READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

A HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE : A.D. 1453-1900

CHAPTER XLVI.

THE PEACE OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE

THE year 1743 opened with the death of Cardinal Fleury (January 29th), who had attained his ninetieth year. A few months before his death, when Belle-Isle and his army were in jeopardy in Bohemia, Fleury had instructed him to make peace at any price; and at the same time, in a letter to Field-Marshal Konigseck, the Austrian commander, with whom Belle-Isle had to treat, denounced him as the author of the war, declared that it had been undertaken against his own feelings and principles, and made something very like an appeal to the mercy of the Court of Vienna. Maria Theresa immediately caused this letter to be published, and exposed the Cabinet of Versailles to the laughter of all Europe. After Fleury’s death Louis XV declared that in future he should govern for himself, but, in fact, left the conduct of affairs to the heads of the four ministerial departments. The natural consequence was an almost complete anarchy in the Government.

England also had previously lost her pacific minister by the retirement of Sir Robert Walpole. The cause of Maria Theresa had begun to excite a remarkable enthusiasm in England. Even the women had raised by private subscription a large fund for her use, to which the Duchess of Marlborough is said to have contributed £40,000; but the high-spirited young Queen declined to receive an aid which bore the appearance of alms. The desire of the English for more decisive measures was further stimulated by the ill-success which had hitherto attended their naval expeditions to America, which was attributed to Walpole. The Convention of Neutrality, entered into by George II in September, 1741, and the extortion of his vote for the Elector of Bavaria, properly concerned that Prince only as Elector of Hanover; yet, as he was also King of England, these acts were deemed a disgrace by the English people. The elections that year went against Walpole, and, in February, 1742, he found himself compelled to resign. He was succeeded in the administration by Lord Wilmington, better known as Sir Spencer Compton, though Lord Carteret, an ardent supporter of the cause of Maria Theresa, was virtually Prime Minister. Wilmington’s accession to office was immediately followed by a large increase of the army and navy; five millions were voted for carrying on the war, and a subsidy of £500,000 for the Queen of Hungary. The Earl of Stair, with an army of 16,000 men, afterwards reinforced by a large body of Hanoverians and Hessians in British pay, was dispatched into the Netherlands to cooperate with the Dutch. But though the States-General, at the instance of the British Cabinet, voted Maria Theresa a subsidy, they were not yet prepared to take an active part in a war which might ultimately involve them in hostilities with France. The exertions of the English Ministry in favour of the Queen of Hungary had, therefore, been confined during the year 1742 to diplomacy, and they had helped to bring about, as we have already seen, the Peace of Breslau. In 1743 they were able to do more.

By the expulsion of the Austrians from Bavaria, recorded in the preceding chapter, Charles VII was enabled to return to Munich in April, 1743. Seckendorf now advised him to follow the example of Prussia and Saxony, and make his peace with Maria Theresa. Charles, however, could not resolve to humble himself before the proud young Queen whose Crown he had so recently claimed as his property. While he was debating the point with the French generals, a Bavarian division of 7,000 men under Minucci was attacked by the Austrians under Prince Charles of Lorraine and Khevenhiller at Simbach, near Braunau, and almost annihilated (May 9th). After this blow, Broglie, who had assumed the command of the French army in Bavaria, and who was always at variance with Seckendorf, suddenly set off for the Rhine with his troops, thus leaving Bavaria again at the mercy of the Austrians, as Seckendorf, with his remaining 10,000 men, was unable to defend it. On June 12th the Austrian general, Nadasti, took Munich after a short bombardment. Charles VII was now again obliged to fly, and took refuge at Augsburg. At his command Seckendorf made a Convention with the Austrians, by which he agreed to abandon to them Bavaria, on condition that Charles’s troops should be allowed to occupy unmolested quarters between Franconia and Swabia. Maria Theresa seemed at first indisposed to ratify even terms so humiliating to the Emperor. She had become elated by the rapid turn of fortune. She had caused herself to be crowned in Prague, had received the homage of the Austrians, and entered Vienna in a sort of triumph. She now dreamt of nothing less than conquering Lorraine for herself, Alsace for the Empire; of hurling Charles VII from the Imperial Throne, and placing on it her own consort. She would not recognize Charles as Emperor, but accorded to him the title only of “Elector of Bavaria”, and threatened to treat his troops as enemies wherever she should find them. But she was at length mollified, and consented that the Bavarian army, so long as it betrayed no design to renew hostilities, should remain in some neutral State of the Empire. She now caused the Bavarians to take an oath of fidelity and obedience to herself; whereupon the Emperor published an indignant protest against this proceeding of the “Grand Duchess of Tuscany”.

Meanwhile the allied army of English and Germans, under the Earl of Stair, nearly 40,000 strong, which, from its destined object, had assumed the name of “the Pragmatic Army”, had crossed the Meuse and Rhine in March and April, with a view to cut off the army of Bavaria from France. George II had not concealed his intention of breaking the Treaty of Hanover, of 1741, alleging, as a ground, that the duration of the neutrality stipulated in it had not been determined, and had joined the army in person. He found it in a most critical position. Lord Stair, who had never distinguished himself as a general, and was now an old man, had led it into a narrow valley near Aschaffenburg, between Mount Spessart and the river Main; while Marshal Noailles, who had crossed the Rhine towards the end of April, by seizing the principal fords of the Main, both above and below the British position, had cut him off both from his magazines at Hanau, and from the supplies which he had expected to procure in Franconia. Nothing remained for him but to fight his way back to Hanau; but to accomplish this it was necessary to pass the village of Dettingen, at the other extremity of the valley, which the French had occupied in force; while the line of march lay along the river Main, the opposite bank of which was occupied by the French, whose artillery began to make dreadful havoc among the British columns. Noailles had fortunately entrusted the command of the French division posted at Dettingen to his nephew, the Duke of Gramont, an inexperienced young man, who, thinking that he had to deal only with an advanced guard, quitted the strong position he had taken up to give battle—a movement by which he placed himself between the British and the French batteries, and compelled the latter to suspend their fire. The British and Hanoverian infantry, with the King and the Duke of Cumberland at their head, now charged and routed the French, and thus opened the road to Hanau. In the Battle of Dettingen, fought on June 27th, the French are said to have lost about 6,000 men, and the British half that number. It is the last action in which a King of England has fought in person. But George II, or rather Lord Stair, did not know how to profit by his victory. Although the Pragmatic Army was joined, after the battle of Dettingen, by 15,000 Dutch troops, under Prince Maurice of Nassau, nothing of importance was done during the remainder of the campaign. The French did not retire into Alsace till the approach of Prince Charles of Lorraine with the Austrians, in August. The Croats, Pandours and other Austrian partisans made forays as far as Lorraine; but towards the end of autumn the allies cantoned their forces in winter quarters.

