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I honestly think Maria Theresa and the Austrian army in general deserves more respect for their performance in the War of the Austrian Succession. Maria Theresa's predecessor was an ineffective ruler who just recently lost against the French & Spanish (Polish War of Succession) and Ottomans. When Prussia took Silesia, France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony and Modena all attacked Austria to make their territorial gains. Austria's only allies meanwhile were too far away to help the Habsburgs, yet the Austrian forces under Khevenhüller and Otto von Traun still survived against all odds by winning several important victories such as St. Pölten (1741), Pfaffenhofen (1741) and Piacenza (1746). While losing Silesia might be "humiliating", Austria still survived against all odds and even managed to be a more formidable foe in the Seven Years' War. None of this would've happened without Maria Theresa. We Austrians even have a military academy named under her honor.
Imagine how formidable an alliance between Frederick II of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria would be in the alternative Seven Years War of this timeline
I think Austria's prowess during that time always gets overshadowed by its terrible performance in WW1. Everyone always remembers a tired broken husk of an empire, but not the actual competent one that got and held all of these territories in the first place.
With a weaker Austria, the Ottomans would have tried to get minor concessions out of the Habsburgs in both wars. The Ottomans weren't very stable, but they were probably organized enough to gain concessions in the Translyvanian Highlands or even Banat.
Considering the Ottomans still had a good army during their stagnation (which was happening around this time) Id expect them to get some territories off the Habsburgs
@@tankpea2not too much Remmeber Russia could just invade the ottomans and most likely win so Russia wouldn’t allow the ottomans to get too much out of the habsburgs
@@AdvancedGamer- maybe , but it could be possible that Britain could intervene. And remember that the French-Ottoman friendship was still a thing. So , its not too likely that Russia would attack , its a possibility but not a certain ons
Fun fact: The War of Austrian Succession helped foster revolutionary sentiment in America. New England had managed to scrounge troops together and conquer Louisbourg, an enormous French fortress city/privateer haven in Cape Breton. Louisbourg was despised throughout the Northeast; NY, NJ, & PA also contributed to the expedition. It was captured after a 6 week siege, and to the colonists it felt like _their_ victory- an imposing French fortress conquered by some boys from Massachusetts. However in the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the British exchanged Louisbourg for Madras- leading to American feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and disregard. Less than 30 years later the invasion's spearhead, Massachusetts, would be declared in a state of rebellion.
True I guess, but I wouldn't call the rich local landowners wanting to ignore the British treaties with the native Americans so that they might conquer their land - and rebelling to do so - a revolution. More like a cynical coup.
Charles was such a fool trying to secure the trone for his daughter with diplomacy when Eugene of savoy said " a full treasury and strong army would be better than signatures".
I have two video ideas for you: 1. What if prussia managed to get a hold of bohemia? 2. A general video discussing the most and least reliable courses of history. Basically, what are the points in history where the timeline could have the easiest taken a different route?
Early mass Hungarian privileges within the Habsburg realm? You know you've created a cursed scenario when the de-facto creation of Austria-Hungary upon the Seven Years War's aftermath becomes a legit genuine possibility.
This whole scenario depends on the Bohemian nobility switching sides against Bavaria. The fact of the matter is that most of bohemian nobility WAS Bavarian, the Schwarzenbergs being the most famous house from there. If Charles VII. crowned himself the king of Bohemia like he did irl, just during a more successful war, most of them would fall in line. Over all i'd say that Bavaria could very well beat back the prusso-hungarian coalition, since the war of the Austrian succession would be shorter and there would be no silesian wars, which wouldn't leave the land devastated, hell, they might even reclaim silesia.
As someone born in one of the "smaller German states" (Waldeck-Pyrmont, where the northern part of Pyrmont became Prussian only in 1922) I don't know whether it would have been better or worse for my small home town to be part of Prussia so much earlier. Being the summer residence of the principality wasn't bad for the economy of the spa town with only 2k inhabitants. (and Waldeck-Pyrmont not being independent anymore might have led Willem III of the Netherlands to marry someone else and not Emma - who made an awesome queen and regent).
Honestly, I still believe in this new timeline that Prussia still wins the Franco-Prussian war, even with Luxemburg France would still suffer the same problems and speed tactics Prussia employed. Even with coal and more resources France's military suffered harsh traditionalism and patriotism for Napoleonic times, their mindset wouldn't change. Prussia would just have to adapt to the new circumstances as they were known for, Just adapt, progress, and move on. I kinda feel bad for France, but what could they do? you can say "Well just change their culture/mindset lol" but realistically it isn't that easy; If anything this is worse for France as Prussia can now have the justification to also annex Luxemburg, and a GREATER Luxemburg at that.
