THE WAR OF AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
Frederick II took his first steps towards becoming ‘The Great’ during his campaign in Silesia
The conflict that broke out over the succession of Austria’s imperial throne has been intimidating historians for more than 270 years. With a kaleidoscope of changing combatants, political intrigue and shifting aims, not to mention the vast scope of the war, which saw hostilities in almost every corner of the world, it is an almost impossibly unwieldy entity.
Adding to the confusion is the overlapping with other wars, often between the same protagonists – the two phases of the war involving Prussia are often referred to as the First and Second Silesian Wars, and elsewhere there was King George’s War and the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
Fittingly, for such a fiendishly complex war, the origins were themselves deeply complicated. In the late 18th century, tension began rising over the successor to Charles VI, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy and Holy Roman Emperor. Two opposing sides emerged from this dispute, although the members of each camp often changed. On one side, the Pragmatic Alliance believed that Charles VI’s daughter, Maria Theresa, should step into her father’s shoes. On the other, Prussia and France put forward their own candidates.
The earliest, bloodiest and also the most consequential fighting of the war involved Prussia. Led by its new monarch, Frederick II, the relatively new nation was at the time in a vulnerable state, comprising three loosely connected parcels of territory, open to attack from multiple directions. Although Frederick’s father, Frederick William I, had built up the Prussian military to a strength of 80,000, he had refused to wield it offensively.
Frederick had no such qualms, but recognised that the limited economic strength of his nation would necessitate the fighting of short, decisive wars. If he became bogged down in prolonged campaigning, his country would soon become bankrupt.
Once the dispute surrounding Charles VI’s successor came to a head with his death in October 1740, Frederick’s first act was not in support of one candidate or another – it was simply a land-grab. On 16 December, just two weeks after Maria Theresa ascended to the throne, Frederick made his move, invading the Austrian territory of Silesia.
Most of Silesia was in Prussian hands within six weeks, but the Austrians launched a major counteroffensive the following year. At the Battle of Mollwitz (
