WI: France moves capital after Franco-Prussian War

BigBlueBox

Banned
Is it plausible that the French Third Republic could have decided to move the capital? This could be done after determining that Paris is too vulnerable to German attack, and the capital should be further away. Nevers or Clemont-Ferrand could make good options. Alternatively, they could feel that after the Commune Paris is too tainted by communism. If the Third Republic did do so, how much would it cost, and what effects would it have on France? Would doing so actually increase France’s odds in an alt-WW1?
 
Paris was just too much the center of everything to move the capital--one could theoretically move the government elsewhere but Paris would still have to be defended (against invasion or insurrection) at all costs. The situation was different from Russia, where Moscow was the obvious alternative to St. Petersburg. (And in any event the smaller distances involved in France than in Russia meant that any city was vulnerable to a German attack.)
 
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