AHC: Franco-Russian War

Tsao

Banned
With any POD after 1871 and before 1917, make France go to war with Russia in a war only involving the two powers and their minor allies.
 
Its just slightly outside of your requirements, but have the 1867-68 French mission to Japan go slightly differently, having the Republic of Ezo become a French protectorate. France and Russia fight over dominance in the Pacific sometime later (butterflies mean Paris is either able to continue to rely on Vienna to counter Berlin, or is somehow able to bring London into a tighter alliance).
 

Tsao

Banned
Its just slightly outside of your requirements, but have the 1867-68 French mission to Japan go slightly differently, having the Republic of Ezo become a French protectorate. France and Russia fight over dominance in the Pacific sometime later (butterflies mean Paris is either able to continue to rely on Vienna to counter Berlin, or is somehow able to bring London into a tighter alliance).

What would a Franco-Russian war in the late 1800s look like?
 
What would a Franco-Russian war in the late 1800s look like?

Well with the scenario I outlined most of the conflict would be in the Pacific, so France's superior navy trounces Russia's. On the other hand though they're a much longer way from home with limited supplies, and if the Russians can get a large force on the island Ezo is lost. Then there's also the Japanese, who are likely going to be allied with Russia ITTL. In a short war (4-8 weeks) I'd say France wins, but anything else is a Russian victory, all others things being equal.

Perhaps in a long war you see French naval operations in the Baltic, but that'd require both Britain and Germany/Prussia being agreeable to the situation, which is... unlikely. By the same token though neither of them is likely to want the Russians sallying forth from St. Petersburg into the North Sea so the war is likely going to be purely a colonial one, if no other major powers get involved.
 
Its just slightly outside of your requirements, but have the 1867-68 French mission to Japan go slightly differently, having the Republic of Ezo become a French protectorate. France and Russia fight over dominance in the Pacific sometime later (butterflies mean Paris is either able to continue to rely on Vienna to counter Berlin, or is somehow able to bring London into a tighter alliance).

Or you could go all in and say the whole Japan is under French influence due to the victory of the Shogunate over the Emperor. This could keep the Japanese under French domination, and the russian could try to continue what the english failed to do ITTL. But here i don't really know what the POD could be.
 
Technically France should have gone to war with Russia in 1877 when it invaded the Ottoman Empire as it was bound by the Treaty of Paris which ended the Crimean War to protect the Ottomans (as were the UK and Austria Hungary)

Practically this was politically impossible due to the Ottomans attrocities in Bulgaria which were mainly due to the use irregualrs to put down the revolts. If these attrocities didn't happen then it is possible that France might intervene to support the Ottomans (although fairly unlikely). The UK did in OTL to protect Istanbul and the Straits but I guess you could see an engagement between French and Russian land forces in the Balkans
 
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