AHC and WI: the French Revolutionary Wars end in 1792

This is just a thought of mine, maybe an interesting POD to make a TL from. But how could this be possible? How could France stay a republic, while stopping the wars all over Europe after having annexed the Austrian Netherlands and the Rhineland?
And what would the implications and consequences be?
(By the way, this will obviously butterfly away the Napoleonic Wars!)

Thanks for all input :)
 
This is just a thought of mine, maybe an interesting POD to make a TL from. But how could this be possible? How could France stay a republic, while stopping the wars all over Europe after having annexed the Austrian Netherlands and the Rhineland?
And what would the implications and consequences be?
(By the way, this will obviously butterfly away the Napoleonic Wars!)

Thanks for all input :)

German nationalism gets a little delayed. Once German nationalism goes to the forefront, then things will get interesting in France.
 
Thanks, I hadn't thought of that! :)

And, does anybody have any ideas (reasons) how this could be possible? What moment could be a decent POD?
 
I would say that you have to make it somehow acceptable for other countries to make peace with France. Maybe Louis XVI escapes to Austria, or at least isn't executed. The French revolutionaries make it clear that the revolution is a French internal affair only and aren't planning to export it to other countries. In short, you need a very different French revolution.

BTW one consequence will be that the Netherlands does not become a kingdom and the Cape, Ceylon and western Guyana will remain Dutch. Also various political problems that existed in the Netherlands will remain unsolved (a Dutch revolution/revolt at a later stage might happen, but only if foreign powers won't interfere).
 
Thank youuu!

Do you know what a relatively 'easy' POD could be to change the French Revoltion so that this is possible?

Start with Louis XVI making it to Austria in 1791 rather than getting caught a long ways away from the border. It would probably help if he didn't try to flee with multiple carriages, although the entire escape attempt was quite the clusterfuck. Plenty of things that could have made a difference had they been fixed.
 
Or have Louis decide not to escape. Instead he tries to agree a peace with Prussia and Austria to gain popularity, and convinces them at the negotiating table that that's the best way to get him back into power.
 
Find a way for France to end up as a constitutional monarchy like its British rival -it might make it more palatable for other European powers to leave France be when they see that the fate of the French monarchy and nobility in the Reign of Terror in OTL isn't a preview of their own.
 
Maybe have Louis XVI put himself at the head of the Revolution. Leading it instead of fighting it. If he was seen as siding with the common people against the Nobility and Church then we might just get a more stable French Constitutional Monarchy.
 
Maybe have Louis XVI put himself at the head of the Revolution. Leading it instead of fighting it. If he was seen as siding with the common people against the Nobility and Church then we might just get a more stable French Constitutional Monarchy.

Against the nobility perhaps, but I'm not sure waging war against the Church would be a good idea. While you had militant anti-Catholics among the political class, the poor masses largely considered themselves good Catholics. The aspects they disliked about the Church was the nobility in the church, rather than the church itself.
 
Start with Louis XVI making it to Austria in 1791 rather than getting caught a long ways away from the border. It would probably help if he didn't try to flee with multiple carriages, although the entire escape attempt was quite the clusterfuck. Plenty of things that could have made a difference had they been fixed.
I like this idea most so far.
But will the European monarchs set at rest with Louis XVI surviving? Is that enough?
 
I like this idea most so far.
But will the European monarchs set at rest with Louis XVI surviving? Is that enough?

Honestly, now that I've thought about it, that could well make it worse. Austria and the others were pretty well determined to restore the French monarchy even without an obvious candidate to put on the throne. Give them one, and they'll be more determined, not less. I hadn't thought about putting Louis at the head of the Revolution rather than fighting it, (ironic, since he did stay king for quite a while) but that's probably the only way to convince anyone outside of France that there's no need to go to war over anything.
 
How and when would that be possible?

In April to June 1793.

One possibility: If Marat and Hebert (and Hanriot with them) are condemned instead of acquitted in April, or if the riots of 31 May and 2 June are met with a whiff of grapeshot, then the Girondins will not be expelled from the convention. Given that, the 73 will not not be expelled either.
 
Honestly, now that I've thought about it, that could well make it worse. Austria and the others were pretty well determined to restore the French monarchy even without an obvious candidate to put on the throne. Give them one, and they'll be more determined, not less. I hadn't thought about putting Louis at the head of the Revolution rather than fighting it, (ironic, since he did stay king for quite a while) but that's probably the only way to convince anyone outside of France that there's no need to go to war over anything.
OK thanks, yeah you're right now I think of it too.
 
In April to June 1793.

One possibility: If Marat and Hebert (and Hanriot with them) are condemned instead of acquitted in April, or if the riots of 31 May and 2 June are met with a whiff of grapeshot, then the Girondins will not be expelled from the convention. Given that, the 73 will not not be expelled either.
Yay thanks, will be considered as a POD.
 
Maybe have Louis XVI put himself at the head of the Revolution. Leading it instead of fighting it. If he was seen as siding with the common people against the Nobility and Church then we might just get a more stable French Constitutional Monarchy.

He didn't need to appear opposed to the Church. In its early years the Revolution's attitude towards religion was less hostile than it would later become. The National Assembly of 1789-91 aimed to curb the powers of the Church (mostly so it could confiscate and sell some of its land for revenue), but even in this regard it was following a French tradition of state intervention in religious matters. The National Assembly changed the organizational structure of the Church but did not interfere with people's right to worship. It was the Convention that would go much further.

Pope Pius VI put Louis in a difficult position by rejecting all of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Louis had urged him to offer his approval to at least some of it but he refused. In the long run this only fueled anticlerical attitudes among the revolutionaries, which in turn fueled an anti-revolutionary backlash, both in France and elsewhere. If Pius could have reached some kind of accord, Louis may not have felt compelled to flee, and perhaps conflict avoided altogether.
 
He didn't need to appear opposed to the Church. In its early years the Revolution's attitude towards religion was less hostile than it would later become. The National Assembly of 1789-91 aimed to curb the powers of the Church (mostly so it could confiscate and sell some of its land for revenue), but even in this regard it was following a French tradition of state intervention in religious matters. The National Assembly changed the organizational structure of the Church but did not interfere with people's right to worship. It was the Convention that would go much further.

Pope Pius VI put Louis in a difficult position by rejecting all of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Louis had urged him to offer his approval to at least some of it but he refused. In the long run this only fueled anticlerical attitudes among the revolutionaries, which in turn fueled an anti-revolutionary backlash, both in France and elsewhere. If Pius could have reached some kind of accord, Louis may not have felt compelled to flee, and perhaps conflict avoided altogether.
wow that's intersting and helpful, thank you
 
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