Wallenstein what-ifs?

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
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Inspired mainly by discussions here and feedback on the 30 Yrs War Scenario on SHWI:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/Discussion/showthread.php?t=51943&highlight=Wallenstein

1. WI Wallenstein never joins the Catholic side, and tries to operate and rise on the other side. How far could he get without the opportune side-switching?

2. WI the Emperor stays loyal to Wallenstein, and backs his plans for Baltic shore conquests and fleet? What does that do to the fate of the Protestant-French-Swedish coalition, intra-Catholic League politics, and the internal structure of the Habsburg realms over the long haul?

3. WI Wallenstein survives attempted assassination by Emperor's agents to defect to the Protestant side?

Inspired by the fact that he was in negotiations with the Protestants, and the debate between Pervez Hoodhboy and Gladi in the linked thread.

How well can Wallenstein do for himself on the Protestant side, presuming he can survive attempted double-crossings and assassinations from all sides?

Could he set up a powerful hereditary realm (presumably mainly Protestant) covering the territory of what became Czechoslovakia? (It would not be called that or self-consciously ethnic like that). Or some other territorial configuration, like: him leading a Bohemian-Bavarian realm? Him leading a Bohemian Austrian realm? Him leading a realm dominating northeast Germany (Mecklenburg, Silesia, possibly Brandenburg or Saxony) in addition to Bohemia.

This could be an interesting seed of a scenario where if he has long-term effective rulership using his estate management skills over rich areas like Bohemia, Silesia and Saxony, he ends up laying foundations for it to become th first industrial state.
 
One of the many TL ideas I've had, but never written out is a Protestant Wallenstein. Basically, instead of working for the Emperor, he winds up working for a Protestant country (I'm thinking either Denmark or Sweden, so he gets some experience fighting in the Kalmar War). He doesn't convert to Catholicism (being in a Protestant army) and makes something of a name for himself. When the Bohemian Estates need someone to lead their armies in 1618, they approach Wallenstein and he accepts. Thus, Wallenstein winds up commanding the Bohemian Protestant forces at White Mountain (or whatever its TTL equivalent is), which consequently turns into a Protestant victory. Wallenstein follows up on this with an invasion of Austria, where he links up with the (OTL) Protestant revolts there and succeeds in capturing Vienna. From there, I've thought of several ways it could go:

1. Wallenstein falls out with Frederick and conspires with sympathetic Bohemian noblemen to replace Frederick as king of Bohemia. (Or, he does something else to piss off Frederick, doesn't really matter.) Frederick finds out about this and Wallenstein becomes a head shorter. The political fallout from his execution, plus the loss of such a talented commander, leads to a reversal of Protestant fortunes.

2. Wallenstein succeeds in overthrowing Frederick, making the Protestant/Bohemian cause look illegitimate and alienating the other Protestant states, leading to a reversal of Protestant fortunes.

3. Wallenstein stays loyal to Frederick without incident. Given his OTL personality, I find this kind of unlikely.

Either way, the *Thirty Years War ends somewhat better for the Protestant side-in particular, Bohemia survives as an independent, Protestant realm-but things go back and forth and the Hapsburgs survive the war as well.
 
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