Is it possible for Napoleon to consolidate his Empire and have Britain accept his hegemony in the continent?
Napoleon failed to be seen as a liberator but a foreign monarch tyrant in the eyes of many common people in an age were nationalism emerged for the first time( like in the German states). So this people wouldn'd accept his hegemony.Is it possible for Napoleon to consolidate his Empire and have Britain accept his hegemony in the continent?
It's more than possible. Just have him avoid the Peninsular War, and he probably would have won with hundreds of thousands of soldiers from there freed up to move elsewhere.
In my opinion, people tend to exaggerate Napoleon's crazy plans and his inability to stop as part of the historiographical narrative that he was an evil tyrant who tried to conquer the "innocent" monarchies of Europe.
British historiography tends to see wars with France while forgetting the rest of Europe.I always assumed that came from British historiography that didn't want to consider the possibility that they might possibly lose a war with France.
British historiography tends to see wars with France while forgetting the rest of Europe.
See. It was always there when it came to fighting on land, where a decision had to be reached.Wait, there's a rest of Europe now?
If Napoleon didn't annex the Cisalpine Republic, and occupy the Helvetic Republic
You know, i've been wondering...
What happens to Dutch Indonesia and the Spanish Philippines in case of a napoleonic victory?
He only half failed in the German states since AFAIK he was seen as a liberator and a foreign monarch tyrant. He'd have had to divide and conquer by selling himself as the warrant for civil rights and economic modernization and in return demand that nationalism be restricted to the member states - which would have had to be larger. I suggest:Napoleon failed to be seen as a liberator but a foreign monarch tyrant in the eyes of many common people in an age were nationalism emerged for the first time( like in the German states). So this people wouldn'd accept his hegemony.
IMO the problem was that - at some time - he had to switch from expansion to consolidation.Spain was a mess and bound many ressources and soldiers. Reactionary statesmen like Fürst Metternicht wouldn"t accept a Bonaparte hegemony and would seek any oppurtunity to end it. Nevertheless Russia was obviously the beginning of the end.( I don't contribute any new facts but maybe this is even inaccurate?). Could it be that the later Napoleon's political instinct wasn't that sharp anymore ?