WI Prussia and Brandenburg never united.

How would this have been possible and what are the resulting consequences?

I could see Poland lasting a lot longer because there is no Partition of Poland between Prussia and Russia because Prussia would still have been a Duchy of Poland.
 
To prevent Brandenburg-Prussia from ever forming have Brandenburg enter into a personal union with any other nation. Denmark or Sweden would be an ideal choice.
 
Well, you don't need even that. Brandenburg might be perfectly happy in being just another important German state among others before acquiring Prussia (maybe they'd get more Westphalia instead, but still).
That would have pretty important effects down the line, but from the perspective of any contemporary observer from ATL, it would be business as usual at any given time.
I don't know whether Germany is ever unified in this case, but if it is, Austria has way better chances to do so.
And of course there's a lot of things going differently even before.
I can see a Polish-Russian personal union at some point, for instance.
 
You mean, Polish-Prussian union. Polish-Russian Union is implausible.

I meant Polish-Russian; all the factors making Poland a near-Russian puppet would largely stay there regardless of the fate of Prussia. A personal union is not unlikely by late eighteenth century.
Of course, this Poland would include Prussia and Courland, though the former migh keep a large degree of autonomy.
 
To prevent Brandenburg-Prussia from ever forming have Brandenburg enter into a personal union with any other nation. Denmark or Sweden would be an ideal choice.
Assuming you're not altering the creation of the Duchy of Prussia, either branch of the Hohenzollerns should still be the other's obvious inheritor. If you kill off all the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns, the Duke of Prussia (not, say, some Swedish dude) is the heir, and if you kill off all the Prussian Hohenzollerns as IOTL, whether the Brandenburgers can successfully claim Prussia has less to do with whether they're already ruling Denmark than with whether the King of Poland hates them.

A better POD would be Duke Albert Frederick having a surviving son. Say Anna is born male. Then, of course, "Albert II" and Anna's OTL husband John Sigismund of Brandenburg need to find some wives--Frederick II of Denmark has several daughters who would be about the right age, though I doubt he'd marry two of them to Hohenzollerns. Anna of Holstein-Gottorp also looks like a possibility.
 
Assuming you're not altering the creation of the Duchy of Prussia, either branch of the Hohenzollerns should still be the other's obvious inheritor. If you kill off all the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns, the Duke of Prussia (not, say, some Swedish dude) is the heir, and if you kill off all the Prussian Hohenzollerns as IOTL, whether the Brandenburgers can successfully claim Prussia has less to do with whether they're already ruling Denmark than with whether the King of Poland hates them.

Actually, under provisions of Treaty of Cracov (1525) Duchy of Prussia could be inherited only by male issue of Albert of Prussia. The last male descendant, Albert Frederick of Prussia died in 1618. If not for Sigismundus II Vasa decision in 1611 to allow Brandenburg line to inherit Prussia, it'd end in Poland with death of Albert Frederick.
 
Actually, under provisions of Treaty of Cracov (1525) Duchy of Prussia could be inherited only by male issue of Albert of Prussia. The last male descendant, Albert Frederick of Prussia died in 1618. If not for Sigismundus II Vasa decision in 1611 to allow Brandenburg line to inherit Prussia, it'd end in Poland with death of Albert Frederick.
I thought there might be something of the sort in place. It makes sense.
 
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