As European influence waned in the New World, centuries of suppressed tensions in the former colonies of North and South Columbia began to resurface. Without a colonial overlord to keep the locals in line, they began to take out their grievances against each other. In addition, the young nations spawned political divisions of their own as ideas on what to do with their recently gained independence divided people into new political factions. These divisions first came to head in Mexico. The first Columbian nation to become independent, was also the first to experience post-colonial internal conflicts.
Empress Mariela I was increasingly scrutinized over her foreign policy, especially in regards to Gallispania. Conservatives within the Mexican Cortes were of the opinion that by marrying a Gallispanian, the heir had been compromised, once again. Meanwhile, liberal voices were now openly questioning whether Mexico even needed a monarchy in the first place. As a result, civil war broke out in 1827 between republican forces and the army, which was still very loyal to the Empress. It was only after 7 years of bitter fighting that the loyalist forces led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna managed to defeat the republicans. However, taking advantage of the conflict, the audiencia of California had declared independence.
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
Throughout its history, California had always been different from the rest of Mexico. It had been established as an audiencia in 1650 by the Gallispanian Emperor. The area was mostly settled by people from Gallispania itself, most prominently members of the clergy and merchants of the Gallispanian East India Company who established trade connections between Asia and the New World. Its population remained relatively limited compared to the rest of Mexico. However, early gold rushes had brought in waves of immigrants to the remote country. By 1830, around 50 000 people lived in California. During the Mexican War of Independence, the majority of California’s population had been against independence from Gallispania. This sentiment lived on after Mexico’s independence and grew stronger when the Mexican emperors tried to extend their influence in the former audiencia. In 1827, California saw and took the opportunity to free itself from Mexico and secured support from neighboring Cascadia, where large numbers of loyalists had fled to after the Mexican War of Independence.
However, in 1835, as the 2nd Mexican Civil War ended, Santa Anna tried to bring California back into the fold. His Mexican forces clashed with those of California at the Battle of Colorado. Although outnumbered, the Californians managed to capture the Mexican general and used him as a bargaining chip to secure independence. During the resulting peace negotiations, Mexico signed a ceasefire and recognized California’s independence.
Drawing of the Californian capital, Los Angelos, by a British merchant.
In the aftermath of the civil war and the war with California, Mexico was still a deeply divided country and the Empress’ legitimacy had been severely damaged. Similarly, in the absence of a strong Cortes in Mexico-City, local governments assumed more autonomy, leading to a heavily decentralized Mexico. Mexico’s status as Columbia’s protector has been severely damaged and the country’s future as a regional power hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, Gallispania consolidated its influence in the few remaining colonies it had left in North Columbia. As the last remaining Gallispanian colony in the New World, the Viceroyalty of Cuba became a safe haven for loyalists from Mexico, New Granada and even Peru. Most of Cuba’s population inhabited the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica. Its economy was characterized by plantations employing African slaves. As a result, Cuba’s demographics were a mixture of people of European descent, African descent, Columbian descent and everything in between. A majority of Cubans were of African descent, contributing to widespread fears in political circles of slave rebellions. Abolitionism was much less present in Cuba than it was in Gallispania. While the Cortes Generales of Gallispania debated the issue several times in the 1820s and 1830s, there was still an active moratorium on such discussions in the Cuban Cortes. Recent unrest on Hispaniola added to the fear that a large scale rebellion, funded by either the Mexicans or the British, or both, could lead to a breakaway slave-led state. However, Cuba’s future might not even be decided by Cubans themselves, but by the Imperial Government in Madrid.
Fears of a widespread slave rebellion in the plantation colonies in the Caribbean would dominate Cuban politics for the decades to come.
Meanwhile up north, a new colony manifested itself as an integral part of Gallispania’s presence in the New World. Originally a colony of the Portuguese Crown, the Viceroyalty of Cascadia, centered on the Island of Nootka, was inherited by Emperor Ferdinand VII upon the death of Catharina of Portugal in 1821. Cascadia had little trouble adjusting to Gallispanian rule. A large section of its population had been Gallispanian, Mexicans who remained loyal to the Crown during the Mexican War of Independence and had fled north after Gallispania’s defeat. Cascadia itself was sparsely populated, with only a few large cities on the western coast. Its influence stretched east towards the Great Plains, where several independent native nations were its major trading partners. While Cascadia remained loyal to the Crown, the emergence of an independent California in 1835 marked the beginning of a wider movement for more autonomy. This movement strived for its own Cortes, similar to that of Cuba. It remains to be seen what the future of Cascadia will entail.
