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I was doing some reading for uni coursework about the causes of the 1848 revolutions in Germany and I came across this:
Liberal interest in the unification of Germany was quickened and deepened by the events of 1840. This was the year of the War Scare on the Rhine, a crisis which evoked an upsurge of national feeling comparable in intensity to that of 1813. France was out-manouvered by Britain over the Egyptian question in the summer of 1840. The French, irritated by their isolation in the Near East, sought to retrieve their prestige by pursuing an active foreign policy in Europe. Thiers, the new foreign minister, rattled the French sabre while the Paris press denounced the treaties of 1815 and called with enthusiasm for the immediate reconquest of the Rhineland which had been an integral part of France from 1792 to 1814. After the 1830 Revolution liberals in South and West Germany had been filled with admiration for France; overnight these friendly sentiments waned and were replaced by a mood of sharp hostility...

I thought that this might make a good PoD, as by butterflying away the war scare by preventing France from being 'out-manouvered' by Britain in Egypt in 1840 it would keep Francophile liberalism going in the South Germany, preventing liberalism and nationalism from merging and possibly leading to a separate South German state based on this Francophile liberalism. Unfortunately I can't seem to find much out about the 'Egyptian question' and thus how possible this would be. Can anybody help shed some light on this? Thanks.
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