CHAPTER XXIII

WIDENING AREA OF EUROPEAN RIVALRY (1715-1789)

eral fea

tures of the

THE period between the death of Louis XIV and the outbreak of the French Revolution (in 1789) was one of almost constant warfare between the Powers of Europe. At 524. Genfirst glance the wars seem a mere continuation of the dreary struggles of the preceding period, caused by the period desire of certain states to increase their territories, and of others to maintain the Balance of Power. France continued to decline in power, and Prussia and Russia to rise in the European scale. One great European state- Poland - totally disappeared as a result of the unscrupulous attacks of its neighbors. But the area of the struggles was now widened. North America and far-off India became the scenes of important European conflicts. Other issues than that of the Balance of Power in Europe were evidently at stake. A close examination of the period shows that these contests were largely for colonial empire and sea power. Perhaps the most important outcome was the fact that Great Britain succeeded in this period in laying the foundations of her vast empire, through which have spread the principles of personal liberty and constitutional government. The tangled threads of the political history of this time may best be grouped under these three heads: (1) The further growth of Prussia through the wars and works of Frederick the Great. (2) The founding of the British Empire through successful warfare with France and the colonization of Australia. (3) The partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In these three developments the political history of the world was being settled for many generations to come.

A. PRUSSIA UNDER FREDERICK THE GREAT

The education which Frederick William I of Prussia planned for his son and heir, the future Frederick the Great, was hard, 525. Youth practical, and matter-of-fact. The prince's own inclinaof Frederick tions, joined to his mother's and teacher's secret efforts, supplemented this with studies in literature, music, and

the Great

Young Frederick showed himself as self-willed as his father, and ill-feeling sprang up which was increased by a public flogging. To make matters

worse, the prince, who was an

officer in the Prussian army,

attempted to flee from the kingdom. This was military desertion, an offense which the laws of war made punishable with death. For a time the old king was with difficulty restrained from inflicting this extreme penalty. Finally he contented himself with the beheading, before Frederick's eyes, of the prince's friend and accomplice, and the close imprisonment of Frederick himself. This harsh treatment went far to cure the prince of his persistent folly.

Then followed the "second education" of young Frederick. To discipline him and train him in the practical work of administration, his father set him to work in the War and Domain Office as assistant clerk. The harsh treatment he received sobered and strengthened Frederick, and prepared him for his duties as king; but it also developed in him bitterness and hypocrisy. His apprenticeship over, he was restored to favor, and soon was allowed to set up a little court of his own, where he

surrounded himself with a brilliant circle. He entered into correspondence with the skeptical French philosopher Voltaire (§ 560), and he wrote a refutation of the political treatise of Machiavelli (§ 333). To a superficial observer, Frederick II seemed likely to prove anything but the unscrupulous master of war and of statecraft that his reign showed him to be.

Frederick II succeeded to the throne in 1740, at the age of twenty-eight. A few months later the Emperor Charles VI

seizure of

Silesia

died. He left no son, 526. The
but he had secured the
assent of Europe (includ- (1740)
ing Prussia) to a document
called the Pragmatic Sanction,
which recognized Charles's
daughter, Maria Theresa, as
queen over all the Austrian
dominions.

This was Frederick's opportunity. He desired above all else military glory, and he had at his back the finest army in Europe and a well-filled treasure chest. "It is only a matter of carrying out plans," he wrote, "which I have long

dead of winter (1740), he threw his army into the Austrian province of Silesia (si-lē'shi-a), to which he advanced some shadowy claims. It was sheer brigandage. The Austrians were taken unprepared, and were easily defeated. The efficiency of the Prussian army was proved, and Europe recognized that a new power had arisen.

At once Spain, France, Savoy, Bavaria, and Saxony set up claims of various sorts to parts of the Hapsburg dominions. There followed the general War of the Austrian Succession

the Austrian

Succession

(1741-1748). Great Britain (whose king as elector of Hanover had important interests in Germany) took up arms on the side of Austria. For four years the position of Emperor, so 527. War of long held by a Hapsburg, was filled by the elector of Bavaria; but upon his death (in 1745) Maria Theresa se- (1741-1748) cured the election of her husband, the amiable Francis I. The Hungarians and Austrians rallied nobly to the support of their young queen. She, for her part, showed unexpected courage, eloquence, and governing ability. Her subjects were ready to die for her; even her enemies respected and admired her. After having once made - and broken a treaty, Frederick II again made peace in 1745. Having got what he wanted, he agreed to retire from the war. In return Maria Theresa agreed

that he should keep his conquered province of Silesia.

Meanwhile the area of the war was widening. "From the banks of the Oder, the war spread successively to the banks of the Danube, the Elbe, the Po, then to the Scheldt and 528. Peace of Aix-lathe Meuse, and beyond the seas." French and English Chapelle colonists in North America engaged in the conflict, as (1748) in the days of Louis XIV, in furtherance of their rival interests. In India, also, French and English traders fought each other to determine which should control the commerce of that rich and populous country. But for the settlement of these wider interests the time was not yet ripe. All parties grew tired of the war, and at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, a general peace was signed. Its terms were as follows:

1. Maria Theresa was recognized as ruler of the Hapsburg lands, except Silesia.

2. Silesia was again confirmed to Prussia.

3. All other conquests were mutually restored.

1 The historian Macaulay, in his essay on Frederick the Great, says: "In order that he might rob a neighbor whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel [India], and red men scalped each other by the Great Lakes of North America." This view fails to take account of the real conflict of interests between English and French, which caused the extension of the war to India and to America. Their rivalries would have led to war in America and in the Far East even if Frederick had never seized Silesia.