What if Louis XVI send his family away after the Fall of Bastile?

So, what would happen if after the fall of the Bastille Louis XVI concluded that his family wasn't safe near Paris and decided to send them away? Where would they go? Also, consider that the king himself stays in Paris. Would this change in any way the path of the revolution?
 
Ultimately Austria would probably be their destination. The Austrian Netherlands are close by. After Louis XVI's death probably Austria proper as it would be safer.

If anything I think the moves the execution of Louis XVI sooner, there were already plenty of voices calling for that. And sending his family way would be seen as suspicious.

On the flip side Louis XVII would still be alive and could become a rallying symbol for counter-revolutionaries.
If there is a restoration he would need a regent until he turns 21. Traditionally the Queen-mother serves as regent but I doubt that would be allowed given the dislike for her.
Given that this could avoid the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X the restoration could be very different.
 
Depends where his wife and son goes. If they go straight to Austria, they’ll be good for awhile, with Louis Charles, and his sister, and their mother Marie Antoinette would be treated well…

That is if Napoleon still rises, and beats almost all of Europe to submission. That means Louis Charles would have to be go somewhere, like Great Britain.

When Louis Charles grows into adulthood, he is eligible to become the next King of France if the Bourbon Restoration happens. What happens next, really depends on what type of person Louis XVII is like
 
At that point there was no reason to leave the country. Louis XVI could've sent his wife, and children to the Vendee region of France where the monarchy, and Church were still popular. The king could stay at Versailles, and order the Swiss Guard Regiment to defend their ground. The king needed an escape plan to head south, and rally loyal regiments to his cause. He should never have allowed himself to be captured by a mob, but he wasn't willing to shed blood to put down the revolt.
 
At that point there was no reason to leave the country. Louis XVI could've sent his wife, and children to the Vendee region of France where the monarchy, and Church were still popular. The king could stay at Versailles, and order the Swiss Guard Regiment to defend their ground. The king needed an escape plan to head south, and rally loyal regiments to his cause. He should never have allowed himself to be captured by a mob, but he wasn't willing to shed blood to put down the revolt.
That only came later when the Revolutionaries in Paris alienated the Catholics of the Vendee by confiscating Church land.Originally, the Revolution was almost universally supported.
 
If Napoleon still happens then he'd send assassin after assassin to kill the Dauphin.
I doubt this. He didn't dare touch the Duc d'Enghein until he was secure in his own power. Louis XVII on the other hand would be a much younger figure. Assassinating a child would backfire quite horribly for Napoleon. Plus while he was ruthless, I don't think he's the type of person to try and assassinate a child. Even if he was, Louis XVII would likely be safe in Austria. Though with Louis XVII Napoleon might instead try to become regent for him instead.

Originally, the Revolution was almost universally supported.
Not really. There were different groups rebelling against the current status quo which was the complete structural collapse of the Ancien Regime's institutions. The aims of the Revolutionaries were not supported by the rest of the French who an end to harsh taxation and relief for their worsened economic situation. Most of France was also monarchist and many were quite shocked by the execution of the King. The Revolutionaries themselves were also quite sharply divided and their unity collapsed in spectacular fashion as the Revolution dissolved once they got rid of the King removing the common thread uniting them together. Napoleon for example while a Revolutionary, was quite conservative and was taken aback by the increasingly radical way the Revolution went. He himself started out as rabidly anti-French as a Corsican nationalist/revolutionary.

The king needed an escape plan to head south, and rally loyal regiments to his cause. He should never have allowed himself to be captured by a mob, but he wasn't willing to shed blood to put down the revolt.
That was the main issue with Louis XVI. While not a bad man, he was too soft to hold the throne. He was indecisive when France needed clear decisive action. If say Louis XIV were in his shoes, there would be no revolution on his watch as he wouldn't have hesitated in putting down a mob.

Though Louis XVII being forced to flee while his father was executed by the Revolutionaries could see him instead become hardened against the Revolutionaries much like what Louis XIV's experience during the Fronde did. A mob broke through the palace and then a young Louis XIV had to feign being asleep so the mob would go away.
 
I doubt this. He didn't dare touch the Duc d'Enghein until he was secure in his own power. Louis XVII on the other hand would be a much younger figure. Assassinating a child would backfire quite horribly for Napoleon. Plus while he was ruthless, I don't think he's the type of person to try and assassinate a child. Even if he was, Louis XVII would likely be safe in Austria. Though with Louis XVII Napoleon might instead try to become regent for him instead.


Not really. There were different groups rebelling against the current status quo which was the complete structural collapse of the Ancien Regime's institutions. The aims of the Revolutionaries were not supported by the rest of the French who an end to harsh taxation and relief for their worsened economic situation. Most of France was also monarchist and many were quite shocked by the execution of the King. The Revolutionaries themselves were also quite sharply divided and their unity collapsed in spectacular fashion as the Revolution dissolved once they got rid of the King removing the common thread uniting them together. Napoleon for example while a Revolutionary, was quite conservative and was taken aback by the increasingly radical way the Revolution went. He himself started out as rabidly anti-French as a Corsican nationalist/revolutionary.


