The Peace of Schönbrunn - Lets All Ignore the French

Assassination attempts on Austrian Crown Prince Rudolph and Empress Elisabeth by the French Government and an Anarchist respectively fail in the late 1800's. These events cause a restoration of bonds between the Habsburg-Lothringen Imperial Family and result in Rudolph having 3 male heirs, Franz Joseph, Leopold, and Maximilian.

Events continue with little change as they did IOTL, Franz Ferdinand, a member of the Imperial Family is assassinated, WWI begins, ect.

November 11th, 1918 - Emperors Wilhelm II and Franz Joseph I formally sue for peace with the allies. Yes Franz Joseph is still alive at this point.

1919 - Peace Talks at Versailles France fail due to the combined factors of French arrogance in calling for extreme actions against Germany among other things, and the revelation that 20 years prior the French Government attempted to have Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria assassinated. The British, Americans, and minor allies decide to end the war on their terms and withdraw from the Versailles talks. They agree to hold the talks at the Austrian Summer Palace, Schloss Schönbrunn, and to allow representitives from Imperial Germany and the now defuncted Austro-Hungarian Empire to have major roles in negotiations. The talks end up being dominated by Franz Joseph who makes it his Swan Song(he wishes to see his lands remain united in some fashion), he dies in 1922 a year after the signing of the Peace of Schönbrunn, which states:

1. The Central Powers accept they lost the war.
2. The peoples of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire are to hold plebiscites as to whether they wish to remain part of a successor Habsburg state or to become independent.
3. The recognation of the independence of Poland-Lithuania, the Ukraine, and the Baltic States.
4. The division of Germany into 4 successor states:
- The Kingdom of Germany(Northern Germany), to be headed by a Monarch from a German Royal Family that would be choosen by the people in a plebscite, that Royal House however could not be the House of Hohenzollern. The Kingdom of Germany is allowed to keep German East Africa for Economic reasons.
- The Kingdom of Bavaria, headed by Ludwig III King of Bavaria.
- The Grand Duchy of Prussia, headed by former German Emperor Wilhelm II.
- The Kingdom of the Rhineland(a Franco-German buffer state including Elsaß & Lothringen), a Monarch would be appointed by the British from a German Royal Family.
All of these countries were required to draw up constitutions, with most basing theirs on the British system of government.
- The Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians cede large tracts of land to the Greeks in the Balkans and Asia Minor as well as land on Asia minor to Italy.
- Most of the Ottoman Middle East is absorbed by the British with the acception of Antioch which goes to the Greeks.
- The Central Powers also must pay minor war damages and the like.

The terms are very favorable to the defeated powers and are quickly signed, even with the Serbs and Italians dragging their feet. The demands of the French are largely ignored.

Shortly after the signing the required plescites are held with Austria(including Tyrol), Hungary, Bohemia, Slovenia, Croatia, and parts of Bosnia federating into a strange confederacy called the Imperial Crownlands of Greater Austria, with a constitution based largely on the American Articles of Confederation. Slovakia, votes to become independent, and several other areas vote to join either Italy, Serbia, Poland, the Ukraine, or Rumania.

In the Kingdom of Germany, the Germans elect Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin of the House of Mecklenburg, King of the Germans. Upon his coronation at the new German Capital of Hamburg, he takes the title Friedrich IV, King of the Germans.

In the Rhenish Kingdom the British appoint Karl of Habsburg-Lothringen(OTL Karl I of Austria) Karl V, King of the Rhine. The French loudly protest this.

Thus the world in 1922 at the end of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Greater Austria's life.

(PS: There are some other things that have happened, but I'm lazy and don't feel like pointing them out.)
(PPS: Just for reference, Franz Joseph becomes the longest reigning monarch in European History sitting on the Austrian Throne for 74 years)

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Franz Joseph survives for 6 more years then IOTL. And Karl I was not his son, he was his nephew, so no I'm not confusing them. Franz Joseph's son was Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria, ITTL he is now Emperor in waiting. The man who we know as Karl I of Austria IOTL is Karl V, King of the Rhineland ITTL.
 

chronos

Banned
I'm glad the details of Franz Joseph's family are correct.

