What would Napoleon do with an invaded Britain?
- Thread starter The B
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deathscompanion1
Banned
Irish Kingdom some ships go to france some minor haggeling over colonies thats it.
Napoleon wanted to shap Europe in his image a weakened Britian would let that happen, he does not need or want to destroy Britian.
Napoleon wanted to shap Europe in his image a weakened Britian would let that happen, he does not need or want to destroy Britian.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Again, I do not see why you all think that this idea does not deserve merit in this particular forum. Yes the British had the upper hand with the navy (on everyone) but the poster does not designate when or how the invasion occurs. The point of these forums is to have an open mind when considering history.
No it is not probable, but it is possible.
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More seriously, keep Nelson preoccupied around Haiti during the summer of 1805, and so allow the Combined Fleet to break the blockade of Rochefort, and so head to the Channel where the Grande Armee is waiting to be picked up. The Channel has only a few ships patroling it (due to the rest either being in the Med, with Nelson around Haiti...
Once the troops are landed, then the question arrises, can Britain push them out, or can they then march (as Napoleon hoped) and take London...
A search brought only a title - it was apparently in a mgazine called, simply, If, but there ws a story whose title I recall reading as "Not By Sea" involving a planned invasion of Britain by balloon. I don't think it ws ever seriously considered but one never knows. (I suppose it could have been a concern for Britain anyway if the fellow said that if they invade it won't be by sea.)
Anyway, I had a discussion with a friend who is a history and sci=fi buff and so who knows something about flight, including balloons. He said that balloons of thsoe days could have each carried a few soldiers crammed together, but you'd need too many to really be practical - the things had only been invented a couple decades earlier. And, the biggest problem ws that even if you did it, their aim would be atrocious. They'd all end up scattered across miles, quite a few literally miles off track,a nd lots being captured by British farmers int eh countryside.
Still fun to think about the attempt
it might make a cool story; just as I read that there was a cool story of a realistic attempt at The Sea Mammal which fails in about 5 days.Speaking as a founder of the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Bocagists: Useful discussion on what actually could have been, instead of any wishful scenario that we can imagine?
If you want to discuss scenarios that require Britain forgetting its at war with France to make work, go for it.
Just don't expect the Bocagists to take it seriously.
TyranicusMaximus:
On the naval side of things: Even if Nelson is around Haiti, the Royal navy has some fairly significant forces off the coast of France - http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_nelson_late.html
Nelson being busy around Haiti hardly eliminates the Royal Navy from the equation.
I don't think that Napoleon was ultimately incapable of getting to Britan and winning a major victory, and London would not offer much more resistance than the army guarding it thanks to its lack of fortifications. You would just need an early PoD that changes Napoleon's focus from domination of the mainland to dismantling the British Empire. With said early change of focus, the French navy could be built up enough to stand a chance, less resources would be spent on the mainland, and Napoleon himself might even surprise everyone by turning out to be a good admiral. All it needs is a few tweaks to Napoleon himself, and we might well get the desired result. Or he could still chrash and burn, always a likely possibility with Napoleon
I don't think that Napoleon was ultimately incapable of getting to Britan and winning a major victory, and London would not offer much more resistance than the army guarding it thanks to its lack of fortifications. You would just need an early PoD that changes Napoleon's focus from domination of the mainland to dismantling the British Empire. With said early change of focus, the French navy could be built up enough to stand a chance, less resources would be spent on the mainland, and Napoleon himself might even surprise everyone by turning out to be a good admiral. All it needs is a few tweaks to Napoleon himself, and we might well get the desired result. Or he could still chrash and burn, always a likely possibility with Napoleon
I'll just put it this way. ASsuming quality of the human element is compatible in both fleets for calculation's sake, despite that being very contestable.
Number of British ships of the line in 1790: 195
Number of French ships of the line in 1790: 81.
I would have to agree, to make the French fleet (or even the French and Spanish combined fleet) anywere near a match for the British the French would have to suffer a loss of their army's power.
You are look (at the least) at decent roads from Paris to each of the main ports. You are looking at logicists that could put a fleet to sea for 4 months. You are looking at having a trained core of seamen at the heart of each ships company, the French used all their experienced sailors as artillary men on land. You would need the finances to double the number of ships being built each year. you would need .......
The list is nearly endless and NO French leader is going to invest the money because i) the money is never there ii) it is cheaper to invade Italy / HRE.
I don't know how stable you think I think Britain was, but I have no belief in Britain being immune to strife - just able to able to handle what occurred (obviously) and do so well enough to keep going - national prosperity (very much the case despite Faeelin's attempt to argue otherwise in some thread) helping.