AHC: A West German power?

IOTL the most powerful German states grew and consolidated in the southern Germany (Austria, Tyrol, Steiermark into "Austria") and eastern Germany (Brandenburg, Prussia, etc.). I have to assume this partially has to do with the huge land grants they started out with as frontier areas, and mostly to do with enterprising dynasties that ended up controlling them.

Is there a chance for a power of the level of Austria or Prussia in the 18th century rising? PoD can be any time after 1000 AD. Is proximity to France always going to ruin a Rhineland/Westphalia-based state?
 
Maybe if you could form Rhineland as a kingdom before the Napoleon invasion, you could see a really powerful West German power, a lot(if not all) of the industrial power of Prussia was gained when they were awarded with the Rheinland after the Napoleonic wars.
the problem, the French they will fight with teeth and nails to maintain the place desunited, including invasions to the west and east side of the Rhine
 
Strictly speaking there is a Western Germanic power than grew to significance by the modern era. This being The Netherlands. It was only that Dutch nationalism beat out Deutscher nationalism and so the Netherlands was never included in Germany.

But if you wanted to you could turn the Netherlands back towards Germany.

Alternatively, Hanover is a decent core to form a Western state over, or Hesse, which I’m unexplainably fond of.

France is one of those things that doesn’t necessary nix a West German state but could easily nix any West German state in the long run. It’s like a 1/10 chance at best that you don’t have an alt. France interested in meddling in West Germany, at least with a POD after about 1500.
 
See Henry the Lion's Saxony. Before defeated by the Holy Roman Emperor himself, Henry the Lion's Saxony contained much of North Germany as well as Bavaria. If he or his descendents avoid being crushed by the emperor's power and maintain this realm, you have a large state around the North Sea which will be in good position to have a strong Dutch-style empire, if not even more influence in the New World, Africa, and Asia.
 
I was about to say what @Young Lochinvar has already said about the Dutch, only the 18th century is of course a tad too late to count them as West Germans.

The Rhineland, economically powerful, is in the hands of the three electoral prince-bishoprics (mostly). It´s hard to change that without a Napoleon, and it´s hard to imagine them on an empire-building course of action.
 
I was about to say what @Young Lochinvar has already said about the Dutch, only the 18th century is of course a tad too late to count them as West Germans.

The Rhineland, economically powerful, is in the hands of the three electoral prince-bishoprics (mostly). It´s hard to change that without a Napoleon, and it´s hard to imagine them on an empire-building course of action.

POD is any time after 1000. I will grant you that the Prince-Bishoprics were already established for the most part by then, but surely not so firmly entrenched as they were later?
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
You need the dynasty ruling the United Duchies of Julich-Kleve-Berg (or was it Mark not Berg) not dying out in the male line AND having a few ruthless representatives picking on their neighbours.
Like Frederik the Great signing a treaty one day and breaking it the next.
IMO a 1700 POD is enough for such a state emerging. There are ample opportunities for growth in the XVIIIth century. Then, come Congress of Vienna, the United Dutchies - now Kingdom of Westfalen - get the bishoprics. Come the age of coal and steel and - boom! - most powerful German state.
 
How about this? The Netherlands goes to Ferdinand instead of Philip II. Due to butterflies of having a different ruler, the Dutch revolt is averted.

Being richer than Austria, the Habsburgs move their capital to the Netherlands, and from there on, centralizes the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Austria in this case would be an appanage to the Netherlands, like Rhineland in OTL was to Prussia.
 
Austria succeeds in swapping Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands. As the branches of the Wittelsbach family die out and control over the domains centralizes, the Kingdom of Belgium-Palatinate forms. When the Liege revolution occurs, Belgium-Palatinate absorbs the Republic. Belgium-Palatinate's Monarch later inherits the Grand Duchy of Baden as well.

Due to its modernity in industry, finance, and shipping as well as its abundance of resources, Belgium-Palatinate becomes a significant European Power and leader of the Third Germany.

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Prussia comes out on top in the Polish-Saxon Crisis, getting all of Saxony. The Wittelsbachs are given the Prussian Rhineland and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Kingdom of Rhineland goes on to be a powerful industrial state and leader of the Third Germany.


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The Netherlands gets the North Rhineland following the Congress of Vienna. Prussia gets Saxony, the Wittelsbachs are given the Duchy of Warsaw minus Bialystok, and Hanover gets Westphalia. As German Nationalism rises, Hanover, Denmark, and Oldenberg form a powerful alliance in Northwest Germany that is able to resist the efforts of Austria and Prussia.
 
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