What if France conquers a Prince-elector

What if France, in its quest for the Rhine Border, manages to conquer either Trier or the Palatinate, what would happen to the electorate? I somehow doubt the emperor/HRE/Germans would like to have the king of France as one of the electors. So what would happen? Would they simply have to accept the king of France (or some other French vassal) as an elector? Would they appoint another principality as electorate and if so which one?
 
I'd say keep the Archbishop of Trier even if he loses all his territory to the French king, while assigning the electorate of the Rhine to whatever principality the Wittelsbachs are compensated with for their loss.
 
They tended to take the votes away from the Bohemians as well as each other depending on dynastic squabbles. I doubt they would let the French has the vote.
 
Easy! Just vassalize enough electors, since they'll always vote for you and bang! France is HRE emperor forever...
What? My vassal is no longer an elector? EU3 lied to me?
Mon dieu...;)
 
You could argue that during Louis XIV time, the Prince-Electors of Cologne followed a overtly pro-French stance.
- Maximilan of Bavaria during the Franco-Dutch war
- Joseph Clemens of Bavaria during the War of Spanish Succession

You could also have France winning the War of Palatinate Succession (also known as the 9 Years War), and have Elisabeth Charlotte (Liselotte) succeed her brother in the Palatinate, instead of the Electorate going to another branch of the family. She was married to Philippe, Louis XIV brother. This would mean that at her death in 1722, Philippe of Orléans would become Elector of the Palatinate. And at this time, he was also Regent of France! (he'd die in 1723).

If a French victory in the 9 years war doesn't have too many butterflies, than you might go on with a Bourbon-Orléans Elector of the Palatinate. I'm not sure the Emperor would strip them of the Electorate so long as the policy is not too pro-French (might be difficult to avoid though).

It's not a direct conquest, nor a real vassal relationship, but it's probably the closest France got to having an Elector in her pocket. If France conquers directly an electorate, then another one would be created, as it happened when France annexed the Rhineland during the Revolution.

I think Louis XIV or at most Louis XIII is when you might see an Elector falling under French influence.
 
So, in the 17th century, who would be the most likely choices for a new elector if France annexes the Palatinate or Trier?
 
So, in the 17th century, who would be the most likely choices for a new elector if France annexes the Palatinate or Trier?
Palatinate - None, it's electorate is... complicated, mind you the "Electorate" and "Fief" weren't the same thing, the dignity of Elector was originally divided in seven peerages (the first and premier being Bohemia and the lowest being Brandenburg, but in practice the order meant nothing), in 1623 the Count Palatine of the Rhine lost its electoral dignity to the Duke of Bavaria that became the new "Elector-Palatine", but by the Peace of Westphalia the heirs of the Winter-King got the Electoral dignity back, but of lower (8th) order than the original (that remained Bavarian), by the late 18th century the Bavarian line died out and the Palatine one inherited it, since the division was now redundant the divided "Electoral Palatine" was abolished. In this case of France annexing the Palatine 1601-1700 you either get the "Bohemian Revolt" solution of Bavaria becoming the Elector or Bavaria assumes the full duties of Elector Palatine.

Trier - Maybe another Bishopric, if the Habsburgs are strong enough inside the Empire it could be Salzburg since it was a Austrian plaything, if not some other one like Augsburg or Würzburg. If secular maybe Lüneburg as OTL or Hesse.
 
Palatinate - None, it's electorate is... complicated, mind you the "Electorate" and "Fief" weren't the same thing, the dignity of Elector was originally divided in seven peerages (the first and premier being Bohemia and the lowest being Brandenburg, but in practice the order meant nothing), in 1623 the Count Palatine of the Rhine lost its electoral dignity to the Duke of Bavaria that became the new "Elector-Palatine", but by the Peace of Westphalia the heirs of the Winter-King got the Electoral dignity back, but of lower (8th) order than the original (that remained Bavarian), by the late 18th century the Bavarian line died out and the Palatine one inherited it, since the division was now redundant the divided "Electoral Palatine" was abolished. In this case of France annexing the Palatine 1601-1700 you either get the "Bohemian Revolt" solution of Bavaria becoming the Elector or Bavaria assumes the full duties of Elector Palatine.

Trier - Maybe another Bishopric, if the Habsburgs are strong enough inside the Empire it could be Salzburg since it was a Austrian plaything, if not some other one like Augsburg or Würzburg. If secular maybe Lüneburg as OTL or Hesse.
But what if it's a cadet Branch that more or less legally inherit the Palatinate, and thus the Electoral title. As I mentionned, this could be an outcome of the 9 Years War with the Bourbon-Orléans holding the title. Without direct annexation, would the Emperor have the momentum to strip the Palatinate completely of its Electorate?
 
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