List of monarchs III

1804-1812: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte)
1812-1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
1838-1847: Achille I (House of Murat-Napoli) [2]
1847-1881: Eugène I (House of Pepoli) [3]
1881-1904: Maurice I (House of Tallyrand-Bonaparte) [4]
1904-1907: Maurice II (House of Tallyrand-Bonaparte) [5]
1907-1932: François I (House of Picquart) [6]
1932-1947: François II (House of LeClerc) [7]
1947-1953: Eugène II (House of Dumont) [8]
1953-1960: Victor Emmanuel (House of Bonaparte) [9]


Emperors of the Western French Empire

1960-1972: Victor Emmanuel (House of Bonaparte) [9]
1972-1979: Charles II (House of Bonaparte) [10]
1979-1980: Louis III (House of Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon) [11]


Emperors of the French

1980-2019: Louis III (House of Bourbon-Orléans) [11]
2019-Present: Alexandre I (Tallyrand-Amundsen) [12]


[1] Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 and rose in prominence in the ancien regime as a clergyman and diplomat. He became a bishop in 1789 and attended the Estates General in that role, but joined the revolutionaries, renounced his bishopric, and was a major organizer of the Revolution. He was part of the coup in 1799 that established the Consulate and the rise of Napoleon to power. He was Napoleon's most important diplomat, although they disagreed often on policy. In 1802 he was laicized and later that year married Catherine Grand, who'd been his mistress since 1797. He opposed the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and when it was the disaster he predicted, including the death of Napoleon, he re-organized the French Senate, which appointed him the new Emperor instead of Napoleon's infant son, Prince Napoleon II.

He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.

However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.

Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time, he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noblewoman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.

He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.

The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeeded by Emperor Achille I.

[2] Prince Charles Louis Napoleon Murat, nephew of Emperor Napoleon via his sister Caroline and son of General Joachim Murat, former Hereditary Grand Duke of Berg, briefly heir to the throne of Spain and when made Emperor, King of Naples. There was some opposition to having a foreign Head of State become Emperor of the French, but Naples had been under French suzerainty since 1806 when Joseph Bonaparte had been made King. He had married his cousin, Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, in 1825 and they produced several children, several male and only one female. Their eldest son would therefore be heir to a vast fortune and a vast number of titles - a challenger to the Emperor and it benefited France to bring all that under the imperial banner.

And thus the House of Murat sat on the imperial throne from 1838 when Achille was 37 and Elisa 32, their eldest son aged 13 and their daughter, only 11. Achille became interested in the French colonial assets, especially the former Spanish colony of Florida that had been acquired by the Empire in 1821. Oranges, sugar cane, cotton and tobacco became huge sources of wealth for the Empire.

When Achille died in 1847 at only 46, his son became King of Naples, but it was up to the Senate to determine who would become Emperor.

[3] After several long discussions, Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli, son of Marquis Guido Taddeo Pepoli and of Princess Letizia Murat, daughter of Joachim Murat and therefore nephew to the First Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte, was selected as Emperor. Gioacchino renounced his Italian titles and in the city of Paris, Gioacchino was crowned as Eugène I, Emperor of France.

Soon after he became Emperor, Eugène allied France with the Kingdom of Sardinia and declared war on the Austrians. The Italian War of 1848-1850 resulted in Sardinia becoming the Kingdom of Italy, but most of Lombardy-Venetia remained under the control of the Austrian Empire.

In the German War of 1866, he aided the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrians. After being convinced by his German wife, Federica of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, he also helped the Prussians against Austria. After the war, Prussia and allied German states became the North German Empire. And finally, Lombardy-Venetia was annexed from Austria by the Kingdom of Italy.

During his rule, Eugène improved the agricultural and commercial industries of France. He reformed the Colony of Florida to have their own colonial parliament, while still being part of the French Empire. The French Emperor also encouraged immigration to Florida, which began growing abundantly wealthy from trade. In 1881, at the age of 65, the French Emperor passed away in the city of Sigmaringen, surrounded by his wife and his four children. He was succeeded by Emperor Maurice I.

