W.I. The Netherlands not to Spain but Audtria

What would be the impact on European History if the Netherlands would go to the Austrian Habsburgs instead of the Spanish?
Could the Austrians prevent a kind of Dutch Revolt ?
 
Giving the Netherlands to Spain always seemed like a bizarre choice. In the Habsburgs place I would have given Italy (including possibly Milan) to Spain and the Low Countries to Austria.

The Lowlands are historically part of the HRE. Moreover thr Austrian branch tended to be more lenient in regards to Protestants. All things considered I think it doesn't hurt their chances, though a Ferdinand II style zealot coming along could upend the apple cart.
 
The Netherlands weren't given to Spain, in so much as they were given to Charles, the Eldest at the time of his father Philip's Death. By Primogeniture, he received them, as well as Spain, and after he abdicated that division just kinda stuck.

If you want to change this, there are a few ways to do it;

1) Have Charles keep his Imperial Territories as his Primary Holdings. This risks pissing off the Nobles of Spain, who already revolted historically, so I think the best way to do it would be if Ferdinand was raised in Spain, possibly as a Concession to Ferdinand of Aragon, who didn't much like Philip or Charles. This way the Spanish see Ferdinand as more of a Native. As such, Charles rules The Netherlands/Austria, and the Empire, and will likely wed to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary instead of Ferdinand. Which is kinda sad cause According to Da Wiks Charles and Isabella of Portugal really fell in love and I hate to break that up.

2) Give Charles more than 1 Son. This would likely result in The Netherlands being broken off from Spain to this Second Son. Then, when the Austrian Habsburgs go extinct, the Austrian Territories will be given to the children of this Second Son. Or if Ferdinand has died before then without issue, the Austrian Territories would revert to Charles and thus re-divide right there.

There are also Probably other ways I'm not thinking of.
 
This is an interesting "what if" for the reasons stated. The Netherlands are within the Holy Roman Empire already, and the Austrian branch did tend to be more lenient to the Protestants, and more critically, less centralizing than Felipe II proved to be.

The big problem with this is that the vast bulk of the Carolingian inheritance did pass to the oldest son, Felipe II. Ferdinand got the following:

1) The imperial title. This was elective, and there was really no way to prevent this going to Ferdinand, who held the Bohemian crown and its electoral vote in his own right, and was preferred by the other Electors as the man-on-the-spot defending Germany against the Turks.

2.) The collection of territories that later became the modern states of Austria and Slovenia

3.) Bohemia and the crown of Hungary, these were both elective monarchies and Ferdinand had married into their royal houses.

Really only the Austrian/ Slovenian collection of territories was conceded by the Spanish branch to Ferdinand. His claim to Bohemia was by marriage, and the Electors would prefer a King of Bohemia to a King of Castille as Emperor.

Felipe's territories within the Empire consisted not just of the Netherlands but of Milan as well. Both were wealthy places and it would be a big concession to hand over both to Ferdinand. Plus Felipe had spent much of his life in the Netherlands and thought he understood the place well. And he was married to the Queen of England in the 1550s, which naturally goes better with the Netherlands inheritance.

It really would take a decision by Felipe himself that he had enough on his plate with Castille, Aragon, Sicily, and the Americas and that adding Milian and the Netherlands would prove more costly in a distraction and having to defend them than what they brought in with financing. This assessment in fact would have been correct, but it is unrealistic to see someone making it in 1559.

A better POD might be at the end of Felipe II's reign. By this time the Dutch revolt had happened and the Netherlands was becoming a quagmire. Castille had expanded its overseas holdings, not least including the Philippines, and the Spanish Habsburgs had absorbed Portugal. In the seventeenth century maybe one of the Kings of Castile could be persuaded that the empire was overstretched, and that the holdings within the HRE were a logical place to cut back, given they would just go to another branch of the family.
 
The Spanish Hapsburgs fought the Netherlands wars with German and Italian troops, and they and Parma would be available to the Austrian branch, though financing was always difficult.
 
@Galba Otho Vitelius: Filips/Philippe (Felipe) did not spend most much his life in the Netherlands on the contrary. His father Karel/Charles/Carlos V did, Filips OTOH made a few visits there just before (a few months in 1549) his reign and a short period after he had succeeded his father in 1555, but in 1559 he finally left for Spain and even though he had promised the Estates General that he would return (for a visit) at some future date, he never did (he died in 1598).
Filips/Felipe had spend his childhood in Spain, unlike his father who was born in Ghent and raised in Mechelen/Malines and Brussels; Felipe never understood the Low Countries like his father did. In fact in the Low Countries, it's Charles V, who's remembered as a better monarch than Philip II. His reign and his role in the Dutch revolt is a huge contributing factor for this.

