Fate of Hanover without the personal union with Great-Britain

Had William and Mary had a son (one of my AH obsessions:p), how would the electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) have fared? Would have grown to be a major power? Entered into another personal union?
 
Given it's possition and religion I would have tought that it would rise with Prussia after the Napolionic wars. If any union was considered it would be with Prussia to form a powerful union covering most of north Germany.

I can see it disappearing into the a united Germany if a Kaiser comes about.
 
I think it would depend on which side Hannover chooses during the Napoleonic Wars.
If it sides with France it will propably be annexed - or at least large parts of it, thus most likely shorten the time it took to unify Germany as Prussia would have access to its territories along the Rhine.
If it sides with the old powers it could become a counterweight to Prussia - perhaps even gaining some of the lands that Prussia got at the Vienna Congress - protected by France and Austria.
In that case, a war would most likely be neccessary to unify Germany - provided the 1848 revolution still fails.
If Prussia wins (which it could, even if Austria sides with Hannover) the unification could come a few years sooner than OTL. If Prussia looses the possibilities are endless :)
But even three German States (North - capital Hannover, South - capital Vienna and Prussia) are possible as the desire for a united Germany did exist among the people, so this "kleindeutsche lösung" seems logical as it would also deal with the difference in mentality in North and South Germany. This would be the peacefull solution.
I do not see Hannover agree to a Prussian King as Kaiser of Germany - as they sided with Austria in OTL during the 1866 war.
 
It's still elevated to electoral status because that occurs before the Hanoverian inheritance of Britain, because Leopold I did it to preserve the electoral balance after the Palatinate went Catholic.

So it's going to be at the least a second-tier player in Imperial politics like Bavaria. William and Mary having a son wouldn't change the Spanish Question though.
 
I believe that Hanover profited a lot by the personal union with Great-Britain. Without it Hanover would not become as strong as it became OTL. As a electorate it would still have some importance, but I doubt it would reach Austrian or Prussian (even Prussia before the seven year war) level of importance. It would be merely a regional power.

If the French revolution and Napoleonic wars came along (or an equally important kind of conflict) Hanover would not be able to expand as much as it did OTL.
 
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