France loses Elzas-Lotharingen and Corsica before 1815

The strip of land that the French lost to Prussia in the Franco-Prussian war.

Don't care to whom. It can be Prussia, it can be Austria, it can be an independent German principality. Als long as it is in German hands.

Corsica to the Two Sicilies, Sardinia-Piedmont, independent..?

Is this possible? Is it possible during the Congress of Vienna?
 
Corsica could have been lost in the revolutionary wars, when it was supported by the British.

As for Alsace-Lorraine, we should note that it was created as a political territory in 1871, when Prussia sought to annex the areas that had German speakers and/or coal deposits. I'm not sure the circumstances (nationalism, industralization, powerful German state in the west) exist in the pre-1815 Europe for the statesmen to think of separating it from France. I think you would have change a lot.
 
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Corsica could have been lost in the revolutionary wars, when it was supported by the British.

As for Alsace-Lorraine, we should note that it was created as a political territory in 1871, when Prussia sought to annex the areas that had German speakers and/or coal deposits. I'm not sure the circumstances (nationalism, industralization, powerful German state in the west) exist in the pre-1815 Europe for the statesmen to think of separating it from France. I think you would have change a lot.
It could be Baden as wel to gaim the region.
 
Very easily, Talleyrand played a weak hand incredibly well, take him out and instead of him playing the Allies off against each other the Allies deal with their disagreements (e.g. over Saxony) by taking land off the French.
 
As for Alsace-Lorraine, we should note that it was created as a political territory in 1871, when Prussia sought to annex the areas that had German speakers and/or coal deposits. I'm not sure the circumstances (nationalism, industralization, powerful German state in the west) exist in the pre-1815 Europe for the statesmen to think of separating it from France. I think you would have change a lot.
Nationalism definitely exists; the French Revolution was driven to a large degree on it, and the 1848 revolutions were all about national-liberalism. People did demand the Alsace for Germany (i.e. the German Confederation) at Vienna; it was just those were people nobody listened to like activist students. But the sentiment was there, at least. Baden also tried to win the Alsace, and Württemberg Baden and Alsace both, but those were pipedreams by German middle/small powers. Even so, maybe some rearrangement could be done at Vienna, if the principle that the Kingdom of France is to be fully restored in its old borders is to be dropped.

Baden could gain Alsace, and in return lose Leiningen, Fürstenberg and its Bodensee territories (those weird appendages sticking out eastwards in the north and the south) to Württemberg, becoming a strip of land on both sides of the Rhine. And as for Bavaria, if it somehow gets less Franconia, it might be compensated with a larger area west of the Rhine... say, Palatinate, Trier/Mosel, Saar and Metz (and the Lorraine part of Alsace-Lorraine was basically Metz).

The only problem is that if the principle of the integrity of the Kingdom of France falls, I'd rather expect more territory to become German, like maybe all of the former Duchy of Lorraine...
 
Well, sure. This thread happens and then France loses a major war pretty badly before Stanislaus, Duke of Lorraine, dies in 1766. The Treaty of Vienna is abrogated by the great powers and the Duchy of Lorraine is removed from the French administration/sphere.
 
Well, sure. This thread happens and then France loses a major war pretty badly before Stanislaus, Duke of Lorraine, dies in 1766. The Treaty of Vienna is abrogated by the great powers and the Duchy of Lorraine is removed from the French administration/sphere.

I appreciate the shout-out, but I must admit there are far more likely ways than a Theodoran victory for Corsica to escape France prior to 1815. A poorer relationship between Genoa and Spain could have resulted in Spain/Naples making a play for the island, as the rebels had already offered Don Carlos the crown. A War of Austrian Succession that goes far better for the Anglo-Austrian-Sardinian alliance in Italy - a good POD for this might be a failed Genoese uprising in 1746 - could result in Genoa losing significant territory at the peace table, with Corsica probably going either to Sardinia or Habsburg Tuscany. You could have a POD in the SYW, when the Duke of Newcastle proposed occupying the island to use it as a base for privateers against the French; while Genoa was not a belligerent, their pro-French bias was obvious and Britain might not want to give up the position after the war. All of those possibilities don’t just detach Corsica from France, they prevent France from ever getting Corsica at all. From 1768 on, a British intervention in the Corsican Crisis could prevent France from making good on the sale of the island, or the Anglo-Corsican kingdom could have a better run and British control could be confirmed at Vienna.

And that’s not even counting the crazy/implausible ideas that were proposed IOTL, like the Knights of Malta acquiring the island from Genoa, Theodore selling it to the House of Stuart as a consolation prize for losing Britain, or Maurice de Saxe proposing that he might invade the island and make himself king after the WoAS.

Unlike Lorraine, which was a long-time objective of the French, Corsica was something of an afterthought which only fell into French hands because of Choiseul’s desire to salvage some victory for France after the disastrous Seven Years War. Any number of 18th century PODs could have thrown the island to somebody else, or even kept it with the Genoese.
 
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