The Welsh Empire (Yr Ymerodraeth Cymru) was an Empire that existed from 1601 to 1891, born after the Welsh War for Independence, and controlled much of the world's landmass.
The First Colonies (1590 - 1618)[]
Eleven years after the Welsh War for Independence, and ten years after the leader of the revolution, John Brixton, constructed Caerdydd Castle and became King of Wales, Wales became allies of Portugal.
In 1590, Portugal and Wales attacked Argentina's shores and held the entire population of Rawson hostage. The Spanish retaliated, and a war ensued between Wales, Portugal, and Spain, until Spain surrendered and allowed Wales and Portugal to own Argentina in 1600. Portugal controlled a quarter of the North of the country, and Wales controlled the entire south and most of the north.
Wales set up fourteen Argentinan colonies in 1601, which marked the beginning of the Welsh Empire. Portugal, after finding better countries to make part of their Empire, gifted the rest of Argentina to Wales in 1602. and the country was subsequently renamed to Yr Ariannin, with all sixteen of the colonies now united as one.
In 1605, Welsh soldiers stormed Chile and made it part of their Empire. From 1606 to 1617, the Welsh began the Latin America conquest, and by the end of it controlled all of the South American countries but Brazil, which their ally, Portugal, controlled. Each country owned by Wales became a colony, and were recognized as the first. Following the death of John Brixton in 1618, his son, Frederik Brixton, rose to power and began the Welsh Conquest of Africa.
The Welsh Conquest of Africa (1618 - 1700) []
In 1618, Frederik began the Welsh Conquest of Africa by attacking Angola, which was being controlled by the Spanish (but not part of their empire) at the time. This started the Welsh-Spanish War of Angola, which lasted until 1621. The Spanish backed out of Angola and the Welsh made it a part of their Empire. In 1622, the Welsh moved south of Angola, and made Namibia part of their Empire. After many years of planning, the Welsh went to war with England over South Africa in 1630. The war ended in 1660, with Wales claiming South Africa, and quickly moving onto Botswana in 1665. Frederik began his plans of taking over Zimbabwe in 1666, but died in 1674, a year before the Zimbabwe Conquest would take place.
Queen Gwenyth, Frederik's daughter and only child, came to power just a week after his death, and moved the Conquest of Zimbabwe back to 1678. When the time came, the British and Spanish presence there had already fled the country and it was there for Welsh taking. In 1680, the Welsh invaded Zambia and attempted to take over Mozambique, but the British retaliated and pushed them out of the country. Shortly after, Queen Gwenyth ordered that Morocco be invaded and colonized, which happened in 1681. Using troops from all of the countries that were part of the Welsh Empire in South America and Africa, Mozambique was invaded in 1682, and ignited a war between the Welsh and the English that lasted in 1699, when the English surrendered and gifted the country to them as a means of settling their dispute. Mozambique became a part of the Empire in 1700, thus ending the Welsh Conquest of Africa.
The Welsh Colonization of the Caribbean (1700 - 1720)[]
Gwenyth, moving on from Africa and ending the conquest her father started, wished to begin to colonize the Caribbean. Due to mass amounts of European powers inhabiting the West Indies, she thought it be best to befriend one and divide their land. Starting in 1700, peace terms began to be negotiated between England and Wales, and Welsh men began to join English privateering ships, much to Portugal's annoyance. When England gave Wales half of Jamaica in 1705, and the Treaty of Empires was signed in 1707, Portugal declared Wales an enemy, but Spain, France, England, Scotland and Ireland declared them an ally.
After a Portuguese raid was carried out on Wales' half of Jamaica in 1718, decisions were made to back out of the Caribbean and focus on the Pacific. In 1720, Jamaica was once again completely owned by the English.
The Colonization of the Pacific Islands (1720 - 1725)[]
The Welsh moved on to the Pacific Ocean when looking for a place to colonize, but the Portuguese fought them, and the Welsh completely backed down in 1725. Queen Gwenyth died shortly after in 1736, and her son, Frederick Yr Ail claimed the throne.
The Colonization of Nigeria (1775-1780)[]
Due to England's involvement in the American Revolution, they handed Nigeria over to Wales. Wales began to teach the Nigerian population Welsh in 1776, and by 1780 Nigeria was completely colonized.
The Fall of the Latin America Colonies (1781 - 1801)[]
The Spanish, seeking to make claim to Argentina, invaded Rawson and made them hostage, in the same way the Welsh and Portuguese did in 1590. This sparked the Spanish-Welsh War over Argentina, with neither side winning until the Portuguese intervened in 1795 and helped the Spanish. Wales, knowing it was worthless to lose more men, surrendered the country in 1801. Spain informed the Welsh the only way they would accept their surrender was if Wales surrendered all of their South American colonies, which they did. While Frederick was fighting the Spanish, the Portuguese had began laying claim to Angola and Namibia. With all of their troops stationed in Argentina, the Welsh couldn't send anyone to Africa to stop Portugal.
The Fall of the African Colonies (1801 - 1831)[]
A war was started over South Africa between Portugal and Wales in 1801, and they began to attack Mozambique in 1803. Frederick died in 1809, and his son, John yr Ail took over. The Welsh fought long and hard until 1815, when Portugal claimed South Africa. The English attacked South Africa, but claimed it for themselves, in 1816. Wales had only Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique left, but Mozambique was surrendered to Portugal (and subsequently attacked and claimed by the English in 1818) in 1817.
Botswana was handed over to the English in 1820, and a ceasefire was ordered by Portugal over Zimbabwe in 1821. The Welsh and the Portuguese began negotiating a treaty in 1822, but in 1831, Wales surrendered Zimbabwe to Portugal.
The North American Colony (1831 - 1891)[]
England, after the Welsh loss of their African colonies, allowed Wales to have a single colony in East Canada in 1831. Wales made plans to make the colony a part of Wales in 1890, but due to the death of John yr Ail in 1889 and his son, Frederick y trydydd taking over, Wales gave up the colony and allowed the Empire to fall.
The Welsh Commonwealth (1945 - Present Day)[]
Following the end of World War II, Wales founded their own commonwealth for former Welsh Colonies. Only the Cymru newydd colony in Canada joined the Commonwealth in 1945, but Columbia joined in 1991. They are currently governed by Tesni Frenhines Chweched (Queen Tesni The Sixth). At the age of 32, she is the youngest Welsh Queen since Queen Gwenyth, who was made queen in 1674 at the age of 26.