A Strike For Liberty

So this is my contest entry for the Australia contest. This is the very first time I ever entered a contest on DA so I hope it turned out well. I learned a WHOOOLLLLEEE lot making this map.

So I didnt know ANYTHING about Australia, Oceania, or Southeast Asia before I started working on this map. Now I know a little bit, but Im sure that I messed up quite a lot, so please dont assume that I know anything about anything. Ill fix up this description when I have the time.

So basically here's what happened(in a nutshell)...

-The Dutch East India Company approved of Pierre Purry's plan to establish trading posts and small settlements around the Gulf of Carpentaria and Northern Australia(New Holland). The plan was to make further contact with the Aboriginals and search for valuable minerals and spices. The use of native laborers was needed, due to the fact that immigration from Europe was slow, but after the natives were devasted by western diseases the settlers were forced to bring in laborers from the islands to the north, causing an increase in non-caucasian settlers. Over the decades, the population of New Holland became dominantly "Indonesian" as refugees fled from disruption by the Dutch East India Company and native wars. (EVENTUALLY New Holland would join the rest of the East Indies in rebellion against the Dutch, and become a state of the United States of Indonesia. By that time, the remaining Dutch population have undergone decolonization, leaving behind only Indonesians).

-Under pressure by the Dutch, James Cook was able to persuade the British government more quickly to start up colonization of eastern Australia. James Matra, an American Loyalist, was given permission by the British government to establish a colony in eastern Australia for other American Loyalists from states like Virginia and Carolina who needed a new place to farm. The colony would be the first convict free colony, soon followed by others. Later, Matra would establish a second colony in the (at the time) under explored southern island of New Zealand. Matras colonies became self supportive early on and spread new techniques to other British colonies, attracting thousands of colonists from Great Britain, Ireland, and America. After World War I, the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, modeling themselves after the United States. Great Britain tried to intervene but was halted by the newly formed Leage of Nations, and the Republic had its independence.

-Before the British could lay claim to western Australia, the French claimed it and began settling the west coast. French West Australia was a mixing pot for French settlers and Portugues traders, recieving settlers from all over southern Europe. The country's population remained relatively low and it remained a dominion/territory of France.