Could Austria see a Hapsburg restoration after WWII if France doesn't fall in 1940 and Austria regains its independence?

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Futurist
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Could Austria see a Hapsburg restoration after WWII if France doesn't fall in 1940 and Austria regains its independence?

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Post by Futurist » 09 Jan 2020, 08:02

Could Austria see a Hapsburg restoration after WWII if France doesn't fall in 1940 and Austria regains its independence at the end of WWII? The logic behind this would be to create a strong separate Austrian national identity after the war, and restoring the Hapsburg monarchy in Austria (only in Austria, and in exchange for them renouncing all Austrian territorial claims) seems like it might be an attractive way to achieve this in the eyes of Britain and France.

Obviously this never actually occurred in real life, but in real life, the US and USSR were also participants in WWII and thus had an extremely large say in the post-WWII peace settlement. That, and the fact that they were republics and against the anti-egalitarianism that monarchy represented made a Hapsburg restoration in Austria rather unlikely after WWII in real life. However, in this scenario neither the US nor the USSR would likely ever actually enter WWII and thus they are not going to be able to influence the post-WWII peace settlement--not directly, in any case.

Anyway, do you think that Britain and France would have actually been amenable to the idea of a post-WWII Hapsburg restoration in Austria in the event that France doesn't fall in 1940, the Anglo-French subsequently win WWII, and Austria regains its independence after the end of WWII? Also, if so, what effects would this have on Austria and on the rest of its neighborhood, including on Hungary? For instance, might this increase the pressure on Hungarian Regent Miklos Horthy to eventually reunite with Austria or at least to eventually install some Hapsburg (not necessarily the same one as in Austria) as the new Hungarian King--perhaps after Horthy's own death?

Any thoughts on all of this?

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