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What happens to British and French colonies if they go red?
- Thread starter lerk
- Start date
Ricardolindo
Well-known member
- Location
- Portugal
The French Communist Party wanted a "free and unbreakable" union between France and its colonies.
Creekmench
A shade of indigo
- Pronouns
- He/him
That's assuming it goes off without a hitch.
If there’s a civil war as part of the revolutions (which seems likely), many colonies would promptly break away, and other colonial powers would swallow up most of the colonies that didn’t rebel during the great disarray.
On the other hand, if the revolutions resembles swift coup d’états, many colonies would still swiftly break away, but the revolutionary states might be able to keep hold of many colonies - in that case, they would simply maintain the existing colonial empires with a red coat of paint - just as the USSR maintained the Russian Empire.
On the other hand, if the revolutions resembles swift coup d’états, many colonies would still swiftly break away, but the revolutionary states might be able to keep hold of many colonies - in that case, they would simply maintain the existing colonial empires with a red coat of paint - just as the USSR maintained the Russian Empire.
SLP's The World Of Fight And Be Right has a lot of the British Empire go red because Britain still has guns aimed at it and other parts breakaway, and that feels right: how much can the new regimes enforce control, and where? A lot of colonial administrations probably won't want to go communist, they'd need to be pressured. The dominions would be a pig to do it with because they're running domestic affairs, have their own armies, and are far away - in Canada's case, right next to America too - unless a lot of the people living there also want to go communist (again, good luck to Canada).
Can the new communist regimes make a convincing offer to the African, Asian, and Arabic populations that they'll get a sweeter deal with London & Paris than the inevitable capitalist Free Britain/France exiles? That would make it easier to establish control. But they also might go "I don't trust this", "this is weird", or "this other colony trusted them and look what happened", and stick with the devil they know (or go "INDEPENDENCE TIME, LADS"). It's not like the new regimes won't still be racist and want resources & military bases.
Can the new communist regimes make a convincing offer to the African, Asian, and Arabic populations that they'll get a sweeter deal with London & Paris than the inevitable capitalist Free Britain/France exiles? That would make it easier to establish control. But they also might go "I don't trust this", "this is weird", or "this other colony trusted them and look what happened", and stick with the devil they know (or go "INDEPENDENCE TIME, LADS"). It's not like the new regimes won't still be racist and want resources & military bases.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think it’s also implied that Joseph Chamberlain is able to create his Imperial Federation ideas, which ensures that it’s easier for a Red Central London Government to takeover the Colonies when the Revolution comes.
I would say places that either closer to the Revolution and have Potential Revolutionary Sentiment could be able to switch to the Reds. I could see Malta or Cyprus being possible Red Colonies for Britain, France probably could secure Corsica and Algeria fairly well. Further afield is a different story, India would likely be under the control of the Raj so I doubt they would be hoisting the Red Flag. Same with Africa, it’s much easier for Germany or Italy or South Africa to just secure the places they want over Britain/France making the Continent Red.
Creekmench
A shade of indigo
- Pronouns
- He/him
yeah I can see coastal algeria and senegal being turned red while Britain and France loses everything from suez to Malaya
Artaxerxes
Senshi sautés seashells by the seashore
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- #VALUE!
I'm sure it depends on what side the local administration falls in the Civil War so you'd get the gammut of "For The King" to "Full Von-Sturnenberg" madness depending on just who was in charge. Even before you get the other powers of the world starting to carve things up.
Keeping hold of the Suez Canal seems a major strategic aim for the new communist powers, and the Suez Canal not being communist-held seems a major strategic aim for every capitalist nation that can do something.
If only the UK goes communist, surely France, along with Italy probably, would just immediately secure the canal?
Almost certainly, but here France is also gone communist so it'd depend if Italy and the German navy can hold it. (Of course that might be easier depending on the state of the relevant navies post TTL-WW1)
Ricardolindo
Well-known member
- Location
- Portugal
As I have previously said, Italy was a great power. It was simply the weakest great power.
Avian Overlord
Mystical American Freedom Bird
I feel like this leads to anti-colonial revolutionaries with tommy guns.
I am here for a timeline where the tommy gun has the same connotations as the AK-47 in our world
Avian Overlord
Mystical American Freedom Bird
Powerful, relatively cheap and produced by a power that dislikes both communism and European colonialism but loves selling guns. It would probably be subordinate to the BAR for non-urban guerilla work, but try telling the media that.
- Pronouns
- he/him
It would be fascinating to see how anticolonial ideologies develop in a world where the major leftist powers are the enemy, not the backer.
The Thompson Submachine gun is many things, but it is not cheap. In fact none of the machined, wooden stock 1930s submachine guns are. Wartime submachine guns made from stamped components of welded tubes like the M3 Grease Gun, Sten or PPS-42 are vastly cheaper and probably would be within the budget for national liberation movements (not to mention possibly within their capability to manufacture) but something like a Thompson, MP-28, MP-35, Steyr MP-34 or Erma EMP are all fairly likely to be limited in use given their price.