In September 1740 Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died after eating a plate of bad mushrooms, leaving his throne to his 23-year-old daughter, Marie Theresa. Before he died, Charles VI passed around a document, Pragmatic Sanction, to the surrounded rulers, in which they promised to recognize Marie Theresa as the rightful ruler of the Hapsburgs. However, when Charles VI died, many of the European rulers, Frederick II of Prussia in particular, were quick to declare war on Marie Theresa.
Prussia Takes Silesia
Charles VI was barely cold in his grave when young Frederick II of Prussia declared war on the Hapsburg, going after Silesia, a province with a large population and flourishing iron and textile industries. Frederick II claimed that he was liberating Protestants of Silesia from the Catholic rule of Marie Theresa. This was a weak claim and everyone knew it, even Frederick. But as he put it “I want what I want. I can always find pendants to prove my rights.” He wanted Silesia and he was not going to stop until he got it. The upstart Prussian pushed so angered Marie Theresa that she became just as determined to get Silesia back. Despite help from Hungary and Great Britain by the end of 1742 most of Silesia was ceded to Prussia. Marie Theresa had little time to dwell on the loss because the rest of Europe was panting to take a piece of her empire.
War of the Austrian Succession
The war over who was Charles VI successor lasted for seven years. It started when Following Silesia’s annexation by Prussia, France moved in to declare war on the Hapsburgs in 1741. Frederick of Prussia wanted the coal rich polish province. At about the same time Charles Albrecht of Bavaria declared himself Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII. He benevolently said Marie Theresa could be queen of Bohemia and Hungary. The following year Great Britain, who was already at war with Spain, sent money to Marie Theresa and later on sent manpower and declared war on France and Prussia. In 1743 France and Spain formed a Bourbon Family compact, in which they swear to fight Austria and its allies to the death. “Charles VII” died in 1745, rather defeating the entire point of the war.
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
In 1748 in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle Marie Theresa’s husband Francis became the Holy Roman Emperor, while Marie Theresa ruled Austria and the Hapsburg lands. Prussia was allowed to keep Silesia.
First Real World War
Even though the War of the Austrian Succession did not radically change any borders in Europe, it can be considered the first real world war. France and Britain fought each other in Europe and also in Canada, over Fortress Louisburg and in India over Madras, a British trading post.
Importance of the War of the Austrian Succession
Voltaire may have put it most aptly when he quipped that a “dish of mushrooms changed the destinies of Europe,” referring to the untimely death of Charles VI. Thanks to the military conquests taking Silesia, Frederick II was elevated to Frederick the Great and Prussia became a dominate force in Europe. Despite her hatred of Frederick the Great, Marie Theresa took some valuable lessons from her Prussian neighbor. Proving herself to be a very able ruler, Marie Theresa fashioned the Austrian army after the Prussians. She revamped financial policies, and trimmed down public administration, much like those in Prussia.
Sources:
Burns, Ralph, Lerner, Meacham. World Civilizations, Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982.
Lang, Sean. European History for Dummies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
May, Arthur J. A History of Civilization: Second Edition. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1964.
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