That was the main issue with Louis XVI. While not a bad man, he was too soft to hold the throne. He was indecisive when France needed clear decisive action. If say Louis XIV were in his shoes, there would be no revolution on his watch as he wouldn't have hesitated in putting down a mob.

Though Louis XVII being forced to flee while his father was executed by the Revolutionaries could see him instead become hardened against the Revolutionaries much like what Louis XIV's experience during the Fronde did. A mob broke through the palace and then a young Louis XIV had to feign being asleep so the mob would go away.
Originally the Revolution was not about abolishing the monarchy either.The goal was for a constitutional monarchy.If Louis sends his family to to Vendee,the results would have been similar to the Women’s March to Versailles, with the family getting escorted back to Paris.At this point in time,most of the revolutionaries have not yet been radicalized, and the goal for a constitutional monarchy accountable to the people was supported by many.
 
Ultimately Austria would probably be their destination. The Austrian Netherlands are close by. After Louis XVI's death probably Austria proper as it would be safer.

If anything I think the moves the execution of Louis XVI sooner, there were already plenty of voices calling for that. And sending his family way would be seen as suspicious.

On the flip side Louis XVII would still be alive and could become a rallying symbol for counter-revolutionaries.
If there is a restoration he would need a regent until he turns 21. Traditionally the Queen-mother serves as regent but I doubt that would be allowed given the dislike for her.
Given that this could avoid the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X the restoration could be very different.
Do you think Albeques that the Revolution of 1848 could- would- have then been butterflied away? If so,
I wonder if France could have evolved- but a little more peacefully- into a Republic(or a Democracy)in a
manner @ least somewhat resembling its cross-channel neighbor Great Britan.
 
Do you think Albeques that the Revolution of 1848 could- would- have then been butterflied away? If so,
I wonder if France could have evolved- but a little more peacefully- into a Republic(or a Democracy)in a
manner @ least somewhat resembling its cross-channel neighbor Great Britan.
A Revoltion of 1848-like event is possible and the House of Orléans would always be up for a coup. It all depends on who Louis VII is during his reign. And their is no way of really knowing that.
 
This would weaken his position drastically, and plays to to the idea that Marie-Antoinette was 'L'Autrichienne ,' (the Austrian Bitch) and was raising her children to be Austrians.

It would increase the chances of a palace coup, and a constitutional monarchy under the Duc d'Orleans.
 
A Revoltion of 1848-like event is possible and the House of Orléans would always be up for a coup. It all depends on who Louis VII is during his reign. And their is no way of really knowing that.
Well if Louis XVI is captured while his family escapes, he's for sure going to be executed now. Philippe Egalite basically sealed his cousin's fate when he voted to execute "Louis Capet" as a "traitor" to France. A surviving Louis XVII is not going to take this well for sure. Louis XVIII likely would have Louis-Philippe and his family executed after the Restoration had it not been for Charles X intervening to presented a united front for the House of Bourbon. Here in ttl, with Louis XVII alive, this is probably less likely. Louis-Stanislaw would now immediately crown his nephew as the new King of France.

The rest of the public in France would not be on board with the execution of the King, and there would probably be more uprisings as a result in favor of the Royalists with the tragic tale of Louis XVII to rally behind. The Revolutionaries would likely panic and have Philippe crowned as he was friendly to the Jacobites. It was speculated (and likely in my opinion) that Philippe voted to execute the King to open the path to the throne. He likely saw the Republic as untenable and probably wanted to take over through monarchy kind of like how the Commonwealth gave way to the Parliamentary system in Britain.

As for the 1848 Revolutions, they were entirely avoidable. But more importantly that was a consequence of the results of the 1830 Revolution which itself was a product of the Reactionary post-Napoleon order in Europe. A world where there's no Age of Napoleon would be vastly different in the 19th Century with the political mechanisms and continuity of the old world monarchies of the rest of Europe not disrupted by Napoleon's spread of Revolutionary ideals.

Like I said the Bourbons were aware of how little power the British Monarch held and would fight tooth and nail to prevent the King from becoming a figurehead.
Louis XVIII reinforced the monarchy's position in such a way that it was arguably stronger than in the days of Louis XV and Louis XVI. He just needed a capable successor to continue this process of asserting the monarchy's power and role in the state. Louis XVIII's regency would be perfect for this, and the young King would probably live long enough (the Bourbons of the previous generation lived quite long lives) to entrench this new political framework upon France now that its freed from its archaic feudal trappings.
 
A Revoltion of 1848-like event is possible and the House of Orléans would always be up for a coup. It all depends on who Louis VII is during his reign. And their is no way of really knowing that.
Not true. Egalite and his daughter Adelaide would surely be for it all the time, but Louis Philippe‘s hand was pretty much forced by his sister in OTL
 
Not true. Egalite and his daughter Adelaide would surely be for it all the time, but Louis Philippe‘s hand was pretty much forced by his sister in OTL
The House as a whole has pretty much always been antagonistic to the crown, that is more so what I was referring to.
In fact, your example is exactly the type of thing I meant.
 
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