unprincipled peter
Donor
as best I can tell, Karl VI kicked off suddenly from a dose of poison mushrooms, or an otherwise sudden/serious illness easily avoided. So what if, in 1740, Karl VI doesn't go belly up?
First off, you have Britain and Spain at war, with Britain fighting with a bit of a handicap, trying to prevent France from joining in on Spain's side. While it was mostly a tie at the time of Karl setting off the war of Austrian Succession by his untimely death, Britain had just crapped the bed. Rather than joining Spain, France joined Prussia in attempting to stick it to Austria, OTL.
So, if Karl lives, what happens to the War of Jenkins Ear? Does France jump in and double team Britain? Result? If they stay on the sidelines, how do a couple of foes who don't really see the joy of being at war settle up? Does Frederick still get aggressive? If he does and Bavarian Charles doesn't see the opening, is Austria able to knock down Prussia( edit: France/Bavaria OTL tie up a lot of Austrian troops which otherwise are available to oppose Prussia. IMO, it isn't only quality that allowed Prussia to succeed, but also the quantity of Opponents to Austria that sprang up)?
I'm quite surprised that such a simple/plausible POD is ignored in alternate history.
First off, you have Britain and Spain at war, with Britain fighting with a bit of a handicap, trying to prevent France from joining in on Spain's side. While it was mostly a tie at the time of Karl setting off the war of Austrian Succession by his untimely death, Britain had just crapped the bed. Rather than joining Spain, France joined Prussia in attempting to stick it to Austria, OTL.
So, if Karl lives, what happens to the War of Jenkins Ear? Does France jump in and double team Britain? Result? If they stay on the sidelines, how do a couple of foes who don't really see the joy of being at war settle up? Does Frederick still get aggressive? If he does and Bavarian Charles doesn't see the opening, is Austria able to knock down Prussia( edit: France/Bavaria OTL tie up a lot of Austrian troops which otherwise are available to oppose Prussia. IMO, it isn't only quality that allowed Prussia to succeed, but also the quantity of Opponents to Austria that sprang up)?
I'm quite surprised that such a simple/plausible POD is ignored in alternate history.