WI: No Third Republic

After the defeat of the France in the Franco-Prussian war, what would it take to have a successful French Monarchy. Could the 16 May 1877 crisis be avoided by the Legitamist's adopting the tricolour, or maybe they would create a new flag all together with tricolour+a fleur de lis?

How would a reinstated French Monarchy play out?
 
How would a reinstated French Monarchy play out?

poorly, Henri, comte de Chambord was willing to piss away being king over a flag, not the kind of person that makes a good king, if some how he manages to last from 1871 till his death in 1883 things get much better, Prince Philippe, Count of Paris much suited for the job
 
I honestly think the easiest way would be for the Germans to force it on them. Have the restoration of the Orleanist branch be part of the peace terms, French Constitution to be determined later by the French people in conjunction with their monarch. I suppose you could have Henri reinstated, but I wonder if even Bismarck couldn't see that he was a waste of skin.
 
It becomes much easier if Henri dies before 1871. Then, the much more sane Philippe is the claimant, which makes it much more likely that a constitutional monarchy is reinstated. I don't know how that would affect the period leading up to WW1, though.
 
Interestingly, the big show down between Germany and France which had the monarchy restored in the wake of 1871 would be quite interesting. The Orléanist branch had ties to many German royal families, and the Tsar of Bulgaria's mother had been a daughter of Louis-Philippe. It could be interesting during the big war (however it comes down to it) with similar pressures that occurred in Britain and Russia. The Tsarina was hated for her German descent and supposed sympathies, the British monarch rid himself of his German titles and dynastical name, and early in the war the chief of the navy iirc, I was forced to retire from the post because of his connections to a German dynasty.

Monarchist France might have that same issue. The Duchess of Alencon was a Wittelsbach (she died in a fire in 1897, but that may be avoided), and there were other ties too, to the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. The French public might be suspicious of those in the royal family with German ties or possible sympathies.
 
To get back to this, I don't think that the a ruler imposed by the Germans would be very successful. The loss of the province of Alsace-Lorraine was such a psychological blow to the French that if during the invasion they forced a change of monarch on the French, then that monarch would be seen as the one that sold Alsace-Lorraine down the river.

The best time for a restoration of the monarchy is after the Franco-German War. I think the Monarchy would be a vehicle for revanchist sentiments.
 
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