History see below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History see below - Essay Example In 1720 Charles issues a Pragmatic Sanction to establish the legal basis for transmission of the Habsburg lands to Maria Theresa; the sanction also declared that the Habsburg inheritance was indivisible. The following years the Austrian diplomacy concentrated on persuading the European countries to accept the Pragmatic Sanction. Nevertheless Charles's concessions did not prevent the outbreak of the Austrian Succession War (1740-48) right after his death in 1740. Beside this Frederick William I, the "sergeant major" King of Prussia, died on 31st May 1740 and Prussian throne passed to his ruthlessly ambitious son, Frederick.1 On December 16, 1740 Frederick II having not agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction invaded the rich Habsburg province of Silesia, meanwhile the while French military forces invaded Bavaria. The next year nearly all the powerful countries of Europe were involved in the war, but still the long-suffering military struggle was for Silesia between Prussia and Austria followed by the Convention of Klein-Schnellendorf in October 1741 and finally the Maria Theresa's truce with Frederick II; still it came too late to prevent a Franco-Bavarian occupation of Bohemia the following month; and this ended up with in January 1742 by the election of Karl Albert (elector of Bavaria since 1726) as the new Holy Roman emperor.2 From the beginning of 1742 year the French troops threatened Flanders, a land dominated by Austria and the Dutch Republic. A Pragmatic Army named from Charles VI's Sanctions assembled to counter the French invasion, with troops from Austria and various German states including Hanover. George II, King of England and Elector of Hanover, resolved to send English troops to join the Pragmatic Allies. Ostensibly the army was to fight for Maria Theresa, but George's concern was that the French intended to pass through the Low Countries and invade his beloved Hanover.3 The English forces were sent to Flanders in mid-1742. The first Silesian War was over on the 11th of June 1742 with the signing the separate peace between Prussia and Austria at Breslau. In 1743 the French were almost completely forced out of the empire, and in March and April 1744 Louis XV (ruled 1715-1774) formalized hostilities by declaring war first on Great Britain and then on Austria.1 The death of Charles VII in January 1745 drastically changed the political situation. Max Joseph, his successor as elector of Bavaria, was aware of the impossibility of the Bavarian position, promised to vote for Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, grand duke of Tuscany, to be the next emperor, which he accordingly became in October.2 On 11 May 1745 Maurice de Saxe, marshal of France, defeated the combined Anglo-Austrian-Dutch army at Fontenoy, and went on to capture a string of fortresses in