Part eleven of our series on Maria Theresa.
In our last post, Maria Theresa had put together an alliance with France, via Madame de Pompadour. Russia, ruled by Empress Elizabeth, was also cranky with Prussia and Frederick’s blatant sexism.
So this chapter in our story begins with Austria and Russia signing a treaty. The trick is that this one is secret. Very few people know about it, and it’s important that it stay that way, at least for now. Why?
Well, Maria Theresa is trying to lure Frederick into attacking Austria. At the end of their last war, they’d signed a non-aggression pact. If Prussia attacked Austria, Maria Theresa could legitimately call upon her allies for defense. If she attacked him, her position would be much weaker. Prussia is never going to attack Austria if it knows she can call on both French and Russian troops for assistance.
So Empress Elizabeth privately commits troops to Austria, while telling the British ambassador that of course she’ll take money from Frederick to stay out of the war. (I’m unclear if any funds actually trade hands or not.)
In the meantime, everyone knows about the defensive alliance between Austria and France, and it’s throwing people off, including the British ambassador. Additionally, Maria Theresa starts moving troops into Bohemia (land that is part of her empire, but is close to Prussia – she totally does this to make Frederick think she’s going to attack him).
Frederick initially attacks Saxony (which is not part of Austria and was his plan all along), but keeps his troops moving right into Bohemia. He officially declares war on Austria on September 13, 1756. She can now call on both France and Russia to send troops.
Maria Theresa really wants to win this one; she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her rule in an arms race with Prussia. She wants to be able to focus on agriculture, commerce, education, and health. Maria Theresa needs to shut Frederick down. So she follows everything very closely, even opening up her own stables when the army runs short on horses.
When Frederick conquered Saxony, his occupation was pretty awful. The main atrocity relevant to our story is that he forced the Saxon army to fight on his behalf.
Frederick initially invades Bohemia and his arrogance is the main story. He attacks on October 1, 1756, a foggy day where he can’t really see anything and he hasn’t bothered to gather any intelligence on this particular force. Instead, he finds well-trained and capable Austrian troops who pick off his men. Prussia is soundly defeated.
But Maria Theresa knows that Frederick is coming back in the spring. While they are waiting in the interim, Maria Theresa’s brother-in-law, Charles, comes back looking to be a general again. She knows she shouldn’t, she really does. But she gives him a command, as a favor to her husband.
Sure enough, when Frederick attacks on May 6, 1757, Charles soundly loses the battle and has to hole up in Prague. But Maria Theresa has the very capable Field Marshall Daun, who she sends after him. Daun defeats Frederick – really, routs him. Frederick loses a full third of his men. Daun is helped when the Saxon army defects in the middle of the battle, firing on the Prussian troops from inside their own lines. Frederick is forced back to Prussia.
France ends up fighting Prussia’s lands, and taking Hanover, where the British King comes from. Britain, who had been aiding Prussia, stops fighting and negotiates for peace, so they can have control over Hanover again. Russia attacks on the East, stopping Frederick from moving any troops that way as well.
She’d won this particular bit of the war.
We are going to pause our story on Maria Theresa here for now. There are a some personal things taking up space in my life for the next couple of months, so I’ll be revisiting some women I’ve already read more extensively on: Germaine de Staël and Agrippina, as well as reviewing some books on women and how they negotiate power and how people try to remove it from them.
Source: In the Shadow of the Empress by Nancy Goldstone. Affiliate link to Bookshop.org.