Challenge: More unified Central Europe after Napoleon.

Ok, so I am helping a friend with an alternate historical fictional environment for his novel (the Swedish meaning of the word, that is a short story). His story will be a relation of another famous work, but set in an earlier time. What exactly is a secret, but I found the idea very interesting.

Anyway, there are some political prerequisites, and so I wish to know wether I can be made to work realistically, or if I need to bring in the ASB's.

So, here we go:

Your challenge is to bring about a MUCH more unified Europe, soon after Napoleon, or possibly earlier. It should preferably be based in the liberal idea's prevalent in the 1840's, but a unification by military force is acceptable.

1) The entity formed should be a federation, or a 'loose' republic. The republican government is de facto sovereign of all member 'states', but in reality most of the time the individual states get to run themselves with little intervention.

2) The official language should be German (although laws and such may be written in Latin), and German influence should be all around strong. The Republic's Capital, should be located in a German city, preferably Berlin. In daily life, however, the native language will be the most common.

3) The heartlands around the capital, while still consisting of many small independent states, should be heavily integrated in terms of industry, culture and educational system, with similar laws and living standards. The fringe areas should be much less so, with some even employing serfdom, and some without any public education and little industry. If eastern Europe is included, it should be like a 'wild east'.

4) The Republic should be run by a Senate (other name accepted), a democratic organ. There is an elected chancellor, who has veto rights, but can be overruled. Each individual state gets to send one Senator (for states that unify, they send the original numbers of senators), which is either the local monarch or his/her representative, or an elected official.

5) Eventually, a unified military system should be implemented. This too must be heavily German-influenced (particularly Prussian influence). The Senate may draft freely from all member states. Individual states may have their own small defense force, and supply their own police.

6) The republic should at least include all of OTL Germany, German Austria, and Northern Italy. Preferably it should include as much of Europe as possible (although all states don't need to join at one time). France is problematic, but a liberal revolution AFTER the republic has been created may provide more member states.

7) For some reason, the Prussian nobility should decide to take up east asian fencing and zen buddhism :D (this might provide some clues to where we are going...).

These are all difficult requirements, I realize, so I am prepared to invoke divine assistance. Thank you for any and all help provided.
 
Have Esterhazy accept Napoleon's offer and set up an independent Hungary thus breaking apart the remnants of Habsburg power. The Hungarians won't go back under afterwards, the Italians will probably get some sort of confederal over-arching structure, and with Austria a weak rump, perhaps not regaining land lost to Bavaria, you have very different dynamics in Central Europe to play with

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Have Esterhazy accept Napoleon's offer and set up an independent Hungary thus breaking apart the remnants of Habsburg power. The Hungarians won't go back under afterwards, the Italians will probably get some sort of confederal over-arching structure, and with Austria a weak rump, perhaps not regaining land lost to Bavaria, you have very different dynamics in Central Europe to play with

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

the issue with this is that a weaker Habsburg dynasty may be enough to keep Napoleon in power. Even if the Russian campaign goes as per OTL, without Schwarzenburg and his armies the balance of power in the German campaign of 1813 is a lot more even, and this changed strategic situation might well be enough for Napoleon to either triumph or salvage a draw. And a victorious napoleon at this stage of his career isn't going to tolerate any new opposition.

A draw may still work out, if one uses the confederation of the rhine as a building block for this german state. Hm. Maybe a peace of exhaustion; prussia gets neutered, and subsumed into this modified version of the confederation of the rhine. Or Austria does, to balance out losing Hungary (but whichever state isn't part of the confederation must be broken). Alt-Confed. is set up as a sort of buffer state between the two blocs. maybe this is something that can be worked with.

One other issue i foresee is that militarism along the prussian model doesn't really mesh well with a democratic system...
 
One other issue i foresee is that militarism along the prussian model doesn't really mesh well with a democratic system...

This is intended. Some friction between the "democratic" senate and the Prussian nobility will create a necessary plot device. Thanks for all the comments btw, a Napoleon that stays around might inspire a larger unification movement.
 
That would necessitate a much different outcome of the Vienna Congress, namely the elimination of the worst conservative/reatoration-oriented forces and a much more liberal Europe than what was agreed upon. Metternich comes to mind.
This abomination of a congress cemented the "long 19th century" which essentially ended in the trenches of France and Flanders.
 

Valdemar II

Banned
The question are also how much weaker the lack of Hungary and Galicia (I guess it goes to the Polish) would make the Habsburg, they still have a greater population than Prussia with just Bohemia, Slovenia and Austria (and would still be the biggest German state), through without Hungary it would likely try to expand more agressive in Germany, Italy and France after the victory. Plus the British would have a interest in supporting Austrian expansions in those territories to keep a strong alternative to France. I culd see Bavaria be treated like a defeated power, Switzerland would also be a easy victim of such treatment, while Savoy could be pushed somewhat west to give the entire old Milan and Venice to Austria
 
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