History of Europe

Era of Absolutism (1600s-1760s)

Spanish Succession Crisis (1701)

The Partition Treaties

The Habsburg king of Spain, Carlos II, was nearing his heirless death. To settle the succession, the First Treaty of Partition was signed by England, the Dutch Republic, and France, agreeing that on the death of Charles II, Prince Joseph Ferdinand, son of the elector of Bavaria, should inherit Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Spanish colonies. Spain’s Italian dependencies would be detached and partitioned between Austria (to be awarded the Duchy of Milan) and France (Naples and Sicily). However, this plan did not push through following Joseph Ferdinand’s death in 1699.

A second treaty, signed in 1669, by England and France and in March 1700 by the Dutch Republic, awarded Spain and the Spanish Netherlands and colonies to Karl VI of Austria, second son of the Holy Roman emperor Leopold I, and Naples, Sicily, and other Spanish territories in Italy to France. Leopold, however, refused to sign the treaty, demanding that Charles receive all the Spanish territories intact.

IOTL, Spain did not agree to these terms, as (1) it would divide Spain which was not favorable, and (2) Carlos II of Spain was convinced that only the House of Bourbon was capable of succeeding him over ruling the Spanish territories. In OTL, in Carlos II’s will upon his death, he bequeaths the Spanish territories to the Bourbon Philip, Duc d'Anjou (France).

Habsburg Victory

In this timeline, however, Spain was much more amenable to Austria and her allies, mainly due to France’s negative prestige following their defeats at the hands of Britain and the Triple Alliance. As an effect, Carlos II agreed to the second partition treaty, only on one condition: Spain must not be divided and all territory must go to Karl VI. Spain signed the treaty in 1700, and upon Carlos II’s death in 1701, Karl VI of Austria succeeded him as Carlos III, King of Spain.

Also ITTL, the current Holy Roman Emperor and the newly crowned Carlos III’s elder brother, Joseph I, lived for far much longer instead of dying at the age of 32 in OTL. This allowed him to produce a male heir that would succeed him as the Archduke of Austria upon his death at a later year.

French Succession Crisis (1714)

The Death of the Grand Dauphine  (1714)

The unfortunate death of Louis the Great Dauphine, King Louis XIV’s eldest son, had caused changes in the French line of succession. Next in line was the Great Dauphine's brother, Philip d'Anjou. In our timeline, however, after the Bourbon Philip d'Anjou obtained the Spanish throne during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Austrian-British coalition brokered for Philip d'Anjou renouncement of the French throne to prevent a dual-monarchy between Spain and France from ever developing. In this timeline, the Spanish had installed Karl VI (known in Spain as Carlos III) as the successor of Carlos II, and therefore having Philip d'Anjou retain his right to inherit the French throne.

Philip d’Anjou as King of France

Upon the death of his father in 1714, Philip d'Anjou became King of France, ruling as Philip VII. France under his rule would see an increased resentment against the British and the Austrians (who he believed had manipulated and strong-armed him out of his right to inherit the Spanish throne back in the Spanish Succession Crisis). Under his rule, the colonial venture in North America was expanded and more settlers were sent to prevent French claimed territory from being absorbed by Britain and the Dutch Republic.

Closer French Ties to Prussia

Philip VII also sought closer ties to Prussia, a growing German power that had threatened and challenged Austria. In 1748, Prussia's Frederick II had confided to Philip VII about his desire of taking the region of Silesia from the Austrians. Philip VII pledged his support to Frederick II, eventually leading to the Great Silesian War (1750-1755) and the ultimate demise of France and Philip VII's prestige.

