Longer Spanish Habsburgs

Let's say, for some reason (like the Spanish Habsburgs realizing that uncle marrying niece-many-times-over isn't conducive to the prolonging of the dynasty) that the Spanish Habsburgs last long enough.

And somehow, let's say that it's the Austrian/Imperial branch that got the short end of the stick TTL, and go extinct sometime in the 18th century (which they kinda did OTL).

What happens then? Is the War of *Austrian Succession gonna play out differently?
 
It should theoretically be much easier, Austria definitely and Bohemia s/p the 30 yrs war were Habsburg hereditary in the male line. Hungary likewise after the great Turkish war. Less ground for others to snipe at. That being said I doubt that would stop others from trying/objecting.

Side note: it wasn't for lack of trying both Philip II and Philip IV did wed less related french princesses, the sons just never made it. They could've gone for an Italian princess though. However that was typically done by the imperial branches.
 
It's more interesting/plausible in my opinion to have France lose the War of the Spanish Succession and then Maria Theresa lose the War of the Austrian Succession.
 
It's more interesting/plausible in my opinion to have France lose the War of the Spanish Succession and then Maria Theresa lose the War of the Austrian Succession.

I wouldn't really call the War of the Spanish Succession a French victory; while they managed to successfully press the Bourbon claim, France's position as the dominant power in Europe would only erode from that point onward and countries which didn't have much of a direct stake like Britain were the biggest winners (Gibraltar, Minorca, and the asiento for instance).

Also, a different WotSS would likely mean a different Habsburg succession, unless you're willing to commit butterfly genocide.
 
I wouldn't really call the War of the Spanish Succession a French victory; while they managed to successfully press the Bourbon claim, France's position as the dominant power in Europe would only erode from that point onward and countries which didn't have much of a direct stake like Britain were the biggest winners (Gibraltar, Minorca, and the asiento for instance).

Also, a different WotSS would likely mean a different Habsburg succession, unless you're willing to commit butterfly genocide.
They're not that far apart.
 
Let's say, for some reason (like the Spanish Habsburgs realizing that uncle marrying niece-many-times-over isn't conducive to the prolonging of the dynasty) that the Spanish Habsburgs last long enough.

And somehow, let's say that it's the Austrian/Imperial branch that got the short end of the stick TTL, and go extinct sometime in the 18th century (which they kinda did OTL).

What happens then? Is the War of *Austrian Succession gonna play out differently?
Well you do not need that for guaranteeing the survival of the Spanish Habsburg: have either of this guys surviving

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balthasar_Charles,_Prince_of_Asturias
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_IV,_King_of_the_Romans

Sure they both were engaged to first cousins (Mariana of Austria for the first, Maria Theresa of Spain for the second) but we can hope for healthy enough children (and with Balthasar survival his father will remarry to another princess and likely have healthier children than the ones he had from Mariana in OTL)
 
Let's say, for some reason (like the Spanish Habsburgs realizing that uncle marrying niece-many-times-over isn't conducive to the prolonging of the dynasty) that the Spanish Habsburgs last long enough.

Which means that the War of Spanish Succession either does not happen or happens under the different circumstances with unpredictable outcome.
 
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