In 1757 Robert Francois Damiens attempted to kill the French king by stabbing him with a pen-knife. IOTL he only slightly wounded him but what if he had managed to stab him fatally and the king died? What are the consequences?
In 1757 Robert Francois Damiens attempted to kill the French king by stabbing him with a pen-knife. IOTL he only slightly wounded him but what if he had managed to stab him fatally and the king died? What are the consequences?
The Dauphin Louis was a quite austere character, with a deep religious sense and the will to maintain royal authority. He hated Madame de Pompadour, so he would probably get rid of all her allies at court.
I’m not sure which Louis you are thinking of but IIRC @Cornelis is speaking about this fellow: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis,_Dauphin_of_France_(son_of_Louis_XV)Wait... he has the will, but does he have the authority? Is this the Louis I'm thinking of?
Wait... he has the will, but does he have the authority? Is this the Louis I'm thinking of?
Perhaps the future Louis XVI marries someone other than Marie Antonnitte- but
as I said on an earlier thread, I found it
VERY doubtful that this matrimonial change
would, by itself, have butterflied away the
French Revolution.
Louis XV had already an adult son and four grandsons. The royal line is secure. The Dauphin Louis was a quite austere character, with a deep religious sense and the will to maintain royal authority. He hated Madame de Pompadour, so he would probably get rid of all her allies at court. That means no Choiseul ministry, but the Austrian alliance would not be squashed in the middle of the war.
A minor butterfly, but of large consequences : Soubise was Pompadour's friend, so he would be removed from command. A less incompetent general would probably avoid been played by Frederick. Prussia would be slowly pushed back by the sheer numbers of the Franco-Austrians. Hanoverians would be knocked out like OTL. If France avoid Rossbach, a quicker peace is to expected, maybe in 1758.
So we could see Hanover overran and Prussia eventually defeated. What does France gain, except for the ANL in exchange for their support. And how would the Dauphin rule? What were the devots policies at the time, which ministers could stay and which ones would go? What about the economic policies of France? How much would it differ from what it had been under Louis XV?
Damiens would still end up drawn and quartered. Nasty way to go. I hear he was the last guy to be executed this way.
An alt-Louis XVI ministry could be
0. Chancellor : Lamoignon
1. Keeper of the Seals and Secretary of Navy : Machault d'Arnouville
2. Secretary of War : Count of Argenson
3. Secretary of Foreign Affairs : Levis-Mirepoix (?)
4. Secretary of the Royal Household : Saint-Florentin
5. Comptroller of the Finances : Trudaine
Could these men (I'll google them later, away from my desk now) pull France out of the downward spiral that was Louis XV's reign? And would alt-Louis XVI be better at staying a course than his son was OTL?
The Dauphin was on the same line as end-of-reign Louis XV : strongarm the parliamentary opposition by curtailing the Paris Parliament, creating a new fiscal system with less inequity, while continuing the long trend on modernization : roads, artillery. He had some men at his disposal for doing so : Machault for finances, with Trudaine as faithful n°2, Lamoignon for justice reform, with Maupeou as unfaithful n° 2. Nonetheless an all-out attack on both Parliaments and Nobility and Clergy privileges is as likely to success as to fail. Alt-Louis XVI needs to play ball with at least a part of the Grands. The Prince of Conti, for one, is a perfect candidate for an élites revolt. Could he be bought ? More importantly, would Louis understand his divine right authority does not allow him to do anything ? In the century of public opinion, only a string of military successes would be enough to shut up his critics, for a time at least.
Would acquiring BOTH the Austrian Netherlands AND Lorraine (lets assume King Stanislaw dies a bit sooner) in his reign help? I mean, he's got right what every king since Louis XI has tried (getting Burgundy back) and expanded his kingdom. Surely that'll count for something?
In order to acquire the ANL, alt-Louis XVI needs to ditch the Austrian alliance first. Doing so in the middle of a war or just after it, stab-in-the-back style, would not do much for his reputation
Only after the PoD : the Second Versailles Treaty of May, 1st 1757. The goal was to create a Bourbon state with the ANL, with the (former) duke of Parma as prince. Only some towns were to be anexed by France.I'm confused, I thought Austria had promised France the AN? I know Louise Élisabeth de France was angling for her husband to be made king (or at least viceroy) of the Austrian Netherlands, or am I getting mixed up? Or was it one of those secret handshakes some Habsburgs were famous for? Promise territory (the Netherlands to France, Milan to England, several Czech duchies to various kings of Poland) in exchange for assistance with your fingers crossed behind your back?