alternatehistory.com

From what little I know of the war of Spanish Succession, in 1708, the war was basically a stalemate, with all sides weary. At the battle of Oudenaarde, the French suffered a demoralizing, crushing defeat, which put France into dire straits. This loss was, from many accounts, enabled by difficulty of command between the Duke of Burgundy (the nominal commander) and the able actual commander Vendome.
So what if Burgundy plays his role as a royal prop allowing Vendome do do his business and achieve a victory. Let's add in a bonus of Marlborough being killed in action. How does the rest of the war play out? Britain is now the demoralized party, and United Provinces (Netherlands) is the desperate one. Can all parties agree to end the war now, more or less with OTL outcome. Austria is likely not to get Spanish Netherlands, so I'm guessing France takes some and maybe turns the rest into a buffer duchy? Or does France get greedy and push for too much, thus prolonging the war? Loss of Marlborough and retention on Vendome (OTL he took the fall for the defeat and no longer commanded for France) alters the military situation.
Top