Post by futurist on Jun 23, 2016 1:18:03 GMT
Which cases of a country acquiring additional living space were realistic after 1800?
So far, I can think of:
1. Germany: If Prussia/Germany stripes France of iron ore-rich Briey and Longwy in addition to stripping France of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871 and then Germany invades Russia at some future point in time, defeats Russia in a war, and acquires Poland (for defensive/security reasons) and the Baltic states for itself, then Germany might have been able to successfully use some or all of the Baltic states (especially some or all of Latvia and Estonia) as living space. Of course, given the existence of the Ostflucht, it would probably be better for Germany to do this in the first couple of decades after 1871. Else, some or all of these gains in German living space might end up being ephemeral as a result of the Ostflucht.
2. Russia: If both World Wars would have been completely avoided (and thus Russia's demographics would have certainly been in much better shape in comparison to real life), then Russia might have done a more thorough job of colonizing areas such as Kazakhstan and maybe even Mongolia (if Russia would have ever actually annexed Mongolia in this scenario, that is) with ethnic Russians and thus might have permanently kept these areas. After all, a non-Bolshevik Russia is unlikely to give even a nominal right of secession to territories such as Kazakhstan.
3. Israel: With a more thorough and aggressive settlement policy in the decades after 1967, Israel might have been able to use more of the West Bank and maybe even more of the Golan Heights as living space.
4. Italy: If World War II is completely butterflied away (or if Italy remains neutral throughout all of World War II), then Libya's population might have eventually become Italian-majority after large oil reserves would have been discovered in Libya. After all, the oil business in Libya in this scenario could end up being very profitable for Italians, no?
5. China: If this counts for this, China could have probably made Mongolia's population Chinese-majority (and outright annexed Mongolia to China later on, obviously) if it would have allowed large-scale ethnic Chinese migration to and settlement in Mongolia in 1860 (which is when China allowed large-scale ethnic Chinese migration to and settlement in Inner Manchuria in real life). After all, the Qing Dynasty still had several decades of life left in 1860. (For the record, as far as I know, Mongolia was controlled by China but not a part of China back in 1800.)
6. The United States of America: If the U.S. would have won the War of 1812, then it could have probably outright annexed all of Canada and used it as living space afterwards. Likewise, the U.S. could have probably annexed Baja California in 1848 and used it as living space afterwards. In addition to this, with a sufficiently good PoD, then the U.S. might have been able to either purchase Cuba from Spain before the 1890s (and outright annex Cuba later, obviously) or to outright annex Cuba in the late 1890s after the U.S.'s victory in the Spanish-American War and used Cuba as living space afterwards.
Anyway, which other realistic cases, if any, of a country acquiring additional living space after 1800 are there?
Indeed, any thoughts on this?
So far, I can think of:
1. Germany: If Prussia/Germany stripes France of iron ore-rich Briey and Longwy in addition to stripping France of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871 and then Germany invades Russia at some future point in time, defeats Russia in a war, and acquires Poland (for defensive/security reasons) and the Baltic states for itself, then Germany might have been able to successfully use some or all of the Baltic states (especially some or all of Latvia and Estonia) as living space. Of course, given the existence of the Ostflucht, it would probably be better for Germany to do this in the first couple of decades after 1871. Else, some or all of these gains in German living space might end up being ephemeral as a result of the Ostflucht.
2. Russia: If both World Wars would have been completely avoided (and thus Russia's demographics would have certainly been in much better shape in comparison to real life), then Russia might have done a more thorough job of colonizing areas such as Kazakhstan and maybe even Mongolia (if Russia would have ever actually annexed Mongolia in this scenario, that is) with ethnic Russians and thus might have permanently kept these areas. After all, a non-Bolshevik Russia is unlikely to give even a nominal right of secession to territories such as Kazakhstan.
3. Israel: With a more thorough and aggressive settlement policy in the decades after 1967, Israel might have been able to use more of the West Bank and maybe even more of the Golan Heights as living space.
4. Italy: If World War II is completely butterflied away (or if Italy remains neutral throughout all of World War II), then Libya's population might have eventually become Italian-majority after large oil reserves would have been discovered in Libya. After all, the oil business in Libya in this scenario could end up being very profitable for Italians, no?
5. China: If this counts for this, China could have probably made Mongolia's population Chinese-majority (and outright annexed Mongolia to China later on, obviously) if it would have allowed large-scale ethnic Chinese migration to and settlement in Mongolia in 1860 (which is when China allowed large-scale ethnic Chinese migration to and settlement in Inner Manchuria in real life). After all, the Qing Dynasty still had several decades of life left in 1860. (For the record, as far as I know, Mongolia was controlled by China but not a part of China back in 1800.)
6. The United States of America: If the U.S. would have won the War of 1812, then it could have probably outright annexed all of Canada and used it as living space afterwards. Likewise, the U.S. could have probably annexed Baja California in 1848 and used it as living space afterwards. In addition to this, with a sufficiently good PoD, then the U.S. might have been able to either purchase Cuba from Spain before the 1890s (and outright annex Cuba later, obviously) or to outright annex Cuba in the late 1890s after the U.S.'s victory in the Spanish-American War and used Cuba as living space afterwards.
Anyway, which other realistic cases, if any, of a country acquiring additional living space after 1800 are there?
Indeed, any thoughts on this?
Indeed, I certainly want the acquisition of additional living space in this scenario to be peaceful or at least relatively peaceful. 
