonwealth in South-East Asia, and the US in the Central Pacific all with limited interaction – the Australians in the South-West Pacific being the exception – and what the effects of Britain being more involved might be. Ryukyu being a British protectorate would likely see the government feeling it necessary to contribute a large number of ground troops, or at least what they could spare, to Operation Iceberg thus seeing that area becoming much more incorporated into the perception of Britain's war. How things play out in the aftermath and historical evaluations would be interesting.
 
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