Post by lordroel on Jul 12, 2017 18:43:34 GMT
What if: Spain invasion of the British colony in Australia in 1790s
King Carlos IV was concerned about the threat of the British colony in Australia to Spain's Pacific interests and plotted an attack in the 1790s, thus Spain planned a attack on Britain's new colony in Australia with a 100-vessel armada as part of an operation designed to "take the fight to the British in the Pacific" and to prevent the southern colony from being used by the British to cause 'great harm' to Spain's colonial interests in the Philippines and in central and southern America.
Spanish documents that where discovered in the archives of the Spanish navy reveal that King Carlos IV approved the plot after a Spanish expedition arrived in Sydney in 1793. The British established a settlement there in 1788, the documents also showed that the Spanish intended to unleash a new type of "hot shot" cannon that involved firing heated shots that could set fire to ships or buildings.
"The goal was the complete surrender by the British and their expulsion from the Australian land mass ... The effect [of the hot shot] would be to not only impact the targets ashore but also create multiple fires in the wooden buildings of that era in Sydney, particularly if the plans occurred during the hot summer months."
It has long been known that the Dutch and French had coveted territory in the southern Pacific and sent numerous voyages to Australia, though plans for a colony there were apparently abandoned because of a belief that the land was unsuitable.
The Spanish plan followed an expedition led by naval commander Alessandro Malaspina, who reported back to his government in the 1790s that Britain's transportation of convicts to the colony was merely "the means and not the object of the enterprise" and that Britain planned to control the territory and use it for commercial ends and the discovery of resources.
He warned the king that Britain could use the colony as a base for launching an attack on the Spanish military involving "two or three thousand castaway bandits".
The Spanish navy archival documents show that Jose de Bustamante y Guerra, the deputy commander of the Spanish expedition, subsequently proposed an invasion of the colony to King Carlos IV and his ministers. The government sent Bustamante to a new military post at Montevideo in Uruguay and he began to build a small fleet of attack vessels.
"As the military and naval commander, Bustamante was tasked to both defend South America from an anticipated British invasion, and to take the fight to the British in the Pacific".
But even if Spain had seized the colony, it would have been quickly recovered by Britian, which had a stronger military and would have been reluctant to cede its commercial interest in controlling the southern continent. In any case, the Spanish plan was ultimately deferred and then, it seems, abandoned.
King Carlos IV was concerned about the threat of the British colony in Australia to Spain's Pacific interests and plotted an attack in the 1790s, thus Spain planned a attack on Britain's new colony in Australia with a 100-vessel armada as part of an operation designed to "take the fight to the British in the Pacific" and to prevent the southern colony from being used by the British to cause 'great harm' to Spain's colonial interests in the Philippines and in central and southern America.
Spanish documents that where discovered in the archives of the Spanish navy reveal that King Carlos IV approved the plot after a Spanish expedition arrived in Sydney in 1793. The British established a settlement there in 1788, the documents also showed that the Spanish intended to unleash a new type of "hot shot" cannon that involved firing heated shots that could set fire to ships or buildings.
"The goal was the complete surrender by the British and their expulsion from the Australian land mass ... The effect [of the hot shot] would be to not only impact the targets ashore but also create multiple fires in the wooden buildings of that era in Sydney, particularly if the plans occurred during the hot summer months."
It has long been known that the Dutch and French had coveted territory in the southern Pacific and sent numerous voyages to Australia, though plans for a colony there were apparently abandoned because of a belief that the land was unsuitable.
The Spanish plan followed an expedition led by naval commander Alessandro Malaspina, who reported back to his government in the 1790s that Britain's transportation of convicts to the colony was merely "the means and not the object of the enterprise" and that Britain planned to control the territory and use it for commercial ends and the discovery of resources.
He warned the king that Britain could use the colony as a base for launching an attack on the Spanish military involving "two or three thousand castaway bandits".
The Spanish navy archival documents show that Jose de Bustamante y Guerra, the deputy commander of the Spanish expedition, subsequently proposed an invasion of the colony to King Carlos IV and his ministers. The government sent Bustamante to a new military post at Montevideo in Uruguay and he began to build a small fleet of attack vessels.
"As the military and naval commander, Bustamante was tasked to both defend South America from an anticipated British invasion, and to take the fight to the British in the Pacific".
But even if Spain had seized the colony, it would have been quickly recovered by Britian, which had a stronger military and would have been reluctant to cede its commercial interest in controlling the southern continent. In any case, the Spanish plan was ultimately deferred and then, it seems, abandoned.