The Emperor Charles VII, abandoned by all the world, had endeavored to obtain the neutrality of his hereditary dominions, which Maria Theresa refused to grant without the concurrence of her allies; though, as we have said, she gave a verbal declaration that she would not attack the Bavarian army so long as it remained on neutral ground. Braunau and Straubing were surrendered to the Austrians; Ingolstadt was taken early in October; and Charles VII, without dominions or money, went to hold his melancholy Court at Frankfurt. Much negotiation went on in the course of 1743 between him and Lord Carteret, for a settlement of his affairs with the Queen of Hungary. In answer to his last proposal in August, the English Minister finally told him that Maria Theresa would make no peace unless she received entire satisfaction; that she demanded Lorraine, and would meanwhile hold Bavaria in pledge for it; that if Charles Albert desired a sincere reconciliation he should cause the German States to declare war against France, in order to reunite Alsace to the Empire, and cause Lorraine to be ceded to the Queen; and that on this condition—which was of course an impossible one—Great Britain and the States-General would furnish him with subsidies.

Much negotiation had also been going on in other quarters. As it was suspected that the King of Sardinia would not observe the Convention of February, 1742, so unsatisfactory to his ambition, and that he would again listen to the overtures of France and Spain, the English Ministry persuaded Maria Theresa to make a sacrifice in order to retain him. By a treaty between Great Britain, the Queen of Hungary, and the King of Sardinia, signed at Worms, September 23rd, 1743, Charles Emanuel renounced his pretensions to Milan; the Queen of Hungary ceded to him the Vigevanesco, that part of the Duchy of Pavia between the Po and the Ticino, the town and part of the Duchy of Piacenza, and a portion of the district of Angera: also whatever rights she might have to the marquisate of Finale. The Queen of Hungary promised to increase her army in Italy to 30,000 men as soon as the affairs of Germany would permit; while the King of Great Britain engaged to keep a strong fleet in the Mediterranean, and to pay Charles Emanuel annually £200,000 so long as the war lasted, he keeping in the field an army of 45,000 men.

While Maria Theresa was thus procuring a slippery ally her enemies were drawing closer their league against her. France and Spain signed a secret treaty of perpetual alliance at Fontainebleau, October 25th, 1743. The treaty is remarkable for its similarity to the Family Compacts of 1733 and 1761 between the French and Spanish Bourbons. The Spaniards, indeed, call it the Second Family Compact, the first being the Treaty of November 7th, 1733, of which, with regard to colonial affairs, it was a renewal. But this treaty had a more special reference to Italy. Louis XV engaged to declare war against Sardinia, and to aid Spain in conquering the Milanese. Philip V transferred his claims to that Duchy to his son, the Infant Don Philip, who was also to be put in possession of Parma and Piacenza. All the possessions ceded by France to the King of Sardinia, by the Treaty of Utrecht, were to be again wrested from him. A public alliance was to be formed, to which the Emperor Charles VII was to accede; whose States, and even something more, were to be recovered for him. Under certain circumstances war was to be declared against England; in which case France was to assist in the recovery of Gibraltar, and also, if possible, of Minorca. The new colony of Georgia was to be destroyed, the Asiento withdrawn from England, etc. Hence the year 1744 opens a new phase of the war, of which the most remarkable events are, the declaration of war by France against Maria Theresa and George II, the union formed in favour of the Emperor, and the fresh rupture between Austria and Prussia.

Early in that year many indications betrayed the tone of France towards Great Britain. Louis XV, at the instigation of Cardinal Tencin, who owed his hat to the Pretender, called at Rome James III, invited the Chevalier de St. George, son of that phantom Monarch, into France, with the view of assisting him in a descent upon England. An armament was prepared at Brest; the English fleet was to be overpowered, although there had yet been no declaration of war, and 15,000 men were to be thrown on the coasts of Great Britain. The news of these preparations created some alarm in England. Precautions were taken against an invasion, and the Dutch, under the treaties of 1678 and 1716, sent 6,000 men into England. In February a descent was actually attempted, but without success, as Admiral Norris, aided by a tremendous storm, proved too strong for the French fleet. About the same time (February 24th) a drawn action took place between the French, Spanish, and English fleets, near Toulon. The disputes between the English admirals, Matthews and Lestock, prevented them from acting in concert, and compelled Matthews to withdraw. The Spaniards and French, however, also complained of each other, and the quarrels of their admirals left the English masters of the Mediterranean; though the immediate result of the battle was that the Spaniards were enabled to send large supplies into Italy.

The campaign in that country, in 1743, had not proved much more important than that of the preceding year. In December, 1742, and in the following February, the Spaniards and French had renewed their attempts to penetrate into Piedmont, but without success. On February 8th, Montemar, in attempting to form a junction with them, fought a drawn action with the Austrians under Count Traun, at Campo Santo, on the Tanaro. The Prince de Conti and Don Philip passed the Var and succeeded in occupying Nice, in April; but were compelled to relinquish the enterprise, as the Genoese Senate, alarmed by the threats of Admiral Matthews, who told them that if they permitted the French and Spaniards to pass through their territories, he should regard it as a breach of their neutrality and commence hostilities against them accordingly, refused the invaders a passage. They were, therefore, compelled to retire, leaving garrisons in Nice and Villa Franca. They then made an attempt by the valley of Barcelonette (July), penetrated into the valley of the Stura, and laid siege to Coni, September 12th. The King of Sardinia gave them battle on the 30th of that month at Madonna dell' Olmo; and, although they gained the advantage, the autumn floods and want of supplies compelled them to raise the siege (October 22nd), and retire with great loss over the mountains. Meanwhile, in Southern Italy, the Austrians had advanced into the Campagna. Don Carlos, believing himself menaced, marched against them; many bloody skirmishes took place in the neighborhood of Veletri, but nothing decisive was accomplished, and in November the Austrians retired.

