| Silesian Wars | |||||||||
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| Part of theAustro-Prussian rivalry | |||||||||
 The Central European borders of Brandenburg–Prussia (blue-green) and the Habsburg monarchy (red) in 1756, after Prussia's seizure of Silesia in theFirst Silesian War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Prussia |  Habsburg monarchy Saxony(Second & Third) Russia(Third) France(Third) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 King Frederick IIPrince Henry | Archduchess Maria TheresaPrince-Elector Frederick Augustus IIEmpress ElizabethKing Louis XV | ||||||||
TheSilesian Wars (German:Schlesische Kriege) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century betweenPrussia (under KingFrederick the Great) andHabsburg Austria (under EmpressMaria Theresa) for control of theCentral European region ofSilesia (now in south-westernPoland). TheFirst (1740–1742) andSecond (1744–1745) Silesian Wars formed parts of the widerWar of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia was a member of a coalition seeking territorial gain at Austria's expense. TheThird Silesian War (1756–1763) was a theatre of the globalSeven Years' War, in which Austria in turn led a coalition of powers aiming to seize Prussian territory.
No particular event triggered the wars. Prussia cited its centuries-old dynastic claims on parts of Silesia as acasus belli, butRealpolitik andgeostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the Habsburg monarchy under thePragmatic Sanction of 1713 provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such asSaxony andBavaria.
All three wars are generally considered to have ended in Prussian victories, and the first resulted in Austria'scession of the majority of Silesia to Prussia. Prussia emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new Europeangreat power and the leading state ofProtestant Germany, whileCatholic Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged theHouse of Habsburg's prestige. The conflict over Silesia foreshadowed a widerAustro-Prussian struggle for hegemony over theGerman-speaking peoples, which would later culminate in theAustro-Prussian War of 1866.
In the early 18th century theKingdom of Prussia's rulingHouse of Hohenzollern held dynastic claims to severalduchies within theHabsburg province ofSilesia, a populous and prosperous region contiguous with Prussia's core territory in theMargraviate of Brandenburg.[1] Besides its value as a source of tax revenue, industrial output and military recruits, Silesia held greatgeostrategic importance to multiple parties. The valley of the UpperOder formed a natural military conduit between Brandenburg, theKingdom of Bohemia and theMargraviate of Moravia, and whichever power held the territory could threaten its neighbours. Silesia also lay along the north-eastern frontier of theHoly Roman Empire, allowing its controller to limit the influence of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and of theRussian Empire within Germany.[2]
Prussia's claims in Silesia were based, in part, on a 1537 inheritance treaty between theSilesian Piast DukeFrederick II of Legnica and the HohenzollernPrince-ElectorJoachim II Hector of Brandenburg, whereby the Silesian Duchies ofLiegnitz,Wohlau andBrieg were to pass to the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg should the Piast dynasty in Silesia become extinct. At the time, the Habsburg KingFerdinand I of Bohemia (Silesia'sfeudal overlord) rejected the agreement and pressed the Hohenzollerns to repudiate it.[3] In 1603, Hohenzollern ElectorJoachim III Frederick of Brandenburg separately inherited the SilesianDuchy of Jägerndorf from his cousin, MargraveGeorge Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and installed his second son,Johann Georg, as duke.[4]
In the 1618Bohemian Revolt and the ensuingThirty Years' War, Johann Georg joined the Silesian estates in revolt against the CatholicHoly Roman EmperorFerdinand II.[5] After the Catholic victory in the 1621Battle of White Mountain, the Emperor confiscated Johann Georg's duchy and refused to return it to his heirs after his death, but the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg continued to assert themselves as the legitimate rulers of Jägerndorf.[6] In 1675 the "Great Elector"Frederick William laid claim to Liegnitz, Wohlau and Brieg when the Silesian Piast line ended with the death of DukeGeorge William of Liegnitz, but the Habsburg Emperor disregarded the Hohenzollern claims, and the landsescheated to the Bohemian crown.[7]
In 1685, when Austria was engaged in theGreat Turkish War, EmperorLeopold I gave Great Elector Frederick William immediate control of the Silesianexclave ofSchwiebus in return for military support against the Turks and the surrender of the outstanding Hohenzollern claims in Silesia. After the accession of the Great Elector's son and successor,Frederick III of Brandenburg, the Emperor took back control of Schwiebus in 1694, claiming that the territory had only been personally assigned to the late Great Elector for life.[8] As a young prince, Frederick III had secretly agreed to this repossession in return for Leopold's payment of some of his debts,[9] but as monarch he repudiated the agreement and reasserted the old Hohenzollern claims to Jägerndorf and the Silesian Piast heritage.[8]
