Mediaeval and modern history . gions. The Prussian battalion, saysFrederick, speaking of the army he had inherited from his paren-tal drillmaster, had become a walking battery. One Prussian,he asserts, was equal to three adversaries. The two great wars in which Frederick was engaged, andwhich raised Prussia to the first rank among the military powersof Europe, were the War of the Austrian Succession and theSeven Years War. 525. War of the Austrian Succession (i 740-1748). — Throughthe death of Charles VI the imperial office became vacant inthe very year that Frederick II ascended the Prussian
Mediaeval and modern history . gions. The Prussian battalion, saysFrederick, speaking of the army he had inherited from his paren-tal drillmaster, had become a walking battery. One Prussian,he asserts, was equal to three adversaries. The two great wars in which Frederick was engaged, andwhich raised Prussia to the first rank among the military powersof Europe, were the War of the Austrian Succession and theSeven Years War. 525. War of the Austrian Succession (i 740-1748). — Throughthe death of Charles VI the imperial office became vacant inthe very year that Frederick II ascended the Prussian was the last of the direct male line of the Hapsburgs,and disputes straightway arose respecting the succession to thedominions of the House of Austria, which resulted in the longstruggle known as the War of the Austrian Succession. Now, not long before his death Charles had bound all thedifferent states of his dominion and all the leading powers ofEurope to a sort of agreement called the Pragmatic Sanction, by. PRUSSIA at the ]>eath oi FKEDEIUCK THE GREAT in 1?86 Scale oOIiles WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 473 the terms of which, in case he should leave no son, all his hered-itary dominions — that is, the kingdom of Hungary, the kingdomof Bohemia, the archduchy of Austria, and the other possessionsof the House of Austria — shoulddescend to his elder daughter,Maria Theresa. Accordingly, upon the death of Charles thesedominions passed to the archduchess, who was now called Queenof Hungary, that being the highest title of all those which shewas entitled to ^ Solemnly as the powers of Europe had agreed to maintain thePragmatic Sanction, no sooner was Charles dead than Bavaria,Spain, Sardinia, and Saxony each laid claim to all or to portionsof the Hapsburg inheritance. France, quite willing to aid in thedismemberment of Austria, supported the pretensions of any of these claimants, however, had begun hostilities,Frederick,—whose father
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