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Editor says, what if the revolutionary charges levelled at Palmerston's Government were actually true? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1858, on this day the Emperor of France and his wife were assassinated en route to a theatrical performance of Rossini's William Tell. Police investigations that began in Paris would subsequently unearth a trail of conspiracy that led all the way back to revolutionary London.
The Orsini AffairTo murder the Royal couple, Italian revolutionaries Felice Orsini, Giuseppe Pieri, Antonio Gomez and Carlo di Rudio had thrown three hand-made bombs at the the Imperial Carriage in the Rue Le Peletier. It would later emerge that the bombs had been manufactured by the English gunsmith Joseph Taylor and tested in Sheffield and Devonshire. Because Orsini had been covertly assisted by London since the unsuccessful revolution of 1848.
Few in France were surprised that Great Britain should become a rogue state which exported terrorism. Because a thriving republican community had existed even before the execution of Charles Stuart. In the late eighteenth century, revolutions had broken out in England, France and the American colonies. Defeated overseas, extremists such as Thomas Paine had gathered in London and overthrown the British Royal Family. Standing alone against the Royal Houses of Europe, Britain existed in a state of undeclared war with the continent, being the only great power to have emerged into the eighteenth century as a republic. Desperately short of allies, the British Government had hoped to creating a sister state in Italy with men such as Orsini.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© "The Orsini affair and the crisis of 1858" by Terry Jenkins published in the February 2008 Edution of History Today MagazineStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: History Today Magazine Labels: Felice Orsini, Revolution, Paris, London, Italy.
~ So what happened to Garibaldi in this TL?
~ How did Thomas Paine and company manage to overthrow the British monarchy at home after failing to shake its control in America?
~ I don't think that the British would have willingly gotten rid of the monarchy---memories of Oliver Cromwell's Republic were still fairly fresh. However, if Nap III had been assassinated by guys who'd gotten help from London, it would have meant war. And---who knows?---without the military genius of Nap III, the French might have won!
~ TP rejected by Americans for his atheism, becomes a martyr after the proclamation as per the previous post Bring it on home.
~ By the way - given that revolution failed in France and America, the unnamed Emperor isnt Napolean III it would be a successor of Louis XIV
~ Britain would have been in a state of civil war, and it's entirely doubtful that the republicans could have controled anything outside of the major cities, which would have been besieged. Certainly neither the army nor the Royal Navy would have been with them. The successor to "Emperor" Louis XX or Charles XIII or whatever, would have lent his army and navy to the Royalists and the result would have been predictable -- a lot of bloodshed in London, ruin of ancient buildings, and Republican defeat, followed by hangings. Today, we would have a British holiday, Tom Paine Day, like Guy Fowkes Night.
~ Britain would have been in a state of civil war, and it's entirely doubtful that the republicans could have controled anything outside of the major cities, which would have been besieged. Certainly neither the army nor the Royal Navy would have been with them. The successor to "Emperor" Louis XX or Charles XIII or whatever, would have lent his army and navy to the Royalists and the result would have been predictable -- a lot of bloodshed in London, ruin of ancient buildings, and Republican defeat, followed by hangings. Today, we would have a British holiday, Tom Paine Day, like Guy Fowkes Night.
~ Britain would have been in a state of civil war, and it's entirely doubtful that the republicans could have controled anything outside of the major cities, which would have been besieged. Certainly neither the army nor the Royal Navy would have been with them. The successor to "Emperor" Louis XX or Charles XIII or whatever, would have lent his army and navy to the Royalists and the result would have been predictable -- a lot of bloodshed in London, ruin of ancient buildings, and Republican defeat, followed by hangings. Today, we would have a British holiday, Tom Paine Day, like Guy Fowkes Night.
~ By the way, if France had an emperor, it would have been the "imperial" couple. If that "royal couple" were King Louis-Philipe and his wife, he would have been succeeded by the Count of Paris, who was a great democrat (and in OTL, a hero of the American Civil War).
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