Two generations later, the newly crowned Hohenzollern KingFrederick II of Prussia formed designs on Silesia soon after succeeding to the throne in May 1740.[10] Frederick judged that his dynasty's claims were credible,[1] and he had inherited from his father a large and well trainedPrussian army and a healthy royal treasury.[11] Austria was in financial distress, and its army had not been reinforced or reformed after an ignominious performance in the 1737–1739Austro-Turkish War.[12] The European strategic situation was favourable for an attack on Austria, asBritain andFrance were occupying each other's attentions in theWar of Jenkins' Ear, and Sweden was moving toward war with Russia.[13] The Electors ofBavaria andSaxony also had claims against Austria and seemed likely to join in the attack.[1] Though the Hohenzollerns' dynastic claims provided a legalisticcasus belli, considerations ofRealpolitik and geostrategy played the leading role in provoking the war.[14]
An opportunity arose for Brandenburg–Prussia to press its claims when Habsburg Holy Roman EmperorCharles VI died in October 1740 without a male heir. With thePragmatic Sanction of 1713, Charles had established his eldest daughter,Maria Theresa, as the successor to his hereditary titles. Upon his death she duly became ruler of Austria, as well as of theBohemian andHungarian lands within the Habsburg monarchy.[15] During Emperor Charles's lifetime the Pragmatic Sanction was generally acknowledged by theimperial estates, but when he died it was promptly contested by Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony.[16]
Frederick saw in Austria's female succession an opportune moment for the seizure of Silesia, calling it "the signal for the complete transformation of the old political system" in a 1740 letter toVoltaire.[10] He argued that the Pragmatic Sanction did not apply to Silesia, which was held by the Habsburgs as a part of the imperialdemesne rather than as a hereditary possession. Frederick also argued that his father, KingFrederick William I, had assented to the Sanction in return for assurances of Austrian support for Hohenzollern claims on theRhenish Duchies ofJülich andBerg, which had not yet materialised.[17][18]
Meanwhile, Prince-ElectorCharles Albert of Bavaria and Prince-ElectorFrederick Augustus II of Saxony had each married one of Maria Theresa's older cousins from a senior branch of the House of Habsburg, and they used these connections to justify claims to Habsburg territory in the absence of a male heir.[11] Frederick Augustus, who ruled thePoland-Lithuanian Commonwealth inpersonal union, was especially interested in gaining control of Silesia to connect his two realms into one contiguous territory (which would nearly surround Brandenburg); Frederick's concern to prevent this outcome contributed to his haste in moving against Austria when the contested succession provided an opportunity.[1]
European warfare in theearly modern period was characterised by the widespread adoption offirearms in combination with more traditionalbladed weapons. 18th-century European armies were built around units of massedinfantry armed withsmoothboreflintlock muskets andbayonets.Cavalrymen were equipped withsabres andpistols orcarbines;light cavalry were used principally forreconnaissance,screening andtactical communications, whileheavy cavalry were used astactical reserves and deployed forshock attacks. Smoothboreartillery providedfire support and played the leading role insiege warfare.[19] Strategic warfare in this period centred around control of keyfortifications positioned so as to command the surrounding regions and roads, lengthy sieges being a common feature of armed conflict. Decisive field battles were relatively rare, though they played a larger part in Frederick's theory of warfare than was typical among his contemporary rivals.[20]
The Silesian Wars, like most European wars of the 18th century, were fought as so-calledcabinet wars in which disciplinedregular armies were equipped and supplied by the state to conduct warfare on behalf of the sovereign's interests. Occupied enemy territories were regularly taxed and extorted for funds, but large-scale atrocities against civilian populations were rare compared with conflicts in the previous century.[21]Military logistics was the decisive factor in many wars, as armies had grown too large to support themselves on prolonged campaigns by foraging and plunder alone. Military supplies were stored in centralisedmagazines and distributed bybaggage trains that were highly vulnerable to enemy raids.[22] Armies were generally unable to sustain combat operations during winter and normally establishedwinter quarters in the cold season, resuming their campaigns with the return of spring.[19]
