The House of Hapsburg

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

The House of Hapsburg-Savoy

A Short Introduction

In 1700, King Charles II of Spain died childless. AFter his death, there were three claimants for the throne: Louis XIV of France claimed it on behalf of his eldest son, a grandson of Phillip IV of Spain, Joseph Ferdinand, the elector of Bavaria, who is Phillip IV’s great grandson, and Leopold I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who claimed it on behalf of his son, Charles. England and the Netherlands didn’t want Phillip, because that would unite France and Spain, and take trade from the two countries. But they did not want Charles, because that would reunite the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs.

There was an attempt to compromise; the French dauphin would receive Naples and Sicily, Charles would receive Milan, and Ferdinand would become king. Ferdinand was rude enough to die in 1699, tossing that plan out the window.

In 1700, a year later, the Second Partition treaty was proposed, and accepted by England, France, and the Netherlands. The French would get Milan, Sicily, and Naples. The Hapsburgs would get everything else.

Leopold wasn’t satisfied, with that, of course. He wanted the entire Hapsburg realm for his son. While the diplomats are scrambling to avert a European war, Charles dies in 1700. Before dying, Charles named Phillip, the duke of Anjour, Louis XIV ‘s grandson, as his heir.

England and Holland didn’t like this, of course. They would accept a French king of Spain, but this would encourage French dominance in the colonial markets. To compound their outrage, the French occupied border forts in the Spanish Netherlands.

The Duke of Marlborough does rather well in the low countries, while Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats the French in Italy.

By 1706, the French have been kicked out of Italy, and Marlborough defeats them in the Low Countries, forcefully driving them out.

But Eugene’s invasion of Provence fails, although the Allies have, by 1708, pushed the French inside their own borders. Allied invasions of Spain do not do much good, although Portugal joins the allies.

Now comes the POD. Leopold has died by this point, but his eldest son, Joseph, continues the war.

In 1711, Joseph, The Holy Roman Emperor (Which, at this appoint, is neither Holy nor Roman, but that’s neither here nor there) dies of smallpox. His death causes a crisis in the war, as it could put his brother, Charles, on the throne of Spain, Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. Since the Spanish ruled much of Italy, this would also provide effective hegemony for the Hapsburgs over the peninsula. The British withdrew from the war, and the war ended with the dissolution of the grand alliance.

Let us assume that Joseph does not die from the plague. In the short term, this probably won’t alter the course of the war this much. The British were already getting cold feet because they were afraid of a strong Austrian Empire, their general Marlborough was already losing the political game which had him recalled to England, the Dutch were going bankrupt, and only the Savoyards and Austrians wanted to keep fighting. That said, this would bolster the allied cause.

Here are the events leading up to the POD.

1711- The British assault on Quebec fails because of a storm.

1712- Britain has, for all intents and purposes, withdrawn from the war.

Joseph, being a noble, with better living conditions than everyone else, does not catch smallpox.

To cement the alliance between Austria and Savoy, Joseph’s daughter Maria Josepha, who is 8, is arranged to be married to Charles III Emmanuel Savoy, who is 5 years older.

1713- The Treaty of Utrecht. England, Holland, and France sign a peace treaty. The Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) is to be transferred from France to the Netherlands to Austria, once hostilities between France and Austria are concluded. Hudson’s Bay, Arcadia, and Newfoundland are ceded by France to England. Gibraltar and Minorca are ceded to the UK, as is a monopoly on the slave trade in the Spanish New World.

1714- The treaty of Baden. Sicily is ceded from Spain to Savoy. Sardinia, which in OTL went to Austria (until 1718) is given to Savoy instead. The Spanish Netherlands and Milan are ceded to Emperor Joseph, and the Holy Roman Empire’s border rests on the Rhine. The Hapsburgs are acknowledged as the rulers of Naples.

Savoyard Sicily is largely tied up in an ecclesial dispute between Victor of Savoy and the Pope of the appointing of bishops.

Now, with the empire at peace, the Hapsburgs begin to help Milan recover. The province, which had been thoroughly devastated as it was in OTL under Spanish rule, begins to recover under the Austrians, whose system of laws (and very efficient taxation) are copied by Victor.

1718- Phillip of Spain seeks to retake Sicily. He lands troops there, occupying the island. The Austrians, with the support of the English naval fleet, retake it for Savoy. Victor realizes, however, that he cannot hold the island on his own.

