The War in Germany ......................................1 Prelude .......................................................1 THE WAR IN GERMANY Origin of the Pragmatic Sanction ........1 PRELUDE Lighting the Fuse ................................2 “If peace had lasted beyond 1740, [the soldiers] would Of States and Dynasts.................................4 probably now have rouge and beauty spots.” Prussia................................................4 Frederick the Great Austria................................................5 The War of the Austrian Succession was very much to the France ................................................7 Seven Years War what the Great War was to the Second World The Maritime Powers........................ 11 War. Like the Great War, those in the know saw it coming. Like the Great War, it proved unstoppable. Like the Great War, Hanover............................................ 13 some welcomed it as a purge of the European body politic. It Saxony .............................................. 14 was the first ancien régime cabinet war to blend old style Bavaria............................................. 15 dynastic ambitions with the rising ideology of State Nationalism. Erbfolgekrieg in Deutschesland ................ 17 Officially, the War lasted from December 16th, 1740 until Gott Mit Uns..................................... 17 October 18th, 1748, ultimately involving all the important Wiener Blut....................................... 22 European powers. It was not a single conflict. Its flames flared, Bohemian Rhapsody.......................... 25 died, and flared again, all over Europe. The Seven Years War lays claim to be the “first world war”, but the title really Vivat Hoch im Kaiserin!.................... 27 belongs to the War of the Austrian Succession. From India to Bummelling on the Main ................... 28 America, the world was in its grip. The First Silesian War, the Wacht am Rhin.................................. 30 Second Silesian War, the Austro-Bavarian War, the Russo- Swedish War, the War of Jenkin’s Ear, King George’s War… Ich Hatt’ Einen Kameraden .............. 31 all come under the heading of the War of the Austrian Soldier King...................................... 32 Succession. To the End ........................................ 38 Placing all these conflicts under one umbrella is more than a A Short History of the Holy Roman Empire . 39 historian’s crutch. From 1740 to 1745 at least, the fate of the Orders of Battle ............................................ 45 Austrian Habsburg dynasty was at the centre of the struggle. Maria Theresa von Habsburg was the daughter of Charles VI, Battle of Mollwitz............................. 45 ruler of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and Battle of Chotusitz ............................ 47 much else besides (Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Battle of Dettingen............................ 48 various parts of Italy, part of the Balkans, Belgium). More importantly, she was his heir – for the Emperor had no sons. Battle of Hohenfriedburg .................. 52 And when Charles’ expected demise occurred, on October 20th, Battle of Soor.................................... 55 1740, those with an interest in the Imperial succession, or in Battle of Kesseldorf (Dresden).......... 57 grabbing bits of Habsburg property, had their plans well laid. Annexes ....................................................... 58 Origin of the Pragmatic Sanction A: Belle-Isle’s Campaign Plan of 1741 . 58 Maria Theresa’s succession was supposed to be guaranteed by B: Letters from Dettingen ..................... 60 a device called the Pragmatic Sanction. This document Bibliography................................................. 63 confirmed that a) the Habsburg dynastic lands could not be shared among multiple heirs, and b) inheritance of said lands was permitted through a female line, which was not usual in Germanic legal systems. This inheritance included a right to the supposedly elective Empire. Maria Theresa would not be an Empress in her own right – that was impossible – but her husband could be Emperor. Nearly two hundred years before, when the great Habsburg Emperor Charles V abdicated in 1556, he had divided his vast holdings in half. Spain, the Low Countries, most of Italy, and America went to his son Phillip II (of Armada fame). Austria and the Holy Roman Empire went to Charles’ brother, Ferdinand I. Troubles with the succession started with Phillip’s descendant, King Charles II of Spain, who reigned at the end of the 17th Century. Charles II had no children, and since the Habsburgs had no official laws of succession at that time, a wide variety of contenders could be expected, including the French Dauphin (the son of Louis XIV, who in