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Napoleon once said to General Geraud Duroc after the birth of his son, the King of Rome, “I envy that boy. Glory is waiting there for him: I had to run after Her. I will have been Phillip: he will be Alexander. He has only to extend an arm, and the world is his". I came across a very interesting online article about the "Eaglet" and had an idea for a TL that will aim to fulfill Napoleon's statement.* The POD is simply, better health for Napoleon II. He is allowed to visit his mother in Parma, the warm climate there helps him get over his ilnessess and poor health and he gets a normal lifespan.

Now the young Duke of Reichstadt was pretty much obsessed with war and soldiering, spending much of his youth training for and learning about the art of war within the halls of Schonbrrunn Palace. Several quotes about him are; “The profession of arms is undoubtedly the only one he can embrace. That is indicated by all his taste, and it would be a mistake not to encourage such inclination.” (from Count Maurice Dietrichstein, an Austrian major who as an aide of Emperor Francis, talking about the Duke as a boy). “I would stake my life on it that he knows more about the art of war than the cleverest of our generals. I am astonished by the liveliness of his mind and judgment, the clarity of his thought and practical intelligence.” (from another Austrian officer, Major Antoine de Prokesch-Osten who was talking about Franz in his late adolescence, toward the end of his life). So judging by these quotes and the little so far that I've read about him, I can say that the King of Rome made a promising young soldier, full of talent, intelligence and ambition, very much in the mold of his father, who given the opportunities, could have lived up to his historic name and fulfilled what he declared would be his life's mission when he was eighteen years old “The principal aim of my life must be never to show myself unworthy of my father.”

So anyway, he lives past 1832 and goes on to live the next two decades with a life full of excitement and adventure. Since Metternich would not allow him to see any action as a colonel in the Austrian army and since Austria didn't get involved in any wars at that time anyway, his will to fight and become a soldier leads him to leave Europe and spend the time of 1832-1848 getting involved in various international wars and conflicts like the Texas Revolution, the Uruguayan Civil War (where he meets Garibaldi), the Seminole Wars, several filibustering expeditions into Africa, etc. But he rises to power and prominence in the year 1848 when the revolutionary turmoil in the Hapsburg lands gives him his first real chance to prove himself worthy of his father, starting with restoring order in Vienna, pacifying the Viennese mob and engineering the downfall of his father's old adversary, Metternich...


Napoleon II


*The main purpose of this thread is to establish my idea for a TL, basically reserving it while I do all the research which will take a very long time. So that when the TL finally comes about I can say "My TL, that I have, which belongs to me, that is to say, which is mine, is mine."
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