1719- French and English troops march into Spain. The French are helping the English because Phillip’s act, despite being a Bourbon, threatens France’s position, as it could lead to another war (which France would lose).

1720- The Treaty of the Hauge. Joseph encourages Victor to trade Sicily for giving his daughter, Maria Josepha, the right to succeed as the ruler of the Duchies of Parma, Pienza, and Tuscany. These would be much more contiguous with the Hapsburg holdings

Victor isn’t in favor of it, but the British support it, fearing an upset in the balance of power in Europe. In OTL the British wanted the island given to Austria instead of Savoy, but now that the two nations are joined by a dynastic marriage, this is a tad redundant, and control of Sicily would give the Hapsburgs a springboard into the Mediterranean. Joseph, hoping to keep England’s friendship and alliance, agrees. Victor accepts it because he knows his son Charles will one day rule all of Maria’s possessions.

1721- Charles Emmanuel of Savoy is married to Maria Josepha.

Naples, under the Hapsburgs, receives a modicum of order and stability as The Hapsburgs crush the brigands which plague the countryside, and alter taxes, relieving some of the crushing burden from the serfs. The Hapsburgs also build a network of roads through the region.

Note: At times, this TL will appear a little disjointed, because it will take some time for the changes to manifest themselves. But this should change as time goes on.

1729- Corsica revolts against Genoa. The once mighty republic has great difficulty maintaining control of the island, which revolts several times over the next three decades.

The Collegio De Provinceie is established in Turin. It establishes a school for poor but talented students, so that they can help administer the Kingdom.

1730- Charles Emmanuel becomes the King of Sardinia. This marks the beginning of the war of Sardinian succession.

On Victor’s death, Charles became the ruler of Savoy. The French, however, protested this. With Savoy and the Austrian Empire under one king, the French routes across the Alps into Italy are closed. This means that any Bourbon domination in Italy is at an end. The Austrians now rule most of the peninsula.

England, for its part, welcomes the union as a way of getting at France, which is by far the strongest power on the continent.

The war begins as a disaster for the French. Their attempt to invade across the Alps fails miserably, near Geneva.

1731- Spanish troops land in Naples. In OTL, the Spanish took Naples, but in this TL troops that were losing in Milan against Savoy are fighting in Naples. The Spanish are defeated.

1732- The Savoy-Hapsburg counteroffensive marches into Southern France, but is defeated outside of Toulouse.

Sicily is taken by Charles’s troops.

1733- As if things weren’t complicated enough, the Polish War of Succession begins. Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, has his right challenged by Stanislaus, a Polish noblemen. The fact that Louis XV, King of France, has bribed them was, of course, a great persuader. Augustus is supported by Anna, Czaress of Russia Stanislaus receives little help from France, and holes up in Danzig. The Russian troops help Augustus III,

Genoa, the French puppet, invades Piedmont. Their small army is quickly defeated by the Hapsburgs.

1734- The Austrians invade Genoa, taking the city.

Danzig surrenders, and Stanislaus flees to Prussia.

1735- The treaty of Prague. Although not ratified until 1738, it marks the end of the war.

The terms are as follows.

1) Stanislaus is the titular king of Poland, but the right to be king belongs to Augustus III.

2) France and Spain acknowledge Charles as the King of Sardinia.

3) Genoa regains its independence. (It was occupied, but never officially annexed).

1736- Joseph dies, and Charles becomes the new Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Duke of Parma, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Duke of Modena, Duke of Milan, and Duke of Piacenza as well as King of Sicily and Duke of Savoy and Piedmont.

Charles begins expanding the efforts he had made to centralize Savoy across the empire. He brings the nobles of Naples to heel, and reaffirms the tax of 1/20^th of all property per annum. Poor relief is also established in the major cities of the empire during his reign.

1738- The Land Register is created by Charles Savoy. This register is responsible for determining the value of the property of the nobles, and then taxing them of it.

1739- War breaks out between Spain and England, over the accusation by England that the Spanish cut off the ear of an English captain.

1740- Charles, to help speed his transit between hi court in Turin and in Vienna, orders the construction of a coach pass through the Alps.

Now, the balance of power in Europe has been altered a bit because of all of this, needless to say. The Austrians are now rather stronger, especially because they control the passes into Italy. Prussia is very expansionistic, as in OTL; but they can’t expand without running into Hannover, and hence England, or bohemia, and hence the Savoy-Hapsburgs. Prussia is a strong French ally, as is Spain. Austria stands by England, as does the Netherlands, and, to a certain degree, Poland.