[4] The Senate would pick Maurice Rudolph Tallyrand-Périgord, son of Prince Daniel Tallyrand-Périgord, son of Emperor Charlemagne II, and Alexandrine Marie Bonaparte, daughter of Lucien Bonaparte and therefore related to the previous Emperor of France, Eugène Pepoli, whose grandmother was a Bonaparte. Maurice had already married a woman named Claudine La Fayette, a member of the House of La Fayette and had children when he became Emperor.

When he became Emperor, Maurice named his house Tallyrand-Bonaparte in honor of his parents.

He had France form an alliance with Italy and North Germany called the Triple Alliance. He also saw France acquire Spain's Caribbean territories in 1889 which gave France more revenue from its newly expanded overseas territory. Maurice also took part in the Scramble for Africa as France and various other European powers would make various colonies in Africa.

In 1904, Emperor Maurice would die at the age of 62, surrounded by his family. The Senate would pick his son, Maurice Henri Delarnes Tallyrand-Bonaparteas, as his successor.
[/B]
[B[5] [/B]After many long and frustrating arguments, Maurice Henri Delarnes Tallyrand-Bonaparte (Born September 19th, 1867) was selected by the Senate to be the next Emperor of France. To say that Maurice was controversial would be an understatement, not only had he married a lowly Danish librarian who could not even produce any children, he was a progressive and repeatedly voiced that he had no interest in becoming Emperor of France. However, that did stop the Tallyrand-Bonapartes from submitting him as a candidate for the French Emperorship because he was the only male offspring of Maurice I. After being repeatedly begged by several French delegations, Maurice finally relented to go back to France. He was crowned in Paris as Maurice II, Emperor of France.

He would immediately cause controversy after he dismissed all of his fathers and appoint people who were actually experienced and knowledgeable about the subjects their ministries were responsible for. Maurice II promoted and enacted several pieces of progressive legislation involving health and wellness, national education, and organized labour activity, to the dismay of many conservatives.

After nearly three years on the Imperial throne, Maurice II grew frustrated with the Imperial court, especially with their constant insults directed towards his wife. He enacted a few more pieces of legislation that severely curtailed the powers of the monarchy and the nobles by adopting a constitutional form of government. One of the last things that Maurice II did before he abdicated was enact a law that allowed for women to be able to be selected by the Senate as ruling Empress of France.

Three days later, Maurice II abdicated the Imperial throne and renounced all his titles and left France for the United States with his wife and his two newly adopted children. He was succeeded by Grand Marshall François Émile Édouard Picquart.

[6] François Émile Édouard Picquart was born into a French military family in 1856. His grandfather, Jean Picquart, came from peasant stock in Rouen and had served in the Grand Armée under Napoleon and Tallyrand as an enlisted man, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant. His father, Jean-Pierre Picquart, also joined as an enlisted man but won a battlefield commission and rose to the rank of Major. François, as a third generation military man and the son of an officer, had the best education and attended University, receiving his commission upon graduation. His career was considered brilliant and he rose to prominence in the Cuba War of 1891, stepping into command when his superior was wounded in the Battle of Havana. After that he was rewarded with a promotion to General and put in command of the Empire's forces in Indo-China.

During Maurice II's reign, he returned to France as a hero of the Empire and made the Grand Marshall of all French Forces. There was little doubt when Maurice abdicated that the attempt to have the Senate appoint an Emperor partially based on family ties was a mistake. While every Emperor since Charlemagne II had been related to the first or second Emperor and then to both, the pretense was that the throne belonged not to anyone by right of blood but by strength of character and ability to rule. Now one of the reforms, ironically, that Maurice II had won was that blood was not even to be considered and sons or daughters could not inherit. The Senate needed no debate and asked Piquart to take the throne.

He was eager to take the throne as he felt that France was ill prepared for the coming war he was sure was to occur in the next few years. (Of course we all know he was right.) Europe was a powder keg waiting to explode. The continent had divided up into two alliances and the most powerful rivals to France: Britain, North Germany and the Ottomans, were preparing for war at sea and on land. France made alliances with Italy, the Hapsburg Empire, and Russia. Despite his career being an army officer, the Emperor was convinced the threat to France was naval and that was where the Empire had not kept up with her rivals.

