How Did Germany Influence The Prussian Revolution

During the Austrian War of succession in 1740 to 1748, Prussia had attained Silesia, which Austria tried to recover. She had allied with Great Britain and Russia. On the other side, France allied with Prussia to capture Austrian Netherlands. Although Austria and France were both unsuccessful in their aims, in 1755 there was the Diplomatic Revolution which resulted in a change of alliances. Austria had broken her relations with Great Britain because she believed that the country was not providing effective assistance and made her lose some territories. Britain argued that Austria was asking for too much financial assistance in the war. As a result, Austria allied with France—a powerful army in Europe to fight against Prussia in order to retain Silesia in the Seven Years War; Russia too allied with Austria. In consequence, Prussia allied with Great Britain who both agreed to help each other. Britain’s main purpose to ally with Prussia was to protect

The war begun in 1756 when Prussia invaded Saxony. Prussia’s conquest of two territories, Silesia and Saxony, was looking to expand her influence. The reason why Prussia wanted Silesia was to strengthen the country and increase the nation’s wealth. For example, Silesia was rich in agriculture, had a famous textile industry, and had a population of approximately one million, most of who were Protestants. However, Prussian influence was to affect both Russia and Austria. For example, Russia was seeking dominance in the eastern Baltic, but for Austria, she wanted to reduce German power by retaking Silesia in order to maintain Austrian power. Moreover, Austria had brought France into the struggle by creating an anti-Prussian coalition which included France, Austria and Russia, and was created in 1756; the First Treaty of Versailles. From here, Prussian influence was effecting the three powers of Europe, which disturbed the European