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DominusNovus the best would be a post war of Austrian succession.Loads of PODs that could result in that. Do you have any preferences for a time period?
Matteo, thanks for your quick and detailed reply, but what would force Napoleon to make this kind of series of territorial exchanges? Also I wrote natural frontier, because since Louis XIV this was the French aim and they called it like this.You know, although often borders, rivers are not at all "natural" borders.
High mountain chains and seas or oceans are natural border. But the Rhine is no more a natural border than the Danube, the Dniepr, the Nile, the Mississipi, the Yangzi, the Amazon or the Rio Grande.
Rivers are communication axis. And they happen to be an easily objectivable border when chosen as such.
This being said, the most obvious and fastest POD for such a map is Napoleon coming out victorious of the Getmany's campaign of 1813 against the 6th coalition.
Have him actually win a crushing victory at the battle of Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden. Or even at Leipzig where one of the units OTL almost captured by chance tsar Alexander I to Russia, king Frederick-William III of Prussia, and their staff.
Then, Napoleon can negotiate a general peace treaty where France gains these borders in exchange for :
- renouncing to any presence on the right bank of the Rhine (Holland retains its independance although diminished, the Rhine confederacy is dissolved and replace by the german confederacy as OTL),
- renouncing any presence in Italy (Piedmont is restored although letting Savoy and Nice to France),
- returning to the pre-war border with Spain.
And he gets half of Switzerland as compensation.
Thanks fhaessig, could you go more detailed about that Austrian offer of 1813?Easy enough. The first 4 which come to mind are:
1) Louis XIV accepts the Dutch offer of Peace
2) Louis XV does not give back the Spanish Netherlands
3) Napoleon does not come to power; 2nd coalition is crushed by French armies with no further annexions. No further coalition
4) Napoleon accepts Austria's offer in 1813
More challenging: 'France is a country bordered by rivers. It's natural borders are the Rhine, the Ebre and the Po'
fhaessig said:More challenging: 'France is a country bordered by rivers. It's natural borders are the Rhine, the Ebre and the Po'
Matteo, thanks for your quick and detailed reply, but what would force Napoleon to make this kind of series of territorial exchanges? Also I wrote natural frontier, because since Louis XIV this was the French aim and they called it like this.
The problem there is Switzerland.Easy enough. The first 4 which come to mind are:
1) Louis XIV accepts the Dutch offer of Peace
2) Louis XV does not give back the Spanish Netherlands
3) Napoleon does not come to power; 2nd coalition is crushed by French armies with no further annexions. No further coalition
4) Napoleon accepts Austria's offer in 1813
More challenging: 'France is a country bordered by rivers. It's natural borders are the Rhine, the Ebre and the Po'
Thanks fhaessig, could you go more detailed about that Austrian offer of 1813?
The problem there is Switzerland.
Considerably less territory than the OP map wants. Plenty of countries have held peripheral areas of Switzerland at various times.Yes, the only time the French controled them OTL is during the revolution/empire time
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Former_departments_of_France_in_Switzerland
Well I have always thought the natural borders of France was the Seine and Rhone.