The Central European borders of Brandenburg–Prussia (blue-green) and the Habsburg monarchy (red) in 1756, after Prussia's seizure of Silesia in the First Silesian War
Date
16 December 1740 – 15 February 1763
Location
Central Europe
Result
Prussian victory
Territorial changes
Habsburg monarchy cedes the majority of Silesia to Prussia.
Belligerents
Prussia
Habsburg monarchy Saxony(Second & Third) Russia(Third) France(Third)
Commanders and leaders
King Frederick II Prince Henry
Archduchess Maria Theresa Prince-Elector Frederick Augustus II Empress Elizabeth King Louis XV
v
t
e
Silesian Wars
First
Second
Third
The Silesian Wars (German: Schlesische Kriege) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg Austria (under Empress Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The First (1740–1742) and Second (1744–1745) Silesian Wars formed parts of the wider War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia was a member of a coalition seeking territorial gain at Austria's expense. The Third Silesian War (1756–1763) was a theatre of the global Seven 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 a casus belli, but Realpolitik and geostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the Habsburg monarchy under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such as Saxony and Bavaria.
All three wars are generally considered to have ended in Prussian victories, and the first resulted in Austria's cession of the majority of Silesia to Prussia. Prussia emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new European great power and the leading state of Protestant Germany, while Catholic Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged the House of Habsburg's prestige. The conflict over Silesia foreshadowed a wider Austro-Prussian struggle for hegemony over the German-speaking peoples, which would later culminate in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.
The SilesianWars (German: Schlesische Kriege) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg...
the wider War of the Austrian Succession. It was the first of three SilesianWars fought between Frederick the Great's Prussia and Maria Theresa's Austria...
The war was fought mainly in Silesia, Bohemia and Upper Saxony and formed one theatre of the Seven Years' War. It was the last of three SilesianWars fought...
the wider War of the Austrian Succession. It was the second of three SilesianWars fought between Frederick the Great's Prussia and Maria Theresa's Austria...
role in the conflicts of that time; at the latest by the time of the SilesianWars. Prussia's Army won major victories like at Leuthen, Leipzig, Waterloo...
the disciplined Prussian troops to victory during the 18th-century SilesianWars and greatly increased the prestige of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian...
include King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First and Second SilesianWars. Its pretext was the...
this region formed the Province of Pomerania. Prussian gains in the SilesianWars led to the formation of the Province of Silesia in 1740. After the First...
events such as the Protestant Reformation, the SilesianWars, industrialisation and the two World Wars. Although much of the region is relatively low-lying...
Austrian Habsburg monarchy under Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century SilesianWars. It furthermore included the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia around...
Silesia retained by Austria after the SilesianWars, became part of the new Czechoslovakia. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany invaded Polish parts...
signalled the beginning of three SilesianWars (1740–1763). The First SilesianWar (1740–1742) and the Second SilesianWar (1744–1745) have, historically...
Silesian or Upper Silesian is a West Slavic ethnolect of the Lechitic group spoken by a small percentage of people in Upper Silesia. Its vocabulary was...
most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Silesianwars, his reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland...
centuries. As a result of the SilesianWars, the region was annexed by the German state of Prussia from Austria in 1742. After World War I, when the Poles and...
Prussia and Austria on 10 April 1741, during the First SilesianWar (in the early stages of the War of the Austrian Succession). It was the first battle...
Years' War, and Russian troops were threatening Berlin at the time of Peter's accession to the throne. He immediately switched sides in the war and withdrew...
Brunswick, and the army began to degrade in quality. Led by veterans of the SilesianWars, the Prussian Army was ill-equipped to deal with Revolutionary France...
Prussia following the First SilesianWar. This was confirmed following the Second SilesianWar in 1745 and the Third SilesianWar in 1763. Following the dissolution...
future wars with Austria, returned them to Maria Theresa. Frederick of Prussia's invasion of Saxony in August 1756 began a Third SilesianWar and sparked...
The Carnatic wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State...
The Silesian Uprisings (Polish: Powstania śląskie; German: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919...
active service, still under Trenck, was in the Silesian mountains in 1745 (during the Second SilesianWar against Prussia), in which campaign he greatly...
Charles Alexander of Lorraine on 4 June 1745 during the Second SilesianWar (part of the War of the Austrian Succession). Austria sought to regain Silesia...
They were victorious over the Austrian Habsburg monarchy in the three SilesianWars, greatly increasing their power through the acquisition of Silesia....
Silesia was conquered by the Prussian king Frederick the Great in the SilesianWars of 1740–1763, Teschen together with the duchies of Troppau (Opava),...
major European conflicts of her time: the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). She and diplomat Aleksey Bestuzhev-Ryumin...
Global Information
Prussia
Habsburg monarchy
Saxony (Second & Third)
Russia (Third)
France (Third)
King Frederick II