WI: Hapsburg Rhineland?

IOTL, after the Napoleonic Wars the Rhineland was given to Prussia, so that French expansion to the east might be checked by placing the territories there under the control of a stronger German state instead of the patchwork of little countries that was there before. What if the Congress of Vienna decides to allocate these lands to Austria instead? How will this affect the future development of both the Hapsburg Empire and German nationalism?
 
Would that be a new duchy under a Habsburg prince, or would the Rhenish provinces become some sort of replacement for the Austrian Low Countries which are now (temporarily) part of the Netherlands?
 
Would that be a new duchy under a Habsburg prince, or would the Rhenish provinces become some sort of replacement for the Austrian Low Countries which are now (temporarily) part of the Netherlands?

I was thinking they'd be under the direct rule of the Austrian Emperor.
 
I was thinking they'd be under the direct rule of the Austrian Emperor.
This probably means that Prussia gets all of Saxony as compensation. Austria might have to give up influence in Italy in order to get the Rhineland--maybe they have to give up Lombardy-Venetia? That would definitely have interesting implications for Italian unification down the line.

More generally, this is sort of a "pivot" away from Italy toward Germany on Austria's part, which means they'll be able to contest Prussia more strongly for influence over the German states (especially Hannover if/when Britain loses control of it after Queen Victoria ascends to the throne). And they might be able to intervene in the Belgian Revolution as well--if the Dutch get to keep Belgium, the butterflies could be huge.
 
You need someone than Metternich in charge of Austria since his policy was conciliatory for France, as in he didn't want to be main "buffer" against the French, hence why he didn't push for the restoration of Further Austria from Baden and Württemberg.
 
If the Habsburg wanted the Rhineland, I suspect they would okay the Prussian annexation of Saxony against also gaining Belgium back. There's no reason to give Belgium up, if they're going to gain a large Pierce of land in West Germany, and there's reason for UK to support a Ducth Belgium, if they can get the Austrians to be border guards against the French.
 
Except they didn't want Belgium back. The Belgians asked for a Habsburg archduke at Vienna rather than be joined with the Dutch, but Austria wanted contiguous borders rather than a far-flung empire. I will admit though, the idea of Austria using their Rhineland territory to intervene in Belgium if/when the revolt occurs, and then the duke of Teschen becomes king of the Belgium with the Rhineland would make for a killer TL.
 
Except they didn't want Belgium back. The Belgians asked for a Habsburg archduke at Vienna rather than be joined with the Dutch, but Austria wanted contiguous borders rather than a far-flung empire. I will admit though, the idea of Austria using their Rhineland territory to intervene in Belgium if/when the revolt occurs, and then the duke of Teschen becomes king of the Belgium with the Rhineland would make for a killer TL.

Neither did they want the Rhineland, as it pretty much have the same consequences, so if they want the Rhineland, their entire post-Napoleonic Wars motivation have changed. The price if owning the Rhineland are the same as owning Belgium and the same as owning both.
 
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