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I've been going through the early bits of the French Revolution, looking for someone to satisfy various points:

Believes in the Revolution. We don't want an absolute monarch back, and although a constitutional monarch would be fine I doubt that Louis XVI would be accepted (or, rather, continue to be acceptable) once the ball gets properly rolling.

Is not out to establish a Empire. Napoleon is pretty awesome in many ways but it's pretty clear that the rest of Europe—unless overthrown—is not going to accept him.

Is early enough to save Louis XVI from being killed, stop the declaration of war on the British (every month is valuable against them) & Dutch (money!), and the Revolution is still viewed as a good thing in Britain for future purposes as regards ending the war if/when they get involved.

I propose François Christophe de Kellermann. He has won his key victory in the Battle of Valmy in 1792. By all accounts he was a great commander and administrator. He believed in the Revolution to go out and fight for them after being imprisoned for 13 months.

So if we tweak it just slightly….

Let's say Kellermann is accused by someone of being anti-Revolutionary (General Custine at one point accused him of sort-of that in regards to operational matters) just a little earlier. Now this guy won an incredibly important battle and despite already being a General under Louis XVI backed the Revolution early. That's got to hurt, even if he didn't show it IOTL.

So let's say his response is, essentially, "screw you". More to the point his attitude is that the revolution is a good thing overall, but they need to be reigned in. And perhaps he's just the man to do it. So he grabs his large victorious army and does just that.

(Maybe Dumouriez dies and someone blames Kellermann, just to get Dumouriez's pro-looting pro-export revolution in other countries like that Belgium place policies off the table. In that case perhaps we could add Jemappes to Kellermann's victories, just to make him a more important figure.)

He can probably make it clear that although he's in charge for the moment this is a caretaker state of affairs for stability. He's respected, smart, victorious, and as OTL history shows a brilliant guy at making things work and politically astute (he lasted under Louis XV, Louis XVI, the Revolution, Napoleon, and Louis XVIII), liberal, and so forth.

Even better for French ambitions: he's German! (Born in Alsace.)

So. January 1793. Kellermann exiles Louis XVI. He doesn't declare war on the British & Dutch. The Prussians have been kicked in the teeth. The Austrian Netherlands are French.

Questions:

Can Kellermann remain in charge and shepherd with his administrative skills a stable republic of some kind into existence?

How long will British stay out of the war?

Would the Dutch would ally themselves to the French in return for a "no invasion" policy? Give them Flanders to keep the British out of the war longer and as I've talked about there's potential for Amsterdam/London bonds to replace looting.

How does the next couple of years play out?
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