I couldn't find anything like this on the board so yeah.
I randomly came up with this idea whilst I was doing a french monarchy survival POD and I'd also just read up on Napoleon III, so i thought "hey what if Lodewijk I of Holland got to be king of belgium"
basically as I just mentioned, Lodewijk I of Holland (you know, the king of rabbits) and Napoléon's Younger brother, was a strange "rebel". Mostly since he renounced his french origins and is known for sincerely trying to learn dutch and forced his court and ministers to speak Dutch only. also wanting them to renounce their french citizenship as well. Allegedly he had some kind of lunacy as he could never choose where he wanted his capital, be it Amsterdam, The Hague, Rottendam etc.
after Napoléon took his kingdom away from him and he was exiled by Francis I of Austria he also requested Napoleon if his Dutch kingdom could be restored to him, but of course, Napoleon Refused. he also asked William I of the Netherlands to visit the county but was denied once more. William II allowed him to visit in 1840 and travelled under a fake name yet some people recognised him and a crowd of people gathered outside his hotel
Now with that said, how can we get him in the Belgian throne?
i though that firstly he's not only allowed to visit by William I, he's allowed to move there with his sons, the former Lodewijk II and Louis-Napoléon. then something different happens in the aftermath of the Belgian revolution, William I approaches Lodewijk and asks him if he wants the Belgian throne.
And I have to stop there since i don't know how he'll be accepted unless William I is determined to make a lot of noise among the great powers (particulary at Britain), most of them favoured Leopold I because of his diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe, and because as the British-backed candidate, he was not affiliated with other powers, such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium.
William must not only convince the British to favour him, but Lodewijk must also be interested, though I believe Lodewijk wouldn't have a problem with renouncing his Bonaparte claim to the french throne, especially since he declared himself dutch and not french, his son however.
The butterflies emerging from this are also a lot to take in, there are threads that ask what butterflies would come from Napoléon III not becoming emperor, so i'll have to look into those.
I randomly came up with this idea whilst I was doing a french monarchy survival POD and I'd also just read up on Napoleon III, so i thought "hey what if Lodewijk I of Holland got to be king of belgium"
basically as I just mentioned, Lodewijk I of Holland (you know, the king of rabbits) and Napoléon's Younger brother, was a strange "rebel". Mostly since he renounced his french origins and is known for sincerely trying to learn dutch and forced his court and ministers to speak Dutch only. also wanting them to renounce their french citizenship as well. Allegedly he had some kind of lunacy as he could never choose where he wanted his capital, be it Amsterdam, The Hague, Rottendam etc.
after Napoléon took his kingdom away from him and he was exiled by Francis I of Austria he also requested Napoleon if his Dutch kingdom could be restored to him, but of course, Napoleon Refused. he also asked William I of the Netherlands to visit the county but was denied once more. William II allowed him to visit in 1840 and travelled under a fake name yet some people recognised him and a crowd of people gathered outside his hotel
Now with that said, how can we get him in the Belgian throne?
i though that firstly he's not only allowed to visit by William I, he's allowed to move there with his sons, the former Lodewijk II and Louis-Napoléon. then something different happens in the aftermath of the Belgian revolution, William I approaches Lodewijk and asks him if he wants the Belgian throne.
And I have to stop there since i don't know how he'll be accepted unless William I is determined to make a lot of noise among the great powers (particulary at Britain), most of them favoured Leopold I because of his diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe, and because as the British-backed candidate, he was not affiliated with other powers, such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium.
William must not only convince the British to favour him, but Lodewijk must also be interested, though I believe Lodewijk wouldn't have a problem with renouncing his Bonaparte claim to the french throne, especially since he declared himself dutch and not french, his son however.
The butterflies emerging from this are also a lot to take in, there are threads that ask what butterflies would come from Napoléon III not becoming emperor, so i'll have to look into those.