War of the Austrian Succession

Home > History > Modern Europe > Wars and Battles

War of the Austrian Succession 1740–48, general European war.

Causes of the War

The war broke out when, on the strength of the pragmatic sanction of 1713, the Austrian archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, as ruler of the Hapsburg lands. The elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, advanced counterclaims to the succession while Philip V of Spain and Augustus III of Poland and Saxony advanced weak claims of their own. Frederick II of Prussia, on even less tenable grounds claimed part of the province of Silesia .

First Silesian War

Frederick II began the war by invading and rapidly occupying Silesia. His cynical offer of support to Maria Theresa if she would cede the province was rejected. Victorious at Mollwitz (1741), Frederick obtained the alliance of France, Spain, Bavaria, and Saxony. Charles Albert of Bavaria, who was promised the imperial election, advanced on Vienna. In Oct., 1741, however, Prussia agreed to a truce in exchange for most of Silesia. This armistice was soon broken but gave the Austrians an opportunity to regroup their forces. The French were unwilling to permit the Bavarians too much power and ordered them to attack Bohemia, which was relatively unimportant, instead of Vienna. Joined by France and Saxony, Bavaria took Prague (Nov., 1741), and Charles Albert was elected emperor as Charles VII .

Meanwhile, Maria Theresa had obtained full support from the Hungarian diet and the promise of aid from Great Britain, which had been at war with Spain since 1739 (see Jenkins's Ear, War of ). Early in 1742 Austrian troops overran Bavaria and laid siege to Prague, and in July, Maria Theresa made peace with Prussia by ceding most of Silesia (Treaty of Berlin). Thus ended this conflict, often called the First Silesian War. Saxony also made peace and joined Austria as an ally in 1743. The epic retreat from Prague of the French under Marshal Belle-Isle (winter, 1742–43) was followed by the victory of George II of Britain over the French at Dettingen (1743).

Second Silesian War

In 1744 Frederick II, fearing the rising power of Austria, started the Second Silesian War by invading Bohemia; he was soon expelled by Austrian and Saxon forces. On the death (1745) of Emperor Charles VII, Bavaria, once more overrun by Austrian troops, was forced out of the war. These Austrian successes were balanced by the great French victory (1745) of Fontenoy, where Maurice de Saxe defeated the British. Anxious for peace, George II concluded (1745) the Convention of Hanover with Frederick II, who promised to support the imperial candidacy of Maria Theresa's husband (shortly afterward elected as Francis I) in return for her cession of Silesia guaranteed by Europe. Defeated at Hohenfriedberg and at Kesselsdorf, Maria Theresa accepted the compromise in the Treaty of Dresden with Prussia (Dec., 1745).

The war continued in N Italy, in the Low Countries, in North America (see French and Indian Wars ), and in India. The chief belligerents (Austria, Britain, Holland, and Sardinia on the one side, France and Spain on the other) grew weary of the conflict. Although Maria Theresa secured (1748) the alliance of Russia, the other nations were determined to restore peace, and late in 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (see Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of , 2 ) was signed. Prussia gained Silesia and thus emerged as a major European power; the Hapsburgs thenceforth looked to the east for resources to develop their state.

Bibliography

See biography by E. Crankshaw, Maria Theresa (1970); C. A. Macartney, Maria Theresa and the House of Austria (1969).

Austrian Succession, War of the (1740–48) A complicated European conflict in which the key issues were the right of MARIA THERESA of Austria to succeed to the lands of her father, Emperor Charles VI, and the right of her husband Francis of Lorraine to succeed to the imperial title. Francis's claims (in spite of the Pragmatic Sanction) were disputed by Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, supported by Frederick II of Prussia and Louis XV of France. Additionally Philip V of Spain and Maria Theresa were in dispute over who should have control of Italy, and Britain was challenging France and Spain's domination of the Mediterranean (War of JENKINS'S EAR), and fighting for control of India and America (King George's War).

