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Part One: The Drums of War

King Frederick II, seen here venerated by the Silesian estates, by Wilhelm Camphausen, 1882
The first drums of war were heard all over Europe when the hooves of the Prussian cavalry horses began to step into Silesia. Prussia, under Frederick II was a fledgling nation hoping to become an empire. Their army was beginning to grow strong, and the Prussian ruling class had great hope for the future.

The War of German Succession, names so because of the region of Germany, whose leaders gained more prominence after this war [1], began with a death- that death being the death of Charles VI of the Habsburgs, who had no sons and three daughters, one of whom, Maria Theresa, was to become Empress, as the tiny principalities of Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony began to grow, challenging the dominance of the Habsburgs and their lands.

So the war began. On the sixteenth of December, 1740, Prussian troops arrived in Silesia. Though Prussia may have been a small state, their army was undoubtedly the greatest in all Europe [2], and they were much feared, even by their overlords in the Holy Roman Empire. Their advance could, and would change Europe. The Habsburgs would be cut down in their prime. They were, as some would say, a stillborn Empire.

[1] “ Why German?”, Niemann, Josef Albrecht, from Das Bote, 1921
[2] To learn more about the Prussian military of the period, see Aloïs Goldstein’s “A Military History of Europe, part 4. (1680-1800)”
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