WI: Polish Hapsburgs

How can we have the House of Hapsburg, after 1573, gain the Polish throne at least 3 times and what would the effects of the Hapsburgs holding the throne of Poland-Lithuania be?

And the combined length of the Hapsburg dynasty in Poland should be at least 20 years.
 
Wouldn't be too hard. I believe the Archduke Ernest stood for election and in 1587 the Archduke Maximilian was elected alongside Sigismund Vasa, and attempted to win the throne with military force but was defeated in 1588 and forced to relinquish his rights to Poland in 1589. So it's certainly possible.

Perhaps in 1573 the Archduke Ernest is elected instead of Henry of Valois, backed by Spanish money who see him more agreeable than the French candidate. Henry was mainly elected because he was a more agreeable king to the Turks, and would've maintained the present Polish alliance with Turkey; however, I don't see it to be a major stumbling block. If Ernest also agrees to marry Anna Jagiellon, he may have enough support to mount the throne.

Ernest would probably put Poland close to Austria, not unlike the Vasas, and would probably support the Counter-Reformation. He may have to agree to something like the Henrican articles, but perhaps with Habsburg aid he would be able to compromise with the Sejm. Spain was very keen to see a Habsburg elected to the Polish throne in this period, as it would create an axis of Habsburg monarchs in Madrid, Vienna, and Krakow. He may not have any heirs with Anna Jagiellon (she was 50 in 1573, so is probably past childbearing: they might be able to have at least one child, but it'd be a miracle, certainly), but if he lives long enough, Anna Jagiellon will probably pre-decease him and allow him to remarry and have children: if Ernest is King of Poland and has any sons, one of them would be a natural contender to succeed him.
 
How can we have the House of Hapsburg, after 1573, gain the Polish throne at least 3 times and what would the effects of the Hapsburgs holding the throne of Poland-Lithuania be?

And the combined length of the Hapsburg dynasty in Poland should be at least 20 years.

I'm not sure, but didn't Archduke Maximilian actually win the election of 1587 against Sigismund Vasa, but wasn't able to secure the throne because Sigismund's allies were more powerful in the military conflict that followed? Maybe that could be a start.
 

Deleted member 1487

Dare I dream of a Triple Monarchy of Austria-Hungary-Poland?!?!?! :eek::eek::eek:
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Wouldn't be too hard. I believe the Archduke Ernest stood for election and in 1587 the Archduke Maximilian was elected alongside Sigismund Vasa, and attempted to win the throne with military force but was defeated in 1588 and forced to relinquish his rights to Poland in 1589. So it's certainly possible.

Perhaps in 1573 the Archduke Ernest is elected instead of Henry of Valois, backed by Spanish money who see him more agreeable than the French candidate. Henry was mainly elected because he was a more agreeable king to the Turks, and would've maintained the present Polish alliance with Turkey; however, I don't see it to be a major stumbling block. If Ernest also agrees to marry Anna Jagiellon, he may have enough support to mount the throne.

Ernest would probably put Poland close to Austria, not unlike the Vasas, and would probably support the Counter-Reformation. He may have to agree to something like the Henrican articles, but perhaps with Habsburg aid he would be able to compromise with the Sejm. Spain was very keen to see a Habsburg elected to the Polish throne in this period, as it would create an axis of Habsburg monarchs in Madrid, Vienna, and Krakow. He may not have any heirs with Anna Jagiellon (she was 50 in 1573, so is probably past childbearing: they might be able to have at least one child, but it'd be a miracle, certainly), but if he lives long enough, Anna Jagiellon will probably pre-decease him and allow him to remarry and have children: if Ernest is King of Poland and has any sons, one of them would be a natural contender to succeed him.

The problem I see with Ernest is that as the 3rd (2nd surviving) son of Maximilian II he or his son(s) would, regardless of whether or not he lives longer than in OTL, be the heir to Rudolf II. IOTL he predeceased Rudolf and had no heirs so Austria passed to they're younger brother Matthias. So what would happen if King Ernest of Poland or his son King Ernest Jr. becomes heir to Austria? I suppose since the Imperial throne is elective Matthias could still become HRE but wouldn't Bohemia et all pass to Ernest or his son? So he'd really need to have multiple sons or else somehow manage to have Maximilian (III) or Albert elected to succeed him/his son in Poland so he/his son can succeed in Austria. It just makes a messy elective succession a little messier unless they really want to go for an unwieldy Austro-Hungarian-Imperial-Polish personal union.
 
The problem I see with Ernest is that as the 3rd (2nd surviving) son of Maximilian II he or his son(s) would, regardless of whether or not he lives longer than in OTL, be the heir to Rudolf II. IOTL he predeceased Rudolf and had no heirs so Austria passed to they're younger brother Matthias. So what would happen if King Ernest of Poland or his son King Ernest Jr. becomes heir to Austria? I suppose since the Imperial throne is elective Matthias could still become HRE but wouldn't Bohemia et all pass to Ernest or his son? So he'd really need to have multiple sons or else somehow manage to have Maximilian (III) or Albert elected to succeed him/his son in Poland so he/his son can succeed in Austria. It just makes a messy elective succession a little messier unless they really want to go for an unwieldy Austro-Hungarian-Imperial-Polish personal union.

Well, if that happened, a treaty would probably be arranged where he waives his hereditary rights to Austria and Bohemia. He'd probably want something in return: maybe the return of Silesia to Poland? Even if he is the heir male, he'd probably be pressured by the Spanish and his other Austrian relatives to relinquish his rights. His might even end up relinquishing his rights to Austria upon his Polish election. If he had several sons, though, it wouldn't be an issue. The second could succeed in Poland whilst the eldest took over Austria, Bohemia, ect. Could be interesting, nevertheless, especially if an analogue to the Thirty Years War breaks out. You could see the Polish get involved on behalf of their Habsburg relatives, especially if Sweden intervenes as they did IOTL.
 
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it could easily be arranged for Ernst to step aside and allow Mathias to suceed, waiving his rights to preference in the succession, but retaining dynastic rights in case of Mathias' line becoming extinct. Ofc, once Mathias died childless too, you'd need another agreement or alternatively you'd end up with a Austria-Hungary-Bohemia-Poland behemoth.

Remember also that Ernst/Rudolph/Mathias' mother is Anna Jagiellon, so with extinction of that house they are the closest and most viable hereditary/blood/dynastic candidates.
 
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