I remember reading about that in Zwei Adler, Ein Kaiser, actually...
What if Maria Theresa were born male?
- Thread starter SavoyTruffle
- Start date
I remember reading about that in Zwei Adler, Ein Kaiser, actually...
Did any Habsburg use Mathew, while we're being picky?
Good.
No one (well, compared to Prussia and England) loves Austria. At least France gets "Hey, what's with the Francophobia?" now and then, but Austria gets mentioned most often as "How can we add this to Lesser Germany?".
the Habsburg would be Mattias not Mathew, and while few it does have precedence.
Charles's stillborn son (born in 1716 I believe) was named Leopold Johann (for Charles's father). However the Austrian Habsburgs preferred to name their daughters all the same thing instead of their sons like the Bourbons so that rules Leopold out as male Maria Theresa's name. I would suggest based on naming practices therefore that Charles would likely either pick Ferdinand (after his paternal grandfather) or Philip (after his maternal grandfather and the Philip IV of Spain his great uncle I believe?). Or maybe Joseph for his brother.
One interesting consequence is the fate of the Ostend Company. Could Charles have avoided its dissolution or the international pressure against it was too big to be ignored?
For one thing, there's less pressure for Charles to establish an entente with the British, so thus less pressure for him to dissolve the company. On the other hand, Britain wasn't the only one opposed to the Ostend Company - France and the Dutch were also threatened by this newcomer on the East Asian trade scene.
Part 2! Hope it's as good as the first one.
11 July 1725
Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
It was the end of the days' studies for the young Archduke Ferdinand. As his father's only son, he was both a favorite of his father and a sternly raised boy; Charles knew that his son had far more potential than him and was destined for greatness.
The Emperor entered the room, where the young Archduke was in an animated discussion with his tutor. When the tutor saw His Imperial Majesty, he bowed, and excused himself. The young heir to the Habsburg Monarchy stood up and bowed before his father. Charles approached and, nodding to his son, said, "I have learned from your tutors that you are a quite excellent student. If you shall indulge me, we shall have a ride around our estates."
The Habsburgs' famous Lipizzaner horses were noted for their performance, and as part of the development of the young Archduke's education he was taken riding. Though most of the time it was with a riding tutor, at times the Emperor himself found time to ride with his son. These bonding moments would shape the future Emperor's outlook on life...
----
Ferdinand IV, Holy Roman Emperor[1]
from Netpendium, the free Infonet Compendium[2]
Ferdinand IV (14 May 1717-...[3]) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1740 to ... He is noted as one of the great monarchs of the Enlightenment era, alongside his contemporaries Louis XV of France[4] and...
His relatively long reign saw the development of Habsburg power; though pressure from Britain and France saw Austrian attempts at East Asian trade stymied, the Austrian economy began to develop. Matters within the Empire were complicated, though the Habsburg dominance was yet unquestioned until...
[1] Well, so here's no question he succeeds.
[2] Think TTL Wikipedia
[3] There's a lot of blanked out stuff because of the heavily monitored connections TTL, especially in the Anglosphere...
[4] Who grows into a rather different man from OTL due to the POD being during his childhood.
11 July 1725
Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
It was the end of the days' studies for the young Archduke Ferdinand. As his father's only son, he was both a favorite of his father and a sternly raised boy; Charles knew that his son had far more potential than him and was destined for greatness.
The Emperor entered the room, where the young Archduke was in an animated discussion with his tutor. When the tutor saw His Imperial Majesty, he bowed, and excused himself. The young heir to the Habsburg Monarchy stood up and bowed before his father. Charles approached and, nodding to his son, said, "I have learned from your tutors that you are a quite excellent student. If you shall indulge me, we shall have a ride around our estates."
The Habsburgs' famous Lipizzaner horses were noted for their performance, and as part of the development of the young Archduke's education he was taken riding. Though most of the time it was with a riding tutor, at times the Emperor himself found time to ride with his son. These bonding moments would shape the future Emperor's outlook on life...
----
Ferdinand IV, Holy Roman Emperor[1]
from Netpendium, the free Infonet Compendium[2]
Ferdinand IV (14 May 1717-...[3]) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1740 to ... He is noted as one of the great monarchs of the Enlightenment era, alongside his contemporaries Louis XV of France[4] and...
His relatively long reign saw the development of Habsburg power; though pressure from Britain and France saw Austrian attempts at East Asian trade stymied, the Austrian economy began to develop. Matters within the Empire were complicated, though the Habsburg dominance was yet unquestioned until...
[1] Well, so here's no question he succeeds.
[2] Think TTL Wikipedia
[3] There's a lot of blanked out stuff because of the heavily monitored connections TTL, especially in the Anglosphere...
[4] Who grows into a rather different man from OTL due to the POD being during his childhood.
