DBWI France buys Corsica

The seventeenth century is full of weird territory swapping schemes, but one of the little known ones was a plan by the French to buy the Mediterranean island of Corsica from Genoa, thwarted apparently by the death of Louis XV. This is a good one just for its sheer pointlessness.

Is this an inconsequential what if or could something have actually come from this?
 
The seventeenth century is full of weird territory swapping schemes, but one of the little known ones was a plan by the French to buy the Mediterranean island of Corsica from Genoa, thwarted apparently by the death of Louis XV. This is a good one just for its sheer pointlessness.

Is this an inconsequential what if or could something have actually come from this?
The legendary mercenary Napoleone Buonaparte might have been a great French general instead.
 
The legendary mercenary Napoleone Buonaparte might have been a great French general instead.
Wouldn't that prevents the genoese resurgence? Without his prowess as a general I doubt they would have been able to retake the city of genoa or conquer sardina let alone the vast swaths of Italy they managed to get before being defeated by the french and the Austrians.
 
Last edited:
Wouldn't that prevents the genoese resurgence? Without his prowess as a general I doubt they would have been able to retake the city of genoa or conquer sardine let alone the vast swaths of Italy they managed to get before being defeated by the french and the Austrians.
It wouldn't just prevent the Genoese resurgence. Think about what Napoleone Buonaparte (Napoleon Bonaparte?) could have done with the resources of France behind him.

Then again, a French purchase of Corsica might just end up in people fleeing the island. I'm of the opinion that he, or his family, would have left if France were to purchase it.

Any ideas where he might flee to?
 
Buonaparte has something of a cult following in alternate history forums, but he has always struck me as something of a brigand. I doubt the French would commission him, and even if he became a French general, Moreau would have sidelined him after Brumaire. Its hard to see a convinced republican like Buonaparte agreeing to the restoration of the Bourbons anyway.
 
It wouldn't just prevent the Genoese resurgence. Think about what Napoleone Buonaparte (Napoleon Bonaparte?) could have done with the resources of France behind him.

Then again, a French purchase of Corsica might just end up in people fleeing the island. I'm of the opinion that he, or his family, would have left if France were to purchase it.

Any ideas where he might flee to?
Im not sure he would have benefited France too much, even if he had managed to become an important general in France I have my doubts that the bourbons would probably utilize him as an asset, they never did seem terribly good at using their resources to their fullest.
As to where they may move to? Can't say I know maybe somewhere in North Italy?
Would be a bad choice in hindsight, given it became the main battle ground of the franco-austrian wars.
 
I remember reading a TL with this premise where France buys Corsica and Buonaparte became a French general. The TL got kind of wanky with Buonaparte taking over France and conquering Europe but it was interesting nonetheless. I think if Corsica was bought by France it could delay Italian Unification by a good few decades or so, and probably under someone el
 
Didn't some relative of Buonaparte actually move to Maryland or somewhere? Or there was a plan to? Maybe they go there?
 
It wouldn't just prevent the Genoese resurgence. Think about what Napoleone Buonaparte (Napoleon Bonaparte?) could have done with the resources of France behind him.

Then again, a French purchase of Corsica might just end up in people fleeing the island. I'm of the opinion that he, or his family, would have left if France were to purchase it.

Any ideas where he might flee to?
He did have the full resources of the Ottoman Porte.After his exile from Genoa,the guy served the Ottoman Porte and eventually became the power behind the throne--the first of the hereditary Viziers.
 
Then again, a French purchase of Corsica might just end up in people fleeing the island. I'm of the opinion that he, or his family, would have left if France were to purchase it.

Any ideas where he might flee to?

Flee? Considering that Corsica was de facto independent at the time, if France had bought it they'd probably have to reconquer it - and could very possibly end up killing the Buonaparte family while doing so.
 
Flee? Considering that Corsica was de facto independent at the time, if France had bought it they'd probably have to reconquer it - and could very possibly end up killing the Buonaparte family while doing so.
Fair point. So essentially, if France were to buy Corsica, there's a very good chance there would be no Napoleone Buonaparte?
 
If France had taken ownership, the Corsican Revolution would have not existed as a template for the various constitutional, Enlightenment revolutions we saw across the Atlantic in the late 18th, early 19th Centuries. America would have likely remained British and France would never have flirted with republicanism.
 
If France had taken ownership, the Corsican Revolution would have not existed as a template for the various constitutional, Enlightenment revolutions we saw across the Atlantic in the late 18th, early 19th Centuries. America would have likely remained British and France would never have flirted with republicanism.

Well, they weren't technically an "Enlightened Republic", what with the whole 'Kingdom of Mary' thing, but yes I think religious monarchism would be more popular.

Not so sure about those last parts, though. I'm pretty sure America would have ended up breaking free no matter what by that point in time, bar ASBs of course. There'd probably just be a different government form - the Greater Kingdom of North America sound good?

As for France, well, buying Corsica wouldn't suddenly fix the country and stop the Civil War from happening - the Republican faction would likely still develop and fight, but without the example of Corsica they might be more religious or they might be weaker.
 
Well, they weren't technically an "Enlightened Republic", what with the whole 'Kingdom of Mary' thing, but yes I think religious monarchism would be more popular.

Not so sure about those last parts, though. I'm pretty sure America would have ended up breaking free no matter what by that point in time, bar ASBs of course. There'd probably just be a different government form - the Greater Kingdom of North America sound good?

As for France, well, buying Corsica wouldn't suddenly fix the country and stop the Civil War from happening - the Republican faction would likely still develop and fight, but without the example of Corsica they might be more religious or they might be weaker.

You are confusing the 1736 Kingdom with Paolo's 1768 Republic.
 
Top