Franz Ferdinand dies of tuberculosis in the 1890s

[WolfBear]

Apparently in real life, Franz Ferdinand had a very serious bout with tuberculosis in the 1890s but ultimately managed to successfully recover from this. Anyway, what if his tuberculosis would have killed him instead? In such a scenario, FF's younger brother Otto Franz would have become the heir to the A-H thrones, but he himself would have also died young (specifically in 1906, unless of course butterflies will change this in this TL), so around 1906 his eldest son Karl (the future Kaiser Karl from our TL) should become the next heir to the A-H thrones, being poised to succeed Franz Joseph whenever FJ will ultimately end up dying.

Anyway, how would Austro-Hungarian internal politics have been affected by all of this? Would Karl have been just as much of a voice for peace, moderation, and restraint in foreign policy as Franz Ferdinand was in real life? Any thoughts on all of this?

@sillygoose

 

[sillygoose]

So much would change as a result of the early deaths it is impossible to even venture a guess about Karl's persona ITTL. Besides he seems like someone who relied on his advisors to do all the thinking and who knows who they'd be ITTL.

 

[WolfBear]

So much would change as a result of the early deaths it is impossible to even venture a guess about Karl's persona ITTL. Besides he seems like someone who relied on his advisors to do all the thinking and who knows who they'd be ITTL.

FWIW, our persons are mostly shaped by our genes and non-shared environmental factors. So, his personality will still be mostly the same. But Franz Joseph will likely have a much larger influence on his life, especially in the years after 1906. Karl was already almost 20 years old in 1906.