Little story why Bavaria is not Austrian today

But again someone objected and thwarted the plans. This time the resistance came from within his own family: Charles II August, from the last remaining branch line, Palatinate-Zweibrücken. He called for the help of Prussian King Frederick II, who forged an alliance against Austria with the League of Princes. The Habsburgs withdrew. The barter had collapsed.

Despite multiple attempts, Karl Theodor simply couldn’t get rid of Bayern. But in 1794 another chance presented itself. His wife Elisabeth-Auguste had died, but there was no legitimate heir to the throne. So the 70-year-old went in search of a new wife – also because he wanted to prevent the people of Zweibrücken, who had prevented the exchange with the Habsburgs, from taking over power in Kurpfalz-Bavaria after his death.

The Habsburgs were ready again: If they weren’t able to get Bavaria through a barter, then perhaps through the succession to the throne, the Emperor said to himself and suggested Maria Leopoldine from the Habsburg side line Austria-Este as his future wife. She was just 17 years old when she found out about the marriage plans – and is said to have been horrified. Although she bowed to courtly conventions, she probably never forgave her parents for marrying her. Perhaps that also explains why, when her husband was dying in 1799, she blocked the way of the Habsburg ambassadors.

Maria Leopoldine foiled her family’s plans

After the wedding in 1795, the situation had deteriorated. The Palatinate-Zweibrücker heir to the throne Karl II August died and his younger brother Max Joseph took over. He was a duke without a country because the French revolutionary troops had occupied the duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. And for those who are wondering: Exactly, this Max Joseph was to be the first King Maximilian I to sit on the throne in Bavaria from 1806.