Fearless Leader
Donor
An Idea came to my mind today, I want to bounce it off the rest of you guys to see what you think.
Could the Venetian Republic have survived the catastrophic events of 1797 which brought an end to it in OTL?
Here's what I was thinking, during the lead up to the French invasion British figures in Venice manage to get his attention and he begins to warm to the idea of joining the fight against France. However it quickly becomes apparent that Venice is in no shape or form to fight such a conflict and would surely lose. The Doge, Ludovico Manin opts to try and remain neutral. However a plan is developed in case of invasion in which the Doge and other officials would flee the islands and move to Corfu where the Republic could continue in Exile and potentially be propped up by the British.
When the French do decide to invade, the Doge reluctantly activates the plan and thus Venice is evacuated on the eve of invasion with the Venetian navy managing to slip by the French at night. Venice is promptly invaded and sacked with considerable loss of life and property damage/looting. However the Doge and some of the Venetian government manage to escape to Corfu where they meet up with a British squadron to establish the Republic of Venice in Exile. Though the Treaty of Campo Formio officially divides Venetian territory between Austria and France, the Venetian Republic along with RN forces manage to defeat the French in the Ionian and Adriatic seas and maintain the independence of the Venetian Republic on the Ionian Islands and various outposts.
In the meantime the Doge takes advantage of the new situation to enact sweeping reforms in order to stabilize his new position. Religious Freedom is an obvious choice, and I think some electoral reform wouldn't be too far out of the question.
First off, is this at least somewhat plausible? Anyone with more knowledge care to comment?
Secondly here are some ideas I've had about where I see this going...
-The city of Venice proper would probably be handed back to the Republic. As it would have been looted and damaged far more than OTL I don't see why Austria would choose to hang on to it. Thoughts? I could see it happening in 1798 with the War of the 2nd Coalition in order to cozy up to Britain...
-Could the Venetian Republic rebuild itself in the aftermath of such a situation? Certainly not to the height of it's power, but at least to a level which would allow it to remain a functioning state for the next 50-100 years? Certainly TTL's events of 1797/1798 would go a long way towards clearing out some of the rot that had set in, but I do wonder if there was anything left to salvage of the Republic at that point. Rebuilding the Venetian commercial empire is going to take a lot of work and I'm not sure exactly how they're going to do it. Thoughts?
One idea I had was the reborn Venetian Republic partnering with the Ottomans to repair/rebuild the canal linking the Nile River with the Red Sea and thus opening up a shorter route to the Indian Ocean. This coupled with the adoption of new designs for ships might allow Venetian merchants to once again become a viable commercial power...Thoughts?
Could the Venetian Republic have survived the catastrophic events of 1797 which brought an end to it in OTL?
Here's what I was thinking, during the lead up to the French invasion British figures in Venice manage to get his attention and he begins to warm to the idea of joining the fight against France. However it quickly becomes apparent that Venice is in no shape or form to fight such a conflict and would surely lose. The Doge, Ludovico Manin opts to try and remain neutral. However a plan is developed in case of invasion in which the Doge and other officials would flee the islands and move to Corfu where the Republic could continue in Exile and potentially be propped up by the British.
When the French do decide to invade, the Doge reluctantly activates the plan and thus Venice is evacuated on the eve of invasion with the Venetian navy managing to slip by the French at night. Venice is promptly invaded and sacked with considerable loss of life and property damage/looting. However the Doge and some of the Venetian government manage to escape to Corfu where they meet up with a British squadron to establish the Republic of Venice in Exile. Though the Treaty of Campo Formio officially divides Venetian territory between Austria and France, the Venetian Republic along with RN forces manage to defeat the French in the Ionian and Adriatic seas and maintain the independence of the Venetian Republic on the Ionian Islands and various outposts.
In the meantime the Doge takes advantage of the new situation to enact sweeping reforms in order to stabilize his new position. Religious Freedom is an obvious choice, and I think some electoral reform wouldn't be too far out of the question.
First off, is this at least somewhat plausible? Anyone with more knowledge care to comment?
Secondly here are some ideas I've had about where I see this going...
-The city of Venice proper would probably be handed back to the Republic. As it would have been looted and damaged far more than OTL I don't see why Austria would choose to hang on to it. Thoughts? I could see it happening in 1798 with the War of the 2nd Coalition in order to cozy up to Britain...
-Could the Venetian Republic rebuild itself in the aftermath of such a situation? Certainly not to the height of it's power, but at least to a level which would allow it to remain a functioning state for the next 50-100 years? Certainly TTL's events of 1797/1798 would go a long way towards clearing out some of the rot that had set in, but I do wonder if there was anything left to salvage of the Republic at that point. Rebuilding the Venetian commercial empire is going to take a lot of work and I'm not sure exactly how they're going to do it. Thoughts?
One idea I had was the reborn Venetian Republic partnering with the Ottomans to repair/rebuild the canal linking the Nile River with the Red Sea and thus opening up a shorter route to the Indian Ocean. This coupled with the adoption of new designs for ships might allow Venetian merchants to once again become a viable commercial power...Thoughts?