If this Ferdinand and his successor avoid the fiasco that was chaning Latin to German as the official language there should be no mayor troubles. Hungarian and Croatian nationalism exploded out of that action as well as changing the internal borders of the monarchy. Avoid that and you can have Hungarians and Croats continue being extremely loyal to the crown in Vienna. This is the right PoD to save the monarchy with the important thing for Ferdinand and his successor to understand. The way to preserve the monarchy is not through centralisation but therough federalisation and ruling each section of his realm as a separate kingdom. That alone would make little difference in the way each country and the monarchy as the whole was run but would show the nobles and intelectual elites of each of those kingdoms that they are in reality separate but united. Thus preventing the rise of nationalism.
I would like to look into this further. Do you have some good references? Preferably on-line. Preferably in English (ha, right), but German would do if it had to.
I searched and found a failed attempt ~1790, and, of course, the Magyars dropped German in 1848, but I'm having trouble tracking down more than that.
Vitruvius
Donor
Joseph II introduced German as the language of administration in 1784 as part of his modernizing and centralizing reforms. His intent was to create a single universal government apparatus throughout the various Habsburg realms. So part of that was instituting a single administrative language. Prior to that Latin had been in official use in Hungary. This change coincided with a decline in Latin generally in Hungary and the rise of Hungarian. The demographic and economic recovery that began 80 years earlier with the expulsion of the Turks led to improvements in education and especially urbanization which in turn contributed to the use of Hungarian in commerce and literature. So the timing couldn't have been worse.
It was also compounded by Joseph's trampling of traditional Hungarian rights and privileges. He refused a coronation, for example, so he wouldn't have to deal with the Diet and be bound by the traditional capitulations to the nobility. He also tried to abolish the old counties and institute ten new less autonomous administrative regions. His attempts to improve the lot of the peasants and apply a tax to the estates of the nobility were equally disastrous.
Any good history of Hungary or biography of Joseph II would cover this in great detail. Though I can't really point you to one online. Perhaps there might be one available through google books. Try looking for information on Josephinism as well. Your best bet if you're really interested is a library, preferably a university library.
As for SavoyTruffle's tl, I thought it was interesting though I'm not sure what its status is or if it will be continued.
IIRC Joseph II met similar problems in all his domains; the way he implemented these reforms made subjects even resent the better reforms. The Southern Netherlands also revolted against the rule of Joseph II in the Brabant revolution and established a confederation called the United Dutch States (from the name in Dutch), AKA United Belgian States (from the name in French).
Vitruvius
Donor
Indeed. He met opposition almost everywhere. Mostly its because he held the position that he was the Emperor, he knew what was best and everyone was going to do what he said. Basically enlightened absolutism run amok. Where as his mother instituted reforms in consultation with ministers and local authorities he did them of his own prerogative. Where as hers were generally modest or incremental his were dramatic far reaching. Where as hers were born of some urgent need or bore immediate benefits his were often ideological or only likely to produce results over the long term, perhaps a generation or two.
You see the same thing in his foreign policy especially regarding Bavaria. He just assumed he could make a deal with Charles Theodore and then he'd have Bavaria. He didn't take into account local opposition or the fact that he hadn't built up enough support or alliances to overcome Prussian opposition. Once again he assumed something could simply be accomplished via Imperial fiat guided by his own personal genius and willpower.
Partly this is just his perspective as a man of the enlightenment convinced of the benefits of a new rational state and society and equally convinced that he was the best man to lead Austria there. One historian said he was a man in tune with his times but not his subjects. I've seen others suggest that it was just his temperament that made him rash or impulsive. The more psychological take is that he spent so long in his mothers shadow with limited powers as co-regent that he was determined to make his mark when he finally took charge on his own. That's why this POD and others like it are interesting because a different ruler could definitely have a profound affect on Austria. Especially one who would have lived a little longer or had a ready successor waiting in the wings to carry the torch and follow through on whatever projects he started. As it was Joseph's brother Leopold refused to come to Vienna until after Joseph was dead because he didn't want to be associated with him. And then he pulled back most of Josephs' policies. That's not to say that Leopold wasn't a reformer, in fact he did great work in turning around the Tuscan state. He was just fundamentally a different man than his brother.
Ah. Thanks. Yes, looking up Joseph II helped a lot. Tried to impose German on the Hungarians? didn't call their Diet. Ouch.
Vitruvius
Donor
I'm not sure who you're referring to but if you mean the Electress Anna Maria Luisa last of the Medici then no, because there would be a 50 year age difference. She would be old enough to be his grandmother.
I think this would be extremely premature, as the chances of the infant surviving its first few years were around 50% on the outside. In an era before Germ Theory, even the most paranoid and protective royals were often unable to save their heirs, even when the fate of dynasties and empires depended on their survial. The Hapsburgs seem to have been particularly unlucky, remember the fates of Balthasar Carlos and Joseph Ferdinand.
In any case, so long as the "male" Maria Theresa does not marry Elizabeth Therese of Lorraine , the Habsburg army can escape the "leadership" of Francis Stephen's idiot brother Charles Alexander of Lorraine. This would bode well for the Habsburgs during whatever wars and conflicts the they would find themselves in in the mid-18th century.
Ah yes, that's the one. I assumed she'd be of the same age, more or less, since Francis Stephen was considered as heir to her brother's instead of her? I guess she must have been really old when that happened.