Aesirism is more along the lines of cultural appreciation and revival of ancient Greek traditions rather than an all out worship of the Greek gods. Most of Greece is still very much devoutly Orthodox.
A big point of this chapter is more or less how different actions in history can tend to lead to different points of view. Napoleon's reign is more or less the same as his original in terms of policies, but what's different is that he has multiple successes which can back his policies up instead of leading to constant failure after failure. So from the perspective of a historian in this TL, what Napoleon did was the correct method of ruling and he should be praised as such. Also unlike the other imperial powers, Napoleon is focused on the homeland first rather than total world conquest, making sure all affairs at home are sorted out before going abroad.
Sardinia is rather in a crossroads in terms of where they go from here. While Napoleon has kept his promises of autonomy and keeping of the Sardinian language, there have been tens of thousands of French colonists which are making the overall culture of the land more French. There is a minority of Sardinians who want to go back with Italy, but their virtual abandonment by the House of Savoy and the Pope being content with French rule isn't leaving them with much options. Right now they're stable though and slowly being integrated into French law.
While Hungary is doing good on its own, it isn't perfect in terms of what's going on in their borders. Under Kossuth and the reign of the Liberals, the Transylvanians and other minorities get to participate in elections and keep their culture, but the issue is that the minorities want to rule how they see fit, or rejoin with their homelands. The only thing that's keeping them from going full on rebellion is that they can address their grievances in Budapest instead of being ignored like how it was under Austria. With Nationalism going strong the divide is going to get bigger now matter how Liberal-minded Hungary's rulers are.
I've always been fascinated with the Carlists and how they would come to shape Spain under their rule. The Legitimist Bourbons certainly aren't far better as it was under their rule that Spain began to decay, with the worst case being the war with America. The First and Second Spanish Republic were weak and Franco didn't help the situation at all. What's important to note about the Carlists is that we've never really been given a glimpse as to how they would be effective rulers and what their policies would be when their rule was untested. For all we know Carlos VII could have brought Spain into a golden age, but he never got the chance to rule from Madrid. Part of what is going to make the Carlists work here is the influence of Pius with Carlos VI being taught how to rule in a more just and liberal manner with the teachings of the Church being implemented as how they should. Seeing Pius and Napoleon rule effectively as strong leaders is teaching the Carlists what to do and what not to do if they want to still rule as Autocrats.
I wanted to do Britain and Russia in this chapter, but I thought they had already been covered more than enough, Germany especially in its road to unification. We will see the end of German Unification soon with the solution of the Austrian Question. Britain will be looked at more with its relationship to the Empire and Russia in terms of its Pan-Slavic policies, and Alexander's attempted reforms.
The Second Carlist Rebellion (OTL's 1846 one) never happened due to Isabella forming a tighter grip when word spread of the 1846 Revolutions, thus the cause is still alive and strong. Carlos died in 1859 so Carlos VI is the one who the Conservatives are all rallying behind. Carlos VI is certainly a different man with him thriving in Rome and being a well-known figure in Italian society. Carlos here is still alive at this point and his marriage to Maria Carolina produced a single son, Carlos VII, thus Carlos has a major supporter in King Ferdinand and the Two Sicilies, meaning that half of Italy is all for the Carlist cause. Young Carlos was inspired by the teachings of Pius and Pius sort of took the young man under his wing, hoping that when Carlos took the throne then the Church would regain their position of dominance in Spain and Italy would have a strong ally in the Mediterranean, Pius eventually dreaming of forming a Latin Alliance to combat the rise of Germany and Russia. In all respects Carlos can be considered a fiscal liberal, but he prefers to rule as an enlightened despot.
Yeah Napoleon has it good here. He's got full support of the right wing thanks to his alliance with Italy and placing Italy as the "First among equals", among other social conservative policies. The Socialists are satisfied thanks to the high economic growth of France and intense investment into urban infrastructure. and the centrists of the Liberals and Republicans like having their basic rights and freedoms kept along with the Assembly still running, with active hopes of legislative reform in the near future. Napoleon will certainly live longer, at the same time grooming his son to take up leadership so he can abdicate peacefully. With the Second Empire relatively stable the chances of the return of a Third Republic or the Bourbons are effectively killed. You would need something similar to WWI OTL in order to get the Bonapartes kicked out, and let's just say France is going to get a different ending.
Right now Napoleon is being closely mentored by his father, often seen accompanying and watching his father perform his duties at court. He has a good number of French tutors and Napoleon at this point idolizes his grandfather and is inspired by the teachings of both the French Revolution and the 1846 Revolutions, something that will make him a rather progressive man in comparison to the rest of House Bonaparte. His godfather is still Pius and he has even meet the Pope a few times in Rome, like the situation with Carlos VI, Pius wants to create a strong ally in France in the future and thus part of Napoleon's tutors are priests who were trained in the Vatican and are strong supporters of Pius' teachings, making Napoleon more devout. What's a significant change about Napoleon's character is that he is sort of an Anglophobe and views Britain as France's natural enemy who they must surpass in all areas. This is due to Napoleon III distancing himself from Victoria and not pursuing an alliance. So in an ironic twist of fate, Napoleon IV is actually sort of a Germanophile and he views Wilhelm as an excellent ruler who created a strong Empire at roughly the same time as his father. Napoleon IV wants to reform the Legislature to be modeled after the Reichstag and wants the military to become more Prussian.
