AHC: sovereign state survives after being decapitated and disarmed

Fenestella

Banned
How could a country continue to exist as a sovereign state after the collapse of the military + fall of the capital + surrender of the remnant resistance in a pre-1900 system run by:
1) one hegemon?
2) several powers?
 
It depends on whether the costs of an absolute victory (occupation, foreign relations, balance of power etc.) are smaller than the benefits of said arrangement. Enforcing such a peace doesn't require just military capacity, but also will.

Why didn't Prussia annex France in 1870? Or why didn't Napoleon incorporate Spain into France? It's easier to just re-arrange internal forces of the defeated state to impose and defend your interests than outright annex it and deal with the costs.
 
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