What changes if France is divided after Napoleon's second fall and remains divided past 1870?
Short answerEurope loses a major unified counterweight, neighboring borders and unification movements change, and regional languages face less pressure from a centralized French state.
NotesThe premise divides France after Napoleon's second fall and keeps it divided beyond 1870. A larger Belgium and greater Spanish or Italian territorial claims are among the possibilities. Conventional German and Italian unification could face different pressures if no unified France remained alongside them. French and German regions might instead join a larger Switzerland. Without the same French centralisation, southern regional languages and cultures could face less suppression. These are possible consequences of the stipulated lasting partition, rather than an explanation of how it would be enforced.