Sorry to say this, but you don't understand the character of the HRE.
The character of the HRE was changing throught the ages, you admitted as much yourself so i understand the situation very well.
the Habsburgs as emperors were not
Says you, what history says is that Austria as the seat of HRE effectively stopped any german state apart from Brandenburg from attacking Poland during the Deluge, thats a pretty good indication that untill XVIII century Austria was rocking the game completely.
since the power of the emperor was gradually reduced, while the states became more powerful.
Legally maybe, the reality was if you had the most money and the biggest army that made you lord of the ring as Emperor thus Habsburgs had all the leverage in the world and a bit more.
Do you actually know what "elector" means when it comes to the HRE?
Yes but you're talking about the legal team of the Collegium, i'm talking about who did the choosing actually, reality as opposed to legality.
They also voted out the most powerful king of the HRE, so...
The most powerfull king of HRE was at the time incomparably less powerfull than the Polish king, in XV alone for example Poland had a GDP larger than Germany and Lithuania combined, for over 100 years Poland was in a position to literally buy and sell any seat of power in the HRE at leisure.
You can use the books used there...
What for? I spoken of the mobilisation potential of the HRE and you gave me what amounts to the federal army, those are two completely different subjects and its not my fault you have comprehension issues.
Haha the Poles did not give a damn about the Saxon king and his army. They did not even help them in the war with Charles the Swedish king...
They gave quite a bit of damn David, if you're referring to the War of Polish Succession thats a different story alltogether.
