1841 part 3 of 3
By the late summer of 1841 France was on the verge of accruing the 50 influence that would be necessary to demote Ottoman standing in Tunis from Friendly to Cordial
However, it's important to remember something. Demoting the Turks to Cordial in Tunis' eyes will not remove their current influence level. It takes 100 influence to bring someone into your sphere of influence. Even with the high amount of influence I'm dumping into Tunis, the Ottomans would still get to 50 before I get to 100, and most likely demote my standing in Tunis.
But, there is another, more effective tool that I can use - Banning the Embassy.
With 65 influence, not only can I clear Turkey's influence in Tunis to 0 again, but I also prevent the Turks from being able to build up new influence for one year. Given that I'm puttng about 0.3 influence per day into Tunis, this means I'd reach 100 influence again before the Turks can start building their influence in Tunis again. Check mate.
One more year of careful tending, and the Tunisian pear will be mine for picking.
My diplomatic coup in Tunis was not the only fishing France would begin to undertake in 1841. With Morocco no longer a viable option for French inflence for the interim, I start looking around to see where there might be some openings to expand French influence.
And look what I find, Colombia is not being influenced by any of the Great Powers, not even the United States. This represents a potential opportunity for France to get a foothold in the Americas beyond its meager colonial holdings in the Antilles.
But why Colombia, and not say Venezuela or Peru. A quick perusal of the available decisions France can undertake should make the logic of my thinking quite clear....
So at the start of 1842, this is how the shape of the world looks..
Britain has seized Tibet and is now making war on Burma, creating a massive cordon sanitaire for the Jewel in its crown. France may need to begin thinking about that question of a naval base east of Pondicherry sooner than expected, before the Raj sweeps all the way to the South China Sea.
By the late summer of 1841 France was on the verge of accruing the 50 influence that would be necessary to demote Ottoman standing in Tunis from Friendly to Cordial
However, it's important to remember something. Demoting the Turks to Cordial in Tunis' eyes will not remove their current influence level. It takes 100 influence to bring someone into your sphere of influence. Even with the high amount of influence I'm dumping into Tunis, the Ottomans would still get to 50 before I get to 100, and most likely demote my standing in Tunis.
But, there is another, more effective tool that I can use - Banning the Embassy.
With 65 influence, not only can I clear Turkey's influence in Tunis to 0 again, but I also prevent the Turks from being able to build up new influence for one year. Given that I'm puttng about 0.3 influence per day into Tunis, this means I'd reach 100 influence again before the Turks can start building their influence in Tunis again. Check mate.
One more year of careful tending, and the Tunisian pear will be mine for picking.
My diplomatic coup in Tunis was not the only fishing France would begin to undertake in 1841. With Morocco no longer a viable option for French inflence for the interim, I start looking around to see where there might be some openings to expand French influence.
And look what I find, Colombia is not being influenced by any of the Great Powers, not even the United States. This represents a potential opportunity for France to get a foothold in the Americas beyond its meager colonial holdings in the Antilles.
But why Colombia, and not say Venezuela or Peru. A quick perusal of the available decisions France can undertake should make the logic of my thinking quite clear....
So at the start of 1842, this is how the shape of the world looks..
Britain has seized Tibet and is now making war on Burma, creating a massive cordon sanitaire for the Jewel in its crown. France may need to begin thinking about that question of a naval base east of Pondicherry sooner than expected, before the Raj sweeps all the way to the South China Sea.