Did Austria ever attempt to annex Bavaria?

[joak]

There's no Kingdom of Prussia without the Knights, but there could have been a kingdom of Prussia without Brandenburg. At least, I see it that way. But it's not my area of expertise, so I accept your judgement.

Well, if you're going with alternate history there's no kingdom named Prussia without the knights' secularization, but the core of the historical kingdom is still there, and just happens to be named the Electorate of Brandenburg, and could play the same role it did historically.

If you take Brandenburg off the map--say, divvy it up after the 30 Years' War--anything that was named Prussia (kingdom or not) is a minor state on the Baltic that has nothing to do the Prussia that unified Germany. It probably gets gobbled up by Sobieski.

 

[Ruwaard]

It's not like the Habsburgs didn't do that kind of thing.

HRE? Wittelsbach first, Habsburg later.
Netherlands? Wittelsbach first, Habsburg later.

And let's not even begin to list what they stole from the Luxemburgers.

Stole???

The Habsburg dynasty (Rudolf I, Albert I) managed to become a ruling king of the Romans (didn't achieve an Imperial Coronation), before a member of the house of Wittelsbach or Luxembourg for that matter was even elected. The houses of Wittelsbach (Louis IV) and Luxembourg (Henry VII) did manage to obtain an imperial coronation, before the house of Habsburg (Frederick III).

The Netherlands? How Hollandocentric, yes the house of Wittelsbach ruled in the counties of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland before the Habsburgs, but this doesn't apply to Flanders, Artois, Brabant, Limburg, Gelre, Zutphen, Namur or Luxembourg (which was originally ruled by the house of Luxembourg).

As for the house of Luxembourg, the house of Habsburg ended up inheriting most of their lands directly or indirectly (for instance the duchy of Luxembourg first passed to the house of Valois-Burgundy).

 

[DarthJF]

It's true, I thought Arilou was negating the connection Teutonic Order - Duchy of Prussia, which is what surprised me. While Brandenburg did become the center of the future Prussian kingdom and also of the former Brandenburg-Prussia union, it's the secularisation of Prussia under Grandmaster Albert, a Hohenzollern himself, that made the union, and the kingdom, possible. There's no Kingdom of Prussia without the Knights, but there could have been a kingdom of Prussia without Brandenburg. At least, I see it that way. But it's not my area of expertise, so I accept your judgement.

It's because of Brandenburg and the Hohenzollerns that Prussia is known as more than just a geographic entity. The things Prussia is known for, military, administration etc. had their foundation in the reforms done by the Great Elector after 30 Years' War in the Duchy of Brandenburg. It was thanks to these reforms that Hohenzollerns were able to hold on to the Duchy of Prussia and which allowed later leaders to achieve the string of Prussian military victories that propelled them to a place among European Great Powers and challenge the Habsburg hegemony in Germany.