France's defeat wasn't due to some archaic military traditionalism or a chaotic or defeatist mindset, it was the result of republican opposition in parliament, blocking the military reforms proposed by Napoleon III and his cabinet in 1868, which were a carbon copy of the Prussian reserve (Landwehr) reforms (France already had better equipment having quickly adopted and improved the Prussian needle rifle). If Prussia won in 1870, it was thanks to three things: 1/ a numerical superiority (which would have been curved if Napoleon had been able to pass his reform, seen previously), 2/ superior artillery (if France had outstripped the Prussians in infantry equipment, it was laging behind in artillery because Prussia had adopted the breech-loaded canon more quickly while France had only just released its prototype in 1870), 3/ a unified command (the illness of Napoleon III, who was the general-in-chief and therefore the ultimate decision-maker, paralyzed the French general staff, which fought over supreme authority. Napoleon III was not a brilliant general, but he knew how to gain respect and knew how to surround himself well, which is how he imposed Jomini's plan on his generals in 1859 during the Italian campaign. In better shape, Napoleon III could have entrusted command of the armies to Bazaine and made the other generals obey).
Video idea: What if the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth wasn't partitioned? I feel like this topic is not discussed as much and your video format would be perfect!
That could mean a lot of things, though. PH did already say he wants to make a "what if everything went perfectly for the PLC" eventually. But you might also mean that e.g. Russia wants to keep all the Polish lands, or that it will take just a bit and keep the PLC as a puppet, or something of the sort (which, as a Pole, is far less interesting to me :D but i'm sure it is also interesting)
Ever since learning about it, this event gave me an idea: What if the Peterloo massacre lead to the UK going through their own equivalent French Revolution?
That was interesting. I wonder what if the Habsburg lost the battle of Kahlenberg against the Ottomans. I think there are a lot of interesting scenarios where things could have gone differently for the Habsburgs.
I’m eager to see what this years Halloween vibes will be first we had “what if the darkness literally kills people” then “what if Stallin commanded zombies in ww2” so it will be interesting to see what you have in store for us
In Inverness, there's an entire museum dedicated to the Battle of Culloden in 1745. When I went there, I was shocked at the lack of context given vis-a-vis the War of Austrian Succession
Possible History video where the French seem to win but actually lose ? What a surprise! ^^ great content as always but I really starts to feel predictable:)
The French holding Luxembourg would be a massive industrial aid, I think that in the end the Germans would end up taking it along with Alsace. And although germany is more disunited I still see Prussia having the upper hand here. As every European nation would be changed in some way, Prussia would be uniquely positioned to only have a better chance at taking over Germany
"What if everything went perfect for Italy, starting from 963 with a rebellion for independence of the northern italian states from the HRE, a 1432-44 confederation of Italian independet states which lead to getting a lot of not necessarily italian land together for irredentism etc, alliance kept with Spain that results in a better outcome for Italy in terms of colonialism (treaty of tordesillas basically gives Italy all of northern Africa and prompts them to start conquering it and through the centuries fight the Ottomans and get back The Holy land and gaining control over Egypt etc...)"
What if the Talleyrand plan was followed for Belgium? Also, please do a part two for certain vids like if everything went perfect for Napoleon, WW1 starting over Africa, etc.
The Franco-Prussian War definitely changes, but the outcome is very loose. France's control over Luxembourg can threaten the Rhine more than the pathetic invasion from Alsace that was attempted in our timeline. Though the expansion into the Sudetenland and Silesia can also probably boost Prussia, though I can see the war either ending in more a draw than complete and utter failure for Napoleon III. I also think the more unified Southern Germany would probably be more hesitant on joining a war against France, especially after what became of it over the past centuries. But hey, that's just a speculation coming from some random guy on the internet, so don't take my word.
A few video ideas! What if the mensheviks came to power instead of the bolsheviks What if hobespier was able to stay in power What if china was able to not have the century of humiliation (or at least have been able to heavely reduce the demage) What if prussia was only able to form the north german confederation (unable to unify the southern german states) What if the english republic under cromwell was able to survive even if just a few decades longer
I think Russia and Austria's positions in the Balkans would be significantly weakened, and while this doesn't mean the Ottomans keep the Balkans barring other reforms, because te various Balkan nationalist causes fought eachother so often rather than uniting against the Ottomans we could see the Ottomans retain more of Thrace and Macedonia. Maybe even up to the Albanian coastline. I wonder how this would affect the Gallipoli campaign.
I think this different 7 years war being easier for Britain could've led to less American taxes, so no revolution, so no French debt and revolution and Napoleon. This is just a thought and I know it was hard to predict the future that far after divergence. It's also very possible that the war didn't change enough for Britain.