Louis XV made a formal declaration of war against George II (March 15th, 1744), and against Maria Theresa (April 26th), and in May he put himself at the head of the grand army of the Netherlands. He is said to have been stimulated to this unwonted energy by a new mistress, Madame de la Tournelle, a member of the Nesle family, whom he created Duchesse de Chateauroux. The army numbered 80,000 men under the command of Marshal Noailles and Count Maurice of Saxony. The latter, who, under the name of Marshal Saxe, became so celebrated as a general, was one of the numerous natural sons of Augustus II, the late King of Poland, by the beautiful Aurora von Konigsmark, the foiled tempter of Charles XII of Sweden. He had procured himself to be elected Duke of Courland by the States of that Duchy in 1726, and, after disputing his title with an heroic temerity against Russia and Poland, had finally placed himself in the service of France. Noailles had seen and appreciated his military genius in Bohemia, and as France was in want of generals, procured for him a marshal’s baton, though the King was prejudiced against him as a Protestant. During the month of June, Courtrai, Menin, Ypres, the fort of Knoque, Dixmude, successively yielded to the arms of Louis. Meanwhile, however, the advance of the Austrians threatened the safety of Alsace, and the King, after taking Furnes, July 10th, hastened with the elite of his troops to the protection of that Province, leaving Marshal Saxe in Flanders to conduct a defensive campaign, which covered him with glory.

Prince Charles of Lorraine and Field-Marshal Traun crossing the Rhine a few leagues from Philippsburg, had seized Lauterburg, Weissenburg, and the line of the Lauter. The French Marshal, Coigny, reinforced by the Emperor’s Bavarians—the neutrality agreed upon having been broken and repudiated—after retaking Weissenburg, which he could not hold, had retreated behind the Moder, and afterwards on Strassburg. Parties of Croats, Hungarians, and other Austrian partisans, now inundated Alsace, and even pressed on into Lorraine. The King had fallen sick at Metz, where his life was despaired of; but Noailles succeeded in effecting a junction with Coigny by the defile of Ste. Marie aux Mines. Prince Charles now received orders to recross the Rhine; an operation which he effected with little loss in the face of a superior enemy. The Queen of Hungary, abandoning for the present the project of reconquering Alsace and Lorraine, recalled her troops in order to repel an invasion of Bohemia by the King of Prussia. But we must trace this affair a little higher.

The Treaty of Worms had given great offence to Frederick. By the second article of it the contracting parties guaranteed to one another all the kingdoms, states, etc., which they then possessed, or which they were entitled to possess, in virtue of the Treaties of Turin (1703), Utrecht, and Baden, the Quadruple Alliance, the Treaty of Vienna (March, 1731), the consequent guarantee of the Empire (January, 1732), the Act of Accession, signed at Vienna, November 12th, 1738, and that signed at Versailles, February 3rd, 1739. This was, in fact, to guarantee to the Queen of Hungary the reconquest of Silesia. Frederick’s anger and alarm were increased by a clause of the Thirteenth Article: that as soon as Italy should be delivered from its enemies, the King of Sardinia should furnish men for the safeguard of Lombardy, in order that the Queen might be enabled to withdraw part of her troops from that country and employ them in Germany.

In Germany? Against whom? Maria Theresa was allied with Saxony. She had humiliated Bavaria. Against whom, then, could she meditate war but Prussia? There was an end, Frederick concluded, to the Peace of Breslau, especially as the Queen took no pains to conceal her regret for the loss of Silesia. At the sight of a Silesian, as the English Ambassador, Robinson, wrote to his Court, she would forget the Queen, and burst into tears like a woman. Frederick’s jealousy was further increased by a treaty, concluded December 20th, 1743, at Vienna, between Austria and Saxony, containing a renewed guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction, without any exception with regard to Silesia; as well as by another entered into at St. Petersburg, February 4th, 1744, between the King of Poland and the Empress of Russia, by which the Alliance of 1733 was renewed with some modifications. Besides these grounds for apprehension, Frederick was also of opinion that the Queen of Hungary was pushing matters too far against Charles VII by aiming to deprive him of the Imperial Crown. Against the League of Austria, Great Britain, Russia, Saxony, Sardinia, and the States-General, he therefore resolved to oppose a double league, one with France and one with the States of the Empire.

The Secret Treaty with France was signed June 5th, 1744, but had probably been arranged some time before. The Cabinet of Versailles seems to have entered into it with a view to divert the Austrians from their attack by engaging the King of Prussia in a war with them, and encouraging him to invade Bohemia; of which Kingdom, after its conquest, Frederick was to retain certain districts. The alliance with the Emperor Charles VII seems to have been designed by Frederick to give a colorable pretence to his attack upon Bohemia. This alliance, known by the name of the Union of Frankfurt, was signed by the Emperor, the King of Prussia, the Elector Palatine, and the King of Sweden, as Landgrave of Hesse- Cassel, May 22nd, 1744. Its professed objects were, to maintain the German Constitution, to compel the Court of Vienna to recognize Charles VII as Emperor, and restore to him his Bavarian dominions. By separate articles, and by a further secret treaty between the Emperor and the King of Prussia alone, signed July 24th, Bohemia, after its conquest, was to be made over to the Emperor and his heirs; in return for which Charles was to cede Silesia to Prussia, together with the three circles of Bohemia nearest to that Province, namely, Konigsgratz, Buntzlau, and Leitmeritz, with some other places. Frederick also guaranteed to the Emperor Upper Austria, so soon as he should have conquered it. France acceded to both these treaties.

Early in August Frederick himself communicated the Union of Frankfurt to the Court of Vienna, and declared that as a member of the Empire, he could not evade his duty of providing a contingent of auxiliary troops for the service of the Emperor, but that in other respects he should observe all his engagements with the Queen of Hungary. In the course of that month he commenced what has been called the Second Silesian War by marching 80,000 men into Bohemia. The army advanced in three columns. One, led by the king in person, passed through Saxony, regardless of the protests of the Court of Dresden; another, under Leopold of Dessau, took the route of Lusatia; while the third, under Field-Marshal Schmettau, debouching from Silesia and Glatz, entered Bohemia by Braunau. The united columns marched upon Prague, which surrendered, after a siege of six days, September 16th. Frederick, ignorant of the strong alliance between the King of Poland and the Court of Vienna, had hoped to gain Augustus, and made some tempting offers to him and his minister, Brühl. Augustus, however, ordered his army, 24,000 men strong, to enter Bohemia; nor could Frederick prevent their junction at Eger with Charles of Lorraine and the Austrian army retiring from Alsace. Neither the French under Noailles, nor the Imperialists under Seckendorf, who was suspected of having sold himself to the Court of Vienna, had attempted to arrest the march of the Austrians through Swabia, Franconia, and Bavaria. After their junction at Eger the Austrian and Saxon forces amounted to 90,000 men. The King of Prussia had but small prospect of successfully opposing them; especially as the Bohemian population, mostly Catholics, were inimical to the Prussians, instead of assisting them, like the Silesians. Frederick, therefore, determined to retreat. Leaving a garrison of 10,000 men at Prague, he crossed the Elbe at Kolin, November 9th, and gained the County of Glatz with rapid marches. The Prussian garrison was also compelled to evacuate Prague, and arrived at Friedland with great loss.

