PC: Vive Roi Bernadotte!

How plausible would be for Bernadotte to be actually installed on the french throne in 1815?

Tsar Alexander kept more or less promising it to him from 1809 to 1815, and B. tried to keep relations with ex-monarchic, ex-republican and bonapartists officers in france (with mixed success).
He was viewed as a "constitutional" monarch (sort of Charles X ante litteram), which was surely something more palatable to Britain (an maybe even to Paris) than Louis XVIII's strict "ancient regime" view of the world.
Leaving Sweden's throne vacant (B. could not pretend to have both) coud make things far smoother in Denmark, since the promise of acquiring Norway (at Denmark's expenses) could have been ditched without anybody complaining too loud.
Also, the thing could somehow reassure Prussia, since there was a sizeable swedish army in Pomerania and with an ambitious man as B. at its head, some of the swedish historical claim to part of those lands could be renwed (while, as a king who was about to swap throne, he would have little thought to it).

The main problem, of course would be that it would be a gross violation of the Legitimity principle.
But, OTL, there was ANY state at all (apart from France) where the Legitimity principle was actually applied?
rapid check: Denmark: no (norway), Belgium: no (eaten by holland), Holland: no (republic turned kingdom), Switzerland: no (kept napoleonic restructuration), various germanic lands: no (idem, plus Prussia eating bits), Naples: no (Murat), various north italian lands: no (used as a spare change box to settle accounts/accomodate peoples): Spain: no (colonies, and anyhow Ferdy was reinstalled by Nap, not by the allies), Poland: no (eaten by russia).
Maybe just Portugal.

Another possible problem could be that a vacant swedish throne could give Alexander ambition of putting a puppet of him there.
This would probably make Austria and Prussia happy (Russia looking at scandinavia would look less to germany), but british eyebrows would surely frown.

So, in summary:
1) Was it possible?
2) How to achieve it?
3) What to do with poor Louis Stanislas Xavier?

bernadotte.gif
 
To have Joseph Bernadotte become french king with Russian backing they cant have him moving off with the swedish forces to take on Denmark alone while the rest fought Napoleon.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
It's an interesting idea and I gave it some thought today. The problem with Bernadotte is his hesitancy to commit to bold action except in the heat of battle. He sat out the 18 Brumaire because he was unable to commit himself to a coup and equally unwilling to oppose it. In that vein his behavior throughout 1813 reflects his unability to commit to a course of action. He was interested in becoming King of France but was unwilling to give up on Sweden first. And in order to keep the Swedish crown viable he had to secure its independence and conquest of Norway. It wasn't so much a case of plans within plans as pragmatic diplomacy.

Thus after Leipzig he had to move against Denmark to secure Norway. More than that Denmark had through the entire campaign leading up to Leipzig threatened his communications and supply lines to Sweden so in that sense it was a practical necessity to neutralize it. Moreover his own treaties with the allies stipulated that Sweden should acquire Norway with allied support before the campaign against France. And he had to ensure that Denmark was beaten before it could make a separate peace with the allies that would endanger his plans to acquire Norway.

The other issue is that Bernadotte was afraid of leading the invasion of France lest he be seen as a traitor. In some respects this is a reasonable fear given the reputation that Marmont had after the war (the ragusade). He was also pushing for a France with the Rhine frontier at a time when the allies were no longer willing to consider it. In the end he was interested in the French crown and willing to accept it but unwilling to take it. His actions seem to reflect a hope that the allies and the French people would simply give it to him if he showed up in the right place and the right time. This never happened.

So one possibility is to make Bernadotte more committed to acquiring the French crown. This would mean throwing Sweden aside, which is very risky, but if he forgoes the campaign in Denmark and concentrates his energies on France its possible. Its just generally not in his character to take such a bold action. Otherwise he needs to remain useful to the allies for longer so they don't cast him aside so readily. I'm not sure how to do that if he's not leading the allied armies into France.

There are a couple of other interesting opportunities though. At one point after Leipzig the Bourbons made contact with Bernadotte via the Prince of Conde, whom Bernadotte greatly respected, and promised to make him Generalissimo of the Armies of France if he would aid the Bourbon restoration. I could see some scenarios where if he accepts that post he then overthrows the Bourbons, perhaps as early as the Hundred Days. If Bernadotte saves France from the return of Napoleon the allies may let him stay on as King rather than an unpopular Bourbon who fled at the first sign of trouble.

More drastically if Bernadotte never becomes Crown Prince of Sweden he may stand a better chance. In some respects this makes an allied victory harder without Bernadotte to aid them and coordinate tactics but if we imagine Bernadotte in Paris in place of Marmont the day almost certainly ends with a coup and Bernadotte proclaimed King of France.

As for a Bernadotte monarchy, he'd definitely be a King. Talking of post-Napoleonic France he said that "France does not want an Emperor... France wants a King". He has three choices as I see it Jean III, keeping the Capetian numbering, Jean Baptiste a la Louis Philippe or Henry V. The later reflects his adoration of Henry IV, who was also from Bearn. After all he added Karl to his name when he went to Sweden so why not Henry for France? To some degree the choice of regnal name will be tied to the nature of his monarchy. Is it like Louis Philippe's a constitutional regime, a popular monarchy of a new continuity or is it linked to the traditional Kings of the past? I think Henri V kind of splits the difference. It invokes the good parts of the past, theoretically adheres to traditional numbering but is also somewhat 'artificial' as an adopted name so its a conscious decision about creating an identity for France. Perhaps he even takes a page from Sweden and goes with Henri V Jean Baptiste, though that's quite a mouthful.

I do think there's a possibility depending on the circumstances of Bernadotte assuming power that he could incorporate Belgium into France. The allies may not be willing to give him the Rhine frontier but the southern Netherlands are a possibility. After all William I only really secured them by sending in some troops before the borders were drawn at Vienna. As for Louis XVIII I assume he stays in exile. The allies were never really rooting for him so he's probably cast aside at Vienna. I think Norway is the bigger question. Probably its retained by Denmark though a lot depends on the exact circumstances specifically if Bernadotte still extracts the Treaty of Kiel from them before moving on to France.
 
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