Foreign Policies of France, Pr
Major turmoil involving France, Prussia, and the Hapsburg Empire arose during the 1740's. Each empire had an integral part in the rise or decline of the other involved nations. Prussia on one hand was seeking to expand into the Hapsburg territories. France seeing an expansion opportunity as well made an alliance with Prussia. The Hapsburg Empire could only hope to maintain the current boundaries of their kingdom and territories. They also thought it was necessary to create alliances to counterpart the ones made by Prussia. When Prussia seized the Austrian Province of Silesia, the Pragmatic Sanction was broken and upset the continental balance of power. These events and others culminated into the War of the Austrian Succession. The confrontation began though, as a result of each involved nation's foreign policy and their effort to achieve goals to further their economic, political, and geographical position. France, Prussia, and the Hapsburgs exhibited this quality as the War of Austrian Succession developed. The foreign policy of France reflected the situation in Prussia and Austria. France did not want to witness a rising power to the east. Therefore, the dilemma was often to determine which nation, Austria or Pruss
" (Kennedy 90) Also, because the Hapsburgs devoted most of their energy to enhancing their position in the Balkans, they did not pay enough attention to the opposing rulers. France did not achieve the goals and did not maintain the foreign policy they had set prior to the war. He also prided himself on his religious tolerance. The Prussian foreign policy was similar to that of France. (Kennedy 89) Furthermore, a campaign into Germany would bring France against multiple coalitions and treaties. Frederick the Great was the leader that led Prussia into the War of Austrian Succession. That is why it became the goal of the Prussian king. Financially during the 1740's, France was looking to recover from debt caused by other wars such as the War of the Spanish Succession and the Nine Years War. It was in 1740 that Prussia believed that these weaknesses (as in trade, population, etc. When France made an alliance with Prussia, the goals were to pull themselves out of debt through the territories they hoped to gain. During the war she had to deal with the immense debt that her less efficient and decentralized country grew into. Finally, Prussia's opposition, the Hapsburg Empire, focused their goals and policy on maintaining their inheritance of lands. This was apparent because in the early 1760's it was evident that Prussia had become a powerful nation. (Kennedy 88) France was looking to expand financially and geographically, by gaining resourceful territories while still maintaining their colonies in America. When Prussia seized Silesia, the Hapsburgs had to conduct its foreign and military policies with one eye on Prussian activity.
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