After Emperor Charles's death on 20 October 1740, Frederick quickly resolved to strike first; on 8 November he ordered the mobilisation of the Prussian army, and on 11 December he issued anultimatum to Maria Theresa demanding thecession of Silesia.[23] In return, he offered to guarantee all other Habsburg possessions against any attack, pay a large cashindemnity,[24] acknowledge the Pragmatic Sanction, and give his vote as elector of Brandenburg to Maria Theresa's husband, DukeFrancis Stephen of Lorraine, in the forthcomingimperial election to replace the deceased Charles.[23]
Not waiting for a response and without a declaration of war, he led Prussian troops across the lightly defended Silesian frontier on 16 December, beginning the First Silesian War.[25] By the end of January 1741 almost the entirety of Silesia was under Prussian control, and the remaining Austrian strongholds ofGlogau,Brieg andNeisse were besieged.[23] In late March an Austrian force relieved the siege of Neisse, but the main Prussian force engaged and defeated it in theBattle of Mollwitz on 10 April, securing Prussian control of the region.[26]
Seeing Austria's defeat at Mollwitz, other powers were emboldened to attack the beleaguered monarchy, widening the conflict into what would become theWar of the Austrian Succession.[27] As Bavaria, Saxony, France,Naples andSpain attacked Austria on multiple fronts during the succeeding months, Frederick began secret peace negotiations with Maria Theresa, with British urging and mediation;[28] on 9 October Austria and Prussia agreed to a secretarmistice known as theConvention of Klein Schnellendorf, under which Austria committed to eventually concedeLower Silesia in return for peace.[29]
As Austria concentrated its forces against its other enemies and gained ground in the wider war, Frederick concluded that the Austrians did not intend to honour the Convention and concede territory in Silesia. To press Austria further, he repudiated the armistice and renewed offensive operations of his own.[30] In December 1741 Prussian forces advanced into Moravia, occupying the capital atOlmütz, and besieged the fortress atGlatz on the edge of Bohemia.[30] In January 1742 Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria won the1742 Imperial election and became Holy Roman Emperor.[31] In February Frederick organised a joint advance through Moravia toward Vienna with the Saxons and French, but Prussia's allies were reluctant and uncooperative, and the campaign was abandoned in April, after which the Prussians withdrew into Bohemia andUpper Silesia.[32][33]
An Austrian counter-advance into Bohemia engaged Frederick's Prussians on 17 May and was narrowly defeated at the resultingBattle of Chotusitz. This defeat left Austria with no immediate means of driving its enemies out of Bohemia, and renewed peace talks with Prussia began inBreslau.[34] Under British pressure,[29] Austria agreed to cede to Prussia the large majority of Silesia, along with theCounty of Glatz in Bohemia,[35] while Austria would retain two small portions of the extreme southern end of Silesia, including theDuchy of Teschen and parts of the Duchies of Jägerndorf,Troppau andNeisse. Prussia also agreed to take on some of Austria's debts and to remain neutral for the remainder of the ongoing war. This peace agreement was adopted with theTreaty of Breslau, which ended the First Silesian War on 11 June 1742, and was later formalised in theTreaty of Berlin.[36]
Peace with Prussia allowed the Austrians and their British–Hanoverian allies to reverse the gains made by the French and Bavarians in 1741. By mid 1743 Austria recovered control of Bohemia, drove the French back across theRhine, and occupied Bavaria.[37] In September 1743 Britain, Austria andSavoy–Sardinia concluded a new alliance under theTreaty of Worms, which led Frederick to suspect that Maria Theresa meant to retake Silesia as soon as the war elsewhere was concluded.[38] So, on 7 August 1744 Prussia declared its intervention in the ongoing conflict on behalf of Emperor Charles Albert, and Frederick led soldiers across the frontier into Bohemia on 15 August, beginning the Second Silesian War.[39]
Prussian forces converged uponPrague, seizing the city on 16 September, and this new threat drew the Austrian army back from France through Bavaria.[39] The French failed to harass and disrupt the Austrian redeployment,[40] so Austria's army was able to return to Bohemia quickly and at full strength. Frederick gathered his forces around Prague and tried to force a decisive engagement, but Austrian commanderOtto Ferdinand von Traun focused on harassing the invaders' supply lines, eventually forcing the Prussians to abandon Bohemia and retreat into Upper Silesia in November.[41]