So it was that the Empire turned its attention to the construction of a fleet of battleships. This focus on a new industry created a robust prosperity and when War did break out in 1916, France was ready. For the Emperor had turned his attention by the beginning of the second decade to all forms of mechanical war including Aeroplanes, Airships, Armored Trains, Tanks, and Submarines.

While war dragged on in the East, turning into trench warfare, in the west France and her Italian allies swiftly took Spain (a lesser British ally) and the Lowlands, trapping British forces. Both Northern Germany and Britain sued for peace with France and Italy. The terms required them to also make peace with France's allies and so war between Northern Germany and Russia and Austria ended, with Polish lands transferred to Russia and Bohemian lands transferred to Austria. By the Fall of 1916, a new stability swept through Europe with France and Austria dominating the scene. France was once again in control of the Rhineland and the lowlands and a friendly government was installed in Spain.

The next decade and a half saw the continued industrial domination of France and the spread of its overseas Empire. The Dutch East Indies, the Belgian Congo, and the German and British Pacific Islands became the French East Indies, the French Congo, and French Oceania. The vast empire was held together with fast steam ships and luxury airships.

On his 70th Birthday in 1927, the Emperor announced that he and the Senate had passed a new law. Since the Emperor was a presiding monarch, not just a figure head, it behooved the Empire that Emperors retire at a reasonable age and that age had been set at 75. Therefore he would reign only five more years. The last year of his reign was filled with celebrations and special events. As the next Emperor had already been selected, both the current Emperor and the future Emperor attended the various celebrations.

[7] Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque was an Imperial military leader during the reign of Francois I, born in 1901, as a minor member of the Imperial and Bourbon nobilities, his father and elder brother were Comte de Hauteclocque, and his ancestors had fought in both the Crusades and with Emperor Napoleon I. He became lined up to be the next Emperor in 1931, six years after his marriage to Therese de Gargan, also a member of the nobility in her own right.

1939 saw the Floridian Revolution in which the devolved colonial Parliament established by Emperor Eugene declared full independence, but more surprisingly they invited the son of the Muratist claimant who had challenged Francois for the imperial throne, nineteen year old Leopold, Prince of Pontecorvo, to rule as King of Florida. As the Empire saw the secession of this single colonial asset as a threat to the entire Empire, the Senate condemned this and took action to secure their other colonies with military leaders installed as Governors above any existing devolved legislatures.

The Revolution lasted for three years and pulled in the other nations around the Carribean Sea and Gulf of Mexico who saw the independence of Florida as helpful to trade and commerce as it meant a European power would lack influence on their trade partnerships. As such, the Mid-America Trade Executive was officially inaugurated and various nations implemented laws that allowed them to deploy military force to defend their trade interests. France might have been able to secure Florida on its own, but it could not do so when the MATE nations began enforcing blockades of other French colonies, forcing Francois II to deploy military forces away from Florida to secure colonies.

Florida became a zero sum game. And in 1942, at the Treaty of Managua, the Empire officially recognised the full independence of the Kingdom of Florida under the House of Pontecorvo. Francois used the Senate to pressure the King of Naples, Achille IV, to revoke any hereditary claim that the King of Florida might have to the Neapolitan crown.

In return, the House or Pontecorvo would revoke any ability to propose a candidate to the Imperial Senate when the selection process for Francois' heir came up.

This process to select an heir had only narrowly been completed when Francois II died in 1947 in French Algeria when the Imperial airship crashed, killing both Francois and Empress Therese.

[8] Eugène Pierre Henri Maurice Dumont was born into a noble family in 1887 and rose in prominence as a diplomat who helped end the War of 1916 and was one of the people who made the Treaty of Managua which ended the Floridian Revolution. His diplomatic skills made him lined up to become the next Emperor and would become so when Emperor Francois and his wife died in the crashing of the Imperial airship in 1947.

Eugène and his wife Josephine Joffre had ruled for six years when the Revolutions of 1953 started, which was a wave of revolutions which saw many colonies and ethic regions get independence. Eugène would give independence to almost all of France's colonies but not mainland regions like Brittany or Corsica. So in July of 1953, the revolts that were happening in cities like Nantes and Aiacciu would expand to a revolution that led to the forced abdication of the Emperor and his exiling to Florida.

The Senate would replace Eugène II as Emperor with Victor Emmanuel of the House of Bonaparte.

