bernadotte

I’ve been reading Dag Ahlander’s Sverige vid avgrunden 1808-1814 (Sweden at the abyss 1808-1814) detailing Sweden’s political and diplomatic situation during the critical years of the Napoleonic wars. A big surprise while reading it was the large roll Ahlander attributes to Charles XIV John...

Karl Johan (or Jean-Baptiste) Bernadotte — the missed King of the French In 1814, the troops of the Sixth Coalition entered France and on 31 May they entered Paris. The Emperor Napoleon I, betrayed by his marshals, was forced to abdicate on 6 April and, fifteen days later, left for his first...

With the fall of the Swedish Empire at the beginning of the 18th Century, Sweden had become a lesser player in European affairs, after the end of the Great Northern War, and the death of King Charles XII. They would play a minor role in the Napoleonic Wars, switching sides alongside Russia...

Apparently in the Congress of Vienna, Swedish diplomats did broach the topic with the great powers regarding a Swedish annexation of Iceland and Greenland, however whilst Austria and France were supportive, Prussia, Russia and Britain were not supportive, which led to the idea dying down. But...

This has been discussed before, those being different figures to lead a coup during the twilight days of the Directory and Bernadotte is a figure people usually bring up alongside Jourdan and Moreau. So, what if he had lead a coup? What would a regime brought about by Bernadotte look like...

What if Charles August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg had not died in a horse riding accident in 1810, thus securing his position as crown prince of Sweden and butterflying away the adoption of French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte as heir? Considering that Charles August was...

Prologue Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow was watching the battle unfolding under his eyes with what came close to utter satisfaction. In the privacy of his own mind and only there, he admitted that, although a dedicated army reformer, he had been deathly afraid of moving away from the...