Note: I haven’t read much of Eric Flint’s 1632 series—forty or fifty pages into the first one, so I might be stepping into an already thoroughly mined area here. With that in mind:
This one takes a bit of explanation if you aren’t into this period of European history. Gustavus was a Swedish king who turned Sweden into a major European power during the Thirty Years War, intervening on the Protestant side and tilting the balance of power drastically. He is considered by some historians to have been a broad spectrum political, economic and military genius, turning Sweden, which had been a sleepy, medieval country into an economic and military great power.
Under Gustavus, Sweden pioneered a tactic of using very mobile field artillery as a part of the Swedish army’s battles, giving them a major firepower advantage.
The Swedes arguably won the battle of Lutzen, but in the (in this case literal) fog of war the king and a small entourage got separated from the rest of the army, behind enemy lines, and the king was killed.
He was in his late thirties at the time, with potentially decades of rule ahead of him.
After his death, the Protestant side lost momentum, though the Thirty Years War went on for more than a decade after his death, until 1648. In the later stages, it became less a religious war and more a battle between Catholic France and the Catholic Hapsburgs, with the Protestant German princes in a tactical alliance with France.
So what happens if he lives? Does he set the foundations for Sweden remaining a great power? Does he defeat the Hapsburg forces decisively, maybe even making the Thirty Years War the Fifteen Years War? Doesn’t quite have the ring to it, does it?
Historically, Sweden did remain involved in the Thirty Years War after Gustavus died, and won quite a few battles in northern Germany. They even briefly made it as far south as Bohemia.
Success in the Thirty Years War might have had a big indirect impact on British history. Gustavus was protecting Frederick V of Palatine, who was trying to convince the Swedish king to help him regain his lands. The two disagreed over whether Lutherans and Calvinists should have equal rights in the restored rule, but that might eventually have been thrashed out.
Let’s say Gustavus survives and restores Frederick to power in Palatine. Maybe he even goes further and restores him to the throne of Bohemia, which he had occupied for about a year before being overthrown by Catholic forces.
That last part isn’t necessary and might be difficult to pull off. It also isn’t necessary to the British connection.
And what would that connection be? Frederick was the brother-in-law of Charles I, who famously lost his crown and his life in the English Civil War. He was also the father of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland. Prince Rupert had a long and influential career, mostly in England, as a prominent Royalist commander in the Civil War, eventually the supreme Royalist commander in that war, as a naval leader in that war and as a Royalist privateer in the Caribbean at one point. When Charles II restored royal power in England, Rupert played a prominent role in building up English sea power. He also helped found Hudson Bay Company in what is now Canada.
And if Gustavus succeeds in restoring Frederick to power in the Palatinate, it is quite possible that Rupert would have stayed home and not been available to do any of that stuff.
So we have spreading what-if questions. What would Gustavus have done with decades more of life? If Sweden dominated northern Germany, would Prussia have had room to grow and become a great power> What would Rupert have done or not done? If he wasn’t there for the English Civil War, who, if anyone, would have taken his place on the Royalist side? Would an alternate Royalist commander have been more or less effective than Rupert? Would the English Civil War have lasted longer or ended sooner?
This one takes a bit of explanation if you aren’t into this period of European history. Gustavus was a Swedish king who turned Sweden into a major European power during the Thirty Years War, intervening on the Protestant side and tilting the balance of power drastically. He is considered by some historians to have been a broad spectrum political, economic and military genius, turning Sweden, which had been a sleepy, medieval country into an economic and military great power.
Under Gustavus, Sweden pioneered a tactic of using very mobile field artillery as a part of the Swedish army’s battles, giving them a major firepower advantage.
The Swedes arguably won the battle of Lutzen, but in the (in this case literal) fog of war the king and a small entourage got separated from the rest of the army, behind enemy lines, and the king was killed.
He was in his late thirties at the time, with potentially decades of rule ahead of him.
After his death, the Protestant side lost momentum, though the Thirty Years War went on for more than a decade after his death, until 1648. In the later stages, it became less a religious war and more a battle between Catholic France and the Catholic Hapsburgs, with the Protestant German princes in a tactical alliance with France.
So what happens if he lives? Does he set the foundations for Sweden remaining a great power? Does he defeat the Hapsburg forces decisively, maybe even making the Thirty Years War the Fifteen Years War? Doesn’t quite have the ring to it, does it?
Historically, Sweden did remain involved in the Thirty Years War after Gustavus died, and won quite a few battles in northern Germany. They even briefly made it as far south as Bohemia.
Success in the Thirty Years War might have had a big indirect impact on British history. Gustavus was protecting Frederick V of Palatine, who was trying to convince the Swedish king to help him regain his lands. The two disagreed over whether Lutherans and Calvinists should have equal rights in the restored rule, but that might eventually have been thrashed out.
Let’s say Gustavus survives and restores Frederick to power in Palatine. Maybe he even goes further and restores him to the throne of Bohemia, which he had occupied for about a year before being overthrown by Catholic forces.
That last part isn’t necessary and might be difficult to pull off. It also isn’t necessary to the British connection.
And what would that connection be? Frederick was the brother-in-law of Charles I, who famously lost his crown and his life in the English Civil War. He was also the father of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland. Prince Rupert had a long and influential career, mostly in England, as a prominent Royalist commander in the Civil War, eventually the supreme Royalist commander in that war, as a naval leader in that war and as a Royalist privateer in the Caribbean at one point. When Charles II restored royal power in England, Rupert played a prominent role in building up English sea power. He also helped found Hudson Bay Company in what is now Canada.
And if Gustavus succeeds in restoring Frederick to power in the Palatinate, it is quite possible that Rupert would have stayed home and not been available to do any of that stuff.
So we have spreading what-if questions. What would Gustavus have done with decades more of life? If Sweden dominated northern Germany, would Prussia have had room to grow and become a great power> What would Rupert have done or not done? If he wasn’t there for the English Civil War, who, if anyone, would have taken his place on the Royalist side? Would an alternate Royalist commander have been more or less effective than Rupert? Would the English Civil War have lasted longer or ended sooner?