WI: The "French" Revolution happens to another state?

What if the first major, rationalist revolution in Europe happens to another country? I'm guessing Austria, Russia and Spain would be the leading candidates. It seems amazing that none of these countries actually went to bankruptcy like France did. If it did happen to them first, surely a revolution would be a likely result...
 
It wouldn't be called the French Revolution to start with. Given the multinational makeup of Austria and Russia, it just seems to me that they'd run the risk of some fragmentation if such a revolution occurred. Spain perhaps? Their peasants had to have been fairly repressed, though I don't know what the wealthy or landed elite (these are the same type of people who started the French Revolution) felt about enlightenment ideals. Britain was already too democratic (relatively speaking) for a revolution. How about Denmark?
 
It wouldn't be called the French Revolution to start with. Given the multinational makeup of Austria and Russia, it just seems to me that they'd run the risk of some fragmentation if such a revolution occurred. Spain perhaps? Their peasants had to have been fairly repressed, though I don't know what the wealthy or landed elite (these are the same type of people who started the French Revolution) felt about enlightenment ideals. Britain was already too democratic (relatively speaking) for a revolution. How about Denmark?


Portugal, or Naples, but they are too small for it to really get far before it gets stamped out by one of the bigger states. particularly Spain/France under an Ancien regime


Of course if it where in a smaller German state..there would be the whold Austro/Prussian dichotomy to consider as to who would be restoring order allowing it to spread to other nearby states perhaps...particularly if its also on the French Frontier as well. the French won't want large German armies n the frontier.

Still a stretch though...It would have to be one of the larger states.

Of course if it was Venice....now that might have potential..but \i think the Hapsburgs might find it just too close for comfort. but the Bourbons might not like the Hapsburgs acting on their own delaying any intervention. allowing revolutionary sentiment to spread to other Hapsburg and or Bourbon states in the peninsula...But its not likely to get beyond Italy and the worst excesses of the French revolution will never be allowed to occur. So no terror as such.

Anywhere else it might be a milder revolution and probably only result in abrupt reform instead.
 
Denmark seems to the one place asides from France where the revolution could come to full completion without turning into an ethnic unification (Italian & German states) or lead to a dissolution of the empire (Austria, Russia, Turkey, Britain) and begin exporting itself across Europe without another power intervening and crushing the revolution (Spain, Portugal, the Lowlands, Sweden/Norway).
 
How about the Netherlands themeselves?
It is notewhorthy, however, that such places as Liege, Poland and Austrian Low Countries all had their uprisings independently from France, albeit, of course, they WERE stomped.
 
How about the Netherlands themeselves?
It is notewhorthy, however, that such places as Liege, Poland and Austrian Low Countries all had their uprisings independently from France, albeit, of course, they WERE stomped.

In a way it did happen in the Netherlands, with the patriot movement gaining a lot of power and forcing the stadholder to live in Nijmegen. The problem was that the Prussian wife of the stadholder complained to her (I think) brother who was king in Prussia and he got a couple of troops and restored the power of the stadholder by force. Many of those partriot fled to France and were a relatively important factor in the French revolution and the founding of the Batavian Republic.
 
How about Prussia?

That would be interesting and would certainly be in a position to light the powder keg

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
there are several factors to consider here which led to the revolution in France as we know it.

First, the king has to be weakened significantly and therefore is forced to accept concessions. The same might hold for a bunch of ruling families - if there are enough high earning, well educated people around to demand concessions. The later should be difficult for the Netherlands and Britain and maybe also Venice IMHO. Austria and Russia likely provide not enough well educated "elites" aside from those heavily involved with the government. Prussia might have a good number of non-ruling elites, but then again this is Prussia which will likely stomp down anything.

Another important factor is Paris, a giant city, center of a heavily centralized country and full of poors ready to strike. Is there a comparable city in Europe? Which holds in the respective country the same importance as Paris does in France AND at the same time might get out of royal control?

So, to conclude, you'd need discontent rich and educated people and discontent poors highly concentrated in a city. And all those should be sufficiently protected from outside intervention (a.k.a. far away from Prussia and Russia). France is the best bet.
 
None of those had a large enough middle class, I don't think.

What if the first major, rationalist revolution in Europe happens to another country? I'm guessing Austria, Russia and Spain would be the leading candidates. It seems amazing that none of these countries actually went to bankruptcy like France did. If it did happen to them first, surely a revolution would be a likely result...
 
England

Britain.

to be more specific: England.

to be even more specific: London.

Big masses of downtrodden and unhappy men, right near the government seat. (victorian dickens-ian London did not puff out of thin air. it was quite terrible 20 years before, also)
already beheaded a king in their recent past.
middle class present
 
Realistically, yes, Britain is the only country that can have a French style revolution at this point. I think an important thing to note also is that Britain is even more industrialised than France. So if a Napoleon style figure comes along in Britain, then the whole of Europe is totally screwed.
 
Realistically, yes, Britain is the only country that can have a French style revolution at this point. I think an important thing to note also is that Britain is even more industrialised than France. So if a Napoleon style figure comes along in Britain, then the whole of Europe is totally screwed.

This reminds me of one_of_my_old_projects

MarxTobstone.jpg
 
None of those had a large enough middle class, I don't think.

Did France really have a middle class sizably bigger than Austria or Spain? I wasn't aware it was all that big in France prior to the revolution

Another important factor is Paris, a giant city, center of a heavily centralized country and full of poors ready to strike. Is there a comparable city in Europe? Which holds in the respective country the same importance as Paris does in France AND at the same time might get out of royal control?

What was the reason Paris had a lot more poor than other European cities? Vienna must have had a few I would have thought...

I guess the thing that really marked France out here was the need for the King to summon the estates to raise taxes - did this governance situation exist in other major states at the time?
 
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