War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). Maria Theresa of Austria succeeded her father Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in his Habsburg dominions in 1740, namely becoming Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria, and Duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla. For a woman to inherit such vast territories involved many complications, which were perceived long before, and Emperor Charles VI had long anticipated them, getting all the other powers to agree to the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. The plan was for her to succeed to the hereditary Habsburg domains, and her husband, Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick II of Prussia, having not himself agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction, invaded Silesia, using some unsettled dynastic claims as a pretext. Maria Theresa, as a woman, was perceived (incorrectly) as weak, and some other princes (such as Charles Albert of Bavaria) alleged rights to the crown.

Silesian Campaign of 1741

In February 1741 the Austrians collected a field army under Count Neipperg (1684- 1774) and made preparations to re-conquer Silesia. The Austrians in Neisse and Brieg still held out. Glogau, however, was stormed on the night of 9 March 1741, the Prussians, under Prince Leopold (the younger) of Anhalt-Dessau, executing their task in one hour with a mathematical precision which excited universal admiration. But the Austrian army in Moravia was now in the field, and Frederick's cantonments were dispersed over all Upper Silesia. It was a work of the greatest difficulty to collect the army, for the ground was deep in snow, and before it was completed Neisse was relieved and the Prussians cut off from their own country by the march of Neipperg from Neisse on Brieg. A few days of slow manoeuvring between these places ended in the Battle of Mollwitz (10 April 1741), the first pitched battle fought by Frederick and his army. The Prussian right wing of cavalry was speedily routed, but the day was retrieved by the magnificent discipline and tenacity of the infantry. The Austrian cavalry was shattered in repeated attempts to ride down the Prussians, and before the Prussian volleys the Austrian infantry, in spite of all that Neipperg and his officers could do, gradually melted away. After a stubborn contest the Prussians remained masters of the field.

Related Topics:
February - 1741 - Neipperg - 9 March - Leopold - Anhalt-Dessau - Moravia - Upper Silesia - Battle of Mollwitz - 10 April

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Frederick himself was far away. He had fought in the cavalry mêlée, but after this, when the battle seemed lost, he had been persuaded by Field Marshal Schwerin (1684–1757) to ride away. Schwerin thus, like Marshal Saxe at Fontenoy, remained behind to win the victory, and the king narrowly escaped being captured by wandering Austrian hussars.

Related Topics:
Schwerin - 1684 - 1757 - Saxe - Fontenoy - Hussar

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The immediate result of the battle was that the king secured Brieg, and Neipperg fell back to Neisse, where he maintained himself and engaged in a war of manoeuvre during the summer. But Europe realised suddenly that a new military power had arisen, and France sent Marshal Belle-Isle (1684–1761) to Frederick's camp to negotiate an alliance. Thenceforward the "Silesian adventure" became the War of the Austrian Succession. The Elector of Bavaria's candidature for the imperial dignity was to be supported by a French "auxiliary" army, and other French forces were sent to observe Hanover. Saxony was already watched by a Prussian army under Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, the "old Dessauer", who had trained the Prussian army to its present perfection.

Related Topics:
Belle-Isle - 1684 - 1761 - Alliance - Elector of Bavaria - Hanover - Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau

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The task of Sweden was to prevent Russia from attacking Prussia, but her troops were defeated, on 3 September 1741, at Villmanstrand by a greatly superior Russian army, and in 1742 another great reverse was sustained in the capitulation of Helsingfors in Finland. In central Italy an army of Neapolitans and Spaniards was collected for the conquest of the Milanese.

Related Topics:
Sweden - Troop - 3 September - 1741 - Villmanstrand - 1742 - Helsingfors - Neapolitans - Milan

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