So in 1868 Isabella II was deposed in Spain's own "Glorious Revolution" as it was called. IOTL, this kicked off a search for a new King and eventually a new dynasty, which resulted in King Amadeo I being the first and only King of Spain from the Savoy. Then Germany was united, the Third Carlist War happened and the rest was history.
But what if Amadeo, who famously claimed the Spanish people to be ungovernable, was not selected? Rather, what if the noted Liberal Infante Juan, son of the Count of Molina, became King of Spain? He was the Carlist claimant at the time, and his liberal views may have allowed him to govern with some amount of cross-political consensus. Of course he was apparently much too liberal for most Carlists and eventually gave up his rights for that of his eldest son's. But say Juan never signs away his rights and presses his claims to the Spanish throne in 1868, or the Duke of Montpensier, who was quite the schemer and a driving force behind the 1868 revolution, was ejected from Spain to prevent any Revolution at all?
If Juan came to the throne of Spain as Juan III, it would have some rather fascinating effects on France in particular. If there is no threat of a Prussian Spain, then OTL Franco-Prussian War never happens. But also, at the time, the heir to the cause of French Legitimism and the Comte de Chambord was non other than Juan himself. So if France's Second Empire falls in some manner similar to OTL, and his heir in the eyes of the Legitimists and himself is currently King of Spain, then the Comte de Chambord may have no choice but to face the music and accept the throne and the Orleans as his heirs, unlike where he rejected the throne on the basis of the tricolor but really because he didn't want the Orleans to become Kings of France again.
I am no expert on this topic by any means, but I just thought it raised some interesting possibilities.
But what if Amadeo, who famously claimed the Spanish people to be ungovernable, was not selected? Rather, what if the noted Liberal Infante Juan, son of the Count of Molina, became King of Spain? He was the Carlist claimant at the time, and his liberal views may have allowed him to govern with some amount of cross-political consensus. Of course he was apparently much too liberal for most Carlists and eventually gave up his rights for that of his eldest son's. But say Juan never signs away his rights and presses his claims to the Spanish throne in 1868, or the Duke of Montpensier, who was quite the schemer and a driving force behind the 1868 revolution, was ejected from Spain to prevent any Revolution at all?
If Juan came to the throne of Spain as Juan III, it would have some rather fascinating effects on France in particular. If there is no threat of a Prussian Spain, then OTL Franco-Prussian War never happens. But also, at the time, the heir to the cause of French Legitimism and the Comte de Chambord was non other than Juan himself. So if France's Second Empire falls in some manner similar to OTL, and his heir in the eyes of the Legitimists and himself is currently King of Spain, then the Comte de Chambord may have no choice but to face the music and accept the throne and the Orleans as his heirs, unlike where he rejected the throne on the basis of the tricolor but really because he didn't want the Orleans to become Kings of France again.
I am no expert on this topic by any means, but I just thought it raised some interesting possibilities.
