WI: Louis XIV forgot he had balls and sued for peace

Moobles

The disasters of Oudenarde and Lille led France to the brink of ruin. Louis XIV was forced to negotiate; he sent his foreign minister, the Marquis de Torcy, to meet the allied commanders at The Hague. Louis agreed to surrender Spain and all its territories to the allies, requesting only that he be allowed to keep Naples (in Italy). He was, moreover, prepared to furnish money to help expel Philip V from Spain. The allies, however, imposed more humiliating conditions; they demanded that Louis use the French army to dethrone his own grandson. Rejecting the offer, Louis chose to continue fighting until the bitter end. He appealed to the people of France, bringing thousands of new recruits into his army.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession

Wiki isn't the god of all information and this might not be accurate (it doesn't have sources and I haven't bothered to check) but the idea intrigued me. Essentially, the jist here would be Louis XIV would end support to his grandson's claim to the throne of Spain. If the great powers weren't such jerks or they had a minister who wasn't keen on such an absolute victory, the powers could've signed the peace with Louis XIV and accorded several major changes to history. Assuming they nail out the details much as Louis requested:

> French gain control of Naples (which would've been a big deal I think since Naples was growing alot and was quite an important zone of trade, but correct me here if not).
> Habsburgs remain in Spain, with Charles III's claim to France being all but assured (I assume, without French support Phillip's support might wane off). This brings out a whole load of butterflies in the future.
> Catalonia, Aragon and Valenica effectively "win" their favoured monarch. I am not sure what would've happened here, but I assume they would've remained mostly autonomous of the government with no major attempts at centralizing Spain by Charles at least.
> Future problems arise as in OTL the Archduke Charles contracted a huge expansion of the realms of Austria (well not huge but a fair amount) and if he were to become Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain this might cause as many problems as if Louis XIV was to inherit the throne of Spain itself.

Supposing the peace went through and the real major territorial changes was a French Naples and an Austrian Habsburg on the throne of Spain, what would the future of Europe look like?

As an added idea, in OTL Joseph I, who was to be Holy Roman Emperor (I think he was) died of smallpox in 1711 which prompted his brother's election to the position. Supposing Joseph I never contracts the disease or survives, and lives to an old ripe age, what would Europe look like?

Thoughts please! (Note I might be off on alot of this stuff so feel free to correct)
 

Moobles

I suppose I should mention this is all in the context of the War of Spanish Succession, which you can read about in that link.
 

Philip

Donor
Don't overlook the effects in the New World. This would have ended Queen Anne's War before the fall Port Royal to Nicholson. Perhaps France would retain control of Arcadia.
 

Snake Featherston

Banned
Philip said:
Don't overlook the effects in the New World. This would have ended Queen Anne's War before the fall Port Royal to Nicholson. Perhaps France would retain control of Arcadia.
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Acadia, and damn, that means no Cajuns in SWLA. Where would Louisianans get their gumbo from then? :p
 

Moobles

I know haha. I actually put the balls in thinking people would read it, even if they didn't care. Catchy.

Yes New World effects would also come into play. I'd like to figure out what goes on in Europe if he signs the peace though, and if there was really ever a chance. I've read Naples was extremely populous and it'd have to take a ballsy diplomat from Britain or Austria to accept giving that up to Louis.
 

Atreus

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy said:
He might have figured this "peace" was more costly then the war.
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Isn't that sort of what happened in OTL?

There was also the problem with deposing his grandson, but I think the geopolitical realities of putting a hupsburg back in spain may have factored into his calculus.
 
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