British Civil War: Industrialists vs the Nobility

With a POD of 1800-1900, would it be possible for the newly rich industrialists to decide to attempt seize power of the country? Most (if not all) were robber barons so they certainly wouldn't have any moral obligations not to do so. Would it really be unlike them to want absolute control of Britain? There was the whole "noveau riche" thing and being absolutely resented by the peerage. For those that say they were solely concerned with wealth with no interest in power, their goal could be an semi-feudal anarcho-capitalist state, which I'm fairly sure would maximize their profits.

And if it is possible for them to start it, whats the probably of them actually succeeding? I'm no expert on British military history, but weren't the vast majority of the officers at the time of the 19th century from wealthy families rather than noble ones? Would the soldiers under their command be willing to betray the crown for economic gain? I imagine that the Royal Navy couldn't be much help in this scenario, if most didn't defect to the Industrialists' ("Father's") cause. And the Industrialists could easily afford to build up and train their own militias. So what do you think? Thank you for answering.
 
With a POD of 1800-1900, would it be possible for the newly rich industrialists to decide to attempt seize power of the country? Most (if not all) were robber barons so they certainly wouldn't have any moral obligations not to do so. Would it really be unlike them to want absolute control of Britain? There was the whole "noveau riche" thing and being absolutely resented by the peerage. For those that say they were solely concerned with wealth with no interest in power, their goal could be an semi-feudal anarcho-capitalist state, which I'm fairly sure would maximize their profits.

And if it is possible for them to start it, whats the probably of them actually succeeding? I'm no expert on British military history, but weren't the vast majority of the officers at the time of the 19th century from wealthy families rather than noble ones? Would the soldiers under their command be willing to betray the crown for economic gain? I imagine that the Royal Navy couldn't be much help in this scenario, if most didn't defect to the Industrialists' ("Father's") cause. And the Industrialists could easily afford to build up and train their own militias. So what do you think? Thank you for answering.

So, you're asking for a more violent version of what happened IOTL? The power of the industrialists had always been growing, but what blew the curve was the explosion of cheap food from North America on the markets in Britain starting in the 1870s. The gentry couldn't compete with the price of this food, and their power waned. Eventually the inheritance tax in the early 20th Century killed off most of the power of the old estates.

A better question is why would the industrialists stop to cheat when it was obvious for decades that they were going to have the upper hand anyways? A civil war would be terribly bad for business.
 
A better question is why would the industrialists stop to cheat when it was obvious for decades that they were going to have the upper hand anyways? A civil war would be terribly bad for business.

Because they would be much, much richer right now. This is the 1800's we're talking about here, why would they wait for decades when they would be dead? It's not a movement, just plain ol' selfish schemes.
 
With a POD of 1800-1900, would it be possible for the newly rich industrialists to decide to attempt seize power of the country? Most (if not all) were robber barons so they certainly wouldn't have any moral obligations not to do so. Would it really be unlike them to want absolute control of Britain? There was the whole "noveau riche" thing and being absolutely resented by the peerage. For those that say they were solely concerned with wealth with no interest in power, their goal could be an semi-feudal anarcho-capitalist state, which I'm fairly sure would maximize their profits.

And if it is possible for them to start it, whats the probably of them actually succeeding? I'm no expert on British military history, but weren't the vast majority of the officers at the time of the 19th century from wealthy families rather than noble ones? Would the soldiers under their command be willing to betray the crown for economic gain? I imagine that the Royal Navy couldn't be much help in this scenario, if most didn't defect to the Industrialists' ("Father's") cause. And the Industrialists could easily afford to build up and train their own militias. So what do you think? Thank you for answering.


Yeah HIGHLY unlikely. First off your assuming that the Industrialists could succeed in a coup. That in itself is unlikely. The army and navy were loyal to the Government and had little reason to want to replace them with Robber Barons. Second, many of the officers were from NOBLE families, rather then rich ones, up until the 1870s I believe. So no help there. Third, militias SUCK against trained soldiers. That's a fact. And raising and training militias isn't gonna go unnoticed by the Government, who can have the leaders rounded up and arrested for high treason. So in all this scenario is practically ASB.
 
Remember that the really unscrupulous ones like George Hudson usually came a right cropper and ended up bankrupt or worse. Takeovers COST MONEY and the "we want it now" mentality actually doesn't work in favour of a takeover as it takes time, long term planning and LOTS OF MONEY which could be better spent on a lavish lifestyle or expanding the business.
(Rest of what I was going to say said by Emperor Constantine in the above post)
 
Yeah HIGHLY unlikely. First off your assuming that the Industrialists could succeed in a coup. That in itself is unlikely. The army and navy were loyal to the Government and had little reason to want to replace them with Robber Barons. Second, many of the officers were from NOBLE families, rather then rich ones, up until the 1870s I believe. So no help there. Third, militias SUCK against trained soldiers. That's a fact. And raising and training militias isn't gonna go unnoticed by the Government, who can have the leaders rounded up and arrested for high treason. So in all this scenario is practically ASB.

Ah, well. I knew it was too could to be true.
 
Because they would be much, much richer right now. This is the 1800's we're talking about here, why would they wait for decades when they would be dead? It's not a movement, just plain ol' selfish schemes.

They're already incredibly rich. It's easier to just grow your money and then marry your kids off to highborn families in need of cash. That way you get wealth and status.

Also since the industrialists already had huge political influence which was just growing, why bother? After all wouldn't your daughter look nice as the Duchess of Denborough even if her husband would be some slack jawed noble idiot with nothing but a fancy name and a very nice country estate? Why kill him off when you can just sideline him and essentially buy his title for your grandkids?
 
Most of the industrialists were inducted into the nobility - look at the Wedgwoods etc.

IMHO you need the king to have a violent opposition to this - which requires a reactionary monarch since this practice was growing throughout the 18th century.

Maybe Ernest Augustus would have filled the criteria? He would certainly have added an additional level of divisiveness into the mix

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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