No Drowning in the Hollands Diep

Johan Friso, Prince of Orange, drowned in the Hollands' Diep on his way to the Hague to go sign a treaty with the king of Prussia concerning Willem III's will. He left behind a pregnant wife and a daughter. His wife later gave birth to Stadtholder Willem IV. What if he hadn't drowned? Say he's persuaded to wait for the other barge instead of being impatient and hopping in his coach on the first. The coach fell over into the water, and while his companion survived, the prince, caught in the coach, had drowned. Or at least, the servant manages to pull him out - OTL what happened was that the servant couldn't pull him out, and lost his grip as the coach sank deeper into the water.

Could Johan Friso and Marie Luise's attitudes as stadtholder and stadtholderin prevent the United Provinces from slipping into the profound lethargy that they did for the rest of the century? Also, could Johan Friso get a better deal on the Orange inheritance in 1711 from Friedrich I than what their sons did in the late 1720s/early1730s? How might the history of the Netherlands/Europe be affected?
 
I've read that the accident took place like this "He drowned on 14 July, when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather" If this is the case, then the P.o.D. could simply be the captain of the ferry denying to cross the river.
Johan Friso, Prince of Orange, is persuaded to wait till morning, rather get to the Hague in one piece, then not get there at all.
Johan is happy to wait, and continues his journey on 15th July, where he reaches the Hague, where he signs "The Treaty of Hague" (1711) with King Frederick I of Prussia.

Prince John I, saw it as his god given right to be Prince of Orange and rule over the people of the United Provinces, he also believed that if King Frederick, really wanted it, then he should have to denounce his claim to Prussia.

After a few days of talks, it was agreed that Johan is allowed the full title of Prince of Orange, (including the Principality of Orange in the Rhône Valley) with the clause that if Johan is unable to produce and male heir, the title will be turned over to Frederick I of Prussia, or if Frederick I dies, then the title will be turned over to his son, Prince Frederick William of Prussia.

Six weeks after the signing, Princess Marie Louise, consort of Orange, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Willem Karel Hendrik Friso, the royal title would live on for at least two generation.

In 1740, at the age of 53, Prince John I became the Stadtholder of the United Provinces, securing the hold on United Provinces.

The UP would most likely stay allied with Austria, Britain and Portugal.

It would be heavily affected by the Napoleonic War, after giving refuge to the King Louis.

I can not personally see the UP financing the American Rebels with their close ties with Britain.
 
From what I understand, and perhaps someone with a better knowledge of Dutch history could confirm this, there was a rather strong Orangist party in 1711, it was simply that they weren't willing to accept a regency, hence the prolonged Stadtholderless Period.
 
From what I understand, and perhaps someone with a better knowledge of Dutch history could confirm this, there was a rather strong Orangist party in 1711, it was simply that they weren't willing to accept a regency, hence the prolonged Stadtholderless Period.

So does that mean if the treaty is signed johan would become prince/king of united provinces?
 
So does that mean if the treaty is signed johan would become prince/king of united provinces?

No, he would be de facto hereditary stadtholder of the United Provinces and Prince of Orange, Prince (Fürst) of Orange-Nassau* (Nassau-Orange) etc.
(*= the latter refers to the German HRE lands held by the dynasty, whereas Orange proper was originally part of Burgundy (Arelat) within the HRE)

Changing the Republic into a monarchy will be tough (not impossible), IOTL the Napoleonic kingdom of Holland brought down the last real resistance. The role of Lodewijk Napoleon for the acceptance of the monarchy has often been downplayed. In fact he was taking it quite serious, including defending the interests of his kingdom, even when this was at odds with some of the policies of the French Empire. So eventually his brother Napoleon, Emperor of the French, removed him from power and annexed the country to his Empire.

Anyway the monarchy in the kingdom of the Netherlands mostly was a product of the restoration and went back to the role of the house of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands, but it also benefited from the previous Napoleonic kingdom of Holland.
 
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because at this point in time the UP were never even close to a monarchy. any attempt by the house of orange to try would result in them being removed from power.
even though there was a defacto hereditary stadtholdership, the reality is that the stadtholder still has to be elected by the provinces. the Netherlands had several stadtholders, each of them being the stadtholder of one or more provinces, and also provinces without stadtholder.
A stadtholder is not a king, it is closer to a long term appointed president.
keeping the political power of the house of orange limited has been an on going fight from the start till 1795.
 
A stadtholder is not a king, it is closer to a long term appointed president.

I wouldn't even go that far. the American president has a lot more power than the stadholders had. Yes, a competent stadholder could probably become the most important person in the Netherlands, but an incompetent one could easily be completely irrelevant (I am looking at you, Willem V).
 
Agreed about the whole Dutch liking Republican thing. William III was offered the title of Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen, after the Rampjaar and would've accepted, but for the fact it caused a stock market panic in Amsterdam, and Holland nearly rebelled against the idea of restoring the stadtholderate if I understand it correctly.
 
Agreed about the whole Dutch liking Republican thing. William III was offered the title of Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen, after the Rampjaar and would've accepted, but for the fact it caused a stock market panic in Amsterdam, and Holland nearly rebelled against the idea of restoring the stadtholderate if I understand it correctly.

If Holland (the most important province) and not irrelevant Gelre had offered him the title of Duke he would've said yes faster than you can say yes :)p). Chances of this happening are pretty low tough.
 
I wouldn't even go that far. the American president has a lot more power than the stadholders had. Yes, a competent stadholder could probably become the most important person in the Netherlands, but an incompetent one could easily be completely irrelevant (I am looking at you, Willem V).

Out of curiosity, where would you rank Johan Willem? He was definitely militarily minded, whilst his wife seemed to have the skill for handling the political side of things. I personally think they would've made a rather formidable team if he'd lived. Perhaps a very staid court (she was rumored to turn a coin several times before spending it) in Amsterdam, unless he can maybe convince her to part with a little more money for the upkeep. And do you think that JW could make the transition to hereditary stadtholderates sooner than OTL?
 
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