AHC: Habsburg Superpower

Here's the challenge: with a PoD in or after 1756, make a Habsburg (Hapsburg?)-ruled kingdom a superpower.

I know I've been making a lot of threads. Sorry if it seems like I'm spamming.
 
Okay so knocking Prussia out of the Seven Years War would be a nice start. There would be the recovery of Silesia and the neutralization of Saxony and Bavaria too. (1763)

There is only one partition of Poland with Russia taking their share of the three OTL partitions and the rest forming a Habsburg satellite state. (1772)

Austria takes Lower Bavaria in return for the Austrian Netherlands and Breisgau. (1789)

That's a pretty powerful and influential state heading into the end of the century and the revolutionary period in France.
 
Okay so knocking Prussia out of the Seven Years War would be a nice start. There would be the recovery of Silesia and the neutralization of Saxony and Bavaria too. (1763)

There is only one partition of Poland with Russia taking their share of the three OTL partitions and the rest forming a Habsburg satellite state. (1772)

Austria takes Lower Bavaria in return for the Austrian Netherlands and Breisgau. (1789)

That's a pretty powerful and influential state heading into the end of the century and the revolutionary period in France.

Sounds good. Long-term, do you think this Greater Austria could incorporate most of OTL Germany (which would probably make it the premier power in Europe), or would that be entering wank territory?
 
I think Direct Annexation without Federalization of the remaining non-German parts of the Habsburg Empire would be a bit much but not truly impossible.

That said, if there's anything similar to the French Revolution in such a Timeline, which I find likely, then without any other German States to receive territory most of it will have to go to Austria or an Austrian Client State because they will be the only ones there to get it. Even if you do get German Territory going to some other state this hypothetical Austria is powerful enough they won't be able to stand against them. Either way you wind up with Austria maintaining their hold on the German States without anyone to really stop them.

Especially because if Bavaria is properly integrated that really shifts Austrian Power. This will go a long way to marginalizing the various minorities in the Empire and should help prevent a lot of Austria's instability.

France will be obviously pissed off, but most of the other states will probably be ambivalent about the whole deal. Britain won't mind because this Austria will be a purely Land based Power. Russia is the major wild car in this situation, but they might not mind because with a much stronger Western Direction to their Policy that means Austria may be more forgiving of Russian Power in the Balkans. Alternatively it could mean Austria feels tough enough to outright oppose any Russian power in the Balkans, but that could get Britain on Austria's side.
 
Here's the challenge: with a PoD in or after 1756, make a Habsburg (Hapsburg?)-ruled kingdom a superpower.

I know I've been making a lot of threads. Sorry if it seems like I'm spamming.

If the USA falls apart in its Civil War, is is possible for Hapsburg Mexico to become a major power?
 
If the USA falls apart in its Civil War, is is possible for Hapsburg Mexico to become a major power?

I didn't even consider Mexico. It was Maximilian, right?

Mexico is still pretty unstable at that point in the 1860s, and it already lost California and Texas. I doubt it could become a superpower (although it could definitely be a great power).
 
I wouldn't bother with Mexico. It is under Maximilian, but it's falling apart on its own. It isn't like the US actually invaded or anything, they just may have 'lost' some weapons on the Mexican Border.

Even if the US collapses enough to let Maximilian survive, Mexico has major structural problems that it will take a long time to overcome. It isn't impossible, after all the US Civil War was when Immigration really kicked off, so if Max can successfully turn the country around and institute some substantial Liberal Reforms you might be able to get Mexico as one of the premier Immigration targets. However that alone won't be enough to give them Superpower Status, and even with a collapsed US Mexico probably won't be annexing any of their lost territory back.

However even then I don't think you'll wind up with them getting as many Immigrants as OTL's US.
 
Okay so knocking Prussia out of the Seven Years War would be a nice start. There would be the recovery of Silesia and the neutralization of Saxony and Bavaria too. (1763)

There is only one partition of Poland with Russia taking their share of the three OTL partitions and the rest forming a Habsburg satellite state. (1772)

Austria takes Lower Bavaria in return for the Austrian Netherlands and Breisgau. (1789)

That's a pretty powerful and influential state heading into the end of the century and the revolutionary period in France.

Problem: IIRC the Austro-French alliance assumed that, in return for French help to gain Silesia, Austria would have to give the Austrian Netherlands to France (or part of them, I don't remember) so they won't be available for the swap with Bavaria.
 
No Miracle on the House of Brandenburg; Freddy commits suicide, Prussia loses the 7 Year's War, and Austria retakes Silesia. Cue Austria becoming a major industrial power in the 19th century thanks to Silesian coal.
 
On the other hand, if Prussia isn't there to oppose Austria they might try to directly seize the Electorate in the War of Bavarian Succession. If they did give France the Southern Netherlands as a Puppet state, as was originally intended, then France might turn a blind eye to keep from getting entangled on the Continent while also fighting Britain on the Seas.
 
I wouldn't bother with Mexico. It is under Maximilian, but it's falling apart on its own. It isn't like the US actually invaded or anything, they just may have 'lost' some weapons on the Mexican Border.

Even if the US collapses enough to let Maximilian survive, Mexico has major structural problems that it will take a long time to overcome. It isn't impossible, after all the US Civil War was when Immigration really kicked off, so if Max can successfully turn the country around and institute some substantial Liberal Reforms you might be able to get Mexico as one of the premier Immigration targets. However that alone won't be enough to give them Superpower Status, and even with a collapsed US Mexico probably won't be annexing any of their lost territory back.

However even then I don't think you'll wind up with them getting as many Immigrants as OTL's US.

If Max can win, he was super keen on the idea that his brother should marry into Brazil, so there's another quasi-plausible Hapsburg.

Hapsburgs for everyone!
 
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