WI: Napoleon dies at Aspern-Essling

What happens if Napoleon dies at Aspern-Essling (let's say he falls off his horse and breaks his neck) and the French don't manage to retreat in order, but instead are driven into the Danube?

It seems likely that Prussia would have joined the coalition after a decisive Austrian victory, but are GB, Austria, Prussia and their various allies enough to fully defeat France without Russian help? (Russia was at war with GB at the time.)

And if they are strong enough, how would post-war Europe look like if Austria was the decisive victor and Russia had no part in that victory?
 
What happens if Napoleon dies at Aspern-Essling (let's say he falls off his horse and breaks his neck) and the French don't manage to retreat in order, but instead are driven into the Danube?

I think that the war might end in stalemate, and with no one to lead France (Napoleon II was not yet born), the country might collapse under pressure.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Joseph Bonaparte would have wanted to take over, though it's a little hard to see how he would have extracted himself from Spain in order to do so. Lucien Bonaparte was in self-imposed exile. One wonders if some of the generals would have tried to bring Louis Bonaparte back from Holland as a figurehead emperor. I'd be willing to bet that Bernadotte would make a play for power and would be opposed by the other marshals.

Napoleonic France was a dynamic and powerful state far more effective than its rivals. But that was only because Napoleon was at the top, directing everything. Take Napoleon away (and throw in a terrible military defeat on top of it) and the whole structure will come crashing down.
 

Redbeard

Banned
The Marshalls are unlikely to agree on who to follow and I guess would seek peace - each thinking they need to focus on the others rather than the enemy.

The Austrians are unlikely to engage in a lengthy campaign into France, but would be happy to be left alone with Germany.

The Prussians are likely to join a campaign vs. France, if not for other reasons then for not leaving all the glory to Austria.

After peace with France Austria and Prussia are likely to be rivals over who is going to be the biggest bully in Germany. At this time, especially if Archduke Charles still is in command of the Austrian Army, Austria is likely to win that contest. I doubt they will resurrect the HRE, said Empire really was more of a burden than an asset to the Habsburgs by 19th century.

The Austrian resistance to nationalism will be even stronger than in OTL and I guess we will see something similar to the mid 19th century liberal revolutions, but crushed at least as hard as in OTL. Without the prominent role of Prussia in the last years of OTL Napoleonic wars the Prussian claim to represent the "German soul" is much weaker and a German Empire is most unlikely.

The Russians are a little unpredictable under Alexander but when/if France seeks "revanche" I could see a French-Russian alliance against a Austrian-British with support from most of the German states.
 
Wasn't Eugène de Beauharnais the designated successor at this time? Not sure how well he'd have been accepted by the other Marshals, of course.
 
As a follow-up, Lucien was in exile and probably would have returned to France to restore order and become Emperor.
 
The Marshalls are unlikely to agree on who to follow and I guess would seek peace - each thinking they need to focus on the others rather than the enemy.

The Austrians are unlikely to engage in a lengthy campaign into France, but would be happy to be left alone with Germany.

The Prussians are likely to join a campaign vs. France, if not for other reasons then for not leaving all the glory to Austria.

After peace with France Austria and Prussia are likely to be rivals over who is going to be the biggest bully in Germany. At this time, especially if Archduke Charles still is in command of the Austrian Army, Austria is likely to win that contest. I doubt they will resurrect the HRE, said Empire really was more of a burden than an asset to the Habsburgs by 19th century.

The Austrian resistance to nationalism will be even stronger than in OTL and I guess we will see something similar to the mid 19th century liberal revolutions, but crushed at least as hard as in OTL. Without the prominent role of Prussia in the last years of OTL Napoleonic wars the Prussian claim to represent the "German soul" is much weaker and a German Empire is most unlikely.

The Russians are a little unpredictable under Alexander but when/if France seeks "revanche" I could see a French-Russian alliance against a Austrian-British with support from most of the German states.
I think Paris would be taken over by a coup de'tat by republicans the moment Napoleon's death was confirmed.The republicans tried doing this in real life when there were rumours that he died during the Russian campaign but failed.I also think that a lot of people were loyal to Napoleon personally and didn't give a rats about what happened to the Bonaparte dynasty,especially if it was ruled by his brothers instead of his son.
 
Though Eugene de Beauharnais was excluded from inheriting the French throne, he was the heir to the Kingdom of Italy. Eugene was a talented and respected ruler in OTL, so he might stand a chance of maintaining his rule of Italy in TTL and establish his family as a royal dynasty. In TTL, Eugene would still need the protection of France to maintain Italy’s independence from Austria.
 
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