How long could you prevent Britain from getting into the Napolonic Wars?

I'm starting an Tl and I need Britain to sit out of them for hopefully all of it but five to ten years is okay. Is it possible?
 
It really depends on the circumstances. But in no way can Britain allow a hegemony of the European continent by one nation. They must form coalition to bring France down to size.
 
It really depends on the circumstances. But in no way can Britain allow a hegemony of the European continent by one nation. They must form coalition to bring France down to size.

Or find some way of stopping the French from forming the hegemony in the first place...
 
It really depends on the circumstances. But in no way can Britain allow a hegemony of the European continent by one nation. They must form coalition to bring France down to size.
I wanna Napoleon (or descendant) to lead France to help Britain out in the 1820's. Possible?
 
I wanna Napoleon (or descendant) to lead France to help Britain out in the 1820's. Possible?

Depends what you mean by "to help Britain out". Britain didn't need much help in the 1820s, so presumably you have a particular thing in mind. Also, you've got a big problem from the start in that the way Napoleon came to power was an insult to British ideals of anti-tyrannical and pro-responsible government. Note, for example, that the British refused to sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1814 where Napoleon abdicated his throne and accepted (for the first time of two) that he had lost the Napoleonic Wars, even though Napoleon had been Emperor for 10 years and had been defeated, because they still refused to accept that Napoleon - as a ruler via an illegal coup d'etat - had the right to even presume that he was allowed to attempt diplomacy. They didn't recognise anything with his name on as legal, even an abdication. It's going to be virtually impossible to get the two countries cooperating in the short or medium terms or until Napoleon and his successors are gone.
 
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I suspect that the only possible reason for Britain not getting involved in the Napoleonic Wars would be that they already had some very serious problems elsewhere. For example:

- Massive domestic unrest. With the government terrified of revolution, they are unwilling to enter into an unpopular foreign war.

- Wars elsewhere. You'd need more than one.

- Economic collapse. If the government is bankrupt, then they can't afford a war.

Unfortunately, none of this is very plausible (especially the economic collapse scenario). So I think that the short answer to your question is 'No'.
 
Well, you could just have the Austrians be in a much stronger position after the war, and let them decide that a French Emperor raised by them and under their effective control is a good idea..

Or have Brittan somehow undergo a revolution or something.
 
let them [Austrians] decide that a French Emperor raised by them and under their effective control is a good idea..

I'm not sure how likely Napoleon is to accept being an Austrian client, though. He's sure to try to manipulate himself free pretty quickly.
 
It would help if we knew how early the POD was - can Great Britain be kept out of the First Coalition?

If not, then surely the best way to stop GB entering the subsequent Coalitions is to have them lose pretty badly in the First. A successful French expedition to Ireland maybe? Or just a better & luckier French navy; if the Royal Navy can be tamed, the Brits may still be licking their wounds when Napoleon comes along.
 
It really depends on the circumstances. But in no way can Britain allow a hegemony of the European continent by one nation. They must form coalition to bring France down to size.

Yup this is the problem- British foreign policy for roughly the past 300 years has hinged on preventing any one Power from dominating Europe.
 
Yup this is the problem- British foreign policy for roughly the past 300 years has hinged on preventing any one Power from dominating Europe.
Thats it in a nutshell, really. And at this point in history Britain was beginning to industrialize. It was very wealthy and powerful- in fact the only country that could really threaten Britain was...France.

So the British would do whatever they could to prevent French hegemony on the Continent. And, as History shows, they could do a great deal.
 
I'm starting an Tl and I need Britain to sit out of them for hopefully all of it but five to ten years is okay. Is it possible?

Boom22

Just to clarify do you mean out of the Napoleonic Wars or out of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars? Suspect you mean the latter but there is quite a difference.

May be able to keep Britain out of the Revolutionary wars, for quite a while if two things occur:

a) Louis XVI is not executed but a limited monarchy is established, possibly he is persuaded to abdicate in favour of his son, with a moderate regency. In which case you don't have the royal execution and bloodbath of the aristocrats that angers the British establishment. You would probably continue to have widespread public support of the revolution in Britain, albeit that the government and establishment will be keeping a careful eye on things. Down side of this is that you may have no revolutionary wars but possibly some clashes between the French government and the more reactionary continental monarchy that Britain decides are not in its interests.

b) For this you would need to have the French having only limited success and not getting radicalised by the conflict. If they start exporting the revolution or gain control of the Low Countries British attention will increase significantly and the government will turn against French interests. However could have some sort of fairly chaotic war that sees no one make big gains, especially in Belgium, but a fair amount of death and destruction. Possibly later on France starts to win big and Britain feels inclined to intervene. This may not be very effective for a while however as it will take some time and defeats to clear the deadwood from the system in the British army.

To get a situation where a Napoleonic France has the Rhineland and becomes a friend/ally to Britain in the 1820's you will need a radically different Napoleon. Possibly the limited monarchy in France ultimately fails and Napoleon is the successful military commander who rescues it, but without becoming a self-proclaimed emperor and despot in his own right. Might be able to have him more moderate without the power going to his head. Possibly, although difficult with a Borbon monarchy would be to have him married into it and assume power that way. That would be a lot less antagonistic to the other royal dynasties but you would need to have him willing to accept a limited success of France retaining its territory and making some small gains, say in the Rhineland, without seeking to dominant Europe totally.

One other problem with a prolonged period of conflict in Europe without Britain involved is where are the funds coming from. France largely funded its empire by conquest and loot whereas the allies were generally depended on considerable funds from Britain. With a more moderate and financially exhausted France that isn't basing its army on occupied territory [since its not seeing the dramatic successes of OTL] and their opponents not having British funds it could be a very stop-start conflict with much smaller forces involved.

Steve
 
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