Wi: the Walramian branch of the house of Nassau died out before 1866

[Florian I]

OTL the Ottonian branch of the house of Nassau was the first to go extinct in the male line in 1890, ending the personal union between the Netherlands an Luxembourg, But what if instead the Walramian branch died out first especially before the annexation of the duchy of Nassau in 1866, probably creating a personal union between the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Nassau?

(OTL the personal union between the Netherlands and Luxembourg ended with the death of William III, because the Nassau family pact determined that as long as there was a male heir of the house of Nassau salic law would apply to all territory within the HRE. But in TTL William III is the last male heir of the house of Nasaau and therefore his daughter can inherit all his titles.)

(I think a personal Union between the Netherlands and Nassau would be possible because William 3 could argue that being Duke of Nassau is not in violation of article 26 of the Dutch constitution since as a duchy it isn't a royal title unlike the mentioned Grand-duchy of Luxembourg this might be contentious but since Nassau is an obviously lesser title with great historical significance to the house of Orange-Nassau I think there would be little actual opposition. There could also be a constitutional amendement to also allow the king the title of duke of Nassau.)

Would Nassau still become part of Prussia or become a member of the German Empire, and if so would that lead to Luxembourg also becoming a member of the German Empire?

How would having 1 or 2 members in personal union with a foreign country affect the German empire?

(From what I could find it seems like the Walramian branch was close to male line extinction since the creation of the duchy of Nassau but I am not sure what the exact POD should be so I look forward to suggestions.)

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

@Parma @pompejus @HJ Tulp

 

[HJ Tulp]

Willem Iii had a terrible relationship with Parliament. In fact, he almost didn't accept the throne when his father died because he disliked the lack of power associated with the throne. I'm not sure if Parliament would do Willem III (nicknamed the Gorilla) the favour of amending the constitution, given that it would strengthen his independence.

 

[Florian I]

Willem Iii had a terrible relationship with Parliament. In fact, he almost didn't accept the throne when his father died because he disliked the lack of power associated with the throne. I'm not sure if Parliament would do Willem III (nicknamed the Gorilla) the favour of amending the constitution, given that it would strengthen his independence

Good point, but what recourse would be available against the king holding the interpretation that the duchy of Nassau is not a crown and article 26 therefore doesn't apply?

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

in 1866, Willem III still has two sons, and his wife's death was still eleven years away...nobody could predict his sons would die childless (besides, there were plans for a match to the king of Hannover's daughter for the younger of those sons IIRC). So technically, they could simply say that Nassau can't be held in PU with the Netherlands as a foreign crown, but that doesn't preclude Alexander (b.1851) from succeeding to the duchy of Nassau. Maybe someone even suggests "hey, he's too young and needs a regent, let's get Queen Sophie out of the Hague and let her go be liberal in Nassau". He and his wife lived separately by this point anyway, so I don't think anyone's going to object too much. Alexander - as duke of Nassau - would also be a viable marriage candidate here. Sophie might get her wish and get a British match (the Hannoverian princess), since OTL AIUI W3 blocked both the match between his elder son and Princess Alice/Louise (that Wiwill never forgave him for apparently), and Alexander and the Hannoverian (ostensibly because he didn't think it was "good enough") simply because Sophie supported it

 

[HJ Tulp]

Good point, but what recourse would be available against the king holding the interpretation that the duchy of Nassau is not a crown and article 26 therefore doesn't apply?

Parliament itself determines what is constitutional and not in the Netherlands. The interpretation you suggested is also clearly wrong. In the constitution 'crown' is written as 'Kroon', the capital K meaning it doesn't mean crown in a literal sense but in the figurative sense, meaning a soeverein ruler. Hell, Willem III wasn't even crowned king of the Netherlands but was inaugurated.

 

[Atterdag]

Willem Iii had a terrible relationship with Parliament.

The question is then of course how to improve his relationship with parliament to the point where they’d trust him with a Duchy of his own.

 

[pompejus]

Good point, but what recourse would be available against the king holding the interpretation that the duchy of Nassau is not a crown and article 26 therefore doesn't apply?

The reason for this article was basicly because people feared that the Netherlands would be dominated by a more powerful country, like what happened with England during the (kinda, sorta, not realy) personal union with stadholder William III. You could say that would not happen with a less powerful state like Nassau. The problem in this case would not be Nassau. It would be Germany. Simply put, they were afraid that this would become a backdoor for the Netherlands to be absorbed by Germany. A very realistic problem. So I don't think it will happen.

The question is then of course how to improve his relationship with parliament to the point where they’d trust him with a Duchy of his own.

Give him a different personality? Replace him with a look-a-like?

 

[Atterdag]

Give him a different personality?

Well that’s simple enough then.

 

[Florian I]

Parliament itself determines what is constitutional and not in the Netherlands. The interpretation you suggested is also clearly wrong. In the constitution 'crown' is written as 'Kroon', the capital K meaning it doesn't mean crown in a literal sense but in the figurative sense, meaning a soeverein ruler. Hell, Willem III wasn't even crowned king of the Netherlands but was inaugurated.

The parliament doesn't have that authority, especially since the constitution states that the king is inviolable the only way they might be able to force the issue is to refuse all laws including funding. also the Constitution of 1840 did not include the Luxembourg exception even though the treaty of London of 1839 clearly recognized the independence of Luxembourg. It wasn't until 1848 that the Luxembourg exception was introduced. With Nassau being a lower title with a greater historical connection to the Netherlands it should be possible for Nassau to get a similar treatment. However it might be better to avoid this issue by having a POD somewhere in the 1800s killing of most of the Walramian branch during the Napoleonic wars so that William I is the heir presumptive to the duchy of Nassau in 1814 when the first Dutch constitution gets designed.

 

[Janprimus]

The question is then of course how to improve his relationship with parliament to the point where they’d trust him with a Duchy of his own.

That might be hard, however the most obvious solution would be that the duchy of Nassau goes to prince Alexander of Orange-Nassau. As mentioned as duke of Nassau, he would have a better chance to marry and thus a chance to continue the house of Orange-Nassau. Given the relations between Orange-Nassau and their Hohenzollern relatives, Alexander at least wouldn't side against Prussia, thus he may keep the duchy of Nassau, which would become a secundogeniture for the house of Orange-Nassau. Given how small the dynasty was at this point, any sons of Alexander will be followed by the Dutch branch as well.

 

[Florian I]

I have finally found the perfect point of Departure. All the men of the Walramian line where in significant danger during the revolutions of 1848 so the POD will be that all three of them die during the revolutions. Specifically duke Adolph refuses to give in to the mob of 30.000 peasants that revolted and tries to lead the army in person to restore order, his brother Nicholas William is still an officer in the army of Nassau at this time and they die fighting. Their other brother Maurice is at this time an officer in the Austrian cavalry and dies charging in to the Hungarian lines. thus when king William 2 tasks Thorbecke with designing a new constitution the title duke of Nassau is included.