My first question would be if they would have set up a monarchy in exile. And the effects of that on late 18th century Europe.
WI Louis & Marie had escaped The Terror?
- Thread starter King Midas
- Start date
Personally, while I'm more interested in surviving Louis XVII, Your scenario could be interesting too.
Perhaps they hop around in exile like the rest of the Bourbons in OTL; technically Louis XVI would be a pretender. By the time of your Bourbon Restoration Louis XVI will be restored, though he will continue to be a constitutional monarch a la post-1789.
Perhaps they hop around in exile like the rest of the Bourbons in OTL; technically Louis XVI would be a pretender. By the time of your Bourbon Restoration Louis XVI will be restored, though he will continue to be a constitutional monarch a la post-1789.
To escape the Guillotine, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would need to be exiled or to escape France before the Revolution became a mess. Or they would need to, somehow, lead the Revolution.
I don't think the Exile would be a plausible solution : Revolutionnaries tended to think Louis XVI had to die for the Republic to survive. Robespierre or another jacobin even said so if I remember correctly.
Louis XVI leading the Revolution is a difficult one. As I don't really know how this would be possible or could be done, I won't talk about this and let other do.
The escape on the other hand is possible : a sucessful Fuite à Varennes would be a solution. This, however, will not be seen well by the Revolutionnaries. This would probably lead to the Monarchy's downfall and ATL Revolutionnary (and maybe Napoleonic if not butterflied away) wars. Louis XVI would probably escape to a foreign country and set up a court in exile.
If the ATL Revolution in this scenario fails like the OTL, Louis XVI will probably be restored as King of France. He would probably pursue reforms and create a Constitutional Monarchy like Louis XVIII did OTL. As for repression against former Revolutionnaries, it would probably be kinder than OTL, as Louis XVI seems more benevolent than his two brothers.
I don't think the Exile would be a plausible solution : Revolutionnaries tended to think Louis XVI had to die for the Republic to survive. Robespierre or another jacobin even said so if I remember correctly.
Louis XVI leading the Revolution is a difficult one. As I don't really know how this would be possible or could be done, I won't talk about this and let other do.
The escape on the other hand is possible : a sucessful Fuite à Varennes would be a solution. This, however, will not be seen well by the Revolutionnaries. This would probably lead to the Monarchy's downfall and ATL Revolutionnary (and maybe Napoleonic if not butterflied away) wars. Louis XVI would probably escape to a foreign country and set up a court in exile.
If the ATL Revolution in this scenario fails like the OTL, Louis XVI will probably be restored as King of France. He would probably pursue reforms and create a Constitutional Monarchy like Louis XVIII did OTL. As for repression against former Revolutionnaries, it would probably be kinder than OTL, as Louis XVI seems more benevolent than his two brothers.
I'm thinking that Louis XVI would really like being a far more limited monarch; that way he gets to spend more time on his clocks. 
IMO he simply was the proverbial wrong man in the wrong place in the wrong time.
IMO he simply was the proverbial wrong man in the wrong place in the wrong time.
there are lots of ways Louis XVI and family could of made it through, if they never ran they would of been fine (maybe not) and a constitutional monarchy would be in place, Louis XVII would of been raised much like Heirs today and all is well, other than the comte de Provence and Comte d'Artois bitching up a storm in Germany, Louis XVI could also of gotten away, and hung out in Coblenz with the rest of the Court, by the time OTL's Bourbon Restoration Louis XVI would of been 61 years old, I'm guessing the ghost of the return of the Ancien Régime headed by the same guy (just older and fatter) would keep France a Republic.
I wonder if a Louis XVI restoration would be a good thing. After all, he would've escaped from the revolution and lived all those years in exile. The 'restoration' of Louis XVIII, so to speak, gave the French a clean slate, if that makes any sense. I suppose after years of war under Napoleon/The Republic/Whomever (if we maintain a minimal butterfly net), the war-weary French would once again support Louis XVI. At least in the early 1770s, he was fairly popular. It was the economic policies of his ministers that really botched things, and Marie-Antoinette was simply a scape goat.
I know there's a myth of her being some hungry power behind the throne: not to deny that she didn't try to exert her influence, but Louis XVI had been scared to death by his Austrophobe tutor who instilled in him a fear of the House of Austria, and the 'domination' of the Habsburgs so that when Marie-Antoinette tried to intervene in the political arena, he shrugged her off and ignored her. Marie-Antoinettes power was limited to a brief period in 1790-1791 when Louis XVI was severely depressed: even then, she was just stamping his name onto papers which he wouldn't sign.
I know there's a myth of her being some hungry power behind the throne: not to deny that she didn't try to exert her influence, but Louis XVI had been scared to death by his Austrophobe tutor who instilled in him a fear of the House of Austria, and the 'domination' of the Habsburgs so that when Marie-Antoinette tried to intervene in the political arena, he shrugged her off and ignored her. Marie-Antoinettes power was limited to a brief period in 1790-1791 when Louis XVI was severely depressed: even then, she was just stamping his name onto papers which he wouldn't sign.
I thought they were uncovered by some lowly schlub who identified Louis by his image on a coin.
I think a good French Revolution POD would be Necker not being fired. The Revolution was very likely to happen regardless, but Louis and Marie would keep their heads.