What if France wins Franco Prussian War

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A long story short would be that the French government bottled it, Gladstone wasn't really enthusiastic but was talked into it by the French, the French backed down at the last minute due to political infighting and Britain was left holding the bag.

Poor Gladstone ended up having to take Egypt on as British even though it was something he was very much opposed to (as his letting the Transvaal go attested).

Intriguing - that would indicate that in TTL, with a different internal political situation in France, perhaps France would take the initiative, would not try very hard to get the Brits involved, and may take over Egypt alone?

However Gladstone policy comes out of a political situation where France is not perceived as a major threat. If France wins in 1870, the "dual control" of Egypt might be less friendly than in OTL (Gladstone might not even be in power, or his policy would be different by necessity). It might even end up in a situation where the British support the Khedive, and closer relations with the Porte, and France supports the Urabi insurrection: the first part of the war might be fought in Egypt by proxies, then who knows?
 

Hendryk

Banned
How important is the Paris Commune http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune

for the development of Socialism and Communism?
Good point. Marx considered the Paris Commune the first attempt at implementing Socialism as he understood it, and the event carried such a mystique in Marxist history that the hundredth anniversary of the event was celebrated as far away as the PRC. Marx also drew lessons from the failure of the Commune to refine his theory on the revolutionary process. One should keep in mind that the first volume of The Capital was published in 1867 but the rest remained in the form of rough drafts until published after Marx's death in 1883 by Engels as the second and third volumes. So without a Paris Commune the ideological corpus of Marxism may turn out to be noticeably different, and perhaps somewhat less dogmatically revolutionary. Perhaps, in fact, Marxism may be less influential relative to other brands of Socialism such as Bakunin's.

But the butterflies of a French victory may have further effects on Marxism. Marx thought that the proletarian revolution would take place in an advanced capitalist society, and a defeated Prussia may no longer look to him as meeting the requisite criteria. What if he migrated to the US?
 
What dual control? Before 1875 UK had no say in Egypt...

Formally not, but it had economical interests there, and some influence. But you may be right that a France victorious in 1870 would have tried to prevent the sale of Suez Canal shares to Britain in 1875 by Ismail I that led to dual control.
 
Well, depending on the level of victory, the consequences will vary, but if Prussia receives a very severe blow, here's what and how it would happen.

I think Austria should join the French side as revenge for their humiliation from Germany. That way, there be a lot of pressure and Prussia might succumb to it.

After the war, the dream of a united Germany would be dead. France would take parts of Western Germany while Austria would take parts of Southern and southeastern Germany.

This would allow France and Austria to grow closer, allowing both countries to be major European powers. France would have more colonial holdings in Africa and Asia but would probably cause concern from Britain.

My possible guess for the next world war would be probably a three way war: France and Austria vs Britain and Prussia vs Russia and the Ottomans.
 
No Germany

Germany would not be called Germany. The European governments would force the Geman states into something like the Confederation of the Rhine to keep the 3 major empires. Prussia, Austria, and France from attacking it. Italy might pose a threat to it. Also without World war 1 or World war 2 since Germany didn't start them communism doesn't rise aggressively in Russia. However socialism becomes much stronger in the west but very few violent uprisings like in Russia.
 
Germany would not be called Germany. The European governments would force the Geman states into something like the Confederation of the Rhine to keep the 3 major empires. Prussia, Austria, and France from attacking it. Italy might pose a threat to it. Also without World war 1 or World war 2 since Germany didn't start them communism doesn't rise aggressively in Russia. However socialism becomes much stronger in the west but very few violent uprisings like in Russia.
You probably don't know it, but is generaly not allowed to post in threads that haven't had a post in years, like this one.
 
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