North Columbia’s east coast is dominated by the Republic of Frisia, or Nieuw-Friesland, the largest republic on the continent. The Frisians carry a long republican tradition with them, dating back to the period of Friese Vrijheid, during which the Frisians were largely free from feudal ties to a lord. Slowly, the traditional Friese Vrijheid evolved into the custom of electing a Stadhouder. When the Frisians fled into exile to the New World, the office of Stadhouder became more than a symbolic representative of the States General. The Stadhouder became the representative of the 7 provinces that made up Frisia in the New World; New Frisia, New Netherlands, Barentsland, Florida, Mississippi, Transappalachia and Kanoland. The States General would appoint a Stadhouder through majority voting, however in recent years, calls for reform of the office have been growing. In 1832, the States General was split into two chambers, one representing the 7 provinces by giving them an equal number of representatives (Eerste Kamer) and one representing the country as a whole through proportional representation (Tweede Kamer or Senaat). The integration of two former Gallispanian colonies, Florida and Filippina, as formal provinces was meant to increase the rate of assimilation, however it also imported Gallispanian problems, abolitionism being the major issue haunting Frisian politics in the 1830s and onwards. Particularly in Filippina, pro-slavery sentiment was still strong enough to block any reform on a national level. In addition to a considerable Gallispanian population, there was also a considerable amount of Iroquois people living in the northern parts of the country. The Frisian government has begun the systemic expulsion of these people to the Iroquois Confederacy, as they often live in valuable mining regions and could pose a threat to Dutch settlers.
The Republic of Frisia, or New Frisia, was heralded by many to be the next superpower on the Columbian continent, replacing Mexico.
The Iroquois Confederacy itself was no longer what it used to be. At the height of its power, it occupied most of the East Coast. However, continuous conflict with the Mexicans and Frisians brought about its downfall. By 1836, support from the British was the only reason why the Iroquois had been able to maintain their independence. Nonetheless, the Iroquois Confederacy was a shining example for the other native nations in North Columbia. In reality, the Confederacy was a collection of different native peoples. Since the Great Law of Peace, the Iroquois Constitution, a Grand Council consisting of the chiefs of the 56 constituent clans acted as the Confederacy’s government. While it didn’t act like a government in the European sense of the word, the Grand Council still made important decisions in regards to foreign policy and matters of national importance. In essence, the Iroquois Confederacy was a heavily decentralized country, partly owing to its success and the legitimacy of its leadership. The Iroquois Confederacy was also a matriarchal society. Mothers had the power to veto treaties and declarations of wars and the women of a clan were the ones electing their representative to the Grand Council, or demoting them if needed. Unsurprisingly, the Iroquois would be an inspiration to the feminist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. In recent decades, the Iroquois have begun westernizing. While keeping most of their ancient traditions, the Iroquois have been adopting the European ways of war and the western custom to have a written collection of the laws and treaties ruling a country. As a new era dawns upon the world, the question remains whether the Iroquois will be able to balance modernization and tradition while outside threats loom.
Scene in an Iroquois village, by Newfoundlander George Catlin. This image was generated using the Stable Diffusion AI.
Up north, Britain’s only colony in the Columbias, Newfoundland, had a deep connection to the motherland. While continuous wars against the Mexicans in the 18th century were costly and cost the people of Newfoundland a lot, it also caused a deep patriotic feeling and a sense of loyalty to the Tudors ruling from London. Most of Newfoundland’s population was centered around the Saint Lawrence river. Its capital, Quebec, became indistinguishable from the great cities of Britain itself. During the 18th century, Newfoundland also expanded its influence to the Hudson Bay and to the Prairies beyond the Great Lakes. While sparsely populated, the prospect of a nation from sea to sea drew many to the west, where eventual conflict with Cascadia loomed. Meanwhile in Southern Ontario, an immigration rush led to the settlement of new agricultural communities, while mining prospectors scanned the region for valuable resources. Newfoundland’s future was looking bright. Some even suggest it could take over Mexico’s position as the leading nation of the Columbias. On that front however, it was also competing with Frisia, its southern neighbor. Time will tell if the nations of North Columbia will be able to coexist peacefully or if their urge to establish hegemonies will plunge the continent into war.
