A Twist of Fate : The Disaster of 1805

The French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars changed the land scape of Europe, Political, Geographically, and socially. It brought about the weakening if not outright destruction of the Anciene Regime, while it empowered the rising Bourgoeisie, and fueled the the Flames of Nationalism throughout Europe. Now the only question left is how much was changed, and how much more could have been changed. This Timeline explores these possibility and what their consequences will bring Europe and the world.

This will be explored in a unique way as the Point of Divergence does not have an Immediate change on

Point of Divergence
Battle of the Nile, August 1798,

The British Fleet lead by Rear Admiral Sir, Horatio Nelson were preparing to engage the French fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay. The French fleet was lead by Francois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers had miscalculated a series of details which ultimately cost him his life and the Fleet. This incident ultimately secured British domination at sea for the rest of War. Prior to the Battle OTL Armand Blaquet the second in command of the fleet had voiced his opinion that the fleet should set sail as it would have a better chance of defeating Nelson's forces.

What if Francois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers had listened to his second in command. As the British approached the French position in the early afternoon Francois gave the orders to move to open water and engage the British Fleet. The British not expecting the French fleet to engage them in open water and and in full force lead to a disorganized initial engagement which ended up sinking the British Fourth Rate and 2 of the French Frigrates.

As the Battle progressed opposing naval officers tried to gain the upper hand over the other however Nelson found himself at an increasing disadvantage as the French ships were slowly gaining the upperhand, however the disagreement amongst the French officers eventually caused the battle to turn into a general slugfest as the opposing forces formed along lines as neither could gain an advantage over the other. By 17:00 the French had lost 5 more of their vessels while the British had lost 4 more, while the rest were heavily damaged. The HMS Vanguard took a series of hits from the Orient which ultimately led to the death of Rear-Admiral Nelson, however the Vanguard itself survived and damaged heavily the Orient with the help of the HMS Orion, and HMS Majestic. The Orient would sink with Francois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers gonig down with his ship. Following the destruction of the Orient the French fell into greater disorganization as the British eventually took out most of the remaining french fleet with the rest surrendering including the Guillaume Tell lead by Pierre-Charles Villenueve. The British while victorious took a serious beating and as it was soon discovered by the rest of the fleet had lost their admiral during the battle.

Soon after the loss of the Battle of the Nile the French forces successfully defeated the Ottoman forces on land however they were ultimately defeated at Acre and things occured as they did OTL up until 1805, with the exception of increased british naval losses in the north but with the British still gaining the upper hand at sea.