Frederick seems rather to have outwitted himself on this occasion. France obtained her ends by procuring the withdrawal of the Austrian army from Alsace; but the French did nothing to assist Frederick, though they made some fine promises, of which he now knew the value, for next spring. This was, however, a game of which he was little entitled to complain. The French, in turn, had their suspicions of him, and were apprehensive that he might desert them, and again negotiate with Maria Theresa, as he had done in 1742. Such mutual distrust is the necessary penalty of finesse. To avenge Frederick’s unlucky attempt upon Bohemia, the Austrians under Nadasti, and the Hungarians under Counts Palfy, Esterhazy, and Caroli—for another Hungarian “insurrection” had taken place in favour of Maria Theresa—broke into Upper Silesia and the County of Glatz, from which, with the exception of the towns of Neisse, Kosel, and Glatz, they totally expelled the Prussians before the end of 1744. In a proclamation, issued December 4th, it was notified that the whole Silesian territory had returned under the dominion of the Queen of Hungary. But the assumption was premature. Old Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, to whom Frederick committed the task, succeeded in nearly clearing Silesia of the Austrians before the following spring. Meanwhile the French, instead of succoring Frederick, had employed themselves in taking Freiburg in the Breisgau, which surrendered November 5th. The Prussian attack upon Bohemia had also proved of service to the Emperor by withdrawing a great part of the Austrian troops from his Electorate in order to repel it. Seckendorf, assisted by some French troops, took advantage of this circumstance to drive out the remainder. Munich was recovered, October 16th, and Charles VII was enabled once more to return to his capital.

The Italian campaign of 1744 was unfavorable to the Austrians. In the preceding year, they had, as we have seen, driven the Spaniards almost to the Neapolitan frontier, and, in spite of the neutrality imposed upon it, seemed to threaten an invasion of that Kingdom. To avert it, Don Carlos, after taking all possible precautions against an attack upon his capital from the sea, joined the Spaniards with his forces, and enabled them to drive the Austrians and Piedmontese out of the Papal territories.

The invasion of Bohemia by the Prussians produced the Treaty of Warsaw, January 8th, 1745, between the King of Poland as Elector of Saxony, Great Britain, the Queen of Hungary, and the States-General. The Elector renewed his guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction, and promised to operate immediately in Bohemia with 30,000 auxiliary troops. So long as this army should be required Great Britain was to pay an annual subsidy of £100,000, and the United Provinces £50,000. Poland and Russia were to be invited to accede to the alliance. By some separate and secret articles Augustus III engaged, not indeed directly, but in effect, to procure the Imperial Crown for the Grand Duke of Tuscany; while the King of England and the Queen of Hungary promised to assist Augustus in his salutary views with regard to Poland, so far as could be done without violating its Constitution; that is, in other words, to assure the Succession to his son.

Soon after the execution of this treaty an unexpected event Death of changed the face of affairs. The Emperor Charles VII died January 20th, 1745; an event which virtually annulled the Union of Frankfurt. He was succeeded in the Bavarian Electorate by his son, Maximilian Joseph, then only seventeen years of age, and consequently too young to make any pretensions to the Imperial Crown. Maximilian seemed at first inclined to remain faithful to the league with France and Prussia; but the war went so unsuccessfully, and the clamors of his people became so loud in demanding a termination of their miseries, that he listened to the advice of Seckendorf to make peace with the Queen of Hungary at any price. The advance of the Austrians under Bathyani had compelled him to quit Munich soon after his accession, and fly to Augsburg. The French, under Segur, had also been defeated. Under these circumstances he dispatched Prince Furstenberg to Treaty of Füssen, where he concluded a peace with the Austrian Count Colloredo, April 22nd, 1745. By this treaty the Queen of Hungary engaged to reestablish the Elector in all his dominions, and recognized the Imperial dignity of his father. The Elector, on his side, renounced for himself and his heirs all claims to the Austrian inheritance, acceded to the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction given by the Empire, engaged to observe a strict neutrality, supported the vote of Bohemia in the Imperial election, and promised his own for the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

The objects of the Alliance of Warsaw were more clearly announced in a secret treaty between Austria and Saxony, concluded at Leipzig, May 18th, 1745. Silesia was to be recovered for the Queen, Prussia was to be confined in narrower bounds than before the conquest of that Province, and reduced to a state in which she should no longer be dangerous to the two allied Powers. In case of the entire success of their arms, the Duchy of Magdeburg, with the Circle of the Saal, the principality of Crossen, with the district of Züllichau, the Bohemian fiefs in Lusatia belonging to the House of Brandenburg, and the circle of Schwiebus, were to be assigned to the Elector of Saxony; from which apportionment deductions were to be made in proportion as the war with Prussia might prove less successful.

While nearly all the Powers of Christendom were thus leagued in hostile treaties and engaged in mutual slaughter, there was one Power, standing without the pale, which took no part in their contests, and even endeavored to reconcile them. Engrossed by their own interests, and confident in their power to repel all attacks from without, the Turks concerned not themselves about the maintenance of the political balance in Europe; an indifference also encouraged by their religion, which forbids them to take too direct a part in the affairs of Christians, or to go to war with any friendly Power except in case of a formal violation of treaties. It seems to have been a whim of the Reis-Effendi Mustapha, Secretary of Legation at Vienna, which prompted him to procure, early in 1745, an offer of mediation to the Christian Powers from the Sublime Porte. Venice was proposed as the place of a Congress; and, as preliminaries, an armistice on the footing of uti possidetis, on condition that the election of Emperor should take place only by a unanimity of votes. Such a condition, which would make the election depend on the King of Prussia, could not, of course, be accepted by the Court of Vienna. The intervention of the Sultan affected to be religious as well as political. He proposed that, if the Pontiff of the Christians would send one of his apostles to deliver his pacific exhortations to the Congress, he on his side, would dispatch a dervise selected by the Mufti. Perhaps, however, the real motive of the Porte for this unheard-of proceeding was the damage suffered by the Turkish commerce through the quarrels of the Christians. The proffered mediation was respectfully declined by the larger States, though some of the smaller ones, as Naples and Venice, were in favour of it.

