Hour long AltHistHub vid on Napoleon's military victories
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zVrZhxCak
I like the effort Cody put in, but I take issue with how he tries to pigeonhole in a historical outcome with the War of the Last Coalition in 1810 and generally dismisses the Austrians. He acknowledges Napoleon was incredibly nepotistic, wanted a dynasty and was generous with the Habsburgs in order to help give himself legitimacy, but Napoleon's marriage to Maria Louise somehow doesn't happen? This wasn't something that he forced on the Austrians either, Metternich was the biggest proponent of it because he didn't want Napoleon marrying Alexander's sister and having Austria sandwiched between France and Russia. Maybe there's no occasion for it because the War of the Fifth coalition was butterflied away, but Napoleon would still want an heir and if a Franco-Russian alliance actually gets cemented he'd probably have married Alexander's sister - in which case it's unlikely Alexander would betray Napoleon to begin with. Assuming Alexander wasn't preparing for a conflict with Napoleon from the outset like he historically was, in which case he wouldn't have agreed to Napoleon's partition of the Ottomans to begin with.
The idea that Austria would be the weak-link in a scenario where Napoleon himself is isolated in Egypt, his armies are scattered across Europe and Russia is actively backing them but has the Tsar and their army already committed to fighting the Turks in conjunction with the French is also ridiculous. They would have had five years to recover in this situation, they had one of only two commanders who historically defeated Napoleon in a pitched battle (Archduke Karl), force concentration against a divided opponent with no clear chain of command and modern staff system. This is assuming that Metternich, who is curiously absent in this scenario, wouldn't just do what he historically did in the exact scenario of Austria being sandwiched between France and Russia and just try to cleave Austria to France for its long-term survival; despite their supposed gambler mentality they were the last major power to join the Sixth Coalition and did so despite every hurdle Metternich could throw at their entrance.
Godoy betraying Napoleon in a scenario where Napoleon actually delivers through on his promises is also really questionable. Yeah, Godoy was a overambitious, he was also hated by Ferdinand and on shaky political grounds - it's questionable whether he would have even stayed in power in Spain without French interference, and if he did it would have been because of the French delivering some victories for him. He wasn't Talleyrand, the idea that he could have just about-faced and tried to lead Spain against France in this scenario without immediately committing political suicide is absurd.
Edit: Also, the colonial revolts against Spain just happen anyways despite the Spanish government not collapsing because of Napoleon conquering them? Generously assuming that Bolivar and Hidalgo would have found anywhere near the amount of success they did in a scenario where Spain is riding high, why would Spain be prioritizing backstabbing their benefactor and not putting down colonial rebellions?
Edit 2: Why is the continental system in place in a scenario where the PoD is that Napoleon defeats Britain and gets to impose terms on them in 1807 that involve taking their non-Indian colonies? Cody also see-saws between calling Napoleon a radical monarchist and portraying the conflict between him and the other powers as a revolution against absolute, feudal (lmao) Monarchical rule.
Edit 3: "Blockade Portugal" Cody, Portugal shares a land-border with Spain. That country you have betraying Napoleon. That also carved up Portugal with him already.
Edit 4: Cody sets up a stalemate and then does an ass pull with Grand Duke Constantine overthrowing Tsar Alexander, which drags everyone to the peace table. That's an hour I'm never getting back.
x 21 
Thats oxymoron .
