DBWI: Hapsburgs take the Spanish throne

Following the death and suspected assassination of her son Charles, Joanna of Castile sided with her father and younger brother John, Prince of Girona against the encroaching Hapsburgs. Thanks to them it would be well over a century before another Hapsburg would be in line for the Spanish crown. Assuming Charles lives and John dies, how does Spain fit into this new Hapsburg mega-state and does the North African reconquista still stall at Tunis now that they have all the Hapsburg resources at their disposal? It seems to me that by adding Spain's wealth and role as "Defender of the Faith" to their growing power the Hapsburgs would be able to start pushing back the Ottomans in the Balkans, possibly with an eventual eye on retaking Constantinople.
 
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Well for one thing I don't think that the Habsburgs would have relocated their capital to the New World in the same way that the Trastamara did with Mexico City. As a result, I don't think Habsburg Spain would have been able to effectively control all of the Americas. It would be interesting to see what takes the place of the Colombian Empire in a world where North and South America aren't ruled from the Imperial City of Mexico.
 
Well for one thing I don't think that the Habsburgs would have relocated their capital to the New World in the same way that the Trastamara did with Mexico City. As a result, I don't think Habsburg Spain would have been able to effectively control all of the Americas. It would be interesting to see what takes the place of the Colombian Empire in a world where North and South America aren't ruled from the Imperial City of Mexico.

No matter how much the late emperor Carlos liked to claim that he moved the capital of his own accord, it does not remove the fact that the situation in Spain was crumbling fast and that he probably knew revolution was just around the corner. The Carabineros had effectively lost control of the streets of Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, and his extended "holiday in Seville" was ultimately because he would not have been safe staying in Madrid. The revolution might have taken another year to fully take form and end the trappings of monarchical power. But by that point it was going to either be the quick revolution of OTL or an extended civil war likely still ending in his being deposed. Next to that the Americas looked pretty nice. Even if he did spend the rest of his life squirming under the autonomous and constitutional government which would have ironically probably prevented the Spanish revolution.

If the revolution still happens, (a big if, there were hundreds between the point at which the hapsburgs had a shot of inheriting Spain and the revolution) the hapsburgs might stick it out for longer, (the hapsburgs unlike most royal families, were almost universally arch reactionaries, and of the old European empires their fall was the bloodiest and most protracted), but I don't think they will. Because the situation was not good. The only loyal military presence in Spain were the Gendarmerie. The conscript army was so unreliable that they effectively disbanded it in order to take their guns away, and the navy was only a few degrees better (In that case the officers could atleast carry out an order without fearing it would spark a mutiny). In that situation no one can realistically try to rule unless they're suicidal or extremely brave.
 
Well, in OTL the Trastamaras recognized the potential of the New World despite being concentrated on the North African Reconquista; they recruited men from every part of both Crowns of Castile and Aragon, most especially Galicians, Extremadurans, Andalusians, Basques and La Mancha Castillans from the former and Catalans, Aragonese, Valencians and Gascons from the latter. I know there were population pressure; captured Moors, a large percentage of them spoke Iberian Romance languages, were sent to the New World, both men and women, with the purpose of conquering the interior. That indeed, IMHO, resulting in an interesting intermarriage with the Native Americans in the interior.

If the Hapsburgs took the Spanish throne, well, they would focus on the New World colonization but at the same time, North African colonization would be indefinitely halted. Instead, Spain would be involved in various wars of religion that affected the rest of Europe in the good part of the 16th century.
 
Following the death and suspected assassination of her son Charles, Joanna of Castile sided with her father and younger brother John, Prince of Girona against the encroaching Hapsburgs. Thanks to them it would be well over a century before another Hapsburg would be in line for the Spanish crown. Assuming Charles lives and John dies, how does Spain fit into this new Hapsburg mega-state and does the North African reconquista still stall at Tunis now that they have all the Hapsburg resources at their disposal? It seems to me that by adding Spain's wealth and role as "Defender of the Faith" to their growing power the Hapsburgs would be able to start pushing back the Ottomans in the Balkans, possibly with an eventual eye on retaking Constantinople.

The Kids of John are inbred, he married Catherine of Germany, his own niece, I remember, Portugal and Castile are united a century after and Castile gained the Eastern possessions of Portugal, Portugal gave Brazil to Castile in a settlement, since Spain wanted a piece of East Indies or Manuelinhas, the Islands of Java, Selurong[OTL Luzon), Mindanao,most of the Malayan Peninsula and Sumatera were unconquered by the Portuguese and the challenge of the Portuguese as conquerors were a part of their history to them.
 
Following the death and suspected assassination of her son Charles, Joanna of Castile sided with her father and younger brother John, Prince of Girona against the encroaching Hapsburgs. Thanks to them it would be well over a century before another Hapsburg would be in line for the Spanish crown. Assuming Charles lives and John dies, how does Spain fit into this new Hapsburg mega-state and does the North African reconquista still stall at Tunis now that they have all the Hapsburg resources at their disposal? It seems to me that by adding Spain's wealth and role as "Defender of the Faith" to their growing power the Hapsburgs would be able to start pushing back the Ottomans in the Balkans, possibly with an eventual eye on retaking Constantinople.

Well, for one thing, I don't think my nation would have formed at all. With so many entanglements with Europe, where would the Spaniards find the focus to establish their empire in the Far East from Formosa to Timor, building the foundation of the modern Republic of the East Indies?

As opposed to some crackpots, who believe that it was only natural for these islands to coalesce into an archipelago-spanning nation, it was the intervention of the Trastamara dynasty that formed this nation from the scattered polities that we were.

There is a reason these lands are named Las Islas Joanninas, after all.
 
Well, for one thing, I don't think my nation would have formed at all. With so many entanglements with Europe, where would the Spaniards find the focus to establish their empire in the Far East from Formosa to Timor, building the foundation of the modern Republic of the East Indies?

As opposed to some crackpots, who believe that it was only natural for these islands to coalesce into an archipelago-spanning nation, it was the intervention of the Trastamara dynasty that formed this nation from the scattered polities that we were.

There is a reason these lands are named Las Islas Joanninas, after all.

Same with me; the Empire of Columbia surely wouldn't exist without the Spanish, and, stretching from California to Patagonia, I'd say we have had quite an impact on history!
 
Same with me; the Empire of Columbia surely wouldn't exist without the Spanish, and, stretching from California to Patagonia, I'd say we have had quite an impact on history!

Don't forget the East Coast. It might be severely less populated compared to New Spain but the provinces of La Florida, Carolina, and Natalia are currently going through a huge period of growth and development thanks to people fleeing the cost of living closer to Mexico City. Heck the oil boom in Tejas and along the Gulf has made Trastamara City (OOC Houston) the fastest growing city in the Empire, especially since many tech firms are transferring their headquarters there following Gobernador Miguel de la Garza's offer of tax breaks.

New Madrid (NYC) is also experiencing amazing growth thanks to the droughts in California.
 
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