Treaty of London, 1814

[Friedrich der Große]

So in 1814, the Netherlands and Britain signed the Treaty of London about the return of former Dutch colonies to The Netherlands, colonies occupied by the British during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. I read an article about the signing of this treaty, in which was suggested that the Dutch could possible get more colonies back if they made some concessions to the British.

These concessions were:
• Give Bengkulu and Penang to the British
• Give ALL the Dutch colonies in India to the British
• Give freedom tot the British in the Straits
• Possible even give the Dutch Gold Coast to the British

In return for this, the Netherlands should get the Cape and Ceylon back. My question is: is this plausible?

 

[Friedrich der Große]

???

 

[pompejus]

My question is: is this plausible?

No. There is no way for the Dutch to get Ceylon back. Even during the treaty of Amiens the Dutch got all their colonies back (including the Cape colony), besides Ceylon. Ceylon was too important for the British. Certainly more important than any of Dutch India Qf 1824. Simply put, I think it is hard for the Dutch to get more colonies in 1814 than OTL, especialy considering the British were already pretty pro-Dutch in those days (they were the main proponent of unification of the Netherlands and Belgium). Maybe, very maybe, you could get later British Guyana back, if the Dutch have some shrewd negotiator or whatever. The Cape colony and especialy Ceylon were both too valuable to get back with a POD in 1814 unless you get realy creative (like Napoleon returning who defeats the British, but the Dutch rrise to the occasion and manage to defeat Napoleon, freeing Britain and its colonies; no clue how many ASB's you need for that scenario).

 

[Janprimus]

No. There is no way for the Dutch to get Ceylon back. Even during the treaty of Amiens the Dutch got all their colonies back (including the Cape colony), besides Ceylon. Ceylon was too important for the British. Certainly more important than any of Dutch India Qf 1824. Simply put, I think it is hard for the Dutch to get more colonies in 1814 than OTL, especialy considering the British were already pretty pro-Dutch in those days (they were the main proponent of unification of the Netherlands and Belgium). Maybe, very maybe, you could get later British Guyana back, if the Dutch have some shrewd negotiator or whatever. The Cape colony and especialy Ceylon were both too valuable to get back with a POD in 1814 unless you get realy creative (like Napoleon returning who defeats the British, but the Dutch rrise to the occasion and manage to defeat Napoleon, freeing Britain and its colonies; no clue how many ASB's you need for that scenario).

The Napoleonic debacle in Russia, Austria and Prussia restoring the natural order in the German lands after their victory in Leipzig, returning former French lackeys Saxony and Bavaria in the German fold (and Austria and Prussia being top dogs). All this allowed the Dutch to liberate themselves from the French occupation, since well the French were tied down on every front to crush the Dutch liberation.
Given the Dutch manpower, you basically need the Prussians and British to wear the French down enough, so the Dutch might finish the job, and preferably capture Napoleon.

OTOH the Cape, Gold Coast and Ceylon are reasonable as Dutch colonies, if only those damned Brits didn't occupy them during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...

 

[pompejus]

The Napoleonic debacle in Russia, Austria and Prussia restoring the natural order in the German lands after their victory in Leipzig, returning former French lackeys Saxony and Bavaria in the German fold (and Austria and Prussia being top dogs). All this allowed the Dutch to liberate themselves from the French occupation, since well the French were tied down on every front to crush the Dutch liberation.
Given the Dutch manpower, you basically need the Prussians and British to wear the French down enough, so the Dutch might finish the job, and preferably capture Napoleon.

I don't think this would be enough for the British to simply hand over the Cape colony to the Dutch (let alone Ceylon). You realy need something big for that to happen. And I have no (realistic) idea what that could be.