The War of the Austrian Succession - Essay Example

THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 2007 THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR IntroductionThe most important issue for Austria after the War of the Spanish Succession was again a problem of succession - only this time it was relating to Habsburg lands, ruled from Vienna. The emperor Charles VI had a son, born in 1716, but the child died before the year was out. Emperor's daughter, Maria Theresa, was born in 1717 and another daughter, Maria Anna, followed the next year. Thus the emperor had daughters and nieces (that were the daughters of Joseph I) but there were no sons or nephews.1 Several European powers were interested in further dividing the Habsburg Empire due to this Charles VI recognized that protection of Austria's position in Europe required greater centralization (both economic and political) to provide the development of a powerful economic base thus the foreign policy was mainly devoted to ensure that his elder daughter was accepted as his heir.2 In 1720 Charles issues a Pragmatic Sanction to establish the legal basis for transmission of the Habsburg lands to Maria Theresa; the sanction also declared that the Habsburg inheritance was indivisible. The following years the Austrian diplomacy concentrated on persuading the European countries to accept the Pragmatic Sanction. When Charles VI died in 1740 Maria Theresa became the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria, and Duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla. Main Body 1. The war of the Austrian Succession Nevertheless Charles's concessions did not prevent the outbreak of the Austrian Succession War (1740-48) right after his death in 1740. Beside this Frederick William I, the "sergeant major" King of Prussia, died on 31st May 1740 and Prussian throne passed to his ruthlessly ambitious son, Frederick.1 On December 16, 1740 Frederick II having not agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction invaded the rich Habsburg province of Silesia, meanwhile the while French military forces invaded Bavaria. The next year nearly all the powerful countries of Europe were involved in the war, but still the long-suffering military struggle was for Silesia between Prussia and Austria followed by the Convention of Klein-Schnellendorf in October 1741 and finally the Maria Theresa's truce with Frederick II; still it came too late to prevent a Franco-Bavarian occupation of Bohemia the following month; and this ended up with in January 1742 by the election of Karl Albert (elector of Bavaria since 1726) as the new Holy Roman emperor.2 From the beginning of 1742 year the French troops threatened Flanders, a land dominated by Austria and the Dutch Republic. A Pragmatic Army named from Charles VI's Sanctions assembled to counter the French invasion, with troops from Austria and various German states including Hanover. George II, King of England and Elector of Hanover, resolved to send English troops to join the Pragmatic Allies. Ostensibly the army was to fight for Maria Theresa, but George's concern was that the French intended to pass through the Low Countries and invade his beloved Hanover.3 The English forces were sent to Flanders in mid-1742. The first Silesian War was over on the 11th of June 1742 with the signing the separate peace between Prussia and Austria at Breslau. In 1743 the French were almost completely forced out of the empire, and in March and April 1744 Louis XV (ruled 1715-1774) formalized hostilities by declaring war first on Great Britain and then on Austria.1 The death of Charles VII in January 1745 drastically changed the political situation. Max Joseph, his successor as elector of Bavaria, was aware of the impossibility of the Bavarian position, promised to vote for Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, grand duke of Tuscany, to be the next emperor, which he accordingly became in October.2 On 11 May 1745 Maurice de Saxe, marshal of France, defeated the combined Anglo-Austrian-Dutch army at Fontenoy, and went on to capture a string of fortresses in Flanders stretching nearly as far as Antwerp by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Austrian fortunes still showed few signs of improving. In 1747 the British troops returned in numbers to the Flanders War.3 The war was also conducted beyond Europe, in North America and India. In North America the conflict was known as King George's War, and the most remarkable incident was the capture of the French Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island by a British. Louisbourg was then regarded merely as a nest of privateers, but at the peace it was returned to France. The War of Austrian Succession concluded with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) of 1748. Maria Theresa and Austria survived status quo ante bellum, sacrificing only the territory of Silesia, which Austria conceded to Prussia. The end of the war also sparked the beginning of German Dualism between Prussia and Austria, which would ultimately bring about German Nationalism and the drive to unify Germany as a single entity.4 2. The Seven Years War Notwithstanding the fact of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle it was only the interlude before the serious bludgeoning of the Seven Years War that officially began in 1756 in Europe, hostilities had erupted two years earlier, in 1754, in North America. The War of Austrian Succession