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So I've been toying around with doing an Enlightenment TL and came across Josephinism, the name for the collective reforms by Emperor Joseph II. Now reading what his goals were, Joseph II's reforms would have been the best thing for the long-term continuation of the Austrian Empire. Sadly he attempted too many reforms to quickly and was ultimately forced to resend them, dieing failed and broken at the relatively young age of 48.

So is there a way to make Josephinism stick and transform Austria from a confederation of various nations and nationalities dominated by feudal landowners and various minorities into a (quoting from wikipedia) "unitary state, with a centralized, efficient government, rational and mostly secular society, with greater degrees of equality and freedom, and fewer arbitrary feudal institutions."

I've had a few ideas myself on the topic and thought to try and get opinions on them.

1. Have Joseph II's beloved first wife, Isabella of Parma not catch smallpox, and live to bare a son. This might seem like an odd POD but looking at it from a physiological point of view, Joseph II reminds me a bit of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Joseph had no son, his heir was his brother Leopold, so it seems to me he wanted to get as much done as he possibly could before he died, hoping that they could stick so Leopold wouldn't undo them (as he ultimately did). As I said earlier, similar to Pedro II. Pedro's lack of a son caused him to become apathetic to the Imperial institution and when pushed came to shove, gave up the Empire instead of fighting for it. Now with having a son and heir, could Joseph slow down the pace of his reforms, content in the knowledge that his son would continue the reforms?

2. Have Joseph IIs' health not be ruined in his participation in the Austro-Turkish war of 1787-91, thus living longer. Would a longer lived Joseph, with no ruined health I might add, attempt to continue his reforms, perhaps slowing the pace of them a bit, but continuing non-the-less?

Any other ideas are welcome.:)
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