With the January 1745Treaty of Warsaw, Austria established a new "Quadruple Alliance" between Austria, Britain, Saxony and theDutch Republic.[42] Meanwhile, Emperor Charles Albert died on 20 January, destroying the rationale behind Frederick's alliance.[41] Austria renewed its offensive against Bavaria in March 1745, decisively defeating the Franco-Bavarian army at the 15 AprilBattle of Pfaffenhofen, and making peace withMaximilian III of Bavaria (the son of the late Emperor Charles Albert) by theTreaty of Füssen on 22 April.[43]
Having defeated Bavaria, Austria began an invasion of Silesia. At the end of May an Austrian–Saxon army crossed through theGiant Mountains into Silesia, only to be surprised and decisively defeated by Frederick in theBattle of Hohenfriedberg on 4 June,[44] removing any immediate prospect of Austria recovering Silesia.[45] The Prussians followed the retreating Austrian–Saxon army into Bohemia, encamping along theElbe while Frederick pursued a peace agreement.[46] During the following months Maria Theresa won the support of enoughprince-electors to see her husband named Holy Roman Emperor Francis I on 13 September in Frankfurt, achieving one of her major goals in the war.[47]
On 29 September the Austrians attacked Frederick's camp in Bohemia, resulting in a Prussian victory at theBattle of Soor, despite the Austrian surprise and superior numbers.[43][45] Soon low supplies forced the Prussians to withdraw into Upper Silesia for the winter.[48] In November Austria and Saxony prepared a surprise double invasion of Brandenburg, hoping to seizeBerlin and end the war outright.[45][43] On 23 November Frederick surprised the Austrian invaders in theBattle of Hennersdorf, confusing and scattering the larger Austrian force.[49] Meanwhile, another Prussian army underLeopold I of Anhalt-Dessau advanced into western Saxony, attacking and destroying the main Saxon army in theBattle of Kesselsdorf on 15 December, after which the Prussians occupiedDresden.[47]
In Dresden the belligerents quickly negotiated a peace treaty, under which Maria Theresa acknowledged Prussian control of Silesia and Glatz, while Frederick recognised Francis I as Holy Roman Emperor and again committed to neutrality for the remainder of the War of the Austrian Succession.[47] For its part in the Austrian alliance, Saxony was compelled to pay one millionrixdollars in reparations to Prussia. The region's borders were thus confirmed at thestatus quo ante bellum, which had been Prussia's principal goal.[50] ThisTreaty of Dresden was signed on 25 December 1745, ending the Second Silesian War between Austria, Saxony and Prussia.[51]
After Prussia's withdrawal the wider War of the Austrian Succession continued for another two years, ending with theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. Despite the commitments made under the Treaty of Dresden, Maria Theresa still refused to give the Holy Roman Empire's recognition of Prussia's sovereignty in Silesia, and Frederick in turn still declined to recognise Maria Theresa's legitimacy as sovereign in the Bohemian lands under the Pragmatic Sanction. The underlying conflict over Silesia was unresolved, and both sides spent the years of peace making preparations for renewed conflict.[52]
Prussia built and expanded fortifications at strategic points in Silesia,[53] and the army began to reequip its artillery units with heavier guns.[54] The crown established Prussia's firstcentral bank, and the treasury gathered its surpluses into a growingwar chest throughout the peace.[55] In diplomacy, Frederick worked to maintain Prussia's alliance with France while easing British concerns over the security of theElectorate of Hanover, which British KingGeorge II also ruled inpersonal union. By these means, and by avoiding any provocations toward Russia, he hoped to manage the Austrian threat and preserve the balance of power.[56]
After the Treaty of Dresden, Maria Theresa initiated a wave of so-calledTheresian reforms of Austria's administration and military, as well as ordering a review of her government's diplomatic policy.[57] Her ChancellorFriedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz oversaw a dramatic reform of the realm's systems of taxation, which funded a significant expansion of Austria's field armies.[58] Field MarshalLeopold Joseph von Daun standardised the army's equipment and professionalised its training, drawing on the Prussian model.[59] In 1746 Maria Theresa entereda defensive pact with EmpressElizabeth of Russia that aligned their two realms against Prussia.[60] Beginning in 1753 Foreign MinisterWenzel Anton von Kaunitz pursued warmer relations with Austria'straditional rival, the Kingdom of France.[61] In 1756 these efforts led Austria to abandon itsalliance with Britain in favour of a newFranco-Austrian alliance, while Prussia and Britain entered adefensive alliance by theConvention of Westminster, completing a diplomatic reordering of the European powers known as theDiplomatic Revolution.[62][63]
