| rdfs:comment | - The diplomatic change was triggered by a separation of interests between Austria, Britain, and France. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle after the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 left Austria aware of the high price it paid in having Britain as an ally. Maria Theresa of Austria had defended her claim to the Habsburg throne and had her husband, Francis Stephen, crowned Emperor in 1741, but she had been forced to relinquish valuable territory in the process. Under British diplomatic pressure, Maria Theresa had given up most of Lombardy and occupied Bavaria. The British further forced her to cede Parma to Spain, and more importantly, abandon the valuable state of Silesia to Prussian occupation. During the war, Frederick II ("the Great") of Prussia had seized Silesia, one of the Bohemian cro
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| abstract | - The diplomatic change was triggered by a separation of interests between Austria, Britain, and France. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle after the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748 left Austria aware of the high price it paid in having Britain as an ally. Maria Theresa of Austria had defended her claim to the Habsburg throne and had her husband, Francis Stephen, crowned Emperor in 1741, but she had been forced to relinquish valuable territory in the process. Under British diplomatic pressure, Maria Theresa had given up most of Lombardy and occupied Bavaria. The British further forced her to cede Parma to Spain, and more importantly, abandon the valuable state of Silesia to Prussian occupation. During the war, Frederick II ("the Great") of Prussia had seized Silesia, one of the Bohemian crown lands. This acquisition had further advanced Prussia as a great European power, which now posed an increasing threat to Austria’s German lands, and to Central Europe as a whole. The growth of Prussian power, though dangerous to Austria, was welcomed by the British who saw it as a means of balancing French power.
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