Bourbon a la Bonaparte

[JonasResende]

I was daydreaming the other day and I thought of how France expanded/improved under Napoleon. I don't say Napoléon was all-great, but he was the all-great France "needed" at the time. What I was wondering was if such expansion/improvement would be possible under a French Bourbon king in the same period (1793-1815).

The Kingdom of France (1791-1792) was abolished in part due to the Brunswick Manifesto being issued. So, leave the constitutional monarchy in place, however Louis XVI still dies in 1793 (or earlier) except from something else. Louis XVII is declared king and leads France to greatness (he dies c.1840). Possible? Wankish?

 

[lucaswillen05]

Pre Revolutionary France was an absolutist monarchy. It was also in the midst of an economic crisis which is why the Estates General was called in the first place initiating the process that led to the French Revolution.

For the Bourbon monarchy to avoid the French Revolution it would have had to make a lot of concessions and resolve the economic crisis.

And for France to achieve the military victories of the earlier Napoleonic Wars raadical reforms are required and these are only possible with the French Revolution. Yes, other European countries implemented reforms after Napoleon defeated them but these reforms were rarely to the extent of those implemented in France under the Revolutionary Governments, the Directory or the Empire.

So, no, I don't think a continued Bourbon regime could have achieved what Napoleon achieved. And even he was rolled back after a few years.