WI Franz Joseph I only had daughters?

Hey Guys,

Franz Joseph I of Austria had 3 children who survived past infancy, two girls and a boy, now I don't think it's too much of a stretch of the imagination that Rudolf, the son, could be born as a girl, or be a stillborn child etc.

So, if that had happened and Franz Joseph I had no sons, what would happen? Who would take the throne after Franz Joseph I? Who would Archduchess Sophia be married to etc.?
 
Franz Josef could simply have invoked the Pragmatic Sanction and handed down the throne to a female, right? That's how Maria Theresa got the throne, and I don't think the Pragmatic Sanction (or any part of it) was ever declared invalid.
 
Franz Josef could simply have invoked the Pragmatic Sanction and handed down the throne to a female, right? That's how Maria Theresa got the throne, and I don't think the Pragmatic Sanction (or any part of it) was ever declared invalid.

Which also lead to the War of the Austrian Succession, which, while confirming Maria Theresa to the Austrian throne, also saw the Hapsburgs lose some very important territories.
 
Which also lead to the War of the Austrian Succession, which, while confirming Maria Theresa to the Austrian throne, also saw the Hapsburgs lose some very important territories.

True, but this doesn't mean FJ couldn't have passed the throne down to a woman for the second time in Habsburg history. Prussia would have found another casus belli anyway.
 
The thing is that the Pragmatic Sanction has now been used and eventually accepted. As such, it's going to be a very tough sell to try and convince people that there's something different about this case that means it can't be applied again.

It is, afterall, always easier to do something if it's been done before.
 
I doubt the succession would go to a female. It didn't when Rudolf died leaving only a daughter, and Franz didn't press for his granddaughter or his daughters to become his heirs instead of his brother Karl Ludwig (and later Franz Ferdinand). Also, all the Habsburg princesses should resign all her rights to the throne when they married.

BTW, wouldn't the Pragmatic Sanction only be applied if there was NO male Habsburg?
 

Vitruvius

Donor
I doubt the succession would go to a female. It didn't when Rudolf died leaving only a daughter, and Franz didn't press for his granddaughter or his daughters to become his heirs instead of his brother Karl Ludwig (and later Franz Ferdinand). Also, all the Habsburg princesses should resign all her rights to the throne when they married.

BTW, wouldn't the Pragmatic Sanction only be applied if there was NO male Habsburg?

I have to agree. It never ever came up when Rudolf died. They just went to the next male heir, who promptly abdicated his rights in favor of his son Franz Ferdinand. And when the childless Ferdinand I abdicated they went to his nephew, Franz Joseph, without any thought of going to a sister. The Pragmatic Sanction was a modification of the Mutual Succession Pact that was promulgated when there were only three male Habsburgs left, Leopold I and his two sons Joseph and Charles. And it specified that the throne passed from one male to the next if one of the two had only daughters as it did when Joseph died leaving two daughters and no sons. Charles VI only modified it to place his daughters in precedence over Joseph's. By the late 19th century there are simply too many male Habsburgs around, over 15 Archdukes in 1900 not including the morganatic lines or the Tuscan line living in exile in Austria.

The only way it would be conceivable is if his daughter was married to another Habsburg Archduke. If for some reason Franz Joseph really preferred a more distant relation to his brother or his brother's sons. But that's a stretch and would require overturning the established order and some probably nasty family squabbling and internal politics (essentially one in the same in an absolute monarchy). Especially as the strict order of precedence meant the more distantly related Archdukes were somewhat looked down upon. Archduke Franz Salvatore of the most distantly related (though theoretically still sovereign) Tuscan line was considered to be too low as a junior member of a junior branch to match with Archduchess Marie Valerie, daughter of the Emperor.
 
Hey Guys,

Franz Joseph I of Austria had 3 children who survived past infancy, two girls and a boy, now I don't think it's too much of a stretch of the imagination that Rudolf, the son, could be born as a girl, or be a stillborn child etc.

So, if that had happened and Franz Joseph I had no sons, what would happen? Who would take the throne after Franz Joseph I? Who would Archduchess Sophia be married to etc.?

Well Depending on how history went, it could be Maximilian, if he's still alive, then Karl Ludwig, again if he was still alive, then to Franz Ferdinand. As for Franz Joseph's daughters, I imagine one of them would be married to the heir presumptive, in this case Franz Ferdinand.
 
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