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Louis XIV the Sun King
This is an alternate history timeline, stemming from basically Joseph Ferdinand not dying, but a war still occurs, because Louis XIV tries to push for the Partition Treaty (that only he and William signed) only to be refused. And then the others join the Spanish side, because of Spanish concessions and fear of French expansion.
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War comes about not as the result of the want of the people of a nation nor of the nobility of a nation, but instead the want of that's nation's King. Whether it a king who hungers for his people's approval or a king who hungers for power, the fault of war lies with our kings. And the War of the Spanish Succession would be no exception of this rule of the world. It like all other wars was caused by the want of kings. In this case it began due to want of King Louis XIV of France for power, the want of King Charles II of Spain for integrity, and the want of King William III of England and the Netherlands for balance. Their wants turned what was hoped to be a peaceful succession into a continental war that drowned a generation of Europeans in the blood of their brothers, their cousins, and their enemies.
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On Christmas Day of the Year of Our Lord 1700 the King of Spain, Charles II, would finally die of frailty . And his gift for Europe on that winter day was his will. A will that loudly proclaimed that to succeed Charles II as the King of Spain was Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, the Prince of the Asturias. And that was something that all of Europe had accepted or resigned to over the past several years as that German boy was simply the least threatening candidate to succeed the throne of Spain. The problem with his succession though emerged not from him inheriting Spain or even Spain's colonial empire, the problem emerged from him inheriting anything else. For across Europe many kings were greedy for the rest of the realm of Charles II, among them was most prominently Louis XIV.
Louis XIV had spent a lifetime conquering Europe and trying to master the continent. So it is no surprise that Louis had set France up to benefit in some way from Charles II's lack of clear heir. At first Louis had meant to have his grandson inherit Spain, but that was to be tricky as Austria's Hapsburgs had the same intent. However when Joseph Ferdinand was popped out in Vienna the Sun King was given a way to gain something when Charles died without having to go to war to put a Bourbon on the Spanish throne or prevent a Hapsburg from being put on the same throne. That way was to manipulate Europe into accepting France's expansion in return for France not contesting Joseph Ferdinand's succession. This way would culminate in the Treaty of Partition.
In the Treaty of Partition (1698), Louis XIV was able to convince William III to agree to France obtaining Naples, Sicily, Tuscany, and Lorraine so long as France didn't hinder Joseph Ferdinand's ascendance to the Spanish throne. Louis of course threw some other concessions in that benefited Leopold of Lorraine, Emperor Leopold of Austria, and William III of England and the Netherlands. To William this treaty seemed a great victory as it prevented an expensive war, saved Spain from being inherited by Bourbons or the Hapsburgs, and prevented the Spanish Empire from being inherited by any one man. Yet for all the rewards that Louis and William saw in the treaty it had a major fault. The fault was quite simple, the only parties that had agreed to it were William and Louis.
The reason why neither Spain nor Austria agreed to the Treaty of Partition was that neither was even invited to the negotiations. But that insult to both Spain and Austria is something that is could easily be fixed. What was impossible to fix was that the treaty was inherently unacceptable for either the Spaniards or the Austrians. For Spain it was a question of honour and territorial integrity that meant that the only inheritance possible for the grandees of Spain was an undivided one. Whilst for Austria it was matter of not getting enough and not in right places. Austria had grown to accept the idea of not inheriting Spain and all its realms, but it still clinged to the idea of inheriting at least Spain's rich and prosperous Italian lands. And the Treaty of Partition denied both the Spaniards and the Austrians their wishes, so come Charles' death came trouble.
In wake of the demise of Charles II Louis XIV would fully reveal the Treaty of Partition and demand that Spain and Austria acquiesce to it. Meanwhile William III naively looked on and hoped that all would fall into place in favor of his England and Netherlands. But to the surprise of both Louis and William the Spanish and Austrians responded with a fierce no. With that response many expected Europe to suddenly violently fall into an orgy of violence as France pushed to force its Treaty of Partition down the throats of Spain and Austria. Luckily though the snows of winter denied France the ability to easily amass its armies and campaign. So instead Europe held its breath as a temporary uneasy peace held through winter.
During the winter peace though the armies were inactive the diplomats were all but. Across Europe various diplomats buzzed trying to accomplish their kings' wills. In London William found himself beset by both Spaniards and French as both attempted to win his active support and the French even threatened to support the Jacobites if he didn't support them. Whilst in Vienna the French tried to offer a reshuffling of Joseph Ferdinand's inheritance to the Austrians, but they still denied the Austrians what they wanted most, Italy. The Spanish envoy meantime offered less in total, but it was some of what Austria yearned for. And in the lesser courts of Europe the various parties also made their rounds. Eventually when summer arrived after a winter of inactivity and a spring of mobilization the loyalties of all were revealed.
The two camps that emerged in Europe were those of Ferdinand VI (Joseph Ferdinand) and Louis XIV. Supporting Ferdinand VI were his Wittelsbach family in Bavaria, Cologne, and Palatinate; Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and the Empire, especially Hanover and Brandenburg; and William III's England and the Netherlands. On the opposing side surrounding Louis XIV were the paltry allies of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy. But considering France's military preeminence in the Nine Year's War against all of Europe France and its alliance were not be dismissed with ease. Meanwhile the realms of Eastern and Northern Europe were already engaged in their own bloodbath, the Great Northern War.