AHC: The Habsburg Monarchy gets a Third Crown

Retaining Venice is possible, but Tuscany isn;t., Remember that Tuscany wwas independent principality merely ruled by a branch of the Habsburgs. A branch also ruled in Modena and in Parma (Maria Louise, until 1848). If Italy does unite, I can see them eying Venice, but perhaps a sound defeat will end their ambitions. Especially if Venice is well integrated. It'd make an excellent port for the Habsburgs,

Remember that after 1848 Tuscany was essentially an Austrian protectorate; in 1850 Leopold II agreed to an indefinite garrison of between 10,000 and 20,000 Hapsburg troops in Florence alone in order to guard his throne, and just months later he indefinitely dismissed the Tuscan parliament on the 'advice' of Franz Joseph and Schwarzenberg, and two years later, again on the advice of the Hapsburgs and their reactionary allies (Pope Pius IX, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, Charles III of Parma, & Francis V of Modena) he revoked the 1848 constitution (which Leopold had actually supported).

Ultimately the Austrian troops were withdrawn in 1855, and the Piedmontese captured Florence easily in 1859 when the Tuscan people turned on the Hapsburgs.

However, if the Hapsburgs had stayed in Tuscany, coupled with no Second War of Italian Independence, and a more liberal/reformist Hapsburg policy, Tuscany could certainly stay under the Hapsburgs sphere, and likely would be finally brought into the fold at a later date.
 
Here's what I'm thinking for the federal commonwealth Hapsburg empire; Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Italy, and Galicia.

POD of Franz Joseph being assassinated in 1853; Emperor Maximilian pushes his internal reforms and generally liberalizes the regime. In particular Maximilian is taken in by the Austroslavic ideas of Palacký, Bleiweis, & Strossmayer. In foreign affairs the Second War of Italian Independence happens a few years later than OTL, after an uprising in Milan, with the Savoyards as the clear aggressors, backed by the French. I've also given the Papal Legations to the Hapsburgs, while the Savoyards got the minor Italian duchies.

vrqYd.png


1864 is as far as I got. I'm wondering how the rest of you think Maximilian would respond to the Second Schleswig War?
 
Remember that after 1848 Tuscany was essentially an Austrian protectorate; in 1850 Leopold II agreed to an indefinite garrison of between 10,000 and 20,000 Hapsburg troops in Florence alone in order to guard his throne, and just months later he indefinitely dismissed the Tuscan parliament on the 'advice' of Franz Joseph and Schwarzenberg, and two years later, again on the advice of the Hapsburgs and their reactionary allies (Pope Pius IX, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, Charles III of Parma, & Francis V of Modena) he revoked the 1848 constitution (which Leopold had actually supported).

Ultimately the Austrian troops were withdrawn in 1855, and the Piedmontese captured Florence easily in 1859 when the Tuscan people turned on the Hapsburgs.

However, if the Hapsburgs had stayed in Tuscany, coupled with no Second War of Italian Independence, and a more liberal/reformist Hapsburg policy, Tuscany could certainly stay under the Hapsburgs sphere, and likely would be finally brought into the fold at a later date.

Yeah I do remember the Austrian occupation, but Tuscany before 1848 was practically an Austrian protecterate. Hell, all of Italy was. They might prop up their cousins in Italy, but I don't know if they'd want to annex them. After all, a reformist empire wouldn't hold Tuscany under bayonet and enact reactionary policies. They'd probably encourage similar liberal reforms instead, so maybe we see an alliance grouping of all the Habsburg Principalities with the Empire. Perhaps Austria, not seen as a threat, can coopt the unification movement in favor of Tuscany. They were as big as Savoy -- certainly they could unify the peninsula? A Habsburg Italy would be an excellent ally.
 
Top