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The New Longwoodshire Settlement Scheme was a plan by the colonial government of Riziland to bring in immigrants from Estmere to the northern regions of the Northern Territory. First organised in 1938, the scheme was designed to attract 100,000 Estmerish settlers to the area by 1948.

Background

In the aftermath of the Great War, Estmere faced significant housing shortages and lack of economic opportunities as a result of its occupation during the Great War by Functionalist Gaullica. As the country rebuilt, many Estmerish people, particularly from the lower classes left for the Colony of Riziland, as one of the few major Estmerish colonies remaining in the Estmerish Empire.

With the influx of Estmerish immigrants to the colony from 1936 onward, most of them moved to Port Fitzhubert, while some, particularly the more affluent, headed to the White Highlands. This led to competition between the newly arrived working class white immigrants and the working class Bahian population present in the city: while the colonial government supported the white population, it put pressure on the government to find "a suitable site that is as close as possible to Estmere."

At the same time, the colonial government sought to focus on increasing its authority on the peripherial regions of the country, including the northern areas of the Northern Territory, which outside of Rusere had very limited control from the colonial government, despite a continuous presence since the early 1890s. This area was dominated by the Akortu north of the Tedawabe River, who also inhabited adjacent parts of what was then the Gaullican colony of Haute-Gond, which in the post-Great War period became the Weranian Mandate of Obergond.

History

Selection

In 1937, Chief Minister Byron Wigram began considering plans for "an extensive area of settlement along the periphery of the colony." As the first Chief Minister of the newly self-governing colony, Wigram sought to increase the numbers of the Estmerish population within the colony "to counteract the influence of the Gaullicans in East Riziland and Kigomba." In addition, with immigration numbers rising, it became urgent to encourage varungu to settle in other areas of the colony, as most of the good land around Crogan was now owned by long-time residents, while prices in the White Highlands left many unable to move there permanently.

In addition, strategic considerations had to be taken into account: with much of Riziland's borders now adjoining Estmerish mandates administered from Port Fitzhubert, and with a high likelihood that these areas would become part of Riziland, the colonial government felt that there was little need to exert influence over the former border regions, which given the limited budgets in the post-war period, meant that the colonial government had to choose a location "close to or on the border with the former Gaullican colony of the Upper Gonda."

Thus, two options were presented for the proposed scheme: the first option was in North Balisaland, which had the advantages of easier terrain to construct at, and its larger area meant that more land could be "repurposed from tribal use to white use," although it had the disadvantage of poor infrastructure, as the railway line to Chekumabvazuva ended in Mutupo, which would necessitate building an extension of the railway line to the area. The second option was in the Northern Territory, which although the area was dominated by the Ambakaran Mountains, and would be significantly smaller than "any area carved out of North Balisaland," had an advantage of already-existing infrastructure, as there was a railway line connecting Rusere to Port Fitzhubert, which would enable settlement of the area to be done cheaply and without much prior investment on the part of the colonial government.

With both areas having a subtropical highland climate, it was decided in January 1938 that the Northern Territory would be the site of the settlement scheme, as it had fewer up-front costs for the Estmerish and colonial governments, which reduced the likelihood of the project "proving ruinous to the Estmerish economy." Over the next six months, surveyors would survey the "flatter regions" of the area in order to divide the area up for Euclean settlement. Land surveying was done "with little to no regard" to traditional ownership, as due to the historical lack of authority over the area, Estmere never paid attention to land ownership in the area, and thus assumed that the lands were all public lands. This would lead to tensions between colonial officials and the Makomo and Akortu peoples living in the surveyed areas, as their lands were stolen for the purpose of the scheme.

Settlement

In June 1938, the New Longwoodshire Settlement Scheme officially began, with Byron Wigram planning for the area to "accommodate 100,000 Estmerish people in an outpost of Empire in Bahia." Based on the information he received, Wigram declared the area "New Longwoodshire," comparing the Ambakaran Mountains to the Neeves within Longwoodshire.

Migrants willing to settle in rural areas were given 160 acres of land, under the condition that they build a "suitable" dwelling within a year, and cultivate at least 40 acres within five years. In addition, this scheme was restricted to immigrants from Estmere (including Borland) and to native-born whites who demonstrated a "clear knowledge of Estmerish, effectively precluding Chennois and other Gaullophone whites from settling in the area.

(TBC)