AHC: Save Europe's regional languages

But Napoleon liberalised his empire in OTL, didn't he? That's hardly being a very dictatorial dictator.

He did not federalize it; he ran it as a unitary state. He had specific liberal features like the Napoleonic Code and the emancipation of the Jews; however, legal codification, while an important government reform, is ultimately neutral between democracy and autocracy (Imperial China long had unified legal codes), and emancipation of the Jews was historically supported by a mixture of democrats and despots. Alexander VI flat out rejected expelling the Jews from the Papal States despite pressure from Spain to do so, as did his immediate successors; Henry VIII took in Jews who fled the Spanish Expulsion. Both were arguably the worst and most despotic rulers their respective countries had or would have for generations on either side.
 
Quite frankly I don't see how a federation could save regional languages. Even in Germany pre-unification did not save the various german dialects. Unless Europe is balkanized to the extreme keeping regional dialects will be difficult once central education come around.
 
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