The War of the Austrian Succession
Prussia’s invasion of Silesia in 1740 plunged Europe into turmoil, and a French invasion of England became a very real threat.
1740-1748
King George II 1727-1760
Prussia’s invasion of Silesia in 1740 plunged Europe into turmoil, and a French invasion of England became a very real threat.
1740-1748
King George II 1727-1760
The War of the Austrian Succession began as part of the seemingly endless German quest to gobble up the continent’s smaller states. It would not have involved Britain had King George II not been also Elector of Hanover, and if France had not seen it as an opportunity to expand her empire at Britain’s expense.
IN 1740, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died, leaving Austria to his daughter Maria Theresa. By the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713,* she inherited prosperous Silesia too, but then King Frederick of Prussia invaded it,* and Maria called on the treaty’s signatories, including Britain, to intervene.
Britain, however, was already at war. Relations with her bitter colonial rival in central America, Spain, had broken down in 1739 after a British merchant sailor, Captain Robert Jenkins, lost an ear to a Spanish coastguard’s sword. France, seeing a chance to expand her own territory in Europe and North America, took Spain’s part, and also backed Prussia.
Yet London wavered. King George II was anxious mainly about the threat to Hanover, of which he was hereditary Head of State. His trusted adviser John Carteret, Northern Secretary of State,* was itching to take on Louis XV’s France, but the public had little interest in European adventures; and in 1742 the divisions cost Prime Minister Robert Walpole his job.
The Pragmatic Sanction was part of the settlement following The War of the Spanish Succession, which ended with the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. With the death of each Holy Roman Emperor, unrest peaked as the states owing him allegiance were distributed among his heirs and their spouses, some of whom were major European monarchs and rivals in war.
Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786) began the process whereby Prussia, and later Germany, took the fading Emperors’ place in Europe, unifying smaller states and using ‘enlightened absolutism’ to harmonise and secularise their culture. In Otto von Bismarck’s eyes he was a natural model for all his successors, and he won the undisguised admiration of Napoleon Bonaparte. John Buchan however understood where the glorification of elite State power led: see The Machinery of State.
Prior to 1782, there were two Secretaries of State, one for the Northern Department and one for the Southern. The Northern Secretary was responsible for foreign relations with the Protestant states of Northern Europe, whereas the Southern (the more senior) was tasked with diplomatic relations with the Catholic and Muslim states of Europe. The reform of 1782 saw the Northern become the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and the Southern become Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did Maria Theresa want Britain’s military support in 1740?
To help recover Silesia from the Prussians.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Prussia invaded Silesia in 1740. Austria ruled Silesia. Austria asked Britain for support.