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| 1733–35 |
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| WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION, after the death of Augustus II. | 1 |
| Cause: Most of the Polish nobles, under the influence of France, elected Stanislas Leszczynski, who had become the father-in-law of Louis XV, king for a second time. Russia and Austria induced a minority to choose Augustus III, Elector of Saxony (son of Augustus II) and supported the election by the presence of troops in Poland; France, Spain, and Sardinia took up arms for Stanislas. | 2 |
| War was initially concentrated in Italy, though Russia invaded Poland (See 1733–35). Milan, Naples, and Sicily were conquered, and the Austrians lost everything except Milan. Lorraine occupied by the French. Kehl captured. Preliminaries of peace (1735), and, after long negotiations, | 3 |
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| 1738, Nov. 18 |
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| TREATY OF VIENNA ratified. (1) Stanislas Leszczynski renounced the Polish throne, receiving as compensation the Duchies of Lorraine and Bar, which at his death were to devolve to France. Stanislas died in 1766. (2) The duke of Lorraine, Francis Stephen, received an indemnification in Tuscany, whose ducal throne had become vacant by the extinction of the family of Medici, 1737. (3) Austria ceded Naples and Sicily, the island of Elba, and the stati degli Presidi to Spain as a secundogeniture for Don Carlos so that these lands could never be united with the crown of Spain. It received in exchange Parma and Piacenza, which Don Carlos had inherited in 1731 upon the death of the last Farnese, his great uncle. (4) France guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction. | 4 |
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| 1739–48 |
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| WAR BETWEEN BRITAIN AND SPAIN (War of Jenkins' Ear). Cause: English trading in the Spanish empire and Spain's efforts to stop it. English captured Porto Bello in Darien (Nov. 22, 1739) and unsuccessfully attacked Cartagena (1740). Voyage of the English Commodore Anson to Chile and Peru and around the world (Sept. 1740–June 1744). | 5 |
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| 1740–48 |
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| WAR OF AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION: Cause: Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, Philip V, king of Spain, and Augustus III of Saxony all claimed the Austrian throne. Charles Albert cited Ferdinand I's will, which stated that succession should fall to descendants of his eldest daughter, Anna, should legitimate heirs to the Habsburg throne become extinct. A descendant of Anna, Charles Albert interpreted this will to mean male heirs of the Habsburgs. Philip V cited a treaty between Charles V and his brother, Ferdinand. Augustus III claimed the throne by virtue of marriage to Joseph I's eldest daughter. Prussia accepted the succession but claimed the right to annex Silesia. Frederick II offered to support Austria in exchange for this right. | 6 |
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| Course of War: 1740–42 |
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| First Silesian War. As a result of a dispute over Prussian claims to Silesian territories, Frederick occupied Silesia and captured Glogau. Prussia victorious at Mollwitz (April 10, 1741), then Czaslau and Chotusitz (May 17, 1742). | 7 |
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| 1741 |
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| Secret alliance of Nymphenburg against Austria concluded by France, Bavaria, and Spain, afterward joined by Saxony and lastly by Prussia. The allied French (Belle-Isle) and Bavarian army invaded Austria and Bohemia. Prague taken in alliance with the Saxons. Charles Albert proclaimed archduke in Linz, while Frederick II received homage in Silesia. Charles Albert was elected emperor in Frankfurt (Charles VII). | 8 |
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| 1742, June–July |
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| To rid herself of a dangerous enemy, Maria Theresa signed the Treaty of Breslau and Berlin between Austria and Prussia. Prussia received Silesia and the country of Glatz, with the Oppa forming the boundary between Austrian and Prussian territories. In exchange, Frederick withdrew from the alliance against Maria Theresa and assumed the Silesian debt to English and Dutch creditors (1.7 million rix dollars). | 9 |
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| 1744–45 |
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| SECOND SILESIAN WAR. Austrian successes and treaties with Sardinia and Saxony (1743) made the king of Prussia anxious. He concluded a second alliance with Charles VII and France and forced his way through Saxony with 80,000 men, invading Bohemia. He took Prague but, deserted by the French, was soon driven back into Saxony (1744). | 10 |
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| 1745, Jan |
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| Alliance among Austria, Saxony, Britain, and Holland against Prussia. The French and Bavarians took Munich. Charles VII died (Jan. 1745). | 11 |
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| April |
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| Charles's son Maximilian Joseph concluded the Separate Treaty of Füssen, with Austria. (1) Austria restored all conquests to Bavaria. (2) The elector of Bavaria surrendered his pretensions to Austria and promised Francis Stephen, the husband of Maria Theresa, his vote at the imperial election. | 12 |
| The French under Marshall Maurice of Saxony (Maréchal de Saxe, son of Augustus II and the Countess Aurora of Königsmark) defeated the Pragmatic army in the Battle of Fontenoy (Irish Brigade) on May 11 and began the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands. | 13 |
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| June 4 |
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| Battle of Hohenfriedberg. Austrians and Saxons defeated by Frederick the Great. | 14 |
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| Sept. 30 |
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| Battle of Soor, Austrians defeated. | 15 |
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