Following the Napoleonic wars, Austria parted with Belgium in favor for having a territorially contiguous territory with Lombardy-Venetia. And this would require a complete 180 on the Austrian goals when they went into the negotiations as they did not want to border France but with security guarantees.
IOTL Lombardy-Venetia proved quite a headache for Austria. Yes, it was a wealthy area and Metternich wanted to use it as a key for a Italian confederation but all the taxes extracted were used to police and govern the territory. Belgium on the other hand was wealthy, had a similar population (4.5m vs 4m) and with its burgeoning industrialization, Austria could have had a counterpart to Prussias Silesia.
Would the Belgians revolt against the Austrians as they did against Dutch rule? OTL Belgium revolted against the Dutch in large part because the Dutch were imposing themselves onto Belgians especially in terms of religion, language and representation. The Austrians were fellow catholics and had already lots of experience in managing a realm with different people groups. The Habsburgs having a seperate agreement in regards to governing Belgium would imo not be that much of a stretch.
How would Austria retaining Belgium alter the Austro-Prussian rivalry? As Belgium was wealthy and quickly industrializing it would certainly aid Austria to meet Prussia on a more equal footing though Belgium still lacks compared to the Prussian Rhineland. Would France ITTL be more willing to intervene in a Austro-Prussian conflict in the hopes of finally gaining Belgium? What would Britains policy in regards to Belgium look like given they spent centuries trying to keep both the Germans and the French out of Belgium. Would this result in Britain not going into splendid isolation and rather commit to an alliance with Austria? How would the 48 revolutions affect Austrian Belgium? Who would win TTL Austro-Prussian war? If Prussia still wins and founds Germany would it include Belgium? If Austria wins, can it found Germany? What would be the implications of Austria winning on France? What would be the impact on the Congo? While the colonization of the Congo was Leopolds brainchild and Austria only dabbled very little in the whole overseas colonization game, would the Beglian elite lobby for colonization just as it did a century earlier with the Ostend company?
IOTL Lombardy-Venetia proved quite a headache for Austria. Yes, it was a wealthy area and Metternich wanted to use it as a key for a Italian confederation but all the taxes extracted were used to police and govern the territory. Belgium on the other hand was wealthy, had a similar population (4.5m vs 4m) and with its burgeoning industrialization, Austria could have had a counterpart to Prussias Silesia.
Would the Belgians revolt against the Austrians as they did against Dutch rule? OTL Belgium revolted against the Dutch in large part because the Dutch were imposing themselves onto Belgians especially in terms of religion, language and representation. The Austrians were fellow catholics and had already lots of experience in managing a realm with different people groups. The Habsburgs having a seperate agreement in regards to governing Belgium would imo not be that much of a stretch.
How would Austria retaining Belgium alter the Austro-Prussian rivalry? As Belgium was wealthy and quickly industrializing it would certainly aid Austria to meet Prussia on a more equal footing though Belgium still lacks compared to the Prussian Rhineland. Would France ITTL be more willing to intervene in a Austro-Prussian conflict in the hopes of finally gaining Belgium? What would Britains policy in regards to Belgium look like given they spent centuries trying to keep both the Germans and the French out of Belgium. Would this result in Britain not going into splendid isolation and rather commit to an alliance with Austria? How would the 48 revolutions affect Austrian Belgium? Who would win TTL Austro-Prussian war? If Prussia still wins and founds Germany would it include Belgium? If Austria wins, can it found Germany? What would be the implications of Austria winning on France? What would be the impact on the Congo? While the colonization of the Congo was Leopolds brainchild and Austria only dabbled very little in the whole overseas colonization game, would the Beglian elite lobby for colonization just as it did a century earlier with the Ostend company?
