What if Queen Victoria was a boy?

[Luke]

I was reading about the old Union between the UK and Hanover the other day when a thought struck me. What if Queen Victoria was in fact a male? I could see this having a great effect on European history, and possibly even American history.

To begin with, let’s call our new king Victor. It’s easy and we’ll keep the Victorian age name. The Kingdom of Hanover will remain a possession of the British crown. Could we see a possible political union between the two entities and create the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland and Hanover? What sort of effect would this have with the rest of the German States, especially when they’re united by Bismarck?

With our King Victor, Prince Albert will never become Prince Consort of the Monarch. So who would Victor marry? If he marries someone who isn’t related to Albert, then we won’t have the House of Saxe-Caburg Gotha, and thus a lot of the European monarchies wouldn’t be related. A lot of the famous European monarchs wouldn’t exist either. Kaiser Wilhelm II, for example. Could this mean no WW1 (or at least one that’s different from OTL)?

IIRC during the ACW some Union troops boarded a RN ship in order to catch some Confederates. Parliament was outraged, but luckily Prince Albert managed to convince Parliament not to go to war with the Union and instead pursued peaceful means to sort out the mess. If Albert isn’t here, then will anyone step up to convince Parliament not to go to war? Would the UK go to war with the USA? How would this play out?

All this could have a major effect on how Europe, and possibly America, develops in the 19th – 20th Century. And all because oh dear old Queen Vic was born a boy.

 

[MrP]

A civilian vessel, Trent, is the one you've got in mind. I believe the Americans would have backed down, but things have the potential to get hairy if there are misunderstanding. The British did dispatch 10,000 regulars to Canada.

 

[Wozza]

OR a boy with haemophilia, just to keep things fun...

Good question, I think it means Hannover and Britain stay united, but I might be missing something.

If they do stay united expect a very different Schleswig-Holstein crisis.

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

Expect to see France and Prussia team up to drive Britain out of Europe. The Prussians are still going to persue unification, and would smartest to use France to help seize Hanover, and then turn on France, just as they did with OTL Austria....

 

[Wendell]

What if Prince Albert and King Victor were lovers Besides you're making a huge assumption about this alternate monarch's personality and style.

 

[Tyr]

That incident in the ACW would probally be butterflied away, the details of the entire ACW would change (though there probally would still be one...).

Could be interesting especially if Victor is really interested in Hannover. In Hannover wasn't their duke a quite traditional monarch keeping quite a bit of power?
The formation of modern Germany will really be mucked up with Britain out to make sure it doesn't happen.

 

[Wendell]

That incident in the ACW would probally be butterflied away, the details of the entire ACW would change (though there probally would still be one...).

Could be interesting especially if Victor is really interested in Hannover. In Hannover wasn't their duke a quite traditional monarch keeping quite a bit of power?
The formation of modern Germany will really be mucked up with Britain out to make sure it doesn't happen.

Could there be an alliance between Britain and Austria?

 

[Tyr]

That's what I was thinking.
We were THE military power at the time though still fighting a land war against Prussia right on their door step would be exceptionally difficult to do all that succesfully...
Maybe we could use the Austrians as mercenaries of sorts ala Napoleonic wars if anything does start.
Or maybe Prussia just won't go down the same lets conquer all of Germany route.

 

[Wendell]

That's what I was thinking.
We were THE military power at the time though still fighting a land war against Prussia right on their door step would be exceptionally difficult to do all that succesfully...
Maybe we could use the Austrians as mercenaries of sorts ala Napoleonic wars if anything does start.
Or maybe Prussia just won't go down the same lets conquer all of Germany route.

Maybe everyone beats up on Russia, or a trilateral "Teutonic League" forms?

 

[Count Dearborn]

King Victor could still father the daughter that married into the Prussian Monarchy.

 

[Wendell]

King Victor could still father the daughter that married into the Prussian Monarchy.

That's true as well.

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

I'm seeing a war in about 1890, Britain, Austria, and Russia versus Prussia, France, and Italy. Ottomans could go either way.

This is actually the genesis of one of my works in progress. Britain becomes far more decentralized due to an increased continental threat, and India, Australia, and Canada become far more independent earlier, leading to an Indian superpower within a larger British federation of sorts.....

 

[Derek Jackson]

I wonder whether there is an issue about the survival of the Monarchy. The Hanovers were embarassing in lots of ways, especially sexual.

Victoria happened to manage a long and faithful marriage. The only male from Monarch who managed that from that family was George III.

There may be a lot of difficulty if there were further scandals. There was some republicanism in OTL.

 

[Luke]

The idea of a war between the UK and Prussia is an interesting one. I can see most of the British troops being used in the war against the Prussians. This could result in the British Empire being smaller than in OTL. Depending on when this war starts, it could be possible that the Indian Mutiny succeeds or the Zulu War doesn't happen. If the rest of Europe is dragged in because of a system of alliances, then maybe their empires could be smaller as well.

In regards to Prussia and France, weren't they both enemies during this time period? If so, then I doubt they'd join up. But then again, they might do so to get rid of the big kid on the block.

 

[Bulgaroktonos]

The idea of a war between the UK and Prussia is an interesting one. I can see most of the British troops being used in the war against the Prussians. This could result in the British Empire being smaller than in OTL. Depending on when this war starts, it could be possible that the Indian Mutiny succeeds or the Zulu War doesn't happen. If the rest of Europe is dragged in because of a system of alliances, then maybe their empires could be smaller as well.

In regards to Prussia and France, weren't they both enemies during this time period? If so, then I doubt they'd join up. But then again, they might do so to get rid of the big kid on the block.

They may be enemies, but France and Britain are greater enemies than friends at this point. I think that if Prussia promised Belgium to France in exchange for Hanover, you could get France to be very eager to fight.

The war won't come for a while, as Britain is far too powerful to take on in the early years. The war will probably come in the mid-1880s. The Sepoy Rebellion will still be crushed, and history won't be too far off until the war. Britain will likely strip whatever colonies France has, barring Algeria, and will likely lose Hanover. I can imagine a white peace of sorts, with both sides keeping what they've taken....

 

[Chengar Qordath]

In regards to Prussia and France, weren't they both enemies during this time period? If so, then I doubt they'd join up. But then again, they might do so to get rid of the big kid on the block.

As I recall, Prussia and France generally got along fairly well as they shared a common enemy in Austria. I believe France even offered a small amount of support to Prussia in the Six Weeks War; but after the Prussian beat Austria so easily and became the dominant power in Germany France began to see the Prussians as more of a threat. A Franco-Prussian alliance against an Austro-British one is a conflict that had been played out several times in the past; it could certainly happen again if Britain kept Hannover.

 

[Smuz]

As I recall, Prussia and France generally got along fairly well as they shared a common enemy in Austria. I believe France even offered a small amount of support to Prussia in the Six Weeks War; but after the Prussian beat Austria so easily and became the dominant power in Germany France began to see the Prussians as more of a threat. A Franco-Prussian alliance against an Austro-British one is a conflict that had been played out several times in the past; it could certainly happen again if Britain kept Hannover.

Remember the general diplomatic ineptitude of Napoleon III. I can easily see Bismark manipulating him into an alliance against a British-Austrian threat. Would he get the Hohenzollern Spanish line of sucession installed thusly, creating a Prussian/French/Spanish alliance facing the British/Austrians.

What if Victor married a Swedish princess?