Treaty of Versailles (1757)

The (second) Treaty of Versailles on May 1, 1757 represented an expansion of the Austro-French alliance from the previous year into an offensive treaty that resulted in the smashing of Prussia .

In the amended Treaty of Versailles, France increased its troop aid to a contingent of 100,000 soldiers. France pledged 12 million guilders for 10,000 German mercenaries, but wanted to achieve an increase in land by four cities from the Austrian Netherlands .

In return for subsidies granted and in the event of the recovery of Silesia, Austria offered France indirect control over the Austrian Netherlands . It was thought that Don Philip, the Duke of Parma and son-in-law of Louis XV. to install there.

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria did not want to stand idly by the earlier annexation of Silesia by Prussia. Meanwhile, the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great , anticipated an Austrian attack. The Prussian army invaded the Electorate of Saxony on August 29, 1756 in a preventive attack , triggering the Third Silesian War . Because of its alliance with Austria, France was now in the Seven Years' War and therefore had to come to Austria's military aid.

The attack by Frederick the Great provoked reactions. On January 17, 1757, the Regensburg Reichstag decided to execute the Reich against Prussia. On January 22, 1757, Russia agreed to an alliance with Austria. In March, Sweden allied with Austria. Saxony and Spain also took the side of the allies.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Broucek : The Battle of Kolin, June 18, 1757 . In: Troop service , episode 297, issue 3/2007, Federal Ministry for National Defense and Sport , accessed on May 1, 2017.
2. ↑ MS Staum: International Relations 1700–1789 . University of Calgary , September 13, 2002, accessed May 1, 2017.
3. ^ Roy Bridge: Seven Years' War. Microsoft Encarta , 2005, archived from the original on October 15, 2008 ; accessed on May 1, 2017 (English). 
4. ^ Joachim Sörgel: Margrave Friedrich von Brandenburg-Bayreuth 1735–1763 and the 7 Years War in the Landeshauptmannschaft Hof: years 1756–1757. marlesreuth.de, archived from the original on April 24, 2005 ; Retrieved on May 1, 2017 (according to Ernst Dietlein : Die Chronik der Stadt Hof , Volume 2: Allgemeine Stadtgeschichte . Hof, 1939). 
5. ↑ Dieter Griesshaber: The Rise of Prussia to a European Great Power (1740–1763): The Seven Years War . History and Culture Association Köngen , April 26, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2017.