The King of Prussia, having no other ally but France, on whose loyal support he could not reckon, remained on the defensive in the campaign of 1745. He entrenched himself in the neighborhood of Frankenstein and Neisse, at Jauernik, not far from Schweidnitz, and there awaited the approach of the Austrians and Saxons. Prince Charles, who commanded them, advanced by Landshut into the plains of Hohenfriedberg, where he was unexpectedly attacked and defeated by Frederick, near Striegau (June 4th). After the battle of Striegau, or Hohenfriedberg, Charles retreated into Bohemia, followed by the Prussians; but the advantageous position occupied by the Austrians near Konigsgratz, as well as the necessity which Frederick was under of maintaining his communications with Silesia, prevented his deriving any solid advantages from his decisive victory, and penetrating further into Bohemia. Towards the end of September he took up a very strong position near Sohr with 25,000 men. Here he was attacked by the Austrians with much larger forces, September 30th; but the inequality of the ground deprived them of the advantage of their numerical superiority, and Frederick gained a complete victory.

Meanwhile negotiations had been entered into at London to reestablish a peace between the Queen of Hungary and the  King of Prussia. Carteret (now Lord Granville) had retired from the English Ministry, and had been succeeded by the Earl of Harrington, a man of more moderate views. The events of the year 1745 had made the English Cabinet very desirous to bring about a peace between Frederick and Maria Theresa. The success of the French arms in Flanders, consequent on their victory at Fontenoy, and the descent of the young Pretender in Scotland in July, by compelling the withdrawal of some of the British forces from the Netherlands, rendered it desirable that the Queen of Hungary should be at liberty to act with greater vigour towards the Rhine. A secret treaty with the King of Prussia had been signed at Hanover August 26th. Peace was to be concluded within six weeks between Prussia and Austria on the basis of that of Breslau; Augustus was to make a separate act of cession of Silesia to Frederick, who was to give his vote in the approaching election at Frankfurt for the Grand Duke Francis as Emperor.

The English Cabinet had had great difficulty to bring Frederick to these terms, yet the Queen of Hungary would not listen to them. She was already sure of her husband’s election, and she was unwilling to abandon the hope of recovering Silesia, on which she had set her heart. The expectation, however, that something might eventually be concluded, had prevented Frederick from pursuing his victory at Sohr. But a piece of intelligence, which he obtained through the indiscretion of the King of Poland’s Minister, Count Brühl, transmitted to him through the Swedish Minister, at the Court of Dresden, induced him to take more vigorous steps. The Queen of Hungary had formed the project of detaching 10,000 men from the army of the Rhine who, in conjunction with the Saxons, were to march upon Berlin; while Prince Charles of Lorraine was to enter Silesia with another army and attack the King of Prussia in his winter quarters. Frederick resolved to anticipate and divert this project by invading Saxony. Towards the end of November he entered Lusatia with his army, and after subduing that Province marched upon Dresden. Augustus, who had refused Frederick’s offer to treat separately, fled to Prague; while Prince Leopold of Dessau, entering Saxony by way of Halle, took Leipzig and Meissen, and established communications with Frederick. Prince Charles now marched to the defence of Dresden; but before he could join the Saxon army it had been defeated by Prince Leopold at Kesselsdorf, December 15th. The remnants of it escaped to Prince Charles, who, in the face of Frederick’s now much superior forces, found it prudent to retreat into Bohemia. Dresden surrendered unconditionally to the King of Prussia, December 18th, and all Saxony was laid under contribution.

Maria Theresa was now compelled to listen to the appeals 0f the King of Poland, as well as to the British Cabinet, which threatened to withdraw its subsidies unless she made peace with Prussia. Frederick himself was desirous of peace, but only on the basis of that of Breslau. His money was almost exhausted, he could not rely upon the proffered help of France, he felt himself unequal to another campaign, and was indeed content with what he had achieved. Two treaties were signed at Dresden on the same day (December 25th, 1745) with Saxony and Austria. By the first Augustus recovered what he had lost during the war, but Saxony had to pay a million dollars, besides the contributions levied. The Queen of Poland, daughter of Joseph I, renounced all her claims to the territories ceded to Prussia by the Peace of Breslau. In the treaty with Austria, Maria Theresa again renounced Silesia and the County of Glatz, the cession of which was guaranteed by England. Frederick, as Elector of Brandenburg, allowed the electoral vote of Bohemia, and adhered to the election of Maria Theresa’s consort as Emperor, against which he and the Elector Palatine had at first protested. The Grand Duke had been elected at Frankfurt, September 13th, and crowned October 4th, with the title of Francis I. Austria had regained the ecclesiastical Electors, and could, of course, reckon on Bavaria, Hanover, and Saxony. France had endeavored to incite Augustus to become a candidate for the Imperial Crown, but without effect. Thus the Empire fell to the New House of Austria, that of Habsburg-Lorraine, and France missed the principal object for which she had gone to war. The Prussians evacuated Saxony within twelve days after the signing of the treaties. A little before, East Friesland, the reversion to which, it will be remembered, had been assigned by the Emperor Leopold to the Elector Frederick III, in compensation of the cession of Schwiebus, was seized by the King of Prussia on the death of the last Prince, Charles Edward, May 25th, 1744.