AFAIK Charles V did contemplate to give the Burgundian Inheritance to his daughter Mary and her husband Maximilian II, the eldest son of Ferdinand. However Charles suspected that Maximilian had too much protestant sympathies, more importantly Charles gradually changed his mind and decided, that he wanted his line on the Imperial Throne, which would be hard without a powerbase in the Empire.

However a surviving Philip the Handsome might help to ensure a different division. Charles would still get Castille-Aragon, which he inherited from his mother (technically a few years he ruled together with his mother), however Philip the Handsome could leave Austria-Burgundy to Ferdinand in his will.
 
So assuming Karel I & V leaves it to either his nephew (and son-in-law) Maximilian II or his brother Ferdinand. It would make the HREmperor have as his demissis today's Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, most of Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia, Croatia, Northern France, North East Italy, and large chunks all over Germany.

Or in other words the Emperor would have rough parity with all the Högadel in the Empire combined. It would have been the tipping point for centralising the HRE. Creating a massive Central Europe Empire centralized like OTL France. An empire that has tons of prestige from fighting the Ottomans, "church support", and just being the largest realm in the neighborhood.

Other effects would have been:
  • For the Netherlands it would mean staying in the HRE. Revolting against a distant Spanish King (separated by "allied" France) is a lot different then revolting against the HRE who is right next door. And has multiple exelent rivers and roads to march his army into the Netherlands. And none of the German princes/bishops can tell the HREmperor that he can't march his armies through his Empire/their lands.
  • Spain would not need the Spanish road, and the vast amounts of treasure they wasted there.
  • Spain would not need to fight the 80 year war, again saving vast amounts of resources. Also makes the colonies much more secure, no hostile takeovers by the Dutch naval expeditions.
  • Spain would suffer much less piracy(no Dutch privateers/no Piet Hein) meaning the could concentrate on the other(English) pirates & privateers.
  • Spain gains large amount of trade between Spain and the Netherlands & Germany. OTL this was destroyed by the 80 year war.
  • France would draw a breath of relieve, as with Karel I & V almost their entire land border was with one Empire. Now it would be two if still both Habsburgers. Compared with OTL where Spain could squeeze France from both north and south this is a vast improvement in the short term. (Once HRE centralizes this changes)
  • The Ottomans would come under pressure from the Habsburgs, on two fronts:
    • The Mediterranean would become a Spanish lake as the resource spend in OTL on the Netherlands could now be send east.
    • The Balkan front would be reinforced with troops, supply, and specie from the Netherlands. And most likely more resources from the other German princes become available, as the centralization takes place.
Talk about a massive POD.
 
Would this have butterflied the Reformation entirely?

The reformation started before (1517) Karel I & V reign. So no, but the counter reformation would have been even stronger. I think the east of the Netherlands would have gone full Catholic, instead of only partly.

You would also have to look at the difference in rulers of the Netherlands, instead of a series of princesses of Spain as regents, it would be likely that the Lordship of the Netherlands would be assigned to the Heir apparent as a training ground.
 
The reformation started before (1517) Karel I & V reign. So no, but the counter reformation would have been even stronger. I think the east of the Netherlands would have gone full Catholic, instead of only partly.

You would also have to look at the difference in rulers of the Netherlands, instead of a series of princesses of Spain as regents, it would be likely that the Lordship of the Netherlands would be assigned to the Heir apparent as a training ground.

So only Scandinavia, Scotland and possibly England would have ended up Protestant?
 
Difficult to say, the peace of Augsburg made Cuius regio, eius religio the law of the land. But only for Lutherans and Catholics. The Netherlands was divided between Calvinists and Catholics so the Netherlands should have fully switched back to Catholic.

Back then it was usual that during such a religious switch everyone would get a choice. Switch or leave the area. And if you look at the OTL exodus from present day Belgium to the North. You would notice that most of those leaving were wealthy and skilled. Not the sort of people that you want to see leave. Basically in OTL this caused the rise of Amsterdam and Holland as a tradecentre, to the detriment of Belgium.

Further issues are that while there were some regions in Germany that were Calvinist these were not capable of accepting the flood of refugees this would have caused. Nor would the Calvinist be welcome in the Lutheran regions/countries, or UK.

I think some kind of new deal would have to be worked out. Maybe something akin to Edict of Nantes. But even then quite a few would leave, if the Emperor is smart he will allow them to settle in the brand new colony of Cape Town.
 
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