Napoleonic PODs

I am thinking of making a TL where Napoleon wins his series of wars and, well, that's the basic PODs. I would like to know your opinion on them, if you please.

- Napoleon doesn't invade Spain. Instead he helps Spanish to take Gibraltar and splits Portugal into a) spanish holdings and b) independent kingdom with some of his marechals as king. He backs up Godoy and ties Spanish Bourbons to him via marriage. Joseph remains a king of Naples.
- Napoleon stations several divisions in Denmark after his victory over Prussia and after heavy struggle British lose battle of Copenhagen. The reason is either Danes want to improve their military because of the ongoing war or French intelligence service finds out about British plans.
- Napoleon doesn't annex Holland.
- Questionable. Napoleon attempts to encourage another Irish rising which may prove serious.
- Instead of attacking Russia Napoleon meets them on the defensive end in Poland and beats enemies.
- Bernadotte is not allowed to become king of Sweden due to his untrustworthiness.

Thus, Napoleon will have a stronger fleet and no problem with Iberia save for Portugal. The reason for me considering Danish fleet such a menace is that British have conducted such an operation.

So, after losing Gibraltar and having no hold in Europe and a rebellious Ireland... Will that knock the UK out of the war at least like at Amiens?

But 1809 war with Austria still happens and Napoleon marries Marie-Louise. He has a son and becomes more cautious. Tries to link up with remnants of French colonial Empire.
 
I am thinking of making a TL where Napoleon wins his series of wars and, well, that's the basic PODs. I would like to know your opinion on them, if you please.

- Napoleon doesn't invade Spain. Instead he helps Spanish to take Gibraltar and splits Portugal into a) spanish holdings and b) independent kingdom with some of his marechals as king. He backs up Godoy and ties Spanish Bourbons to him via marriage. Joseph remains a king of Naples.
- Napoleon stations several divisions in Denmark after his victory over Prussia and after heavy struggle British lose battle of Copenhagen. The reason is either Danes want to improve their military because of the ongoing war or French intelligence service finds out about British plans.
- Napoleon doesn't annex Holland.
- Questionable. Napoleon attempts to encourage another Irish rising which may prove serious.
- Instead of attacking Russia Napoleon meets them on the defensive end in Poland and beats enemies.
- Bernadotte is not allowed to become king of Sweden due to his untrustworthiness.

Thus, Napoleon will have a stronger fleet and no problem with Iberia save for Portugal. The reason for me considering Danish fleet such a menace is that British have conducted such an operation.

So, after losing Gibraltar and having no hold in Europe and a rebellious Ireland... Will that knock the UK out of the war at least like at Amiens?

But 1809 war with Austria still happens and Napoleon marries Marie-Louise. He has a son and becomes more cautious. Tries to link up with remnants of French colonial Empire.

Denmark was a minor annoyance to the British. At the time of Copenhagen the British could call upon around 100 Ships of the Line, the French had around 40 and the Danes 18. Spain had a further 40 or so.

Even if Spain and France were allied and they had the Danish fleet too, their ships would still be spread out across Europe and the British did and would catch them time and time again and defeat them in detail (just as Napoleon did on land to his enemies).

The key difference between land warfare and naval warfare is that crews in port do not gain experience - the quality of the RN crews was markedly superior to the French (and Spanish and Danes) and probably worth a extra 50% in any blue water battle.

If Napoleon wins on land thats a possibility - to win on land and sea is verging on the impossible.
 
I am thinking of making a TL where Napoleon wins his series of wars and, well, that's the basic PODs. I would like to know your opinion on them, if you please.

- Napoleon doesn't invade Spain. Instead he helps Spanish to take Gibraltar and splits Portugal into a) spanish holdings and b) independent kingdom with some of his marechals as king. He backs up Godoy and ties Spanish Bourbons to him via marriage. Joseph remains a king of Naples.
- Napoleon stations several divisions in Denmark after his victory over Prussia and after heavy struggle British lose battle of Copenhagen. The reason is either Danes want to improve their military because of the ongoing war or French intelligence service finds out about British plans.
- Napoleon doesn't annex Holland.
- Questionable. Napoleon attempts to encourage another Irish rising which may prove serious.
- Instead of attacking Russia Napoleon meets them on the defensive end in Poland and beats enemies.
- Bernadotte is not allowed to become king of Sweden due to his untrustworthiness.

Thus, Napoleon will have a stronger fleet and no problem with Iberia save for Portugal. The reason for me considering Danish fleet such a menace is that British have conducted such an operation.

So, after losing Gibraltar and having no hold in Europe and a rebellious Ireland... Will that knock the UK out of the war at least like at Amiens?

But 1809 war with Austria still happens and Napoleon marries Marie-Louise. He has a son and becomes more cautious. Tries to link up with remnants of French colonial Empire.

Austria sent to war in 1809 because France had put itself in a corner in Spain. If there is ni spanish quagmire, Austria will not go to war without a continental ally that could only be Russia.
 
Austria sent to war in 1809 because France had put itself in a corner in Spain. If there is ni spanish quagmire, Austria will not go to war without a continental ally that could only be Russia.


That's true. Didn't think about it just yet. Since Tilsit treaty is still valid and Naploeon is not in Spanish trouble they will probably not go into another war.
 
Denmark was a minor annoyance to the British. At the time of Copenhagen the British could call upon around 100 Ships of the Line, the French had around 40 and the Danes 18. Spain had a further 40 or so.

Even if Spain and France were allied and they had the Danish fleet too, their ships would still be spread out across Europe and the British did and would catch them time and time again and defeat them in detail (just as Napoleon did on land to his enemies).

The key difference between land warfare and naval warfare is that crews in port do not gain experience - the quality of the RN crews was markedly superior to the French (and Spanish and Danes) and probably worth a extra 50% in any blue water battle.

If Napoleon wins on land thats a possibility - to win on land and sea is verging on the impossible.

The idea I propose here is not that Franco-Spanish-Danish fleet combined will beat British but with suffering major defeats in Gibraltar and Copenhagen will make UK less willing to attack French.
 
The problem with supporting Spain is that the army was really bad and Godoy himself was widely unpopular with the conservative elements all basically hating him. If Napoleon supports Godoy, he's going to associate himself with one of the most unpopular figures in all of Spain who struggled to make any reforms even with the King backing him. With Copenhagen, all British forces really need to do is bombard the place and there's nothing France can do to stop them for it.
 
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