South Columbia on the other hand was still reeling from its recent independence from Gallispania. The Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Rio da Prata soon followed Peru and New Granada’s example after being transferred to Gallispania in 1821. In Brazil, strong pro-Portuguese sentiment clashed with the Gallispanian desire to compensate for the loss of New Granada and Peru. Briefly, there were talks among Brazilian elites to install the Portuguese House of Bragança in resistance to the Empire, but republican revolutionaries ended all hopes of a Brazilian monarchy in 1822, when they overthrew the colonial administration in Brazil and proclaimed the United States of Brazil as an independent country. Brazil’s independence was soon followed up by Rio da Prata’s own declaration of sovereignty. Fearing a similar republican revolution, conservative elites in Rio da Prata took matters into their own hands and installed a military dictatorship. Gallispania sat by and watched, its newly acquired colonies in South Africa and East Asia more than made up for the loss of Brazil and Rio da Prata.
Revolutionary troops occupy the colonial government buildings in Rio de Janeiro.
In Peru, the famous revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar continued to consolidate his power. However in his absence, New Granada began to fall apart. Divisions between the densely populated west and the sparsely populated east had driven the country into a civil war. After a series of native uprisings coincided with a major slave rebellion in Guyana, the New Granadan authorities decided to retreat from the eastern provinces in 1827. In their wake, a ragtag coalition of former slaves and native chiefs founded the Republic of Amazonia. Meanwhile, Bolivar had transformed Peru into a confederation with heavily decentralized powers in an attempt to prevent the country from falling apart in a similar fashion. In 1828, he returned to New Granada to solve the crisis that had engulfed the country.
At first, Bolivar tried to reunite Amazonia with New Granada peacefully, promising protection to former slaves and native peoples and a similar form of government as Peru. However, while the Amazonians might have been open to these plans, Bolivar’s own people in New Granada were heavily opposed to any form of compromise. Bolivar’s attempts were in vain and the two countries remained separated. In 1830, Bolivar passed away. His big dream of a South Columbian federation between Peru, New Granada and Amazonia never came to fruition and continued conflict with each other and the former Portuguese colonies has turned South Columbia into a hotspot for violence and destruction.
In terms of trade, most of the former Gallispanian colonies were still heavily involved in the trade network of the Empire. Not only was it a lucrative business to be involved in the spice trade with the Philippines, the Gallispanian East India Company still had a large influence in countries like California, New Granada and even Mexico. The Company had managed to keep its privileges regarding the Panama Canal and increasingly influenced the Mexican Cortes. Meanwhile, Mexican merchants profited from being able to tap into the Company’s network and claimed a larger role in transactions surrounding the Panama Canal. In essence, the trade network of the East India Company in Central Columbia became the one thing that was beneficial to both former colonies and Gallispania itself, contributing to a period of détente following the independence of these former colonies. All in all, there was still a sense of control in Gallispania, even if Mexico, New Granada and Peru could now also trade with rivals such as Britain or New Frisia.
Man Bohemia got destroyed- that's a lot of territory to lose
Since one of the main reasons why Revolutionary Bohemia was so aggressive and dangerous was its history of imperialism in Germany, Scandinavia and Poland, Great Britain and Gallispania agreed that the Congress of Versailles should be quite punitive for Bohemia. We'll see what that'll mean for Bohemia in the 19th century but I do expect them to either play it more safely as to not anger the other powers, or they'll go all out revanchist and try to re-establish their lost empire.
With that being said, we have come to the end of this AAR. I want to thank everyone who has been reading and commenting along the way. Some comments inspired me to write dedicated chapters on certain subjects in the Victoria 3 sequel. Other comments were bang on with their predictions about where this AAR was heading. I want to say a special thank you to
@Tom D. since this AAR would literally have been impossible without him. I don't think either of us thought back in 2018 that this would develop into a story that would eventually cross over into Victoria 3 (which back then wasn't even announced yet).
You can expect the Victoria 3 thread either later today or tomorrow, depending on how much time I'll have. I actually still have to play the Victoria 3 playthrough and the conversion mod is actually not completely done yet. However, I do have some chapters already about topics that have either played out before 1836 or that are going to play out as soon as the game starts. I'll share more information in the introduction of the Victoria 3 thread, but it boils down to the fact that instead of spending a chapter on a set amount of gameplay years, I'll tell the (hi)story more organically through primary and secondary sources on specific topics, themes and events. I look forward to seeing you there!
