napoleon loses the battle of austerlitz

Saphroneth

Banned
For a PoD, let's say that Davout's forced march fails to plug the gap and that IV Corps remains on the heights. Austerlitz was a dangerously planned battle, so it's conceivable the battle comes unstuck.
 
depends on the degree of losing.

if it's a minor loss/draw, the French forces will have an opportunity to maneuver and win the next battle.

if it's a major loss, the butterflies are pretty big.

The battle basically put an end to Russia and Austria in the coalition. Change that up, this version of the war is going a lot differently. I don't think it automatically spells an end to France, but life is a lot different for them. My kneejerk reaction is that France still manages an overall victory, but it'll take them a little bit.

Spain was debating leaving Nap and taking up arms against him, but Nap's surprising ease of victory (I think it was against Prussia a little earlier) backed them off. If things went well enough for Austria/Russia, you might see Spain join them, and even though they aren't really much of a force, they do open up a new front and a can of worms for France. At a minimum, an ongoing war in the east means a completely different scenario for the Iberian invasion.
 
and this was, I think, prior to the disastrous continental system (one of Nap's biggest blunders, IMO). the OTL victory gave France the complete hegemony over Europe/Russia necessary to implement the CS. This is, IMO, a case of addition by subtraction. France could actually benefit by not being able to impose the CS.
 
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