Ruqayyah Snyder
The Anglo-Austrian Alliance was a historic military alliance between Great Britain and Austria that existed between 1731 and 1756. During this time, both countries were closely aligned with the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. However, in 1756, Austria concluded an alliance with France, its traditional enemy, suspecting that Prussia was about to invade Bohemia and fearing that Britain would not aid them due to their dispute with France over the Ohio Country. This led to a realignment known as the Diplomatic Revolution, where Austria and France ended their centuries-long rivalry, and Prussia became an ally of Great Britain.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time Period | First half of the 18th century |
| Duration | 1731 to 1756 |
| Participants | Great Britain, Austrian Habsburg Monarchy |
| Other Alliances | Austria-Hungary and Germany, Britain, France, and Russia (Triple Entente), Britain and Prussia |
| Causes | Austria's desire to crush Serbia, Britain's desire to maintain a balance of power in Europe, German domination on the continent |
| Effects | First World War, Second World War |
| Current Relations | Cooperation on security in the Balkans, countering Russian activity |
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What You'll Learn
- Austria's alliance with Britain's enemy, France
- Britain's failure to insist on a return of Silesia to Austria
- Britain's preoccupation with a dispute over the Ohio Country
- Austria's suspicion that Britain was not fully committed to the alliance
- Britain's realignment with Prussia to protect Hanover from French aggression
Austria's alliance with Britain's enemy, France
Austria and France were enemies for much of the 17th and 18th centuries, repeatedly fighting wars against each other. During the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735), France and its allies managed to weaken Austria severely and forced it to give up small amounts of territory. The War of the Austrian Succession saw Britain and France on opposite sides, with Britain allying with Austria and other nations, while France, Prussia, and Bavaria allied against Habsburg power.
In 1756, Britain signed a limited defensive alliance with Prussia, which outraged Austria and France, who perceived it as a betrayal. In response, Austria and France signed a defensive alliance, the First Treaty of Versailles, agreeing to aid each other in the event of an attack by a third party. This marked the beginning of the Seven Years' War, with Austria and France joining forces against their mutual enemy, Prussia. The alliance reached its peak in late 1757 when a French invasion overran Hanover, Austrian troops recaptured Saxony, and Austria liberated its province of Bohemia from Prussia.
However, the failure to overwhelm Prussia and the loss of several French colonies to Britain led to disappointment in the military performance of both nations. This disappointment led to a cooling of relations, with Austria looking to Russia as an ally, and France drawing closer to Spain. By the 1780s, the Franco-Austrian alliance had weakened significantly, and the new Austrian emperor, Joseph II, considered establishing fresh alliances, including with Great Britain, which was fighting a global war against France.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Austria and Britain fought against the French First Republic, with Britain leading a coalition of European monarchies against France. In the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797), France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria, and Britain joined the coalition during the war. In the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802), Britain, Austria, and Russia led the coalition against revolutionary France, which included the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, and Naples.
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Britain's failure to insist on a return of Silesia to Austria
The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) was a European conflict fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. Prussia, France, and Bavaria saw it as an opportunity to challenge Habsburg power, while Maria Theresa was backed by Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Hanover, collectively known as the Pragmatic Allies. Prussia occupied the Austrian province of Silesia in 1740, and Britain pressured Austria to cede most of Silesia to Prussia, along with the County of Glatz in Bohemia. This undermined the long-standing Anglo-Austrian Alliance, as Maria Theresa deeply resented Britain's insistence on ceding Silesia for peace and made it her primary goal to regain it.
The First Silesian War ended on June 11, 1742, with the Treaty of Breslau, which was later formalized in the Treaty of Berlin. Austria retained only two small portions of southern Silesia, including the Duchy of Teschen and parts of the Duchies of Jägerndorf, Troppau, and Neisse. Prussia also agreed to assume some of Austria's debts and remain neutral for the remainder of the war. The peace agreement allowed Austria and its British-Hanoverian allies to reverse French and Bavarian gains. By mid-1743, Austria had regained control of Bohemia and driven the French back across the Rhine, occupying Bavaria.
In September 1743, Britain, Austria, and Savoy-Sardinia formed a new alliance under the Treaty of Worms, which furthered Frederick's suspicions of Maria Theresa's intentions. In 1746, Maria Theresa entered a defensive pact with Empress Elizabeth of Russia, aligning their realms against Prussia. In 1753, Austrian Foreign Minister Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz began pursuing warmer relations with France, Austria's traditional rival. In 1755, Britain offered to finance the deployment of a Russian army to threaten Prussia's eastern frontier, escalating tensions.