As Austria, France and Russia formed a new anti-Prussian coalition, Frederick became convinced that Prussia would be attacked in early 1757 and once again chose to strike first.[64] On 29 August 1756 he preemptively invaded neighbouring Saxony, beginning the Third Silesian War.[65] As Austria's and Prussia's allies joined the fighting, the conflict quickly widened into what became the pan-EuropeanSeven Years' War. The Prussians occupied Saxony in late 1756 and made large advances in Bohemia in early 1757, winning a series of battles while advancing to Prague. In May Prussian forces drove back the Austrian defenders in theBattle of Prague, taking great losses, and thenbesieged the city. An Austrian counter-attack culminated in the major Austrian victory at theBattle of Kolín on 18 June, which drove the Prussians out of Bohemia entirely.[66] Meanwhile, Russian and Swedish invasions from the east and north divided Prussia's forces.[67] The Russian invaders inEast Prussia won theBattle of Gross-Jägersdorf on 30 August, but they made little strategic progress due to recurring logistical problems.[68]
In late 1757 Imperial and French forces attempted to retake Saxony from the west, only to experience a decisive defeat in theBattle of Rossbach on 5 November.[69] This battle secured Prussia's control of Saxony for a time, and the defeat greatly reduced French willingness to contribute further to the Silesian War.[70] Another Austrian army invaded Silesia, making significant progress until it was decisively defeated at theBattle of Leuthen on 5 December,[71] after which the Prussians pursued the defeated Austrian army back to Bohemia and recovered control of nearly all of Silesia.[72] Over the winter a combined Prussian-Hanoverian army launched a series of offensives that eventually drove the French out ofWestphalia and across the Rhine, securing Prussia's western flank for the duration of the war.[73]
In mid-1758 Prussia invaded Moravia,besieging Olmütz in late May.[74] The city was well defended, and by late June the Prussians' supplies were exhausted. Austrians intercepted and destroyed a major Prussian supply convoy on 30 June in theBattle of Domstadtl, and the invaders abandoned the siege, retreating into Upper Silesia.[75] Russian forces advanced through East Prussia to threatenBrandenburg, fighting the Prussians to a costly draw on 25 August at theBattle of Zorndorf.[76] An Austrian army advancing into Saxony made little progress, despite winning a substantial victory at theBattle of Hochkirch on 14 October.[77]
In 1759 a united Austrian and Russian advance into eastern Brandenburg culminated in a major Prussian defeat at theBattle of Kunersdorf on 12 August, but the victorious allies did not pursue the defeated Prussians or occupy the Prussian capital at Berlin.[78] After Kunersdorf Frederick had briefly believed the war totally lost, but the coalition's internal conflicts and hesitant leadership gave Prussia a second chance, an event that Frederick later termed the "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg".[79] The succeeding months saw the Austrians retake Dresden and most of Saxony,[80] with intermittent skirmishing in Saxony continuing into the next year.[81]
In 1760 the Austrians advanced into Lower Silesia, where the Prussian and Austrian armies manoeuvred against each other for some time before engaging in theBattle of Liegnitz on 15 August; the battle ended in a solid Prussian victory, disrupting the Austrians' advance and restoring Prussian control of Lower Silesia.[82] In late 1760 the Russians and Austrians briefly occupied Berlin,[83] and on 3 November the main Prussian and Austrian armies fought theBattle of Torgau, a narrow Prussian victory that proved costly for both sides.[84] The year 1761 saw little activity by the exhausted Prussian and Austrian forces, but Russian forces made advances inPomerania and eastern Brandenburg that threatened a decisive end to the war the following year.[85]
In January 1762, Austria was suddenly abandoned by its Russian ally upon the death of Empress Elizabeth. She was succeeded by the ardently pro-PrussianPeter III of Russia, who immediately recalled his armies from Berlin and Pomerania and made peace with Prussia by theTreaty of Saint Petersburg on 5 May. Peter was overthrown and assassinated within months, but by then the war had again shifted in Prussia's favour, and Russia did not resume hostilities.[86] Both sides were nearing exhaustion, and peace talks to end the wider Seven Years' War began in late 1762. In the end, negotiators agreed again on a return to thestatus quo ante bellum, confirming Prussia's control of Silesia in theTreaty of Hubertusburg in February 1763.[87] Prussia also committed to support the election of Maria Theresa's son, ArchdukeJoseph, as Holy Roman Emperor.[88]
The Silesian Wars ended in Prussian victory over Austria, a view universal among contemporaries and broadly supported by historiography since.[89] Prussia seized and defended a long-held Habsburg territory, and thestatus quo ante outcomes of the second and third wars confirmed this basic fact. These conflicts provoked a broad realignment in the European diplomatic system of the time, establishing anAustria–Prussia rivalry that would define German politics for a century until after theAustro-Prussian War of 1866.[90]
