Although the late 17th century is well known for the fact that the Spanish Hapsburgs were dying out. But as the Spanish Hapsburgs were dying out so were the Austrian Hapsburgs. By 1673 the only remaining male of the Austrian Hapsburgs was Emperor Leopold I of Austria. He eventually did get an heir in 1678 when his third wife gave him his 7th child and first surviving son. But what if Leopold'a sons continue to die in infancy as they had with his two previous wives. By the time he dies in ~1705 he only has a few females as his children who survived to adulthood. Would Leopold I like Charles VI try to accomplish a pragmatic sanction and secure the succession of one his daughters to his throne? Or would he potentially seek another alternative heir?

Another what if along these lines, what if his eldest daughter Maria Antonia (who was married to the Elector of Bavaria) had outlived Leopold, would Leopold name her heir or one her sons as heir?
 
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This means we would have a united Bavaria, Austria and Bohemia..

Potentially, not sure how Leopold's personlity would affect his ideas on succession and if he would succumb to international pressure that would lead to partition treaties similar to the ones from the Spanish Succession. Additionally, although I don't believe any one person is allowed to or at the very least is supposed to hold two electoral votes at once (Bavaria and Bohemia). But considering the special nature of Bavaria's electoral vote, it would probably just revert to Palatinate and Palatinate's special vote would be destroyed.
 
Although the late 17th century is well known for the fact that the Spanish Hapsburgs were dying out. But as the Spanish Hapsburgs were dying out so were the Austrian Hapsburgs. By 1673 the only remaining male of the Austrian Hapsburgs was Emperor Leopold I of Austria. He eventually did get an heir in 1678 when his third wife gave him his 7th child and first surviving son. But what if Leopold'a sons continue to die in infancy as they had with his two previous wives. By the time he dies in ~1705 he only has a few females as his children who survived to adulthood. Would Leopold I like Charles VI try to accomplish a pragmatic sanction and secure the succession of one his daughters to his throne? Or would he potentially seek another alternative heir?

Another what if along these lines, what if his eldest daughter Maria Antonia (who was married to the Elector of Bavaria) had outlived Leopold, would Leopold name her heir or one her sons as heir?

Well, if Leopold dies before 1678 she might be married to anyone else - the duke of Savoy and someone else were also considered ahead of the Bavarian elector (her grandmother in Spain wanted her as a daughter-in-law, but then realized that Carlos II might not be able to live long enough to marry her, so she scrapped that idea). Also, Leopold forced Antonia on three separate occasions to renounce her rights to the Spanish throne in favour of her son (once on her wedding, then again when her son was born (I'm assuming this was the first of her three boys), and then again just before she died).

Assuming a situation like OTL - but with no boys, the most likely successor to the Habsburg lands, if none of his daughters have married and produced issue yet (since his eldest daughter has no surviving issue, second daughter only has her first kid a little later, etc) is Leopold's nearest female-line male relative, which would be Carlos II (except he's five years dead in 1705), then the duke of Lorraine (). Bavaria will put in a claim to the imperial title no doubt (maybe the Southern Netherlands too). France will get the Spanish crown by default (assuming that Josef Ferdinand has died as OTL). And Hungary and Bohemia will either go to the Bavarians or, considering that Rakoczi's Revolt is close at hand, might go forward independently or elect a new king. But I'm just spitballing here.
 
Well, if Leopold dies before 1678 she might be married to anyone else - the duke of Savoy and someone else were also considered ahead of the Bavarian elector (her grandmother in Spain wanted her as a daughter-in-law, but then realized that Carlos II might not be able to live long enough to marry her, so she scrapped that idea). Also, Leopold forced Antonia on three separate occasions to renounce her rights to the Spanish throne in favour of her son (once on her wedding, then again when her son was born (I'm assuming this was the first of her three boys), and then again just before she died).

Assuming a situation like OTL - but with no boys, the most likely successor to the Habsburg lands, if none of his daughters have married and produced issue yet (since his eldest daughter has no surviving issue, second daughter only has her first kid a little later, etc) is Leopold's nearest female-line male relative, which would be Carlos II (except he's five years dead in 1705), then the duke of Lorraine (). Bavaria will put in a claim to the imperial title no doubt (maybe the Southern Netherlands too). France will get the Spanish crown by default (assuming that Josef Ferdinand has died as OTL). And Hungary and Bohemia will either go to the Bavarians or, considering that Rakoczi's Revolt is close at hand, might go forward independently or elect a new king. But I'm just spitballing here.

If Joseph Ferdinand had a younger brother and Joseph Ferdinand inherited Spain would his younger brother be the one to inherit Bavaria and Austria (as a means of keeping Spain and Austria separate)?
 
If Joseph Ferdinand had a younger brother and Joseph Ferdinand inherited Spain would his younger brother be the one to inherit Bavaria and Austria (as a means of keeping Spain and Austria separate)?

In theory, yeah. But considering JFL's birth is what killed his mom (IIRC) even if she lives, she might be too damaged to have another kid. Not to mention that she'd been pregnant 6x since marrying Maximilian II (miscarriages/stillbirths in '87, '88 and '91, with a son who lived 3 days in '89 (Leopold Ferdinand) and a son who died the day of his birth in '90 (Anton Maximilian) before JFL was born in October '92).
 
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In theory, yeah. But considering JFL's birth is what killed his mom (IIRC) even if she lives, she might be too damaged to have another kid. Not to mention that she'd been pregnant 6x since marrying Maximilian II (miscarriages/stillbirths in '87, '88 and '91, with a son who lived 3 days in '89 (Leopold Ferdinand) and a son who died the day of his birth in '90 (Anton Maximilian) before JFL was born in October '92).

Thank you so much
 

raharris1973

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Is there any way the last Austrian Habsburg before the WoTAS could have just decided that rather than name a daughter as heir and pay for the pragmatic sanction that inheritance by the Wittelsbach's was okay? Would the Wittelsbach claimant of the time have been agreeable to a promise to rename his house Habsburg-Wittelsbach to make the last Austrian Habsburg feel better about it?
 
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