Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
Challenge: With a POD after 1804, have the Rhineland become independent up to the modern day.
The Rehnish Republic actually faced resistance from the French occupational government themselves, along with their general view as traitors in the eyes of the German people, made the movement pretty unlikely to take off.The French would have liked to set up a Rhenish puppet state after each of the world wars, but as the example of the Saar protectorate showed, that probably doesn't qualify as independent.
If Switzerland could be somehow persuaded to annex both the Rhineland and Alsace Lorraine, creating a complete buffer between France and Germany in the 19th Century, two world wars might be avoided.
Last I heard, most Swiss DO speak German. And they learn High German in school at that. The Swiss ARE Germans. The more so prior to German Unification. There already are effectively three German states. It's just a matter of a workable border between them.