SUCCESSION WARS 



5610 



SUCCESSION WARS 



including the recognition of his grandson as 

 king of Spain. France and Spain never were 

 united, however. The emperor refused to sign 

 the Treaty of Utrecht and did not make peace 

 until a year later, when he found it necessary 

 to give way and sign the Treaty of Rastadt 

 upon almost the identical terms of the Peace 

 of Utrecht. 



Consult Parnell's War of Succession in Spain; 

 Stanhope's History of the War of the Succession 

 in Spain. 



The War of the Polish Succession, fought 

 during the years 1733 to 1735, was caused by 

 the election by Polish nobles of Stanislaus Lesz- 

 czynska, father-in-law of Louis XV of France, 

 as king of Poland. Russia and Saxony forced 

 the Poles to accept the Elector Augustus of 

 Saxony as king, and war followed. France 

 failed to keep Stanislaus on the Polish throne, 

 but he was given the duchy of Lorraine, which 

 reverted to the French crown at his death in 

 1766. Although France ultimately gained this 

 territorial accession, its prestige received a 

 damaging blow. 



The War of the Austrian Succession was also 

 known in America as King George's War. The 

 struggle began in 1740 and lasted until 1748. 

 It was caused by the death in the former year 

 of Emperor Charles VI, who left as heiress to 

 his dominions a daughter, the famous Maria 

 Theresa. The great powers of Europe had 

 guaranteed her succession to the Austrian do- 

 minions by the Pragmatic Sanction, but they 

 broke their pledged word and attempted to de- 

 spoil the young princess of her inheritance. 

 . The first to attack Maria Theresa was Fred- 

 erick the Great, king of Prussia, who promptly 

 and without scruple invaded and conquered the 

 province of Silesia. During the next year, 1741, 

 he strengthened his hold upon the territory by 

 an overwhelming vjctory at Mollwitz. France 

 and Spain and the two strong German states of 

 Bavaria and Saxony joined Prussia, and for a 

 time Maria Theresa was threatened with the 

 loss of her dominions. The Elector Charles of 

 Bavaria was chosen emperor by means of the 

 support of the allies, and the Hapsburg family 

 for the first time in 300 years failed to hold the 

 throne of the Holy Roman Empire. 



However, Maria Theresa saved her crown 

 and most of her dominions by her own in- 

 domitable courage and vigorous leadership. 

 She appealed to the Hungarians to defend her, 

 their queen, and also roused the other people 

 of her varied dominions to her support. Fur- 

 thermore, she was aided by an alliance with 



the great maritime powers, England and Hol- 

 land, who crushed the power of France at sea. 

 Maria Theresa soon drove out the new em- 

 peror, Charles VII, even from his Bavarian 

 dominions, and he died in 1745. She then re- 

 ceived the title of empress through the election 

 of her husband, Francis of Lorraine, as Em- 

 peror Francis I. 



Maria Theresa, after making two separate 

 treaties of peace with Frederick the Great, 

 finally separated this most dangerous antago- 

 nist from the alliance with her other enemies, 

 but accomplished it only at the price of the 

 cession to him of Silesia. Also with the aid of 

 the armies of her English and Dutch allies she 

 carried on the war against France and Spain 

 with great vigor and success. However, her 

 victorious career was checked by the brilliant 

 victories of the French army in the Austrian 

 Netherlands under the command of the Ger- 

 man-born Marshal Saxe, and as her dominions, 

 with the exception of Silesia, were safe under 

 her control, she was induced by the more 

 peaceful attitude of her allies, England and 

 Holland, to agree to make peace. 



The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was 

 signed in 1748, finally ended the war. Maria 

 Theresa, however, refused to consider that she 

 had lost Silesia beyond recovery. The empress 

 at once began the negotiations that led to the 

 realignment of the European powers and to her 

 final attempt to destroy Frederick the Great 

 and regain Silesia, through a later conflict 

 that was to be known as the Seven Years' War. 



Consult Shrine's Fontenoy and the War of the 

 Austrian Succession. 



The War of the Bavarian Succession was a 

 short quarrel during the years 1778 and 1779 

 between Prussia and Austria over the succes- 

 sion to the throne of Bavaria and the disposi- 

 tion of part of the Bavarian territory. The 

 Elector Maximilian Joseph died in 1777, leav- 

 ing no direct heirs. Austria then attempted to 

 dominate the affairs of Bavaria and to dictate 

 the succession, thus arousing the jealousy of 

 the ever-watchful king of Prussia, Frederick the 

 Greac. Both Prussia and Austria invaded Ba- 

 varia with their armies, and a bloody war 

 seemed inevitable, but no serious battle was 

 fought and the dispute finally was compro- 

 mised. Neither country was anxious for war, 

 and France and Russia used their good offices 

 to mediate between them and secure peace. 

 The Treaty of Teschen was signed in 1779, and 

 both Austria and Prussia. were satisfied by cer- 

 tain territorial gains. This war was not of 



