Читать книгу Australian History For Dummies - Alex McDermott - Страница 70

While things had been going badly at Sydney, in the rest of the world the situation was changing rapidly and not for the better, especially for the new colony. In particular, the following events affected them:

 The great hope of Norfolk Island — that it would provide vital supplies for Britain’s navy and maritime trade — fell through. The great tall pines that Cook had originally admired proved to be no good as masts. And the flax plant proved to be the wrong type for making cords and sails.

 War broke out in Europe in the aftermath of the 1789 French Revolution. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars lasted from the early 1790s until Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Britain’s energies and attention began to be drawn inexorably into this great conflict, with action seen across the most of the northern hemisphere. Exactly how a bunch of convicts on the other side of the planet were faring started slipping down the list of Things to Be Worried About. But things would change once that war was over — see Chapter 5 to read about what happened when the British started paying attention again (which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, either).

 A new decision was finally made in 1793 on the trade monopoly of the British East India Company: Instead of being terminated, the monopoly was renewed for another 20 years, lasting until 1813. The hope of Sydney being parked on the side of a burgeoning new trade region seemed to be dashed.

Instead of being a source of vital strategic supplies, and on a new shipping route where trade was burgeoning, the colony was now marooned on the other side of the world, unable to grow its own food, in the middle of a no-go trade zone, and Britain was preoccupied. And Phillip was going home.

The convicts, intended to be a stopgap measure to be used to establish a key British strategic post, were now the whole purpose of the colony. Interesting times promised to ensue.