Meanwhile in Flanders the French had achieved some brilliant successes, especially at the Battle of Fontenoy, gained by Marshal Saxe over the Duke of Cumberland and Field-Marshal Konigseck (May 11th, 1745), who were endeavoring to relieve Tournai. Louis XV and the Dauphin were present at this affair. It was followed by the capture of Tournai, Ghent, Bruges, Oudenarde, Nieuport, Ath. Little was done on the side of the Rhine. The Prince of Conti passed that river and the Main, to threaten Frankfurt and prevent the election of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and the Pragmatic Army was compelled to retire beyond the Lahn; and after it had formed a junction with the Austrians under the Grand Duke, the French in turn were forced to retreat and recross the Rhine. The campaign in Italy this year had also been productive of events of more than ordinary importance. In the spring the Spaniards, under Gages, dislodged Lobkowitz and the Austrians from the Legation of Bologna, and pursued them into the Modenese. At the same time was negotiated the Treaty of Aranjuez, between France, Spain, Naples, and the Republic of Genoa (May 7th, 1745). The object of it was to gain over the Genoese, in order that Spain, besides what assistance the Republic could afford, might obtain the advantage of sending her armies into Italy by way of Genoa. The Genoese, who been disgusted by the Treaty of Worms, agreed to aid the contracting parties with troops, etc.; in return for which some places were to be added to their dominions; their privileges and possessions, including Corsica, were to be guaranteed; and, after the peace, the Republic was to enjoy the same “royal distinction” as Venice, with regard to the ceremonial of ambassadors, etc. The Infant Don Philip and Marshal Maillebois arrived at Savona with their forces towards the end of June, when the Genoese declared war against the King of Sardinia. Gages now crossed the Apennines, amidst the greatest difficulties and hardships, to Sarzana, and established his camp at Langasto, near Genoa; when, being reinforced by 10,000 Genoese, he passed the Bocchetta, and joined Don Philip and Maillebois at Acqui. The combined army amounted to near 70,000 men. The King of Sardinia and Schulenburg, who had succeeded Lobkowitz in the command of the Austrians, now retired to Bassignano, and the combined army successively took Tortona, Piacenza, Parma, and Pavia (August and September). Schulenburg having separated from the King in order to cover Milan, Gages attacked and defeated Charles Emanuel in his camp at Bassignano, September 28th. Alexandria, Asti, Casale, successively surrendered to the Spaniards, who spread themselves through Lombardy. The Infant entered Milan, December 19th.

These disasters caused Charles Emanuel to desire peace; and the Court of Versailles, alarmed at the negotiations between Austria and Prussia, was disposed to grant liberal terms in order to withdraw him from the Austrian alliance. The minister, the Marquis D'Argenson, had formed a scheme according to which Italy was to be organized into a Confederation, with a permanent Diet like Germany; the Austrians were to be expelled, and all the Italian States liberated from any bonds of vassalage towards the Holy Roman Empire; France was disinterestedly to renounce any pretensions she might have to hold anything on the other side of the Alps; the foreign princes established in Italy were to be Italianized by being disabled from possessing any dominions out of the Peninsula : such were the main outlines of this grand scheme. The King of Sardinia, seems to have regarded with distrust the French propositions, although they did not even claim Savoy, a French Province by language; but he had some uneasy recollections of the war of 1733. However, as the share allotted to himself was very considerable, including a large part of the Milanese, and as he despaired of Austrian assistance, he signed the preliminaries of a treaty, December 26th, 1745. The Court of Madrid, to which the negotiations had not been communicated till the preliminaries were laid before it for acceptance, naturally felt very indignant at what it regarded as a treachery on the part of France; especially as it knew that Louis XV had also entered into secret negotiations with the Dutch. The reluctance of the Queen of Spain to accede to the treaty produced a delay of which Maria Theresa, freed from the second Silesian war, availed herself to send 30,000 men into Italy. The Austrians, now under Prince Lichtenstein, thus obtained so great a numerical superiority in that country, that Charles Emanuel resolved to break off his secret intelligence with France, and seized Asti, March 8th. Don Philip quitted Milan and retired to Pavia. The Austrian commander, Lichtenstein, and the King of Sardinia gained a signal victory over Maillebois and Gages near Piacenza, June 16th, which ultimately compelled the French and Spaniards to relinquish all their conquests, and recross the Alps. But another event of greater importance contributed to produce this result—the sudden death of Philip V of Spain, July 9th. Philip, in spite of his wars of ambition, had left Spain in a better condition than he found it. He had particularly encouraged literature and art. In his reign were founded the royal library, open to public use, the academy for the Spanish language, the academy of S. Fernando for painting and sculpture, and the academy of history. His successor, Ferdinand VI, then in his thirty-fourth year, being Philip’s second son by his first wife, Maria Louisa of Savoy, was not interested in the ambitious projects of his father’s widow, Elizabeth Farnese, and one of his first steps was to recall his forces from Italy. Yet he treated his step-mother, who had never shown him any feeling but aversion, with great liberality, allowing her to retain the Palace of St. Ildefonso, and, contrary to the practice of his predecessors, even permitted her to reside at Madrid. He showed an equal affection for his stepbrothers, and promised to promote their interests. The withdrawal of the Spanish forces from Italy was, however, too precipitate, as it abandoned the Genoese to the Austrians. Gages was superseded in the command of the Spaniards by Las Minas, who had orders immediately to retreat to Nice; Maillebois and the French were compelled to accompany him; the combined army retired with precipitation along the coast of Liguria, pursued and harassed by the Austrians and Piedmontese; it did not even halt at Nice, but crossed the Var, September 17th, 1746. Genoa, bombarded by an English fleet, opened her gates to the Austrians, and submitted to hard conditions. The Doge and six senators proceeded to Vienna to implore Maria Theresa’s mercy. After the capture of Genoa, the King of Sardinia and Lichtenstein, with 40,000 Austrians and Piedmontese, passed the Var and invested Antibes, which was also bombarded by an English squadron; and Belle-Isle, who had succeeded Maillebois in the command of the French, retreated before them to within a few miles of Toulon. But Provence was delivered from its invaders by a sudden revolution. General Botta and the Austrians in possession of Genoa treated the inhabitants in a tyrannical manner, not only exacting the most oppressive imposts, but also insulting and maltreating the citizens. These brutalities at length excited a spirit of resistance. Some Austrian soldiers having endeavored to harness the passengers in the streets to a mortar they were carrying off, the people rose against them, and after five days of street fighting, the Austrian general was compelled to retire with a loss of 5,000 men (December 10th). The Imperialists being thus deprived of the supplies which they drew from Genoa, and menaced by the approach of Belle-Isle, who had been reinforced, abandoned the siege of Antibes, and retired into Italy, January, 1747.

