Unknown, Attempted and Lesser known Colonial Empires

Probably the Danish Colonial Empire will be more well known on the list, The Danish Colonial Empire was quite big, It controlled Greenland which stills remains of partial Danish rule today, The US Virgin Islands in the Carribbean where Fort Christiansted was established, A few fortresses in Ghana. And also the Andaman Islands aswell as a few settlements in India known as Serampore and Tranquebar, The Danes used the colonies in South Asia to trade with the Chinese and British but were later taken by the British who had been colonizing India.

Russia's colonies are probably well-known to be Alaska. Handed over to the United States in 1867. The Russians also had two other colonies in the Americas known as Fort Ross in California and Fort Elizabeth in the Hawaiian island of Kauai. You may know that Russia had a short-lived settlement in Djibouti known as Sagallo which were taken over by the French as Russia's settlement in Djibouti threatened French rule over the territory, So the Russians in Sagallo got deported. Though Russia didnt have much colonial settlements, It mainly focused on getting influence on land taking over Central Asia, Siberia, parts of Eastern Europe like Poland and Finland. And also held rule over Manchuria in Northern China.

Like the Danes, The Swedes tended to colonize small parts of the same continent the Danish Colonial Empire did, They had a tiny settlement known as New Sweden on the Delaware River which fell to the nearby Dutch who had colonized what is now New York City (formerly known as New Amsterdam) The Swedes did have colonies in the Carribbean like Saint Barthelemy Guadeloupe which were lost to France. The Swedish also created the Swedish Gold Coast in present-day Ghana which was lost to the Danish who set their own fortifications down there. Sweden even had their own East India company located in Tamil Nadu in a town known as Porto Novo or now known as Parangipettai.

Most people know that the Austrian Colonial Empire was more of a attempted one, As Austria planed to buy Spanish Sahara from Spain before taking over all of Morocco and parts of modern-day Mauritania and Algeria. Well, It did have colonial possessions which were small or short-lived, One was a attempted control of the Andaman and the Nicobar Islands which the Danish left with failed attempts since the United Kingdom had already claimed it as a British colonial settlement so the idea was scrapped. Another one was Maputo Bay in modern-day Mozambique, Which was controlled for a little bit until malaria struck the port which the Portuguese took over soon later, One well-known one was the Austrian concession of Tianjin established after the Boxer Rebellion and lasted until the First World War where it was dismantled. The Austrians also had numerous settlements in India and one in North Borneo which were taken by the British.

The Knights Hospitaller of Malta, Or now the Sovereign Military Order of Malta which claims continuity of the Knights Hospitaller which is recognized as a U.N observer states. Was a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily and had multiple colonies in the Carribbean, It owned all of Malta along with the Libyan city of Tripoli surrounded by the Ottoman Empire. And also a few possessions in the Carribbean which were sold to the French. These were St. Croix which is one of the US Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy, and St Christophe which is now one of the two islands of modern-day St Kitts and Nevis. The Knights Hospitaller ended along with its colonial empire when Napoleon took over Malta forcing the Knights Hospitaller to move to Rome where the Sovereign Military Order of Malta was established.

You may know the Duchy of Courland as a Polish vassal states, Thats why these can be seen as Polish colonies, The Duchy of Courland took over Tobago Island of the modern-day country of Trinidad and Tobago, and also settled around the Gambia River or formerly the Jakobsen River. The Tobago Colony was known as New Courland while the colonies of the Gambia River were known as Fort Bayona, Fort Jakob, And Fort Jillifree. located in Western Gambia. Courland also attempted to take over Toco near Tobago Island or New Courland, The Poles, Like the Austrians. Had attempted ones as during the partitioning of Poland. The Poles went into Cameroon for exploration and even a Polish community in Cameroon. It was unsuccessful as the Germans later took it during the Scramble for Africa.

Most know that the German Empire had colonies, But before the empire, Prussia had colonies aswell. They controlled the Prussian Gold Coast or the West African Gold Coast located in present-day Guinea. The tiny Arguin archipelago nearby Mauritania. And also a attempted purchase of St Croix and St Vincent, Which was denied by the French and Saint Thomas from Denmark, The Danes allowed Prussia to have a base in St Thomas for only thirty years though the area still remained under Danish control.

Well, I hope you learned alot about the less known or partially known colonial empires like the Danish, Swedish, Courish, and even the Russian. I also hope that I can make a second part to this where I try to explain more medium-known ones like the American and Norwegian