If the slave states intend to acquire French land, wouldn't the French be inclined to help the Republic once the war begins? This could lead to a shorter civil war. Or is this unlikely?
Californie- French California
- Thread starter The Tai-Pan
- Start date
Will there be a war? One of the big things that heightened tensions in OTL was the acquisitions of vast lands during the Mexican-American war, which pointedly did not happen here (mostly just Texas and then the disputed areas of the Southwest). Slavery is still a (the) major issue but it might not break into outright total war.
Or it might.
Speaking of geopolitics, I can’t imagine Californie being happy with sooner or later being dragged into every single one of the home country’s little wars…
Californie at current is still extremely small, isolated, and unindustrialized compared to the French Metropole. So long as France doesn't have a manpower shortage it has no need to recruit from there. The only area Californie troops might be useful in is colonial duties in Asia, and even then I can't imagine it will involve much more than the establishment of a recruitment office in San Francisco.
Far into the future, during some kind of parallel great war? At a time where there's a Panama / Nicaragua Canal built and Californie is more industrialized? I imagine they'll get dragged to the frontlines just like the British Dominions were.
Yeah that's the main scenario where I can see Californie putting troops outside of the colony. I see them mostly sticking to border patrol, pacifying the natives and uppity Americans.
Wouldn't the French attempt at some point to incorporate Californie into the Metropole? Like with Algiers? I guess the conditions would actually be better for the people living there than in Algiers, socially speaking.
I meant ‘metropole’ in the sense of European France sorry. Californie probably will (or already has?) receive a delegate to the French legislature like other French settler colonies, but it still won’t be anywhere near as integrated into the French military apparatus of European France as Algeria just because of distance.
Algeria has already been turned into a department, that's a very strong proof of intent to treat Cali as part of the métropole. For comparison, the OTL overseas departments were not until after WWII ! Algeria I don't think was cut into départements until the fall of the Second Empire either.
California will probably wind up parcelled into multiple smaller départements as its population grows. And with each its cantons, arrondissements and communes, and circonscriptions that send MPs and Senators to Paris.
This is the plan but it has not happened yet. The San Francisco leadership is still arguing over issues of voting rights and such. It's complicated (of course) and will get their own updates.
That is the current idea in both Paris and San Francisco, yes.
I would imagine that the French would be somewhat involved in the construction of the Panama canal when it happens. Maybe a joint project with the Americans depending on how their relations end up (It would be in France's best interest). Can't wait to see how International relations are slowly affected by the pod
IOTL the Panama Canal was started by the French (Ferdinand de Lesseps) and IIRC bailed out by the Americans after too many issues.
The Canal will very much be a topic of discussion with Californie being so important and sailing around South America a gigantic time sink. Right now, 1856, it takes a year to sail to Californie from Paris! Ocean-going steamships, which are coming out now, will help but still a long way.
Not quite bailed out, America bought the (basically abandoned) diggings from the French.
If the canal starts construction, I don't think it will be politically possible to abandon them. Especially once MPs go to Paris.
For all we know, it’s the Nicaragua Canal which gets the green light instead.
Lots of options, there was even some looks at a Mexico route!
Long term, France building a Central American canal somewhere makes a lot of sense here. They nearly did otl, and, well, they have ten times the incentive now. But that would be an incredibly arduous and expensive, and they kind of need a shorter term solution for improving transportation too and from Californie. So on a shorter term, France investing in building a Veracruz - Mexico City - Acapulco railroad still makes a lot of sense to me, as it would improve logistics and facilitate commerce with their colony and tighten their economic dominance over Mexico, which is even more important to them ITTL than OTL.
Well that was the thinking IOTL. It caused a major scandal as they basically did an ENRON to try and keep raising money.
One of the big issues was that Lesseps was obsessed with a single level canal like he'd done in Suez, when he should have gone with locks to go up (as was done eventually)
Of course yellow fever didn't help!