The Austrians, who had been exceedingly irritated by the loss of Genoa, resolved this year to attempt its recovery. In a manifesto, breathing a spirit of vindictiveness and injustice, published March 29th, 1747, the Genoese were declared rebels, and subject to all the penalties of treason; and their property, wherever found, was to be confiscated. The Austrian general, Schulenburg, master of the Bocchetta, pressed hardly upon the town; but the French garrison under the Duke de Boufflers, son of the celebrated marshal, made a vigorous resistance, and on the approach of Belle-Isle and Las Minas with the French and Spanish forces, who had occupied the County of Nice, early in June, the Austrians were compelled to raise the blockade and retire. The Spaniards had now again begun to cooperate with the French, and were making more vigorous preparations. Although Ferdinand, at his accession, had assured Louis XV of his resolution to maintain the engagements contracted by his father, yet he had not only, as we have seen, withdrawn his troops from Italy, but had also entered into negotiations with the British Cabinet, through the mediation of Portugal, and some steps towards a pacifica­tion had actually been taken. But the influence of the Queen Dowager and the policy of the party which favoured an establishment for Don Philip in Italy, and regarded it almost as a point of national honor, ultimately prevailed; and, as it was thought that the British Cabinet leaned too much to the side of Maria Theresa, Spain again threw in her weight with France.

In the campaign in Flanders in 1746 the French followed campaign up the successes which they had achieved in the previous year. Brussels, Antwerp, Mons, Charleroi, Namur, and other places, successively surrendered to Marshal Saxe and the Prince of Conti. After the capture of Namur in September, Marshal Saxe, reuniting all the French forces, attacked Prince Charles of Lorraine at Raucoux, between Liége and Viset, and completely defeated him, October 11th; after which both sides went into winter-quarters. All the country between the Meuse and the sea was now in the power of France, Austria retaining only Luxembourg and Limburg. It was, however, some draw­back to French vanity that these successes had been chiefly obtained for them by two foreigners, Marshal Saxe and his principal lieutenant, Count Lowendahl, a Dane, who had learnt the art of war under Münnich. The Court of Versailles, afraid that the Elector of Saxony would sell his troops to Great Britain, bought his neutrality for three years for two million francs per annum. The marriage of the Dauphin, father of Louis XVI, to a daughter of Augustus III, was a result of this connection (December, 1746).

Ever since the year 1745 some negotiations had been going on between France and the Dutch for the re-establishment of peace. The States-General had proposed the assembling of a Congress to the Cabinet of Vienna, but without success. In September, 1746, conferences were opened at Breda, between France, Great Britain, and the States-General; but as Great Britain had gained some advantages at sea, the negotiations were protracted, and the Cabinets of London and Vienna endeavored to induce the Dutch to take a more direct and active part in the war. In this state of things the Court of Versailles took a sudden resolution to coerce the States-General. A manifesto was published by Louis XV, April 17th, 1747, filled with those pretexts which it is easy to find on such occasions: not, indeed, exactly declaring war against the Dutch Republic, but that he should enter her territories “without breaking with her”; that he should hold in deposit the places he might occupy, and restore them as soon as the States ceased to succor his enemies. Count Lowendahl then entered Dutch Flanders by Bruges, and seized, in less than a month, Sluis, Ysendyke, Sas de Gand, Hulst, Axel, and other places.

Holland had now very much declined from the position she had held a century before. There were indeed many large capitalists in the United Provinces, whose wealth had been amassed during the period of the Republic’s commercial prosperity, but the State, as a whole, was impoverished and steeped in debt. The national debt, including that of the separate provinces, amounted to upwards of eighty millions sterling; yet, so abundant was money, that the interest paid on it was only at the rate of per cent.; and the Dutch citizens are computed to have had an almost equal amount, or near seventy millions, invested in the English, French, Austrian, Saxon, Danish, and even Russian funds. But in thus becoming the capitalists and money-lenders of Europe, they had ceased to be her brokers and carriers. The excessive taxes, by raising the prices of necessaries, and consequently of labour, had disabled her manufacturers and ship-owners from competing with foreigners. Holland was no longer the entrepôt of nations. The English, the Swedes, the Danes, and the Hamburghers had appropriated the greater part of her trade. Such was the result of the long wars in which she had been engaged: a great part of which had, indeed, been incurred for self-preservation, or in the interests of her commerce, though some of them must be attributed to the ambition of playing a prominent part in the affairs of Europe. Her political consideration had dwindled equally with her commerce. Instead of pretending, as formerly, to be the arbiter of nations, she had become little more than the satellite of Great Britain; a position forced upon her by fear of France, and her anxiety to maintain her barriers against that encroaching Power. Since the death of William III, the Republican, or aristocratic party had again seized the ascendency. William II’'s collateral heir, John William Friso, had not been recognized as Stadholder, and the Republic was again governed, as in the time of De Witt, by a Grand Pensionary and greffier. The dominant party had, however, become highly unpopular. It had sacrificed the army to maintain the fleet, and the Republic seemed to lie at the mercy of France. At the approach of the French, consternation reigned in the provinces. The Orange Party raised its head, and demanded the reestablishment of the Stadholder ship. The town of Veere, in Zealand, gave the example of insurrection, and William IV, of Nassau-Dietz, who was already Stadholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Gelderland, was eventually proclaimed hereditary Stadholder, Captain-General and Admiral of the United Provinces. William IV was the son of John William Friso, and son-in-law of George II, whose daughter, Anne, he had married. The French threatening Maastricht, the allies, under the Duke of Cumberland, marched to Lawfeld in order to protect it. Here they were attacked by Marshal Saxe, July 2nd, 1747, and after a battle compelled to recross the Meuse. The Duke of Cumberland, however, took up a position which prevented the French from investing Maastricht. On the other hand, Lowendahl carried Bergen-op-Zoom by assault, July 16th. These reverses of the allies were in some degree compensated by English successes in the colonies and on the sea.

ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN AMERICA

After the formal declarations between France and England in 1743, hostilities had extended to the colonial possessions of  those nations. In 1745 the people of New England volunteered to reduce Louisbourg, the capital of Cape Breton; and having, with the assistance of a squadron under Commodore Warren, effected that object, the whole island submitted. In the following year the French fitted out a very formidable fleet, with a great quantity of transports, to recover that colony, which arrived on the American coast in September, 1746. But the enterprise proved entirely abortive, without a single action having been fought. The land forces, decimated by sickness, were conveyed back to France, the fleet was dispersed and disabled by violent storms, and the remnant of it compelled to take refuge at Quebec, in the same year the English Ministry had organized at Portsmouth an expedition against Canada; but having been delayed till the season of action was past, it was employed in making a descent on the French coast, at Port L'Orient; which, however, proved a complete failure. The French were more fortunate in the East, where, they captured Madras. In 1747 the English cause was further aided by Anson’s victory over the French fleet off Cape Finisterre, June 14th, and by that of Admiral Hawke, near the Isle of Aix, October 14th. These and other battles ruined the French navy.

