A year ago
I posted a POD about the French and Bavarians taking Vienna in 1703 and knocking Austria out of the War of Spanish Succession. It evolved into a very small TL that eventually got bigger, and as it did so collected a substantial number of retcons, corrections and clarifications. I had to put it on hold in May, but upon being kicked by Ian I finally got around to collecting it all into a collective whole, a very ambitious task given the nature of the material posted. I also went and did a little bit more research in that time and made some changes to the TL (the biggest being that Portugal doesn't switch sides). So here's everything I have so far, from 1703 to 1729. This is by no means everything there is to say on this time period. There's still more that I would like to do for European dynastic affairs, British and Ottoman domestic politics, the colonial race, Persia, India, China, and more, so expect me to revisit some of these years (and possibly screw with existing material, but I hope I can avoid it) before I proceed to the coming wars. So far all I have going is a list of unmarried bigshots and a vague idea of what I want to do with Persia (a Georgian "shogunate"?) and I have serious non-AH-related work coming up, so expect the next substantial update in March or April, maybe May or later if I gather new uses for my time (I don't get laid again soon and my virginity will come back).
The TL starts now; more coming up after I finally eat lunch. How do you like the new title?
1703
A Franco-Bavarian army takes Vienna. The Habsburgs flee to
Brunn.
Wilhelmina Amalia, wife of the Archduke
Joseph, dies of typhus. She leaves behind
2 daughters and the seeds of a potential European crisis.
Emperor
Leopold I and his sons, the Archdukes Joseph and
Charles, sign a succession pact allowing for female succession in the House of Habsburg.
The Habsburgs sign a separate peace at
Carlsbad.
The Treaty of Carlsbad
The
Prussian king receives the
Silesian duchies of
Liegnitz,
Wohlau,
Brieg, and
Jagerndorf, which the Hohenzollerns had disputed with the Habsburgs, in exchange for pulling his troops out of the war, recognizing French rule over
Orange and renouncing his rights to succession to
Neuchatel upon the extinction of the
House of Orleans-Longueville in favor of
Francis Louis,
Prince of Conti.
France gains the
districts of
Offenburg and the
Breisgau in
Further Austria. Savoy gains
Finale in Liguria and the Duchy of Milan south of the
Po, a disappointing result since it had been promised the whole duchy.
Bavaria is by far the biggest winner, taking the rest of Further Austria (including
Vorarlberg) and Milan, the
Egerland and
Asch in Bohemia, the Tyrol, the Bavarian (original) part of the
Palatinate (
Neuburg and
Schwandorf), and the
imperial cities of Nuremberg,
Ratisbon,
Augsburg, and
Ulm. It is also granted the right to appoint the archbishops of
Cologne and
Salzburg, the bishops of
Hildesheim,
Munster,
Liege,
Augsburg,
Freising,
Ratisbon,
Passau,
Brixen, and
Trent and the provost of
Berchtesgaden from within its own dynasty.
The Archduke Charles is made King of Hungary, which includes Croatia. He and his descendants are barred from the Imperial, Austrian and Bohemian thrones, while the Archduke Joseph and his descendants are barred from the Hungarian and Croatian thrones. Within the Hungarian state,
Francis Rakoczi is given hereditary possession over Transylvania, the
Partium,
Cumania,
Jazygia, the
Hajdusag, the counties of
Szatmar and
Ugocsa, and the
Maros section of the
Military Frontier.
The Habsburgs recognize Louis' nephew
Philip as Spanish king. The Imperial ban is removed from all French allies.
1703 (cont'd)
Having accomplished most of its objectives, Bavaria also signs a separate peace with the Allies at
Rothenburg. Bavaria's conditions are acceptance of its Carlsbad gains and restoration of the Wittelsbach bishoprics. The Allies agree on the condition that
Maastricht, a condominium between the Netherlands and Liege, be transferred to the Dutch.
A combined English force from the West Indies and Newfoundland takes
Placentia.
Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of
Leau and breaks the
Lines of Brabant.
Louvain and
Namur fall to the Maritime Powers.
Pensacola is captured by a force of Englishmen and Indians and its fortress, the
Presidio Santa Maria de Galve, is besieged.