Recently I've been thinking of events and decisions on the potential aftermath if Plan Balkan was used to partition the British Raj instead of the division of the Raj into India and Pakistan. Here is some general ideas I've come up with detailing this.
Territorial disputes and Wars
From what I've researched, it appears that if Plan Balkan was carried out it could have created a lot of territorial disputes between various Princely States and former Raj presidencies. For example just before the British withdrew from India in 1947, the Raja of Faridkot had expressed his intention to annex the Firozpur and Ludhiana districts and to go to war with the princely state of Nabha. Despite that both Faridkot and Nabha were very small princely states, both less than 3000 km2 their willingness to go to war with each other and their territorial ambitions along with areas taken by the Raj from various princely states such as the Berar Province which was taken from the Hyderabad princely state is a very good indication that if carried out Plan Balkan would have created a very violent free for all in the Indian subcontinent similar to the decline of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century as various princely states begin to reassert claims on lands they had lost.
The struggle between different government types
Once Plan Balkan has been carried out, the Indian subcontinent is a patchwork of absolute monarchies and democracies. However it is likely as time goes on that many of these local Indian governments would have been overthrown or changed as foreign great powers start to influence the politics of the post Raj India along with global political trends, challenging the political traditions of these countries especially the princely states since most if not all of the princely states were absolute monarchies
Religious and Cultural tensions
The Indian subcontinent is home to many religions and thousands of unique cultures. This cultural and religious diversity could pose a great challenge to many of the countries in a Plan Balkan partitioned India. For Princely States with a ruling minority such as Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir, it will be difficult to appease both the ruling minority and majority cultures, failure to do so could lead to their governments being overthrown in a rebellion. For countries in India rich in cultural diversity such as Assam , their challenge would be to maintain their territorial integrity and appease or successfully suppress their minority cultures, failure to do so could cause a Yugoslav or Czechoslovak style collapse as separatist states break away from those types of countries either peacefully or violently.
The Role of China
Once China reconquers Tibet whether it be the communist or nationalist government, in the aftermath of a Plan Balkan partition of India, China could use TIbet as a springboard to solidify its claims on Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin and to build a sphere of influence over the Indian subcontinent. Without a powerful regional rival such as India, if China manages to build a strong sphere of influence in the former Raj it could potentially secure it as the undisputed hegemon of Asia and possibly the entire world if it ever surpasses the United States and possibly the Soviet Union if it still exists.
The Role of Britain and other European Great Powers
While a Plan Balkan partitioned India would very likely be a violent free for all, it doesn't mean that British influence would completely disappear form the Indian subcontinent. Like how independent Indian states in the 18th and 19th centuries often had European mercenaries and officers, it is very likely that in a Plan Balkan partitioned India many of the princely states and the successor states of the Raj will keep British officers in their military. It is also likely that due to the positive relationship between the United Kingdom and the princely states, British influence will continue to to be felt throughout the Indian subcontinent despite its decline. It is quite possible that other European Great Powers such as France and Germany might be able to carve out a sphere of influence in the former Raj to in the early game as a way of slowing down the decline of their importance in the world by the mid to late game.
The effect of the Cold War on the Indian subcontinent in the aftermath of Plan Balkan
With its high population and valuable resources and industries, a Plan Balkan partitioned India could become a very interesting theatre of the Cold War with a scramble for influence by the U.S and the U.S.S.R following the collapse of the Raj. Once both he U.S and the U.S.S.R create a sphere of influence in the former Raj, the Indian subcontinent could become something like a chessboard with both of the Cold War rivals overthrowing governments, supporting revolutions and intervening into local conflicts in India. Along with India's huge population, these factors could create wars in the Indian subcontinent dwarfing any of the wars that was caused by the Cold War in reality and make the ending of the Cold War much more unpredictable.
Recently I've been thinking of events and decisions on the potential aftermath if Plan Balkan was used to partition the British Raj instead of the division of the Raj into India and Pakistan. Here is some general ideas I've come up with detailing this.
Territorial disputes and Wars From what I've researched, it appears that if Plan Balkan was carried out it could have created a lot of territorial disputes between various Princely States and former Raj presidencies. For example just before the British withdrew from India in 1947, the Raja of Faridkot had expressed his intention to annex the Firozpur and Ludhiana districts and to go to war with the princely state of Nabha. Despite that both Faridkot and Nabha were very small princely states, both less than 3000 km2 their willingness to go to war with each other and their territorial ambitions along with areas taken by the Raj from various princely states such as the Berar Province which was taken from the Hyderabad princely state is a very good indication that if carried out Plan Balkan would have created a very violent free for all in the Indian subcontinent similar to the decline of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century as various princely states begin to reassert claims on lands they had lost.
The struggle between different government types Once Plan Balkan has been carried out, the Indian subcontinent is a patchwork of absolute monarchies and democracies. However it is likely as time goes on that many of these local Indian governments would have been overthrown or changed as foreign great powers start to influence the politics of the post Raj India along with global political trends, challenging the political traditions of these countries especially the princely states since most if not all of the princely states were absolute monarchies
Religious and Cultural tensions The Indian subcontinent is home to many religions and thousands of unique cultures. This cultural and religious diversity could pose a great challenge to many of the countries in a Plan Balkan partitioned India. For Princely States with a ruling minority such as Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir, it will be difficult to appease both the ruling minority and majority cultures, failure to do so could lead to their governments being overthrown in a rebellion. For countries in India rich in cultural diversity such as Assam , their challenge would be to maintain their territorial integrity and appease or successfully suppress their minority cultures, failure to do so could cause a Yugoslav or Czechoslovak style collapse as separatist states break away from those types of countries either peacefully or violently.
The Role of China Once China reconquers Tibet whether it be the communist or nationalist government, in the aftermath of a Plan Balkan partition of India, China could use TIbet as a springboard to solidify its claims on Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin and to build a sphere of influence over the Indian subcontinent. Without a powerful regional rival such as India, if China manages to build a strong sphere of influence in the former Raj it could potentially secure it as the undisputed hegemon of Asia and possibly the entire world if it ever surpasses the United States and possibly the Soviet Union if it still exists.
The Role of Britain and other European Great Powers While a Plan Balkan partitioned India would very likely be a violent free for all, it doesn't mean that British influence would completely disappear form the Indian subcontinent. Like how independent Indian states in the 18th and 19th centuries often had European mercenaries and officers, it is very likely that in a Plan Balkan partitioned India many of the princely states and the successor states of the Raj will keep British officers in their military. It is also likely that due to the positive relationship between the United Kingdom and the princely states, British influence will continue to to be felt throughout the Indian subcontinent despite its decline. It is quite possible that other European Great Powers such as France and Germany might be able to carve out a sphere of influence in the former Raj to in the early game as a way of slowing down the decline of their importance in the world by the mid to late game.
The effect of the Cold War on the Indian subcontinent in the aftermath of Plan Balkan With its high population and valuable resources and industries, a Plan Balkan partitioned India could become a very interesting theatre of the Cold War with a scramble for influence by the U.S and the U.S.S.R following the collapse of the Raj. Once both he U.S and the U.S.S.R create a sphere of influence in the former Raj, the Indian subcontinent could become something like a chessboard with both of the Cold War rivals overthrowing governments, supporting revolutions and intervening into local conflicts in India. Along with India's huge population, these factors could create wars in the Indian subcontinent dwarfing any of the wars that was caused by the Cold War in reality and make the ending of the Cold War much more unpredictable.