Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/757

* SUCCESSION WARS. 6 were afterwards to revert to France. Francis Stephen, the dispossessed Duke of Lorraine, re- ceived the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensa- tion. France lent its guarantee to the Prag- matic Sanction (q.v. ) and Parma and Piacenza were handed over to the Em])eror by Don Carlos. The definitive Peace of Vienna was not signed till 1738. The War of the Austrian Succession. This struggle arose after the death of the Emperor Charles VI. (q.v.), in 17-40. In accordance with the Pragmatic Sanction (q.v.) Charles VI. 's daughter and heiress, Jlaria Theresa, had re- ceived assurances of support from most of the European powers, but hardly had she ascended the Austrian tlirone when she found her domin- ion contested on every side. Frederick the Great of Prussia reasserted an old claim and invaded and seized Silesia. Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, claimed to bcr the rightful heir to the Hapsburg possessions as a descendant through the female line of Ferdinand I., and in virtue of old arrangements. Augustus III. of Saxony and Poland jnit forward his claims as the hus- band of the eldest daughter of the Emperor Joseph I. The Bourbon courts of France and Spain seized the opportunity to make war upon Austria. England thereupon entered into an alliance with Maria Theresa. Charles Enunanuel III. of Sardinia was also among the princes who sought the dismemberment of the Austrian realm. Holland joined the Anglo-Austrian Alli- ance, and the Bourbon King of Naples joined the enemies of Maria Theresa. Some of the minor German princes engaged in the struggle, as allies of Prussia and France. On April 10, 1741, Frederick II. defeated the Austrians at Mollwitz. The Bavarians, the French, under Belleisle. and the Saxons poured into the Aus- trian dominions. Maria Theresa appealed for support to her Hungarian subjects at the Diet assembled at Presslmrg and they responded chivalrously to her call. She was, however, un- able to save Prague, which surrendered to Belle- isle on November 20, 1741. but at the beginning of 1742 her forces entered upon a victorious campaign against Charles Albert. General Khe- venhiiller overran Bavaria, and on the very day of the Elector Charles Albert's coronation as Emperor Charles VII. took Munich (Februarv 12, 1742). On May 17, 1742, Frederick won a victory over the Austrians at Chotusitz, which was followed by the Treaty of Breslau (terminat- ing the first Silesian War) which provided for the cession of most of Silesia to Prussia. The French General Belleisle efl'ected a masterly re- treat from Prague. In May, 1743, Bavaria again fell into the hands of the Austrians. In .June the English, under George II., defeated the French at Dettin- gen. In the same year Saxony and Sardinia were won over to the side of Austria. France and Spain now remained the sole representatives of the coalition. Seeing the tide turn so strongly in favor of Austria, Frederick became alarmed and renewed hostilities in 1744 by an invasion of Bohemia (second Silesian War) In January, 1745, Charles VII. died and his son, Maximilian Joseph, made peace with Austria. On June 4, 1745, Frederick won a victory over the Austrians at Hohenfriedherg. and on De- cember 15th the Prussians defeated the Saxons 3i SUCCESSION WARS. at Kesselsdorf. Frederick, displeased with the overbearing conduct of France, was willing to make terms with Austria, and the Peace of Dresden (December 25, 1745) between Austria, Saxony, and Prussia termiiuited the .second Si- lesian War. On September 13, 1745. tlu' hus- band of Maria Theresa had Ix'cn elected Emperor as Francis I. In the meanwhile the French were being led to victory in the Austrian Neth- erlands by Marsluil Saxe, who, on May II, 1745, defeated the English. Hanoverians, Dutch, and Austrians at Fontenoy. One after another the principal towns of the region fell before his at- tacks, and on October 11, 174(i, he won a splen- did victory over the allies under Charles of Lor- raine at Raucoux. In Italy the war was waged with varying fortune. In 1745 the French were successful. In 1740 the Austrians and Sar- dinians made a victorious advance, and Genoa, which had joined the enemies of Austria, was occupied. The city, however, had soon to be evacuated, and an attempt to recapture it in 1747 was frustrated by the French. In 1747 Saxe routed the Duke of Cumberland at Laf- feld, near Aix-la-Chapelle (July 2d), while his celebrated chief of engineers, Count Lowendal, after a two months' siege, took Bergen-i)])-Zoom, a fortress believed by the Dutch to be impreg- nable. On the sea, however, the English gained victories in 1747 under Admirals Anson and Hawke. At this juncture the Em])ress Elizabeth of Russia came to the aid of Maria Theresa and sent her forces into the field. France was now willing to listen to proposals of peace. On Oc- tober 18, 174S, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle put an end to the war. It left the Hapsburgs in possession of their hereditary dominions, with the exception of Silesia. Parma and Piacenza (acquired in 1735) were handed over by Austria to Don Philip, brother of Ferdinand VI. of Spain. The principal event of the contest waged by the British and French in America (King George's War) was the taking of Lnuislnirg in 1745. The French held their ground in India. The War of the Bavarian Succession. The Elector Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria died without issue on December 30, 1777. The natural heir was Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, head of the elder line of the House of Wittelsbach. This prince had no legitimate heirs, and with a view of furthering the interests of his illegiti- mate children, he had, in January, 1778. entered into a convention with the Emperor Joseph II. (the son of jNIaria Theresa, sovereign of Austria and Queen of Hungary) by whichhe agreed to transfer Lower Bavaria to Austria, which p>it forward an antiquated claim to a part of the Bavarian dominions. Frederick the Great would not consent to such an aggrandizement of Aus- tria in South Germany, the more so as he felt that it might interfere with the claim of Prussia to the succession in the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth. As Austria refused to withdraw her pretensions. Frederick proceeded to make war on her, and in the summer of 1778 he in- vaded Bohemia. He was joined by the Elector of Saxony, who, as the husband of the only daugh- ter of Maximilian Joseph, claimed a portion of the Bavarian inheritance. Maria Theresa and Joseph II. were in no haste to pliuige into a war with Prussia, and the Austrian forces confronted the enemy without coming to an en-