Era of Revolutions (1780s-1870s)

French Revolution and the Augustine Wars (1780s-1814)

Main article: French Revolution

The French Revolution was a revolutionary movement that hit France from the late 1780s to the late 1790s. The revolutionary wars caused Philip VII de Bourbon to flee to New France and re-establish his kingdom there. In Europe, Henri d'Anjou was proclaimed by the National Assembly of France as the new King of the French, but his rule was abruptly ended with his execution by the National Assembly, after it was discovered that he was in a plot with Austria to restore the pre-revolutionary order in France. The position of the king was dissolved, and the National Assembly's leader, Austinu Spiga, proclaimed himself as the Director in 1795.

Spiga would then start on a revolutionary campaign to export the revolution and its ideas to France's neighbors. Under his rule, France subjugated the Dutch Republic, Austria, and the various German principalities, with the aid of the Russians. The fall of the Dutch republic directly caused the Autumn War (New Netherland Independence War) in North America in 1796.

However, France would face defeat at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, after an unsuccessful French campaign to take the city of Constantinople. The Treaty of Vienna was signed in 1814. Despite France's defeat, the revolution had shaken up the old order of Europe and redrew its boundaries. A new state of the German Confederation would be created, and the kingdoms of Hanover, Saxony, and Pomerania would be restored, with land larger than what they had before. A new kingdom would also be created, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Spring of Nations (1830s)

In the 1830s, the ideas of revolution had once again renewed interest in Europe. However, this renewed interest would not come from France, but within Spain. Throughout the 1830s, various Latin American nationalist movements would be born, and led to the independence of several Latin American nations such as Colombia.

Communard Revolutions (1872-1878)

Communard Revolutions of France (1872-1877)

New ideas of socialism (called communardism) had rocked France in the 1770s. Coming from France's intellectual circles, the concept of communardism would win over the French public's following and lead to the bloody murder of King Louis in 1873. The heir died shortly after due to a falling accident. With the Bourbon line dying out, the radical communard party Société des Amis de la République (often shortened to the Société) occupied the power vacuum. The party leader, Étienne Thévenet, declared the establishment of the Communard Republic of France, espousing hardline communard ideals and rejecting all forms of religion and aristocracy. Thévenet envisions a united Europe that transcends racial and linguistic boundaries, united under the ideals of communardism.

As the first step to achieve this, Thévenet looks to the small principality of Belgique to the northeast. Belgique was a pre-dominantly French-speaking Wallonian principality and already had a growing communard movement within. Thévenet supported Belgique's communard insurrection in late 1874 with the French treasury, and the revolution became successful. Belgique was incorporated as a new département of France by Christmas eve of 1874. This chapter of the communard revolution is called the Christmas Uprising and is a regional holiday in the present-day French département of Belgique.

Great Britain grew worried of the new government's success. In 1876, attempts by the Société to spread revolution to central Europe and the Italian states were made, but were stopped by an alliance of European powers led by Austria and Britain. By early 1877, the radical Société des Amis de la République was removed out of power by the Parti Communard de France (PCF), a moderate Communard faction, with the support of Great Britain. The PCF established the 3rd French Republic., and sought peaceful coexistence with the British and other European powers. This leads to a mending of relations between the British and France.

During the crisis, Great Britain was able to take some colonial possessions of the French in the Americas (Guadeloupe, Martinique, St, Barthélemy, and Martinique) and in India (Karikal). The new government, however, was allowed to keep its new département of Belgique as was the will of the local Wallonian populace.

Loosely built on communard ideals, the new government would continue to lead in France throughout the 20th century.

Communard Revolution of Spain (1877-1878)

Despite the insurgency being quelled in 1875 in France, numerous members of the Société des Amis de la République (radical communard party of France) were able to escape to Spain. They met with leaders of the Sociedad de Comuneros (Society of Communards), the radical communard society of Spain, in Madrid. The Sociedad de Comuneros began plotting a coup against King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and was able to overthrow the monarchy in 1876 successfully. Ferdinand VII led a government-in-exile in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. With the support of the British once again, the new but weak government of Spain was dismantled, and Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne. Despite this, the aftermath of the Communard Revolutions in Spain is directly linked to the Independence of Mexico in 1881 and the independence of Peru.