raharris1973
Well-known member
In OTL, Louis XV gave up France's hard-won gains in Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) , much to the chagrin of the French nobility and public.
What if he held on to those lands? Could he have still gotten a peace signed at Aix La-Chappelle in 1748 to end the expenses of war and British blockade?
Would it make the war last any longer and result in French combat engagements with the Russian contingents arriving on the Rhine?
Assuming a settlement is possible, how do the terms differ from OTL other than continued occupation of Austrian Netherlands by France? Did Austria or its allies hold the territory of any of France's allies at the time, (in Italy perhaps) that it might keep in retaliation?
Britain and Netherlands would be most disturbed by French expansion into Austrian Netherlands. Could they afford to keep the war going?
I suppose in retaliation for French aggrandizement, the British would hold on to conquered Louisbourg off North America and not give it back. But, in retaliation against that, the French could hold on to Madras in India.
I would imagine in order to agree to sign a peace that leaves the southern Netherlands with France, Britain will insist on getting Madras back, *and* hold Louisbourg, and its blockade capabilities and financial endurance could give it the leverage to make its demands stick at a conference.
Anyway, moving on to a post-war situation, how would France deal with and administer a permanently occupied/controlled southern Netherlands?
Would they directly annex the land to France, or put it under a minor Bourbon house as a satellite state? If annexed into France, what kind of tax regime would it be under, and what internal trade barriers would remain with other parts of France. I ask because the territory has manufacturing, even industrial potential, and revenue-producing potential, but the ability of the French government to benefit and use it to solve its fiscal problems will depend on the precise tax regime and concessions the territory is under.
What would be the longer term fate, post 1750, of that ugly, interrupting strip of territory in the middle, the Archbishopric of Liege?
What if he held on to those lands? Could he have still gotten a peace signed at Aix La-Chappelle in 1748 to end the expenses of war and British blockade?
Would it make the war last any longer and result in French combat engagements with the Russian contingents arriving on the Rhine?
Assuming a settlement is possible, how do the terms differ from OTL other than continued occupation of Austrian Netherlands by France? Did Austria or its allies hold the territory of any of France's allies at the time, (in Italy perhaps) that it might keep in retaliation?
Britain and Netherlands would be most disturbed by French expansion into Austrian Netherlands. Could they afford to keep the war going?
I suppose in retaliation for French aggrandizement, the British would hold on to conquered Louisbourg off North America and not give it back. But, in retaliation against that, the French could hold on to Madras in India.
I would imagine in order to agree to sign a peace that leaves the southern Netherlands with France, Britain will insist on getting Madras back, *and* hold Louisbourg, and its blockade capabilities and financial endurance could give it the leverage to make its demands stick at a conference.
Anyway, moving on to a post-war situation, how would France deal with and administer a permanently occupied/controlled southern Netherlands?
Would they directly annex the land to France, or put it under a minor Bourbon house as a satellite state? If annexed into France, what kind of tax regime would it be under, and what internal trade barriers would remain with other parts of France. I ask because the territory has manufacturing, even industrial potential, and revenue-producing potential, but the ability of the French government to benefit and use it to solve its fiscal problems will depend on the precise tax regime and concessions the territory is under.
What would be the longer term fate, post 1750, of that ugly, interrupting strip of territory in the middle, the Archbishopric of Liege?
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