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Alright, so I know that this has been discussed many times before, but, to my knowledge, most of the said discussions never get beyond a few posts. I even attempted to start a TL on the subject a few years back, but never got farther than a couple entries in. I would, however, like to discuss the scenario from a different angle...

So, what if Baltasar Carlos (1629-1646) had survived his father, King Felipe IV, and succeeded to the Spanish thrones as King Carlos II? The young prince of the Asturias as known to be a healthy child, unlike most of his father's other offspring, and his death from smallpox came as a shock to many. For discussion's sake, let's also say that the infante weds his first cousin, Archduchess Maria Anna as planned, and, against all odds, manages to produce a healthy son and stave off the War of Spanish Succession (this can be with the aforementioned archduchess, or perhaps with a second, more distantly related wife).

This taken into consideration, I'm curious as to how this affect the following events:

What does this mean for the end of the Thirty Years' War? I imagine not much would be changed? Also, what does this mean for France and the Fronde? What would Spanish intervention be like with a healthy male heir and a secure succession? And, taken further, how would Spanish policy in the later years of the reign of King Felipe IV be changed by a male heir and a secured succession?

Does this mean that Infanta Maria Teresa will still wed King Louis XIV to secure a Franco-Spanish alliance in the 1660s? Or is it more likely that she would be wed to an Austrian cousin (probably the King of the Romans, who may or may not die of smallpox in TTL?). And if not, how would French policy be affected without a Peace of the Pyrenees? Also, if King Felipe IV has a surviving heir with his first wife, it means that all claims of King Louis XIV to the Spanish Netherlands in the right of his wife are null and void, so the French are going to have to dig deeper into their bag of tricks for eastern expansionism to take place...

More interestingly, with no War of Spanish Succession, how will this affect Eastern European politics? With Peter the Great looking for a seaport and to open up relations with other European powers, does this mean that Austria may ally with him in fighting the Ottomans, and possibly reconquering most of Hungary? If the Russian Empire gains access to the Black Sea, this could mean a surviving Swedish Empire in the north.

Any thoughts? I'd really like to start a more in depth discussion on the topic, since I may just attempt a TL in the future...
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