Chapter 61: The Austrian War of Succession (1770-1780)
The Austrian War of Succession had been on the making since the death of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1740. Without a male heir, he was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth (1709 –1763), who had two sons, Karl, the future Karl VI; and Archduke Joseph. While Elizabeth was one of the most popular Austrian monarchs because of her numerous construction projects and her strong opposition to Russian policies, Karl (1727-1775) was an unpopular leader in spiite of his progressive reforms during his short reign. He proclaimed religious freedom and encouraged education, sought to modernize the Austrian army and abolished the secret police, which had been infamous for its extreme violence. Eventually, he was forced to abdicate and was assasinated when he attempted to escape. The leaders of the conspiracy, Ludwig Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden, and Prince Eugene of Savoy, attempted to have Karl's elder son, Leopold, crowned as Emperor. However, his namesake and uncle launched a widespread rebellion against the conspirators, thus starting the Austria War of Succession om 1775. When Tsar Paul I of Russia sided with Archduke Joseph, the war took an international turn.
By late 1776 the unprepared Swedes collapsed while Archduke Joseph had secured the south of Germany, thus cutting his nephew from any incomming help from the north of the Empire. In January 1778 Sweden finally threw in the towel and signed the Peace of Konigsberg. Losing Estonia and Livonia was a hard pill to swallow, but Gustav III had little option as his army had been crushed and his nobility threatened to depose him. Then, by the treaty of Kaunas, Gustav III joined the German-Russian alliance, using his fleet to support the Prussian and Russian armies moving towards Hamburg. This led to England allying with Emperor Joseph and France financed a small mercenary army to help the belaguered Ausrian monarch, who, with the north of Germany collapsing and Austria in the hands of his uncle, was reduced to Hungary by the summer of 1780. What followed was a hurried succession of peace negotations that failed as allies betrayed each other and promises made were ignored as new players joined the game. Tsar Paul I began the dance when he signed the Peace of Livonia with Emperor Karl I and withdrew from the war. Then, France invaded the Rhine with 100,000 men and Pedro II of Spain and his Chief Minister, Floridablanca, attempted to persuade the two Leopold to settle the issue peacefully. However, the French invading army was crushed in the Battle of Krefeld (June 23, 1780), leaving France out of the war; however, the unexpected death of Paul I of Russia in August led to a spectacular change ib the Russian foreign policy as his son Alexander I (1777 – 1825), still a minor, rose to the tjrone and the Regency council pressed for an alliance with Austria.
To further complicate matters, Aragon declared war to France and invaded New France in the Summer of 1780. This led to a very hot debate in London between the supporters of the French-Austrian Alliance and those who wanted to see the French holdings in English rather in Aragonese hands. thus, September saw the second turnabout of alliances when the English Empire declared war to Joseph's Austria and France and sided with his uncle. In Barcelona, King Lluis I of Aragon (1754 – 1793) ordered his ambassador in England to find a way to divide New France with the English, something that did not sound too appealing to Charles IV of England. In the end, this negotations became useless when the Treaty of Fontenoy ended the Austrian War of Succession; the German Empire was divided in two: its northern part was given to Archduke Leopold, now German Emperor, who annexed the few and spare Swedish territory in Northern Germany, while, in the south, his nephew became the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary. This division pushed Austria into an alliance with Russia while Charles IV of England and Pedro II of Spain, worried by the sudden end of the German dominion over Central Europe, the sudden end of the brief rise of Sweden as a continental power and the extension of the Russian influence into the Danube, allied with the German Emperor in the Autumn of 1780. Hardly a month later Lluis I of Aragon would a solution to the New France question; the northern part of the French Empires (IOTL Quebec) would become part of the English Empire while Aragon would annex Hyderabad y el Carnatic. Further, England ceded Madras to the Aragonese in exchange for the Aragonese settlements in Terranova; even if those settlements were little more that small refuges for the Aragonese fishermen, London considered them a risk to their strategy in North America and made everything in their hands to have the Aragonese threat removed. In exchange, Aragon became the main European power in India.
