WI: The Veneto joins the Cisalpine Republic in 1797?

[Wendell]

When Revolutionary France brought the Republic of Venice to its end, Napoleon, against the wishes of the leadership in Paris, carried forward with negotiations to surrender everything east of the Adige to Austria while the provisional government in Venice voted in favor of joining the Cisalpine Republic. What if, instead of letting the Terra Firma fall to Austria, the French (or Napoleon himself) pressed the issue, and brought Venice and its environs (but no the Dalmatian coast) into its sphere of vassal republics as a component of the one based in Milan?

 

[Falecius]

He would have to march straight into Vienna's Hofburg to enforce that. Which maybe he could pull off.
That, however, has huge butterflies for Italian nationalism.
A lot of Italian supporters of Napoleon were disillusioned with him after Campoformio; the Venetian ones, of course, felt betrayed. Here he remains their hero and liberator.

 

[Wendell]

He would have to march straight into Vienna's Hofburg to enforce that. Which maybe he could pull off.
That, however, has huge butterflies for Italian nationalism.
A lot of Italian supporters of Napoleon were disillusioned with him after Campoformio; the Venetian ones, of course, felt betrayed. Here he remains their hero and liberator.

Does he know when to stop, or does he then bite off more than he can chew once he marches on Vienna years earlier than OTL?

 

[Falecius]

Does he know when to stop, or does he then bite off more than he can chew once he marches on Vienna years earlier than OTL?

IIRC, the Austrian were fearing he could do exactly that, which is why they agreed to the peace treaty.

 

[Wendell]

IIRC, the Austrian were fearing he could do exactly that, which is why they agreed to the peace treaty.

So he would not have to get that far to have annexed the Veneto to the Cisalpine Republic?

 

[Falecius]

So he would not have to get that far to have annexed the Veneto to the Cisalpine Republic?

I think not, and I actually wondered why he did not sometimes.
I am not familiar with Austrian force disposition and capabilities at that point though. The campaign in Germany was not going that well for France IIRC, so the Austrians must have had some strength still.

 

[alexmilman]

I think not, and I actually wondered why he did not sometimes.
I am not familiar with Austrian force disposition and capabilities at that point though. The campaign in Germany was not going that well for France IIRC, so the Austrians must have had some strength still.

Actually, the French advance on the Rhine (1797) started quite well with Hoche and Moreau being victorious. But by the time it started Bonaparte already signed preliminaries of Leoben (which does not mean that the Austrians were completely unaware of the French preparations on the Rhine). Probably it would not be a big stretch of imagination that he’d rather cut some corners and grab all the glory to himself than allow his colleagues to share even if this could mean the better conditions for France.

Anyway, while he was quite successful in his advance and Archduke Charles failed to stop him, on its own Army of Italy was not big enough to enforce Austrian capitulation even if it managed to take Vienna. The Austrians simply panicked: the future campaigns demonstrated that the fall of Vienna is not a strategic factor serious enough to end the war (ditto for Berlin and Moscow).

 

[Wendell]

Actually, the French advance on the Rhine (1797) started quite well with Hoche and Moreau being victorious. But by the time it started Bonaparte already signed preliminaries of Leoben (which does not mean that the Austrians were completely unaware of the French preparations on the Rhine). Probably it would not be a big stretch of imagination that he’d rather cut some corners and grab all the glory to himself than allow his colleagues to share even if this could mean the better conditions for France.

Anyway, while he was quite successful in his advance and Archduke Charles failed to stop him, on its own Army of Italy was not big enough to enforce Austrian capitulation even if it managed to take Vienna. The Austrians simply panicked: the future campaigns demonstrated that the fall of Vienna is not a strategic factor serious enough to end the war (ditto for Berlin and Moscow).

So he could have grabbed the Veneto with little consequence?