So, the HRE Leopold I had five sons born over the course of his three marriages:
Ferdinand Wenzel (1667-1668)
Johann Leopold (1670)
HRE Josef I (1678-1711)
Leopold Karl (1682-1684)
HRE Karl VI (1685-1740)
I've seen it proposed in several TLs that Leopold partitions his empire (either before (so as to avoid) or after the War of the Spanish Succession), with the eldest son taking the Empire, the Habsburg Netherlands and the Habsburg Inheritance of Further Austria, Tyrol etc; and another son (usu. Karl VI) getting the kingdom of Hungary-Bohemia.
If a third son (say Leopold Karl) had survived, would this idea have been put into practice as say: Emperor Josef, King Leopold II of Hungary, and King Charles III of Spain? Or would another plan have been devised? What might the results be of a threeway split of the Habsburgs (butterflying away of course the fact neither Josef nor Karl had surviving sons). And would as pointed out in the one thread, it actually strengthen the Habsburg hold on the Empire or weaken it?
Thoughts and feedback appreciated.
Ferdinand Wenzel (1667-1668)
Johann Leopold (1670)
HRE Josef I (1678-1711)
Leopold Karl (1682-1684)
HRE Karl VI (1685-1740)
I've seen it proposed in several TLs that Leopold partitions his empire (either before (so as to avoid) or after the War of the Spanish Succession), with the eldest son taking the Empire, the Habsburg Netherlands and the Habsburg Inheritance of Further Austria, Tyrol etc; and another son (usu. Karl VI) getting the kingdom of Hungary-Bohemia.
If a third son (say Leopold Karl) had survived, would this idea have been put into practice as say: Emperor Josef, King Leopold II of Hungary, and King Charles III of Spain? Or would another plan have been devised? What might the results be of a threeway split of the Habsburgs (butterflying away of course the fact neither Josef nor Karl had surviving sons). And would as pointed out in the one thread, it actually strengthen the Habsburg hold on the Empire or weaken it?
Thoughts and feedback appreciated.