mandead said:
Louis presumably had a better claim, though. It was just far more realistic for him to have Philip crowned king of Spain, as it was more likely for it to be accepted by the European establishment. The idea of one man - let alone Louis XIV - being king of both France and Spain was absurd.
Rather, I think that a French ruler very well could have ruled Spain as well (Just as Big Chuck V - Charles the Fifth to more serious audiences- ruled Spain and Austria) but would have launched massive wars until either A)The Franco-Iberian armies utterly destroyed the forces of every major European power or B) the other nations won, and the French would have to release Spain.
Just for the record, I think inheritances/PUs are somewhat underpowered in EU3. They should be able to happen in just the situation described, but should entail major effects on the inheriter's image throughout Europe. This would also necessitate the option to back down, as well, so something like: France gets event: "Inheritance!" for Spain. The options are "1) Annex them to our realm," "2) Rule their realm seperately," "3) Establish a vassal as King" or "4) Find a suitable local ruler." Choice 1 would give major BB and relations hits (scaled based on country size, of course) and be a full annexation, 2 would establish a Personal Union, with moderate BB and relation hits (again scaled), 3 would vassalize them with smaller BB/relations hit, and 4 would leave them independent, giving a large relations bonus between the two countries and no BB/relations hits with others.
But enough ranting. Maybe I'll start a discussion thread on it. Anyways, derrhalt, those Austrians are obviously so quick because they are holding a race, in order to determine who the big Wiener will be.
