What would happen if Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo and took over England? How would things change if that happened?
French Victory at Waterloo
- Thread starter Pearlshire19
- Start date
Damnit, I think my brain got whiplash passing the "and" there in sentence one.
My, my...you just love cliche TLs don't you?
I'm waiting of r"Operation Sealion" or "South Winning Gettysburg" next...seriously, its annoying me...
You mean, "Operation Lion-de-mer"...
Svartekaptenen
Banned
Even if he won at Waterloo, how should he be able to take over England?
The fleet are still there.
The fleet are still there.
Flocculencio
Donor
"I do not say the French cannot come, my Lord. I only say that they cannot come by sea."
If you assume that Napoleon can win at Waterloo, he is still a long ways from returning to power. It would be challenging, to say the least, to regain any measure of control over Continental Europe, let alone invade England.
The challenge for discussion is to work out a point of departure (PoD) which allows Napoleon to do so. Actually, any PoD after the beginning of the Hundred Days is probably not enough to do it - hence the references to the Alien Space Bat subforum.
Next day the Prussians defeat his battered army.
Not going to happen after Waterloo, needs a much earlier POD.
I agree. In order for Napoleon to win, he needs to have a much better head for international power politics. The details are hazy, but War of Wars by Robert Harvey points out several instances where he could have ended the war and secured a peace treaty favorable to France by marrying into one or another of his enemies' Royal Families.
He also should have given his brother Louis the power to administrate all of his territories. Napoleon made Louis king of one of the Low Countries, I think it was Holland, and because of his economic and social reforms, Louis became quite popular.
This has been discussed numerous time. My opinion.
1) Napoleon winning at Waterloo is possible
2) Napoleon staying in power in France after this ( with a Rhine, Pyrenees, Alps border ) is barely within possibilities IF a) the Prussian army is utterly crushed and b) the british government falls as a result of overwhelming victory ( the Austrian and russians have their own problems and so could possibly be negociated with ). Note : that's not the consensus of the board.
3) Any attack on England by that time is ASB. Also, that goes against Napoleon's stated aims by that time.
1) Napoleon winning at Waterloo is possible
2) Napoleon staying in power in France after this ( with a Rhine, Pyrenees, Alps border ) is barely within possibilities IF a) the Prussian army is utterly crushed and b) the british government falls as a result of overwhelming victory ( the Austrian and russians have their own problems and so could possibly be negociated with ). Note : that's not the consensus of the board.
3) Any attack on England by that time is ASB. Also, that goes against Napoleon's stated aims by that time.
1) Napoleon was married and loved Josephine. He divorced her only when convinced she couldn't give him a heir.
2) in OTL, he did mary into the Austrian royal/imperial familly ( after been rejected by the russian one ). It didn't gain him anything on the international scene
Even though they were able to intervene at Waterloo I can't see the Prussians successfully standing alone against a victorious (albeit battered) Armee du Nord once the Anglo-Dutch are in full retreat. Especially since Grouchy was already told on the early evening of the 18th that he should hasten to Napoleon's aid, and I doubt that even he would fail to appear on the 19th to help finish the Prussians.
I agree 100%.
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