and its outcome weren't satisfactory nearly for everybody. Frederick the Great of Prussia acquired the province of Silesia from Austria, greatly increasing his realm, butAustria resented the theft and plotted revenge. France began building a string of forts from the Great Lakes south to modern day Pittsburg. They saw this as a way of protecting the connection between Canada and their other North American possessions, but Britain saw it as a provocation. George Washington was dispatched west with an ultimatum later he was ambushed in the Ohio Valley; this was the catalyst for the great war to come.1 In 1755, when hostilities broke out in North America, George II, king of England and elector of Hanover, negotiated the Treaty of Westminster with Frederick II of Prussia, who guaranteed the neutrality of Hanover. This event hastened the alliance (1756) of France and Austria, sometimes called the "diplomatic revolution." Shortly afterward Frederick II opened hostilities by invading Saxony. In Jan., 1757, war was declared on the aggressor in the name of the Holy Roman Empire. Austria concluded alliances with France and Russia and was joined by Sweden. The main European phase of the war began with the Prussian invasion of Bohemia early in 1757.2 Victorious at first, Frederick was severely defeated by the Austrians under Daun at Kolin (June, 1757) and had to evacuate Bohemia. The fighting was carried into Saxony and Silesia, where Frederick gained the great victories of Rossbach (Nov., 1757) and Leuthen (Dec., 1757) over the French and Austrians. The Russians, who had invaded Prussia, were defeated by Frederick at Zorndorf (Aug., 1758). The English and Hanoverians, at first unsuccessful against the French in NW Germany, began a vigorous effort when William Pitt (later earl of Chatham) came into power; the troops then won the victories of Krefeld (June, 1758) and Minden (Aug., 1759).1 However, Frederick soon found himself in an almost desperate situation. He was badly beaten by Daun at Kunersdorf (Aug., 1759) and in Nov., 1759, Daun captured a Prussian army of 13,000 at Maxen. In Oct., 1760, the Russians took Berlin. Days later, as Frederick's army approached, they evacuated it, and in November Frederick defeated Daun at Torgau. Nonetheless, his situation remained critical, especially after the fall of Pitt (1761) deprived him of British subsidies. The death (Jan., 1762) of Elizabeth of Russia and the accession of Peter III, Frederick's ardent admirer, helped save him from defeat.2 For New England, it was obligatory to obliterate New France and its Native allies, which were preventing the States from acquiring and occupying new land (New England had a very large population and sought new land to occupy and farm.) Although New France did well in the war until 1757, the tide proceeded to turn - in flavor of the British troops, who won several victories right up until the battle on the Plains of Abraham in 1759, when James Wolfe defeated the army of Montcalm. The next year, Vaudreuil was forced to capitulate in Montreal. Things were far from over, however, because the final result depended on whether France was victorious or defeated. In the end, France was defeated on all fronts (West Indies, the subcontinent of India, Europe and America). In a bid to save the colonies which brought in the most money, France ceded New France in a Treaty signed in 1763 in exchange for keeping the West Indies. This move angered the Native allies, who were the Canadians' allies. Some of them regrouped under the leadership of Pontiac and attempted to continue the war.3 Conclusion By the Treaty of St. Petersburg (1762) Russia made peace and restored all conquests; Sweden made peace in the same year. Now fighting alone in the east, the Austrians were soundly defeated at Burkersdorf (July, 1762). The French, too, had suffered severe reverses. In America they had lost Louisburg (1758), Quebec (1759), and some possessions in the West Indies; in India, the British victories at Plassey (1757) and Pondichry (1761) had destroyed French power; on the sea, the French took Port Mahn from the British (1757) but were defeated by Hawke in Quiberon Bay (1759). The entry of Spain into the war under the terms of the Family Compact of 1761 was of little help to France, where the war had never been popular.1 After protracted negotiations between the war-weary powers, peace was made (Feb., 1763) among Prussia, Austria, and Saxony at Hubertusburg, and among England, France, and Spain at Paris (see Paris, Treaty of, 1763). The treaty of Hubertusburg, though it restored the prewar status quo, marked the ascendancy of Prussia as a leading European power. Through the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain emerged as the world's chief colonial empire, which its primary goal in the war, and France lost most of its overseas possessions. For Russia the Seven Years War was the first great venture into purely European affairs.2 REFERENCES Anderson F. 2001. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of the Empire in British North America, 1754 - 1766, Faber and Faber. Anderson, M. 1995. The War of the Austrian Succession, 1740- 1748. London. Browning, R. 1993 The War of the Austrian Succession, New York, St. Martin's Press. Kaplan, Herbert H. 1968. Russia and the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Berkeley, University of California Press. Marston, D. 2001. The Seven Years' War (Essential Histories Series), Osprey. Read More