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cahnAnd, I mean, it doesn't have to be just 18th century characters, either!
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1730 Trending Topics: Ostend Company
Date: 2022-01-01 05:11 pm (UTC)Great Britain, Netherlands: Okay, as we make peace after the War of the Spanish Succession, Austria, we've decided you can keep the Spanish Netherlands (future Belgium, more or less). We're calling it the Austrian Netherlands now. But there are some rules. One, the main river (the Scheldt) remains closed to shipping. Two, existing import taxes remain, and they favor us. Three, a third of the remaining revenue we've left to you has to be spent on the Dutch garrisons.
Austria: Whah--buh--this isn't ruling it! This is just administering it on your behalf!
Great Britain, Netherlands: Them's the breaks.
Netherlands: We live next door and really *really* don't want to go back to the days when Antwerp was *the* major point of commerce in northern Europe. We shut down the competition a hundred years ago, and we don't intend to let it come back!
Great Britain: We don't care nearly as much, but the Dutch are our allies, so yeah. Them's the breaks, Austria.
France: We have no dog in this fight per se, but on principle, we object to everything that benefits Austria. So yes.
1722
Austria: Fine! We are founding a company based out of Ostend and we are going to trade overseas. Just like the Dutch East India company and the British East India Company and the South Sea Company. And in direct competition!
Netherlands: The Ostend Company violates the Peace of Westphalia!
Britain: Yeah!
Austria: Try and stop us!
1722-1731
British, Dutch, French: *try and stop them*
1727
France and Great Britain: Okay, and in this latest in an interminable series of treaties, you agree to shut down the Ostend Company.
Austria: Never!
France and Great Britain: For seven years.
Austria: Fine. But you realize this means we have very little reason to continue being allies with Spain, if we're not getting trade benefits.
Great Britain: We will try to take advantage of this when we start making friends with you in a few years.
1730
France: *still not shutting down Dunkirk*
France and Great Britain: *still shouting "You go first!" "No you!" at each other about starting a war over the Spanish garrisons*
Great Britain: *starts making friends with Austria again*
1731
Austria: *shuts down the Ostend Company for good*
Re: 1730 Trending Topics: Ostend Company
Date: 2022-01-03 05:26 am (UTC)1722-1731
British, Dutch, French: *try and stop them*
heeee!
Okay, I don't think I understand what being allies with Spain has to do with it? Like, why would France/GB/etc. want them to be allies with Spain?
Also I don't quite see why they shut it down for good when in 1729 they were just shutting it down for seven years, or was it because GB was becoming friends with Austria again?
Re: 1730 Trending Topics: Ostend Company
Date: 2022-01-03 11:17 pm (UTC)Yes, I phrased this very misleadingly. France/GB most definitely do not want them to be allies with Spain, as you have correctly picked up! I should therefore not have used the phrase "you realize," because that implies the addressee will see this as a bad thing. What I was trying to convey was that weakening the Austro-Spanish alliance by removing one of the two remaining props currently supporting it wasn't the intent, it was a knock-on effect.
Also I don't quite see why they shut it down for good when in 1729 they were just shutting it down for seven years, or was it because GB was becoming friends with Austria again?
And I failed to explain stuff that was in my head, so thank you for asking. :)
GB wanted it shut down for good all along. The seven years thing was a face-saving device for Austria and a time-buying device for GB, with the intent being that by the time seven years had passed, GB would have managed to get it shut down for good. As indeed came to pass in the early 1731 Treaty of Vienna negotiated between GB and Austria in 1730. The seven years thing was just softening the blow to the pride of Austria, who's like, "How come everyone else gets to have an overseas trading company except me??" and perhaps even more importantly, "How come I'm nominally in charge of this province but everyone else can tell me what to do with it??"
VA over in Savoy: I feel your pain. Have you tried switching sides?