[9] Victor Emmanuel, Count of Cendrieux, was the senior most male line descendant of the House of Bonaparte, seen as the great hope of the Empire by the Senate. After near fifty years of Emperors who had been great military leaders, but which had seen great revolutions and the reduction in the size of the Empire, a return to the charisma of the Bonapartist regimes was decided upon.

To begin with, the plan succeeded, the rebellions across mainland France succeeded, mollified by the creation of regional assemblies as had been given to the now independent Kingdom of Florida. However, these Assemblies still reported to the Senate and after seven years, the Eastern administrative regions (Haut des France, Grand Est, Bourgogne Franche Comte, Auvergne Rhone Alps, Provence Alps Cote D'Azur, and even the Iles Des Frances) declared their plan to secede from the Empire, and form the Republic of Eastern France, with politician Rene Coty, as it's Head of State.

This caused the rapid movement of the Imperial Capital to Nantes in Western France, planned as a temporary measure as nobody believed that the Eastern Republic would last. It didn't, but only on the grounds that Muratists managed to remove Coty from power after six years and install their own candidate, Paul, Count of Senarica, as Emperor of Eastern France. As this would mean the support of Naples, Italy, Austria and Germany, with only the British Commonwealth supporting the rump Empire in the West, the Eastern Senate agreed.

The two states lived in relative peace. And three years later, a disgruntled farmer who has lost land due to the Great Partition assassinated Victor Emmanuel during a public appearance.

The Western Senate had already selected his replacement, and rumours persist to this day that the assassination was an inside job facilitated by factions within the Senate.

[10] Charles Joseph Bonaparte became Emperor Charles II (he counted Charlemagne II as the first Charles) after his predecessor was assassinated and would rule France at it's weakest point in history. He was seen as a British puppet because of his wife Princess Charlotte of the British Commonwealth, who had a considerable amount of power in the Western Senate.

In 1974, Corsica would declare independence from West France and would have a Bonaparte on their throne. The following year, Brittany and Normandy both became independent republics, which would cause the people to attempt to overthrow the monarchy and replace it with a republic, but failed. Charles II would also start plans of reuniting with East France in the near future.

In 1979, Charles II would abdicate after turning 75 years old. The Western Senate had already selected an heir, and he would move to London, where he wrote his memoirs about his time as Emperor of West France. He also traveled the world with his wife before dying in his hometown of Tregastel in 1997.

Charles II has been remembered as a weak ruler who did barely anything about the state West France was in during the '70s, which had been seen as being very different when compared to the French Empire in the '20s.

[11] Louis Charles Henri Philippe Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon was born in Orleans in 1950, where his family had had estates since his ancestor, Phillipe I d'Orleans Bourbon, had been made Duke of Orleans in 1661 by his brother, Louis XIV, the Sun King. However, the family had mainly resided in Paris until the capital was taken by Eastern France and his family fled to their Orleans' estate.

Some unfamiliar with the situation, might think it was ironic that at its weakest moment, the French Senate turned to the future head of the cadet line of the Bourbons, but the Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon family had been committed to the Revolutionary Republic and then the Empire from the very start, when Philippe I's great great grandson, Louis Philippe II, the then current Duke, had joined the Revolutionaries, renounced his nobility and changed his name to Égalité. His son, Louis Philippe III fled France after his father was executed during the reign of terror, but was one of the many former aristocrats invited back to the Empire with their estates restored by Tallyrand when he became Emperor, as long as they swore loyalty to the Emperor and renounced the old monarchy. Louis Philippe III followed in the footsteps of his father, adding Égalité to the family name and taking back the Duchy. He was a close friend of Tallyrand and an advisor to the Emperor. He and his descendants were prominent members of the Senate and when reforms made its member elected, more often than not a Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon sat in the Senate.

Louis' grandfather, Louis Henri was the Duke and an important Senator when Paris was lost to the Empire. After the family relocated to their estates in Orleans, with the Duke commuting to Nantes for Senate meetings, Louis' father, Samson Charles, married Elise Chartoiniere, the younger daughter of a successful industrialist, Jerome Chartoniniere, also a Senator. He and the older Duke worked together in the Senate against the faction that wanted the Empire to accept its diminished status. When the old Duke died, Samson was elected to replace and him and worked with the older Chartoniniere, who acted as his mentor.