The Austrian War of Succession had been on the making since the death of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1740. Without a male heir, he was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth (1709 –1763), who had two sons, Karl, the future Karl VI; and Archduke Joseph. While Elizabeth was one of the most popular Austrian monarchs because of her numerous construction projects and her strong opposition to Russian policies, Karl (1727-1775) was an unpopular leader in spiite of his progressive reforms during his short reign. He proclaimed religious freedom and encouraged education, sought to modernize the Austrian army and abolished the secret police, which had been infamous for its extreme violence. Eventually, he was forced to abdicate and was assasinated when he attempted to escape. The leaders of the conspiracy, Ludwig Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden, and Prince Eugene of Savoy, attempted to have Karl's elder son, Leopold, crowned as Emperor. However, his namesake and uncle launched a widespread rebellion against the conspirators, thus starting the Austria War of Succession om 1775. When Tsar Paul I of Russia sided with Archduke Joseph, the war took an international turn.
By late 1776 the unprepared Swedes collapsed while Archduke Joseph had secured the south of Germany, thus cutting his nephew from any incomming help from the north of the Empire. In January 1778 Sweden finally threw in the towel and signed the Peace of Konigsberg. Losing Estonia and Livonia was a hard pill to swallow, but Gustav III had little option as his army had been crushed and his nobility threatened to depose him. Then, by the treaty of Kaunas, Gustav III joined the German-Russian alliance, using his fleet to support the Prussian and Russian armies moving towards Hamburg. This led to England allying with Emperor Joseph and France financed a small mercenary army to help the belaguered Ausrian monarch, who, with the north of Germany collapsing and Austria in the hands of his uncle, was reduced to Hungary by the summer of 1780. What followed was a hurried succession of peace negotations that failed as allies betrayed each other and promises made were ignored as new players joined the game. Tsar Paul I began the dance when he signed the Peace of Livonia with Emperor Karl I and withdrew from the war. Then, France invaded the Rhine with 100,000 men and Pedro II of Spain and his Chief Minister, Floridablanca, attempted to persuade the two Leopold to settle the issue peacefully. However, the French invading army was crushed in the Battle of Krefeld (June 23, 1780), leaving France out of the war; however, the unexpected death of Paul I of Russia in August led to a spectacular change ib the Russian foreign policy as his son Alexander I (1777 – 1825), still a minor, rose to the tjrone and the Regency council pressed for an alliance with Austria.
To further complicate matters, Aragon declared war to France and invaded New France in the Summer of 1780. This led to a very hot debate in London between the supporters of the French-Austrian Alliance and those who wanted to see the French holdings in English rather in Aragonese hands. thus, September saw the second turnabout of alliances when the English Empire declared war to Joseph's Austria and France and sided with his uncle. In Barcelona, King Lluis I of Aragon (1754 – 1793) ordered his ambassador in England to find a way to divide New France with the English, something that did not sound too appealing to Charles IV of England. In the end, this negotations became useless when the Treaty of Fontenoy ended the Austrian War of Succession; the German Empire was divided in two: its northern part was given to Archduke Leopold, now German Emperor, who annexed the few and spare Swedish territory in Northern Germany, while, in the south, his nephew became the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary. This division pushed Austria into an alliance with Russia while Charles IV of England and Pedro II of Spain, worried by the sudden end of the German dominion over Central Europe, the sudden end of the brief rise of Sweden as a continental power and the extension of the Russian influence into the Danube, allied with the German Emperor in the Autumn of 1780. Hardly a month later Lluis I of Aragon would a solution to the New France question; the northern part of the French Empires (IOTL Quebec) would become part of the English Empire while Aragon would annex Hyderabad y el Carnatic. Further, England ceded Madras to the Aragonese in exchange for the Aragonese settlements in Terranova; even if those settlements were little more that small refuges for the Aragonese fishermen, London considered them a risk to their strategy in North America and made everything in their hands to have the Aragonese threat removed. In exchange, Aragon became the main European power in India.