Italian Sabah, at last !
Well, it's
part-Italian Sabah if one were to be specific.
Wait, I thought that Sabah was part of Sarawak now since the end of the American Raja business?
Actually, the Yankee Rajah Affair only involved
Western Sabah aka. Bruneian Sabah - it's the blue highlighted area on the map. Once the Affair blew up, Torrey kept the lease to the specific region and sailed to Hong Kong, where he would later sell the deal to Sarawak. The
eastern portion of Sabah continued being a Sulu possession until the late 1870's.
I did not expect this. A Sabah that doesn't go to the Philippines, but instead to Italy?!?
Well, I do like to surprise people.
The notion of Italy acquiring Sabah is not actually that far-fetched; IOTL, the man who held the lease to Sulu - Baron von Overbeck - actually tried to convince the Italians to buy the lease from him, hoping that Rome would try and make something out of the region. They declined. ITTL, it is an Italian merchant who obtained the lease, and there is a more powerful and (comparatively) more successful Rome that is more considerate to the prospect.
Will Italian presence in Sabah last? And will Brunei be fully absorbed by Sarawak? (they're a crisis away from that)
Well Brunei survives for now, but they have lost a whole lot and their internal situation remains miserable. They may survive if they ally with the other Bornean powers.
Italy gets a slice of thep ice. But I wonder how well they will be able to exploit it? Sarawak and the DEI will not be keen on this interloper, and might try and nibble it away. It could lead to a major break between Kuching and London down the line if London wants Rome as a friend.
I did say several times over that Brunei will be going through the ITTL equivalent of the
Trauma Conga Line. With a disunited court, falling trade, a distrustful populace, and an ever-expanding foreign neighbor, Brunei can be said to have the worst luck in the history of Borneo. Allying might seem like a good idea to reverse all this, but with their recent disastrous track record of dealing with foreign Powers (Sarawak, the British, the Americans, etc.) there will be many in the Bruneian court that'll view the idea with distaste.
The Bruneian saga is almost over, but not yet. There will be an ending, but it will force the royal court to stare at the abyss.
As for Italian Sabah, the region is technically held by the
Compagnia Vanella but Rome will force it to open the region to other firms anyways. As for exploitation, the Italians will try to emulate Sarawak and the DEI's successes. However, they will soon discover that 400 years of Sulu rule have made it's mark on the region, especially with the Dayaks and Malays living therein. Distrust and paranoia are powerful motivators, and the native inhabitants might view the Italians as no better than the
Illanun pirates they replaced.
As for Sarawak and the DEI, they might try and use the opportunity to nibble some parts, or they may simply sit back and watch it all burn.
Well, Sulu is down for now. But they're not knocked out yet. Tough luck.
Here's to hoping that if the Philippine Revolution still happens, the Moros will now join the party...
I would call Sulu down. If it goes independent again it will be a new regime after the guerillas have been put down. The book is closed on this era for Sulu.
The Italians are building settlements from old smuggler bases. There was a lot of emigration from Italy at this point yes? Any chance a portion of that could be channeled to Borneo?
In technical terms, Sulu is definitely finished as an independent state, but the Moros and Tausugs are not giving up just yet. The weapons and supplies they have acquired through the Affair are not fully depleted, and the Spanish government in Manila can't patrol every island in the archipelago. If the Philippine Revolution goes ahead in the near-future, there might be a deadly sting waiting for the Spanish in Sulu. Watch this space.
As for Italian immigration, many of the emigrants would be moving to the Americas to work and settle, and the environment of the East Indies won't sit well with most prospectors. With that being said, I do have
a little POD that may address
that question.
With the main issues all wrapped up, I'll probably make a few scattered updates from various places around the world to close out the 1870's. Sarawak and Malaya might be the main focus of this TL, but there is still a whole world out there to think about. We might see a revisiting of some places, and see some new incidents emerge from the recent political fallout (Tunisia, the De Rays expedition, etc.)