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In 806AD, Charlemagne made provision for the division of his Empire among his three (legitimate) sons after his death. Charles would recieve Neustria (Northern France and most of Germany), Louis would recieve Aquitaine and the Spanish March and Pepin would recieve Italy. However, in OTL Both Charles and Pepin predeceased Charles, resulting in Louis inheriting Charlemagne's entire Empire. He wasn't up to the job, Louis' sons had a long and bloody civil war, and the rest is history.
So assume that Charles and Pepin live. I assume there would be no "French" or "German" nationalities in the way we understand them today. Would the 806 division have created "nations" in their place? Were the borders sustainable? Would the split have been peaceful and spared Europe, at least initially, from civil war after the break up to the Empire?