After the death of Charles VI in 1740 war was precipitated by Frederick II of Prussia, who seized Silesia. The war began badly for Austria: the French seized Prague, a Spanish army landed in north Italy, Charles Albert was elected Holy Roman Emperor, and Silesia was ceded by treaty to Frederick II in 1742. Britain now supported Austria by organizing the so-called Pragmatic Army (Britain, Austria, Hanover, and Hesse) and under the personal command of George II it defeated the French at DETTINGEN in 1743. Savoy joined Austria and Britain (Treaty of Worms, September 1743) and the tide of war began to turn in Austria's favour. In 1744–45 Frederick II re-entered the war, determined to retain Silesia. Meanwhile Charles Albert died and Francis was elected Holy Roman Emperor in exchange for the return of the lands of Bavaria to the Elector's heir. Frederick II won a series of victories against Austria, and the Treaty of Dresden (1745) confirmed his possession of Silesia. The struggle between France and Britain intensified. The French supported the Jacobite invasion of Britain (the FORTY-FIVE) and in India the French captured the British town of Madras (1746). The British won major victories at sea: off Cape Finisterre, Spain and Belle-Ile, France in 1747. By 1748 all participants were ready for peace, which was concluded at AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. The war had been a long and costly effort by Maria Theresa to keep her Habsburg inheritance intact and in this she largely succeeded. But Austria was weakened and Prussia, which held Silesia, consolidated its position as a significant European power.

Austrian Succession, War of the Most of western Europe was plunged into war through Frederick the Great's invasion of Austrian Silesia in December 1740, though Britain was already fighting the War of Jenkins's Ear with Spain. The eight years of continental and colonial warfare that followed killed half a million people. Spain and France were closely allied, with periodic links to Prussia. Britain, Piedmont‐Sardinia, the United Provinces, and Austria were ranged against them. British, Austrian, and Dutch troops fought against the French in the Low Countries. George II himself fought at Dettingen (1743), but before the peace of Aix‐la‐Chapelle in 1748, the French army had thrust deep into Dutch territory. In central Europe, British money helped Maria Theresa in her fight against the onslaughts of France and Prussia. At sea Britain was triumphant, the French navy having been destroyed by late 1747, largely due to the skill of Anson and Hawke. In India the French had considerable success, but in America the British predominated, capturing Louisbourg in June 1745.

At home, the war helped to end the career of Walpole and assisted the rise of Carteret. Apart from the Jacobite rising of 1745–6, the conflict seemed remote to the British people and was not popular in the manner of the Seven Years War.

Austrian Succession, War of the Conflict between Austria and Prussia for control of the German states, prompted by the succession (1740) of Maria Theresa to the Habsburg lands of her father, Charles VI. Maria Theresa was faced with counterclaims to her succession from Philip V of Spain, Augustus III of Poland and Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria. The war began with Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia's invasion of the Habsburg province of Silesia. In 1741, with French aid, Charles Albert captured Prague. In 1742, with British and Hungarian support, Maria Theresa launched a counter-offensive that overran Bavaria. This first phase (First Silesian War) was concluded by the Treaty of Berlin (1742) in which Prussia gained most of Silesia. The French army was forced to retreat from Prague and was defeated at Dettingen (1743) by George III of Britain. In 1744 Frederick II launched a second invasion of Silesia, but was repulsed. In 1745 the French won a major victory over the British at Fontenoy. George III and Frederick II signed the Convention of Hanover in which Britain recognized Prussia's claims to Silesia in return for Frederick's support of the candidacy of the husband of Maria Theresa as Emperor Francis I. War was formally ended by the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle (1748). See also French and Indian Wars

War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) a series of conflicts arising from the death of Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Hapsburg lands. His daughter the Archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded him but there were counterclaimants. Fighting began when King Frederick II of Prussia invaded the Austrian-controlled province of Silesia in 1744. Other European powers were involved in complicated alliances, in which the New World colonies were occasionally viewed as possible prizes for a victor. The conflict ended in 1748 with the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which restored the status quo ante.

War of the Austrian Succession a group of several related conflicts (1740–8), involving most of the states of Europe, that were triggered by the death of the Emperor Charles VI and the accession of his daughter Maria Theresa in 1740 to the Austrian throne.