A different husband for Anna Leopoldovna

Anna's OTL husband, Anton Ulrich of Brunswick is said to have been brave but not very capable. He came to Russia in 1733 but married in 1739. How could we get someone else to marry her? One of his younger brothers? Russian court at the time was very pro-Austrian so it's understandable their relatives were possible candidates. Is there someone else connected to the Habsburgs or at least a German prince that the Austrians would agree to? Thanks
 
Well, Britain was allied to Austria at the time. So it's not unthinkable that one of George II's younger son(s)? The duke of Cumberland was George's favorite, to the point that he attempted to even split the British and Hannoverian inheritances. So, perhaps Georg Wilhelm (George II and Karoline's second son, survives, so pushing Cumberland still further away from the British throne), and as a way of making nice with Russia, Britain offers Cumberland. Anton Ulrich was a disaster as a general, yet held the title of generalissimo of the Russian army (something that didn't go over so well with the Russians due to his incompetence), so perhaps Cumberland might make a decent substitute.

OTOH, Anna Leopoldovna was making eyes at the Saxon ambassador (can't remember the guy's name) before her wedding to Anton. Her aunt, Anna Ivanovna requested the Saxon Elector to recall the ambassador, and the minute Ivan VI became emperor, Anna Leopoldovna recalled him. He was halfway across Poland to take up his post in St. Petersburg when the coup of Elizabeth Petrovna happened. So he just quietly went back to Dresden.

Frederick the Great was also mentioned as a candidate for her hand at one point - but I think that that was when she was still only Princess of Mecklenburg, not a grand duchess of Russia
 
Thanks for the reply. But I don't see the British sending one of their princes all the way to Russia. At the time they were on the same side because they were both allied with Austria. It just seems too far-fetched. Frederick could marry her, but, as you said, only as a princess of Mecklenburg. However, she was sent to Russia already in 1733 when she was only 15 so that doesn't work either.
 
As I understand it, Anna actually came to Russia with her mother when she fled her abusive husband in 1722 and remained there for the rest of her life.

A younger Brunswick brother might have been a better option. Anna seems to have disliked Anton Ulrich from the get go - though it didn't stop her having children! - and if she'd had a husband she liked better she probably wouldn't have been fooling around with Lynar (the Saxon Ambassador) whilst Regent and so kept a a firmer grip on power which could have allowed her to neutralise/eliminate Elizabeth Petrovna and keep the Throne for her branch of the family. Both Anna and Anton seem to have been fairly incompetent and politically naive and a more assertive and politically polished husband could have helped her hold onto power.

I agree that I'm not sure the British would have been willing to send one of their Princes all the way to Russia - at least unless it was agreed beforehand that Anna would inherit the throne on the death of her Aunt.

Thanks for starting the thread. Very interesting!
 
Were there any Saxon princes around (obviously not the elector's sons, but his nephews and cousins)? Or what about a Holsteiner/Hessian prince (younger brother/nephew of the Swedish king) or a younger son from Mecklenburg?
 
There might be some Holstein princes available. OTL Adolf Frederick of Sweden and his younger brother. But what would have to happen to make that match?
 
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There might be some Holstein princes available. OTL Adolf Frederick of Sweden and his younger brother. But what would have to happen to make that match?

Maybe Carl XII marries and leaves an heir, or perhaps Ulrika Eleonora has a kid with her husband (or the Badener prince who was the senior legitimate heir succeeds Frederik I) that the Baltic seems less an Oldenburg lake?
 
And the Hapsburgs aren't?

Touche. What I meant was that Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church would allow quite a few canonically illegal violations (including cousin marriage - a no-no) to avoid the prospect of their future emperor being half Catholic, thus why Lorraine would be an unlikely choice IMHO
 
Touche. What I meant was that Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church would allow quite a few canonically illegal violations (including cousin marriage - a no-no) to avoid the prospect of their future emperor being half Catholic, thus why Lorraine would be an unlikely choice IMHO
I had suggested the Lorraines because by this point in history, they're very much intertwined with the Hapsburgs, and an earlier pot mentioned that Russia in this era was pro-Austria, ergo....
 
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