A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

394 Ch. 1 1 • Dynastic Rivalries and Politics

Prussia never suffered the desperate periods of dearth that occurred in
France. With careful budgeting, Frederick the Great managed to pay for
his wars, closely monitoring state tax revenues and expenses. He refused to
undertake expensive loans, sell noble titles and privileges, or impose new
levies on the peasantry, policies that were wreaking financial and social
havoc in France.
Frederick continued the exemptions of the Junkers from many taxes and
preserved their domination of the bureaucracy and army. He personally
planned educational reforms with an eye to improving the performance of
his officials. Nobles oversaw regional government, as well as the collection
of taxes. But Frederick also wanted to keep the Junkers in a position of
subordination to the crown. Noble army officers could not marry or travel
abroad without the king’s authority. He tolerated no appeal of royal deci­
sions. In a society with a relatively rigid social structure, aristocratic and
military virtues were henceforth inseparable in Prussia, a fact fraught with
significance for modern German history.

Conflicts between the Great Powers

The rise of Prussia and Russia (see Chapter 7) carried European dynastic
rivalries and warfare into Central Europe. The War of the Austrian Succes­
sion (1740-1748) revealed the fundamental principle in eighteenth­
century power politics: the balance of power. The unchecked success of any
one power seeking to expand its territory inevitably brought a combined
response from the other powers to maintain a rough balance between the
states. The expansion of Prussian power engendered the “Diplomatic Revo­
lution” of 1756, when Austria and France put their long-standing rivalry
aside to join forces against Prussia and Britain in the Seven Years’ War
(1756—1763). The long, costly war between France and Britain was truly
global in extent, as both powers battled in North America (where the war
became known as the French and Indian War), the Caribbean, and in India.
The armies that fought in the war were larger and better drilled than ever
before. At the same time, the French and British navies played a greater role
in transporting troops and supplies, as well as guarding commercial vessels
in the global struggle.

The War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession reflected naked absolutist aggression.

Frederick the Great coveted Silesia (now part of Poland), a Habsburg terri­

tory south of Prussia and then squeezed between Saxony, Poland, and Aus­

tria. With its textile, mining, and metallurgical industries, Silesia was a

relatively wealthy province within the Habsburg domains. Frederick II had

come to the throne in the same year as Maria Theresa and quickly sought