Also someone is recognising the French were probly involved in Rudolf's assassination in OTL.
 

maverick

Banned
I'm confused...:confused:

So Rudolf doesn't committ Suicide in 1889 and Sissi is not killed in Switzerland in 1898...

Otherwise, I'm thinking...

A. Wouldn't an alternate Austrian Emperor change the foreign and domestic policies of A-H? Especially because Rudolf was practically nothing like his father...
B. Who cares about Franz Ferdinand? if anything, why would he be visiting Bosnia if he's not heir to the throne...
C. I don't see why would Franz Josef live longer, but that's just an opinion...
D. This is not really realistic...how do the Habsburg and the Hohenzollern prevent being ousted if everything goes as per OTL? and getting France out of the negotiation is IMPOSSIBLE...
 

maverick

Banned
I'm glad the details of Franz Joseph's family are correct.

Also someone is recognising the French were probly involved in Rudolf's assassination in OTL.

I thought that the accepted conspiracy theories pointed out to the Austrian reactionaries and the vast right-wing conspiracy...
 
I'm confused...:confused:

So Rudolf doesn't committ Suicide in 1889 and Sissi is not killed in Switzerland in 1898...

Otherwise, I'm thinking...

A. Wouldn't an alternate Austrian Emperor change the foreign and domestic policies of A-H? Especially because Rudolf was practically nothing like his father...
B. Who cares about Franz Ferdinand? if anything, why would he be visiting Bosnia if he's not heir to the throne...
C. I don't see why would Franz Josef live longer, but that's just an opinion...
D. This is not really realistic...how do the Habsburg and the Hohenzollern prevent being ousted if everything goes as per OTL? and getting France out of the negotiation is IMPOSSIBLE...
1. Rudolph doesn't come to the throne until 1922 after his father's death
2. The Habsburgs still want to appear to care for the people's of their empire, hense sending the man fifth in line to the throne would be entirely possible.
3. Because I have a personal fondness of Franz Joseph, and because he wasn't as stressed since the Habsburg Tragedy didn't occur in full ITTL, thus his health was no where near falling in 1916.
4. I remind you this is an Alternate Timeline, thus it doesn't have to be "realistic" as we already know what happened in the only truly "realistic" timeline. And I believe I said "with little change" not that "everything goes as per OTL". Hense the Central Powers sue for Peace and the Allies accept not wanting to have to psuh all the way to Berlin and Vienna. The French aren't really ousted, but rather the rest of the Allies withdraw from Versailles and reconvene and ignore the French, as a result of French arrogance and filibustering and don't under estimate the international outrage at the news that the French government condones murder. The Allies more or less take a page from Metternich's book and realize that inorder to have a peace that stands a chance, the defeated power must also have a say.

As for the assassination, there are those who believe it was the Austrian Reactionaries, those who believe it suicide, and those who believe it was the French, I am a member of the third group and decided to put that in.
 
There's no way Bohemia remains under Habsburg and Hungarians agree to forfeit their special status.
The Constitution more or less grants all of the Crownlands the same status as Hungary. As for Bohemia, consider it a butterfly effect of Rudolph not dying or whatever you will.

We have an ASB forum for particularly farfetched timelines, however.
And I don't view this to be anymore farfetched then many timelines I've seens here. And this has nothing to do with the likes of timelines in ASB.
 
Because they were told it was that or give the French what they wanted(AKA uber Treaty of Versailles). By this point the British and Americans just wanted to get out but still have a stable Europe, thus it was either their way or they would send it back to the French and let them decide, hense it was a better deal for the Germans to accept dismemberment, plus I doubt the Bavarians complained and Germany did get to keep a colony.
 
Bumpity bump. Are you going to continue with this? I like post-Great War monarchies VERY much... DESTROY REPUBLICS! ~Eyetwitch.~ Ahem... So, yes, just thought I might bump it up...
 
Ah, a kindred soul! XD Yes, all that is needed is a nice surprise attack across the Pond, with the might of a monarchist Europe, and the American republic shall fall! And then we shall.... COLONIZE!
 
Oh I shall continue it then, I didn't really get any positive feedback, so I was just kind of like screw it, and haven't checked for a while.
 
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