Hello, friends, I'm doing some research about the Napoleonic period, and especially post-Napoleonic. Obviously this was a period that witnessed fundamental transformations in European geopolitics, and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 sought to restore the "old" order (apparently championed by Metternich) and to restablish the balance of power between the nations.
Now, if we get Napoleon's rise and fall similar to what happened IOTL (disastrous invasion of Russia, defeat at Leipzig, Hundred Days, defeat in Waterloo, etc.), how plausible are those "modifications" to the terms of the Vienna Convention?
1) Prussia does not receives the Rhineland provinces, but instead the whole Kingdom of Saxony is annexed, or joined into a personal union with the King of Prussia, perhaps with some other minor states of the former Confederation of the Rhine as a bonus. Besides, it receives the territories resulting from the final partition of Poland, just like OTL
[IOTL, the Kingdom of Prussia received the Rhineland (which had been annexed by Revolutionary France), supposedly to act as bulwark against France, and 40% of Saxony, due to the fact that the Saxon King Frederick Augustus was considered a "collaborator" of France against the other German states. Now, I read that Prussia in fact pushed for the annexation of the whole of Saxony, but instead it continued existing, with minor territory, and with Frederick Augustus restored to the throne].
2) The Rhineland is either annexed to the Kingdom of Hannover or created as another independent German State (i.e. Kingdom of Rhineland, or something like that), with perhaps a prince from a minor German state as its new king.
[Simply adding it to Hannover I'm not sure if it's plausible, because at the time Hannover was in personal union with the UK, and the break-up that happened between the countries in the 1830s certainly wasn't predictable by 1815, as it happened because of the ascension of Queen Victoria. Also, I'm not sure if the Great Powers would want a smaller German state on the French border, at least not if it wasn't allied with another Great Power, such as Austria or Prussia].
3) Suggestion for an alternative partition of Poland? This one I don't know, but am interested to know if there were proposals in the debates. Considering Russia was perhaps the "biggest winner" of the Napoleonic Wars, I doubt the European powers in 1815 would deny giving it the most of Polish territory... as it happened with Congress Poland.
Is it plausible for Poland to remain an independent state, like the Duchy of Warsaw (one of France's most reliable allies), but ruled by a foreign king, perhaps a Romanov, or a Habsburg?
4) Alternate arrangements regarding Italy? After the wars, Austria was restored to its position in northern Italy (controlling Lombardy) which it held since before the Revolutionary Wars. Neverthless, could we see an alt-Kingdom of Lombardia-Venetia created, like IOTL, but without Francis I of Austria as its king? Perhaps giving it to another member of Habsburg family, or even giving it to an Italian prince, the Grand Duke of Tuscany (after all, Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany was a Habsburg prince).
Can anyone help?