The campaign of 1747 not having been fortunate for the Austrian alliance, it was resolved to make a grand effort in the following year. Great Britain, the Empress-Queen, the King of Sardinia, and the States-General, signed a Convention at the Hague, January 26th, 1748, by which they agreed to bring into the field an army of 192,000 men. Great Britain and the States were each to contribute 66,000 men, and Maria Theresa 60,000. The Dutch also engaged to add ten or twelve vessels to the English fleet, which “was destined to ruin the commerce of France and protect that of the two nations”. (Art. VII.) Maria Theresa was to keep in Italy 60,000 effective troops, and the King of Sardinia 30,000. The latter Monarch also engaged to add his galleys to the English fleet of thirty ships of war. To support these armaments Great Britain engaged to pay a subsidy of £400,000 to Austria, and another of £300,000 to Sardinia. In the preceding June a treaty had also been concluded between Great Britain and Russia, by which the latter Power, in consideration of a subsidy of £100,000 sterling per annum, undertook to keep 30,000 infantry on the frontiers of Livonia, besides fifty vessels on the coast, in readiness to act on the first requisition of the English Cabinet. By another treaty, in November, in which Holland joined, the force to be provided by Russia was raised to 37,000 foot. These treaties had considerable influence in inclining France to peace.

Negotiations had been going on throughout the winter, and a Congress met at Aix-la-Chapelle, April 24th, 1748. Most of the belligerent Powers were desirous of peace. Great Britain and Holland were weary of the war; France and Spain were almost exhausted. Louis XV’s new mistress, Madame de Pompadour, also pressed for peace. In order to stimulate the negotiations, the French had invested Maastricht, April 13th. Marshal Saxe had remarked to Louis, “Sire, the peace must be conquered at Maastricht”. The taking of that place would, indeed, have opened Holland to the French, and they had commenced the siege in the face of the allies 80,000 strong. On the other hand, the advance of the Russians, under Prince Repnin, towards the Rhine, through Poland, Moravia, and Bohemia, also tended to accelerate a peace. This was the second time that a Russian army had appeared in Germany. Meanwhile, however, as Austria, in whose behalf the war had been undertaken, seemed not to the Maritime Powers to exert herself in proportion to her interest in it, they had, in a secret conference, signed separate preliminaries with France, April 30th. The principal articles were:—Restitution of all conquests made during the war, which involved the restitution of Cape Breton to France, Madras to England, and to the Dutch the barrier towns conquered by the French; the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla to be assigned to Don Philip, on condition of their being restored to the actual possessor if Don Carlos should mount the throne of Spain, or if Don Philip should die without heirs; the Republic of Genoa and the Duke of Modena to be restored to their former positions: Sardinia to hold what had been ceded to her in 1743; the Asiento contract and annual vessel to be renewed to Great Britain, as well as the article in the Treaty of 1718, respecting the succession to the throne of that Kingdom; the Emperor Francis to be recognized by all the contracting Powers, and the Pragmatic Sanction to be confirmed; Silesia and the County of Glatz to be guaranteed to Prussia. A suspension of arms was to take place in the Netherlands within six weeks, except with regard to the siege of Maastricht. That place capitulated to the French, May 7th.

Maria Theresa, seeing that the Russians were prepared to come in such force to her aid, was at first unwilling to accede to the peace. She could not accept the loss of the Italian Duchies, for which she had ceded to Sardinia a part of the Milanese. But at last her minister, Count Kaunitz Rittberg, persuaded his mistress to accept the preliminaries, after protesting against what they might contain prejudicial to her interests (May 25th). The envoys of Sardinia and Modena acceded at the same time; those of Spain and Genoa in June. The definitive Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, embracing the preliminaries already given, was signed by the French, English, and Dutch ministers, October 18th, 1748, and a few days after by those of Spain, Genoa, Modena, and Austria. Sardinia refused to sign because the Treaty of Worms was not guaranteed. No mention was made of the Emperor or Empire, although the Italian Duchies were Imperial fiefs. The Treaty of Madrid, October 5th, 1750, must be regarded as the complement of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Spain had refused to renew the Asiento, and to execute the sixteenth article of the treaty, by which the profits of four years, during which the contract had been interrupted by the war, were to be allowed to the parties interested. Both sides armed, and war seemed again inevitable, when, by the treaty mentioned above, Great Britain waived her claims in consideration of the King of Spain paying £100,000 sterling within three months. The trade between the two countries was put on the same favorable footing as in the reign of Charles II of Spain.

Such was the end of the war of the Austrian Succession, its effects, which had lasted eight years. Its object had been to establish four States on the ruins of the House of Austria. But though that House had been deprived of Silesia and the Italian Duchies, these losses were small compared with the danger with which it had at first been threatened; while, on the other hand, it had strengthened its connection with Hungary, and still remained a first-rate Power. France, the chief promoter of this ruinous war, gained literally nothing by it, and increased her debt by nearly 50 millions sterling—another seed of the approaching revolution. Instead of devoting her attention to the needs of her navy and to the protection of her colonies, she had, in spite of the victories of Saxe, merely contributed to the rise of Prussia. The part which England played in the war was conformable to the faith of treaties; though, so far as the continental struggle only is concerned, more chivalrous perhaps than prudent. Yet if she obtained no equivalent for her enormous expenses, she procured compensation for her commercial losses, established her maritime preponderance, and obtained the recognition of the exclusion of the Stuart dynasty. Spain also made some acquisitions in Italy. Russia had interfered with effect in the affairs of Western Europe, and laid the foundation of still more effective intervention. But the most important consequence of the war was the elevation of Prussia to a first-rate Power. The morality of the conduct by which Frederick II. Conduct of achieved this result will hardly bear a strict scrutiny. So long as he attained his ends he was little scrupulous about the means. He affected friendship for Maria Theresa at the moment when he was preparing to wrest Silesia from her, and that under pretexts which he himself did not consider valid. In pursuit of his object he increased and lowered his demands according to circumstances, and contracted alliances, sometimes under insidious pretenses, which were repudiated directly his interest required it. In some eyes, however, success will be Frederick’s great justification; and it is certain that he increased the Prussian dominions by a third.

CHAPTER XLVII

THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR