Leopold II of Austria Survives

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
Leopold II died in 1792, shortly after taking over the throne of Austria from his brother. During his short reign he managed to save a number of liberalization and rationalization policies of his well intentioned, but somewhat inept brother, who managed to piss off most of the empire with his heavy-handed reforms.
Leopold seems to have had the same inclinations towards reforming the Empire but was more successful at it by taking a 'sneakier' approach to ensure that they wouldn't cause a revolt. Had Leopold survived, what would have happened to the Austrian Empire? Could he have prevented the later problems that brought any sort of change to a halt?
Could have prevented war with France, which would have allowed his Empire to further reform and rebuild its finances after the Russo-Ottoman war and the war of Bavarian succession?
 
Well, France declared war on Austria first in April 1792, so I don't think Austria can avoid war. Since it is Revolutionary France and its wars that dominate the next decades, I don't think Leopold is going to change events all that much. He is just going to react to whatever Napoleon does just like his son did. Until Napoleon/France is defeated, all other issues are going to be secondary. I don't think Leopold is going to survive past 1815 to see Napoleon defeated, so he won't affect how the rest of the 19th Century will develop.
 
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