If the French Empire had stopped invading everywhere and tried to secure and consolidate their already-conquered...

If the French Empire had stopped invading everywhere and tried to secure and consolidate their already-conquered territories, could they have held onto them?

I doubt it.
Collitions would most likely not stop, since the Old order saw Napoleon as a threat just as the Revolution.

Also a lot of ethnic groups in one country never seems to work out really well.

Why was the Adriatic sea considered part of France proper?

No. They were on the defensive on literally every campaign except Spain. They literally were fighting because everyone else won't stop attacking them, specially the British. A reclusive approach would've made resisting impossible.

Given that most Napoleonic invasion occured in self-defense, I don't really think it was possible

Maybe in 1812 instead of invading Russia, but I doubt the peace would have lasted anyway
Russia would probably have attacked if France didnt do it first (although it would have turned out better for the French given that ruskies are shit at war outside of their homeland)

>Defensive invasions
That just about excuses everything.

The French need to expand to control europes economy via the containental system to suck food and money out of its controlled states

The Continental System was a consequence of the French control over Europe (through defensive conquests), not the reason for it

It was enacted in 1806, after the French had basically all of Western Europe under their boot

>French had basically all of Western Europe under their boot
hence the reason for defensive wars started by the coalition?

Ops pic is nowhere near a single state, fag
>netherlands
>rhine confederacy
>poland
>switzerland
>italia
>papal states
>spain
>croatia

You're once again confusing causes and consequences

So an army of occupation on your doorstep is not a threat in your world?

Not if you avoid attacking them again and again like the coalition members did
Was the German army occupying France during WW2 a threat for Spain and Switzerland?

Probably, assuming he secures spain and prussia.
Russia wont amount to Much alone. Austria neither, if it doesnt outright ally to France as with Schönbrunn.
The English werent able to land in France during the révolution, there's no way they would have managed it after.
Then it's kind of a statu quo, with england holding the seas and France Europe.

Yes. The French Empire should have unironically restored the western Roman Empire. They could have fused Catholicism, modern revolutionary values (like the Napoleonic code as opposed to the madness prior to Napoleon) and nationalism.

Centering the empire in Rome and appealing to classical Rome and the Holy Roman Empire, at least ceremonially, would add to the image it is not a French conquest but a reunification.

They could agree to allow Belgium to remain part of the Netherlands in exchange for Netherlands retaining autonomy and assisting in pulling northern Germany away from Prussia.

Poland was a source of antagonism against Russia. France could act as mediator to resolve the issue to prevent rebellion in Polish Russia and secure the border. They could cooperate with Russia to contain and weaken Prussia, maybe also Austria.

Fostering German and Italian nationalism seems counter-intuitive, but it was inevitable, so it is better that nationalism is seen as part of the system than the system being a foreign dominion. The concessions would be free trade, securing peace and a small contribution to the alliance military where Italian and German elites have career opportunities.

German nationalism would be more difficult due to the protestant north and Prussian and Austrian meddling. The Rhine could be turned into a free trade highway and a canal built to the Danube to compensate for Austro-Hungary cutting them off. That might help.

>tfw no groß frankenreich

Immediate /pol/ tier post. Cancer is spreading...

>Also a lot of ethnic groups in one country never seems to work out really well.
what about USA?

What about almost every single empire in history, you fucking dunce?

>tried to secure and consolidate their already-conquered territories

that's exactly what they were trying to do with the whole "invading everywhere"

What about KuK?

No. Invading Spain and Russia was not about securing borders, but about responding to the English blocus by a continental one.

I think so. They didn't even need to stop invading, just to deal with one invasion at one time and they could have won. Napoleon made some avoidable mistakes.
Then we could have had a new European empire from Lisbon to Kiev.

The only thing that keeps the USA together is the boot of the government.