That's just incorrect. Belgium was merely Britain's public excuse to join a war that they were going to join anyway. Taking Belgium out from the equation doesn't guarantee British non-intervention, this view massively undersells the pre-war British desires to contain Germany.
Russia dominates the Balkans even more since Austria is much less competitive. In 1829 Russia had no reason to fear an Austrian invasion of Wallachia and could send a bit more troops to Turkey. That weakens Turkey more, right before the Turko-Egyptian War, making it easier for Russia to demand more concessions in the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi. Which bugs England & France and makes them attempt to build an alliance with Austria. On the map you drew Bawaria seems like a perfect buffer state in the center of Europe between three great powers.
Ah yes, i imagine alliance of absolutist monarchy and young federation with no real shared interests (besides america hating british for a while before they both understood that trading is better for both sides)
@@typicaluser697 it’s way more complicated than that, but on the basis of it, they shared a lot of interests Both were expansionist states that wanted to grow and spread their influence As you mentioned, both hated the British They did business together such as the sale of Alaska, but also many other things during various wars “armed neutrality“ Russia even threatened the UK and France that if they got involved in the American Civil War on the CSA’s side that they would declare war on them
I don't see the Anglo-Prussian alliance continuing after they win the Seven Years War in this timeline. British policy was directed around preventing a European hegemon, and in this timeline Prussia is slated to become that hegemon. I think British policy would be focused around defanging Prussia like they did France. Seeing France, the only real counterbalance to Prussia in Europe about to financially collapse, I think Britain might actually provide them with subsidies and favorable trade deals to keep the Bourbon monarchy afloat - potentially the Revolution never happens in this timeline, or is far more moderate.
I wonder what in this timeline happens to the Saxon soldiers deserting from the Prussian Army to Hungary, and Francis Xavier of Saxony, Prince of Saxony and Poland.
Why don't you paint the Hetmanate in your maps? It had same autonomy as Wallachian states, and even more in some ways, and this state played huge role in external and internal Russian empire politics.
If France loses worse in the 7 Years War, maybe they don't buy Corsica from Genoa. Corsica could also jump on the bandwagon, join the war during their revolution, and become recognized by the other powers. Therefore, Napoleon is a citizen of the Corsican Republic and doesn't get involved in the French Revolution. Corsica likely then becomes a part of Italy in the future.
What if the Hundred Years War never happened? What if Margaret Maid of Norway (future Queen of Scotland) survived to marry Prince Edward, future Edward II of England?
important India colony was sold to British to agree with the pragmatic function and the held up to the agreement and also regions in south were given to spin cos of it
I see in the future Germany consulting around Austria, Bavaria, and Prussia. With Bismarck doing some weird joint war were France invaded technical all 3 after some insult or the french overplaying their hand in Italy. Once that is done they form though a less united Germany a less threatening one for the British which allows for some more interesting events in the 20th century. As while Britain remain focus on Russia the three Germanic brotherhood keeps central Europe still divided and unable to build a fleet counter the British. This easily leads to a conflict in the 1910s were assuming the 3 Germans stay together beat up France and Russia (maybe even Italy) with the UK help. Or if the brother nation turn on each other it depends who turns and why but either way the concept of Germany is really 3 states, a northern (protestant), southern (catholic), and Austrian.
I just realised that Germany would probably take Luxemburg too when the Franco Prussian war happens. Do you think this would change how the schleifen plan was executed? Considering that the Netherlands has belgium?
It was in German interests from our timeline to keep the Netherlands as a somewhat friendly neutral for trade reasons, and I think the plan would have less importance anyway if Luxembourg is already in German control. Should this plan still be required, I think it's more likely for the Germans to be given passage through Dutch Belgium if and in more extreme cases even entice the Dutch into this war with promises of land up to the English Channel, to match the planned westwards expansion for Germany's postwar Belgian puppet.
I think there is a decent shot that after the Napoleon defeat Luxembourg is given to the Netherlands to make them stronger versus France and ensuring that they dont get too close to the germanic world. The consequences: Still a Belgian revolt (which could be larger upon independance depending on it’s affectivness) or the Prussians offer to buy Luxembourg from de Dutch for their own benefit. The rest I won’t be predicting since I don’t know how everything in Italy would play out, nor how/if Germany gets unified.
I think Luxembourg being given to whoever controls the rhineland is more likely. Ie prussia. Prussia got the rhineland to be a better counter to France, and a fortress border at the expense of the french is perfect for that. The Dutch got it historically because it had yet to be separated from the rest of the Austrian Netherlands.
