Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/512

 380 General History of Europe and music. He was a particular admirer of the French and pre- ferred their language to his own. No sooner had he become king, however, than he suddenly developed marvelous energy and skill in warlike enterprises. Chance favored his designs. 657. Frederick's Attack upon Silesia. The emperor Charles VI, the last representative of the direct male line of the Hapsburgs, died in 1740, just a few months before Frederick ascended the throne, leaving only a daughter, Maria Theresa, to inherit his vast and miscellaneous dominions. He had induced the other European powers to promise to accept his last will, in which he left everything to the young Maria Theresa, but she had no sooner begun to reign than her greedy neighbors prepared to seize her lands. Her greatest enemy was the newly crowned king of Prussia, who at first pretended friendship for her. Frederick determined to seize Silesia, a strip of Hapsburg territory lying to the southeast of Brandenburg, which would increase his dominions by about one third. He accordingly marched his army into the coveted district and occupied the important city of Breslau without declaring war or offering any excuse except a vague claim to a portion of the land. 658. The War of the Austrian Succession. France, stimu- lated by Frederick's example, joined with Bavaria in an attack upon Maria Theresa. It seemed for a time as if her struggle to keep her realm intact would be in vain, but the loyalty of all the various peoples under her scepter was roused by her extraordi- nary courage and energy. Although the French were driven back, Maria Theresa was forced to grant Silesia to Frederick in order to induce him to retire from the war. Finally, England and Hol- land joined in an alliance for maintaining the balance of power, for they had no desire to see France annex the Austrian Nether- lands. A few years later, however (1748), all the powers, tired of the war, which is known as the War of the Austrian Succes- sion, agreed to lay down their arms. 659. The Seven Years' War; the Alliance between France and Austria. Maria Theresa was by no means reconciled to the loss of Silesia, and she began to lay her plans for expelling the