Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
This is my first real TL. Since it is my first TL, any help and criticism is appreciated.
Spinoff of Municipal Engines’s A Crack at Draka TL.
POD: Prince Wilhelm, son of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, doesn’t die on 18 January 1586.
Prince Wilhelm was born a healthy boy on June 23rd, 1585 to Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia and Marie Eleonore of Cleves. However, his father had already started to suffer from mental disorders 12 years ago, so while he was still under his mother’s care, his father was unable to care for you. Still, he was able to grow up to a healthy, robust, young man, who married the Swedish princess Catherine on July 14th, 1614. Wilhelm and Catherine only had one son, Prince Karl Wilhelm, born on November 11th, 1622. On Albert Frederick’s death on August 28th, 1618, Wilhelm succeeded him as Duke of Prussia at the age of 33.
John Casimir of Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg married one of King Sigismund III’s daughter, Anna Marie, and had four surviving children, Christina, Maria Eufrosyne, Elenora Catherine, and Adolf John. [1]
In 1618, the 30 Years’ War started, and the Duchy of Prussia was able to maintain its neutrality, as it is a fief of Poland and wasn’t interested in interfering in HRE’s problems. However, one thing Duke Wilhelm did do is allow George Wilhelm to travel to Prussia for retirement, as he was in ineffective ruler of Brandenburg who was forced into the war by Gustav II Adolf of Sweden. George Wilhelm died in 1640 at Königsberg, and was succeeded by Frederick Wilhelm as the Elector of Brandenburg. When Gustav II died in battle in 1632, Christina, his daughter, became Queen of Sweden. As a result of the war, many peasants of the Holy Roman Empire looked for a better place to live, and the prosperous Duchy of Prussia, which was neutral during the war, looked like a great place to settle.
In 1637, A Swedish expedition to North America, composed of the two ships Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, embarked from the port of Gothenburg. They sailed into the St. Lawrence River and bypassed Quebec City, the French settlement on the St. Lawrence River, and Trois-Rivières, the second French settlement on the St. Lawrence, just built in 1634. They landed on the banks of the St. Lawrence in 1638, and set up a settlement there, named Fort Christina, after Queen Christina of Sweden. [2] Over the years, many Swedes, Finns, Dutchmen, Germans, and Prussians immigrated to Fort Christina.
Duchess Catherine died on December 25th, 1638, and Wilhelm on June 5th, 1654.
[1] OTL, she died in 1600. ITTL, she survived to become the ATL wife of John Casimir, because Catherine of Sweden is already married to Wilhelm.
[2] Located near OTL Cornwall, Ontario.
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