Prussia's unexpected victory over the Habsburg monarchy set it apart from German rivals such as Bavaria and Saxony,[91] marking Prussia's rise to the status of a Europeangreat power,[87] as well as the leading power ofProtestant Germany.[92] The kingdom had gained some 35,000 square kilometres (14,000 mi2) of new territory and around a million new subjects in Glatz and Silesia,[93] a populous and densely industrialised region that would contribute substantial manpower and taxes to the Prussian state.[94][95] Geostrategically, Silesia also gave Prussia a threatening position with respect to Saxony and Austria and a strong defence against encirclement by Poland.[2] Frederick's personal reputation was enormously enhanced by his successes in the wars, winning him theepithet "Frederick the Great".[96] His debts to fortune (Russia's about-face after Elizabeth's death) and to British financial support were soon forgotten, while the memories of his energetic leadership and tactical genius were strenuously promoted.[97] His small kingdom had defeated the Habsburg monarchy and defended its prize against Austria, Britain, Saxony, Russia, Sweden, and France, an accomplishment that appeared miraculous to contemporary observers.[98]
Though sometimes depicted as a key moment in Prussia's rise to greatness, the wars nonetheless left the kingdom's economy and population devastated, and much of the remainder of Frederick's reign was spent repairing the damage. To mitigate population losses, the King continued hisfather's policy of encouraging Protestant refugees from Catholic realms to resettle in Prussia.[99] The repeated currency devaluations imposed to finance the conflicts led to rapidinflation and great economic disruption in Prussia (and in occupied Saxony).[100] After the wars the state began using its network of military grain depots and theexcise on grain to stabilisefood prices and alleviate grain shortages. Prussia also established a rudimentarysocial welfare system for impoverished and disabled veterans of the Silesian Wars.[99]
Prussia's armed forces experienced heavy casualties in the wars, and the officer corps was severely depleted. After the peace of Hubertusburg the state had neither the money nor the manpower to rebuild the army to what it had been at Frederick's accession.[101] In the succeedingWar of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779) the Prussians fought poorly, despite again being personally led by Frederick, and the Prussian army did not fare well againstrevolutionary France in 1792–1795. In 1806 the Prussians were shattered byNapoleon'sGrande Armée at theBattle of Jena; only after a series of reforms motivated by the disasters of 1806–1807 did Prussian military power again begin to grow.[102]
The defeats of the Silesian Wars cost the Habsburg monarchy its wealthiest province,[91] and capitulating to a lesser German prince significantly dented the House of Habsburg's prestige.[103] Prussia's confirmation as a first-rate power and the enhanced prestige of its king and army were long-term threats to Austria's hegemony in Germany.[104] Still, by winning Prussia's support for the Imperial elections of her husband and son, Maria Theresa ensured the continuation of her family's titular pre-eminence in the Holy Roman Empire, though this was far less than she had hoped for.[105] Defeat in the first two Silesian Wars at the hands of an enemy so apparently inferior created a strong impetus for change within the Habsburg monarchy, resulting in the first wave of Theresian reforms: a broad restructuring of the Habsburg administration and military, and a total realignment of Habsburg foreign policy through the "Diplomatic Revolution".[106]
After the renewed disappointment of the Third Silesian War, a second wave of Theresian reforms ensued. In 1761 the Habsburg monarchy implemented newly centralised administrative and policymaking bodies to streamline what had often been a chaotic executive process. The 1760s and 1770s saw vigorous efforts to improve tax collection, particularly in theDuchy of Milan and theAustrian Netherlands, which led to significant increases in state revenues.[107] In 1766 the crown promulgated its first common code of laws, theCodex Theresianus, in an effort to unify the realm's legal systems.[108] Aiming to increase the peasantry's ability to contribute to the state's tax base, Maria Theresa issued a series ofRobot Patents between 1771 and 1778 restricting forced peasant labour in her German and Bohemian lands, and her son would carry the process further with hisSerfdom Patent.[109] The state also implemented compulsory primary education and established a system of secular public schools.[110] Beginning with these steps, wide-ranging efforts to modernise the Habsburg monarchy over the next half century grew out of Austria's defeats, culminating in theJosephinism of the 1780s.[111]
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