French accepts the Frankfurt proposals of 1813

In 1813 a Coalition peace initiative designed by Austrian minister Metternich was offered to French Emperor Napoleon I after he previous suffered a decisive military defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, the Frankfurt proposals detailed that Napoleon would remain as Emperor of France, but France would be reduced to its "natural frontiers." The natural frontiers in this case were the Pyrenees mountains, the Alps mountains, and the Rhine River. France would retain control of Belgium, Savoy and the Rhineland (the west bank of the Rhine River), while giving up control of all the rest, including all of Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, and most of Italy and Germany.

In OTL Napoleon, expecting to win the war, delayed too long and lost the opportunity to agree to the Frankfurt proposals, but what if he accepts the Frankfurt proposals believing it would give him time to rebuild and to strike again in the near future.

Frankfurt proposals wikipedia article

France in its "natural borders" as of 1801
457px-France_Departement_1801.svg.png
 
In 1813 a Coalition peace initiative designed by Austrian minister Metternich was offered to French Emperor Napoleon I after he previous suffered a decisive military defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, the Frankfurt proposals detailed that Napoleon would remain as Emperor of France, but France would be reduced to its "natural frontiers." The natural frontiers in this case were the Pyrenees mountains, the Alps mountains, and the Rhine River. France would retain control of Belgium, Savoy and the Rhineland (the west bank of the Rhine River), while giving up control of all the rest, including all of Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, and most of Italy and Germany.

In OTL Napoleon, expecting to win the war, delayed too long and lost the opportunity to agree to the Frankfurt proposals, but what if he accepts the Frankfurt proposals believing it would give him time to rebuild and to strike again in the near future.

Frankfurt proposals wikipedia article

France in its "natural borders" as of 1801
457px-France_Departement_1801.svg.png
It would be interesting how this would affect the mentality of French people in the long term. Also the German speaking people in Rhineland may be seen as ,lost tribe' by emerging German nationalism. Metternich may be seen as subject of hatred by radical German patriots. The French in the other hand are disappointed by their emperor who loses so much territory without a fight. Maybe there is serious opposition against Napoleon as an emperor and his Austria wife.
 
20/20 hindsight says things could only have gone better for Napoleon. Was there any realistic chance Nap could have won without a pause?

I think a pause to regroup works in his favor. Gives France a chance to rebuild, and the Allies a chance to splinter so that when hostilities resume, Nap has a chance to divide and conquer.
 
Napoleon died in 1821. I assume he'd live a few extra years if better taken care of. 1823? 1825?

Will there be an alternate version of the Congress of Vienna here? Perhaps an equivalent of the Polish-Saxon crisis will emerge and Napoleon could take advantage of that - Prussia gets Saxony, the Wettins get Posen and Congress Poland, Napoleon gets another friend, and the Russians get squat. Austria might be worried with a Polish state to the north, but that's nothing a promise of Ottoman territory can't fix.


France will still mostly be alone in Europe, with the exceptions of Naples and perhaps Sweden once Bernadotte becomes King. Bavaria too maybe. I wonder if Napoleon would support the Bavarian claim to Baden down the line.



If they're losing Maastricht and not gaining Limburg or the Southern Netherlands, what will the Dutch gain? The Cape Colony? Bentheim-Emsland-Friesland?
 
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If he accepts, that may be the end of the Napoleonic wars. I'm not sure this would be an interlude like Amiens. The Coalition can live with this outcome - the British will not like French control of Antwerp but after 20 years of war, their government probably concedes on this, maybe with an insistence that Antwerp is demilitarized.

For Napoléon, 1812 and 13 have gone terribly for his armies and there is growing discontent at home. He could justify his earlier wars as defending the régime (and the natural borders) but has no argument going forward. Now he probably has to be less dictatorial and give the legislature some authority.
 
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