It was in this atmosphere that Louis was born and raised. He was two years out of University and serving in the Diplomatic Corps when the Empire lost more provinces and seemed in an inevitable decline. The two factions in the Senate were the Realists, who accepted the growing diminished status of the Empire, and the Idealists, who called for major reform of the Empire's governing system and called for a return to the glories of France's past.

At first, Charles had sided with the Realists, but he switched sides near the end of his reign, and under the tutelage of Chartoniniere and Senator Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon began seeking a return to France's glories and a reunited Empire. The Empire had found itself in a quandary as two of its former colonies, Cuba and Florida, had almost gone to war with each other over their conflicting claims to the Andros Archipelago. Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon had been a junior attaché of the Imperial Delegation to decide the issue, as both former colonies had requested the intervention of Mother France. But it was Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon who charmed both sides, winning them over with his eloquence, insight, and brilliant thinking.

Not only did he have the prestige of his recent mission, which propelled him to fame, but he had the backing of the most powerful faction in the Senate under his father and father-in-law. Charles was wise enough to realize it was time to make overtures to the Eastern Empire and that Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon, who'd Charles had appointed Count of Paris as a reward for his diplomatic triumph, was the best person to head up the mission.

Charles had not only been impressed with Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon's diplomatic prowess, but his high charisma, his charm, and his family's long history. He was after all descended from Charlemagne. This would have tremendous impact in Paris in the Eastern Empire which hadn't adopted the Western ideal of an elected Emperor. The heir in the east would be whoever the Princess Paulette de Senarica married. Her father, the Prince Royal Paul, had died while she was an infant and she was the only descendant of the Emperor Paul de Senarica, who was ill. After the fact it was believed that Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon's real task was to woo Princess Paulette and win her hand.

Whether it was intended, that is exactly what happened. Once Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon was the husband of the Princess and the next Emperor in the East, it was obvious to those who wished a rapprochement that the next Western Emperor should be Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon.

Thus it was that before Emperor Paul died, Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon had been selected as the next Western Emperor by the Senate in Nantes with the full endorsement of Charles II. Paulette was crowned Empress of the West in Nantes before her father died. There was little the Eastern Empire could do but accept this.

Égalité d'Orleans Bourbon adopted the imperial title of Louis III, following in the tradition of Tallyrand, counting himself the third Emperor named Louis as there were two previous Carolingian Emperors of that name: Louis the Pious, the son of Charlemagne I, and Louis of Italy, the grandson of Louis the Pious.

This went along with a propaganda program of emphasizing the problems that led to the downfall of the Carolingian Empire was precisely dividing it into the West and the East, just as the same mistake led to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

Within a year Emperor Paul died and Louis III and Paulette led the Imperial Court in its return to Paris and a reunited France. By 1990 the portions of France that had separated all returned, albeit as Federal Districts with their own local governments.

After that Louis III continued the reforms envisioned by Charles II. A new constitution was written that reduced the power of the Emperor from a presiding monarch to a reigning one with a Prime Minister chosen by the majority of an expanded Senate, who would form a government. These reforms also made it unnecessary that a blood heir could not inherit the throne or that the Emperor had to retire at age 75.

Louis and Paulette had many children. As France entered the new Millennium, she was once again united, prosperous, and facing forward into the future. She also was the most democratic she'd been since the failed Republic, even though the Emperor was from the line of the old Kings.

Louis III died in 2019 only a few weeks shy of his 69th birthday from a heart attack.

Illustration.

[12] Alexandre Nicholas Delarnes Aréllies Tallyrand-Amundsen was born on October 16th, 1954, in New York, United States, to Henriette Harells-Amundsen, who was one of the adopted daughters of Emperor Maurice II.

Alexandre moved to the Empire of Eastern France after the Great Partition, so that he could offer his services to the young empire. Alexandre was given many positions in the Ministry of Infrastructure and he eventually became Minister of Infrastructure, in 1973, becoming well-known for his many ambitious public and transportation infrastructure projects., which transformed the Eastern French Empire.

After the reunification of the French Empire, Alexandre and many other Eastern French nobles were awarded by Emperor Louis III as a process of reunification.

