Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Cule
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4) 1848. I'm not sure that I agree that the autocratic governments of Europe would rise up to crush the new regime. [...]
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Russian troops operated inside the borders of the Austrian Empire during the revolution. They eliminated the revolution in Hungary. There is no doubt about it that the czar would intervene: he actually did.
But given how the musket equipped Russian troops fared against the Minié ball equipped British troops in the Crimean War, it is not inconceivable that a popular German army at least partly equipped with the needle-fired rifle (which was a top secret Prussian weapon in 1848) could stood it's ground.
A truly republican-democratic leadership could have liberated the non-Russian countries.
When the dust settles Germany could be the de-facto leader of an republican anti-Russian block (Poland, Belorussia, the Baltic, Finland, part of the the Balkans). "The enemy of my enemy" and all that.
Re: your #5: Not quite sure how loosing to Napoleon III in 1871 will help.
Another divergence point: the 1525 "Peasant's War." It they win you've get a centralized Holy Roman Empire as a constitutional (elected) monarchy with a (rudimentary) bill of rights...