the event died before his father), Maximillian II of Bavaria, and the Duke of Savoy. Strong efforts were made by the European powers to avert a crisis. The Maritime Powers (England and Holland) were 1 opposed to the French acquisition of Spain; France and the was to do in 1740. The claim was a forgery, since the clause Maritime Powers were opposed to Charles II’s own idea of really referred to the extinction of the entire Habsburg House; reuniting the Habsburg family – which was a real possibility nevertheless, it was the basis for Bavaria’s surprising actions since his wife was an Austrian Habsburg. The first solution on the accession of Maria Theresa. arrived at was the Treaty of The Hague (1698) or First Partition Treaty, in which the Spanish holdings were to be divided Lighting the Fuse between the Dauphin and Joseph Ferdinand, the son of By the time of his death, Charles VI thought he had the Maximillian II of Bavaria. The former would get Naples and agreement of Europe on the matter of the Pragmatic Sanction, Sicily. Joseph Ferdinand would get Spain itself, plus the having spent much of his life running around getting people to Spanish Netherlands and America. A son of the Emperor sign on to it, but France, Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria all Leopold was to receive Milan. Unfortunately, the Bavarian decided they had better ideas. Europe noted that the Habsburgs duke died unexpectedly, so, in 1699, a Second Partition Treaty were losing their grip. Their “empire” was nothing more than a (the Treaty of London), gave the Dauphin Naples, Sicily, and loose collection of territories, each determined to uphold its Tuscany. Charles of Austria (the man who would have received own prerogatives and acquire more. Perhaps most importantly, Milan the first time) was to receive Spain, the Spanish the Hungarians had been told they could go back to an elective Netherlands, and America. Duke Leopold of Lorraine was to kingship if the Austrian Habsburgs had no male heir; they now give up Lorraine et Bar to the Dauphin in exchange for Milan. had to decide if they would do so. And to top it off, Charles VI But Emperor Leopold (the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, had just had his army shattered by the Musselmen. remember) vetoed these ideas, as the scheme would break up the Spanish Empire. With regard to the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburgs claimed a hereditary right to what was in fact another elective position; When Charles II died, matters were further complicated, since historical precedents could be drawn showing where a strong he simply willed all his possessions to Phillip of Anjou, the challenger had made a lasting change to the imperial dynasty, second son of the Dauphin. This set off the War of the Spanish Rudolf I of Habsburg not the least of them. Maria Theresa’s Succession, which lasted from 1701 to 1713. During this war, husband, Großherzog Franz Stephan von Toscana, late von Emperor Leopold died (1705 – he had begun his reign as Lotharingen, who would be the actual Emperor, was of French Emperor in 1658) and was succeeded by his son Joseph I. The descent. Not good for Germany, cried his opponents. latter in turn died in 1711, leaving two unmarried daughters. It was at this point that Charles of Austria, Joseph’s younger But did there have to be a war over the Empire? Or, if there brother, became Emperor Charles VI. were, why should it exceed all bounds? After all, the Imperial Diet was supposed to resolve questions of succession at a In 1703, Leopold had made his sons sign a Succession Pact political level. The use of force might be threatened. But a full with a clause explicitly stating that females could only succeed scale war? The Habsburg dynasty might appear to be to the family lands when all the male lines were extinct. Within collapsing, offering opportunity for some… but then again, this restriction, the elder line came (as might be expected) first. would it? There were voices calling for stability and However, when Charles VI came to the throne, he wrote his moderation, too. Which of the jackals would make the first own will, and this document placed his daughters ahead of his move and risk a stick across the back? elder brother’s in the line of succession. Charles VI overrode the political storm this created by having the “Pact of 1703” It will disappoint fans of the socioeconomic approach to read aloud at Vienna with his modifications inserted; this history, but the War of the Austrian Succession was to a large declaration was the Pragmatic Sanction of April 19th, 1713. extent the product of the decisions of two men: Friedrich II, König im Prußen, and M. Fouquet, Maréchal le Comte de It is vital to note that the two daughters of Joseph married into Belle-Isle, of France. The rest