Under the reign of Louis III, Alexandre would still distinguish himself as "the Father of Modern French Architecture".

In 1992, Alexandre became Mayor of Paris, a position which he held until 2014. In 2005, under the mayorship of Alexandre, the Parisian police foiled a plot by Eastern French nationalists to assassinate Emperor Louis III.

After the death of Emperor Louis III, in 2019, there were many wonderings in the Senate as to who would succeed the man who reunited France. Many supported Empress-Consort Paulette or one of her children to be selected as the ruler of France. However, in an unexpected turn of events, the Bourbon-Orléans declared their support for Alexandre as Emperor. After that event, it was already foregone conclusion that Alexandre was selected as Emperor of France.

Alexandre was crowned as Alexandre I, in a nationally televised coronation in Paris. Alexandre adopted the name, Tallyrand-Amundsen, in honour of his grandfather and his grandmother.

Currently, Emperor Alexandre I is pursuing a greater collaboration between European countries to overall improve the European continent as a whole.
 
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3. There can be no more than two active lists at any given time, splitting ONE list into TWO is allowed but MUST BE REALISTIC, and they have to be in the same timeline, so to speak.

It should be @Records. They finished this one. Just give them a day or two. :)

Oh okay, I'll wait then. Thanks for letting me know, I missed that part of the rules!
I’ve shared the first post to show that @RedKing could do a list to keep the page alive and @Records can create their own list alongside.
 
What if Frederick was removed from the line of succession due to the Katte Affair?

Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (
House of Hohenzollern) [1]


Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]

RwaNvMQ2ZfM2qR-zSXZcT8lrk_w7jrf_9lJA0jjvVJo6qQEJjQ940wi0Psx4hZI0GATiSbj2g9ixdx8V04i89YUO9uaTSzWfDgec780eG--VHGwBqNJ0uk7HJlRC8Tv6ewvn1sJV

[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.

The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.

When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.

Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.

During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.

In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by _________.
 
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Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]


Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and Poland
1763-1802 Henry I/IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]

RwaNvMQ2ZfM2qR-zSXZcT8lrk_w7jrf_9lJA0jjvVJo6qQEJjQ940wi0Psx4hZI0GATiSbj2g9ixdx8V04i89YUO9uaTSzWfDgec780eG--VHGwBqNJ0uk7HJlRC8Tv6ewvn1sJV


[1]
Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.

The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.

When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.

Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.

During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.

In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2]
The tale of ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.

Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778, when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.

Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to....................
 
Frederick William, King of Prussia, b. 1688, r. 1713 to 1740, m. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687 to 1757)
2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX​
4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX​
6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX​
7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX​
9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX​
10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX​
11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia if Saxe-weimar Eisenach​
a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763​
b) several daughters
12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX​
13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802​
14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX​
 
Which isn't to say that a pragmatic sanction couldn't be implemented in Prussia if the immediate male line was extinct.

Well, Augustus Ferdinand had children IOTL and Henry is not necessarily destined to die childless (I left the next person a bit of creative liberty there), so the threat of extinction of male line is quite distant.
 
Well, Augustus Ferdinand had children IOTL and Henry is not necessarily destined to die childless (I left the next person a bit of creative liberty there), so the threat of extinction of male line is quite distant.
Shouldnt he be Henry II of Poland? Of course Poland's numbering of rulers can be somewhat odd in places ...
 
What if Frederick was removed from the line of succession due to the Katte Affair?

Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]


Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]

Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern)



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[1]
Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.

The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.

When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.

Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.

During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.

In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.

[2]
The tale of ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.

Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778, when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.

Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.

[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.

He followed his father's policy of minimal involvment in the Revolutionary Wars, prefering to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.

On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developping major manufacturing sites all accross his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.

To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.

A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she shoud rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.

In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that ________________ would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.



PS: sorry I took so long, I had completely forgotten I had an oral exam this evening
 
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Shouldnt he be Henry II of Poland? Of course Poland's numbering of rulers can be somewhat odd in places ...

Henry I is Henry the Bearded, Henry II is Henry the Pious, Henry III is Henry the Valois, so he's IV - Hohenzollerns used their Silesian Piast ancestry a lot in XVIIIth century, so this is a nod to those monarchs.
 
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