In January 1756, Prussia and Britain formed an alliance through the Convention of Westminster, with Prussia guaranteeing Hanover against French attack in exchange for Britain withdrawing its military subsidies to Russia. This incensed the French court, and Austria sought warmer relations with France to counter Prussia's potential support for its claim over Silesia. In May 1756, King Louis XV of France accepted Maria Theresa's invitation to a Franco-Austrian alliance, marking a significant diplomatic shift known as the Diplomatic Revolution. This series of maneuvers resulted in a grand anti-Prussian alliance between Austria, Russia, various German powers, and France, while Prussia invaded Saxony in August 1756, initiating the Third Silesian War.
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Britain's preoccupation with a dispute over the Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was a highly contested region in the 18th century, with rival claims and occupation by several Native American nations, European powers, and later, the original US states. The region played an important role in the French and Indian War (1754-1760), also known as the Seven Years' War, which saw Great Britain and France vying for control of the area. The Ohio Country Indians, though initially neutral, largely sided with the French due to their less expansionist interests in the region compared to the British. This dispute preoccupied Britain as it sought to maintain and expand its colonial empire in North America.
The Ohio Country was strategically important, situated along the Ohio River and claimed by both Great Britain and France. The Iroquois League also asserted their right to the region by conquest. The British sought to establish forts in the area, such as Fort Pitt, and curry favour with local Indian nations like the Mingoes, who were part of the Iroquois Confederation allied with Great Britain. However, the French supplied their Native American allies with arms, enabling them to launch raids against British interests.
After defeating the French, Britain acquired the entirety of the Ohio Country in the 1763 Treaty of Paris. However, this treaty did not account for the interests of the Native Americans, who had been fighting alongside the French and continued their struggle against British colonial expansion. Recognizing the injustice faced by Native Americans, the British Crown issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting European settlement in the region and preserving it exclusively for Native American use. Nonetheless, colonies like Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and Connecticut had overlapping claims to portions of the Ohio Country based on historical charters.
The high point of Native American resistance came in 1782 when the Ohio Valley Indian Nations met with the British in a war council, planning a successful rout of American forces. However, following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the American Revolutionary War, Britain ceded its claims over the Ohio Country to the newly independent United States. The US federal government promptly opened the area to American settlement, and it quickly became a desirable location for pioneers and veterans of the Revolutionary War.
In summary, Britain's preoccupation with the dispute over the Ohio Country was driven by its colonial ambitions and rivalry with France. The region's strategic importance and overlapping claims by multiple parties led to armed conflicts and shifting alliances. Ultimately, Britain's focus on maintaining its global power and responding to threats from rival European powers may have influenced its diplomatic decisions, including its shifting alliances with Austria and other nations in the lead-up to World War I.
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Austria's suspicion that Britain was not fully committed to the alliance
Austria and Great Britain were allies from 1731 to 1756. This alliance was formed between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. It was largely the work of the British Whig statesman Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who considered an alliance with Austria crucial to maintaining the security of Germany by creating an alliance between Britain, Hanover, Austria and the Dutch Republic.
However, Austria suspected that Britain was not fully committed to the alliance. In 1740, Prussia occupied the Austrian province of Silesia, and Austria felt that Britain did not provide sufficient support against this aggression. During the War of the Austrian Succession, Britain, along with France and the Dutch Republic, signed the Treaty of Aachen in 1748, which ended the war. Austria felt that Britain had been too conciliatory towards France, its traditional enemy, during the peace negotiations.
In the lead-up to the Seven Years' War, Austria's suspicions of Britain's commitment were further heightened. Austria believed that Prussia was about to launch an invasion of Bohemia and feared that Britain would not come to their aid due to a dispute with France over the Ohio Country. As a result, Austria concluded an alliance with France, Britain's enemy, in 1756, leading to a reversal of longstanding alliances in Europe. This marked the end of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance and the beginning of a new phase of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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Britain's realignment with Prussia to protect Hanover from French aggression
The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) saw Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Hanover, collectively known as the Pragmatic Allies, support Maria Theresa's succession to the Habsburg throne. However, the war demonstrated that Hanover, then held in personal union with the British Crown, was vulnerable to Prussian attacks. Many British politicians felt they received little benefit from the enormous subsidies paid to Austria. As a result, Britain realigned with Prussia to protect Hanover from French aggression. This realignment was known as the 1756 Diplomatic Revolution.
During the War of the Austrian Succession, Prussia, led by King Frederick II, occupied the Austrian province of Silesia. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was forced to cede Silesia to Prussia and signed the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 to gain time to rebuild her military forces and forge new alliances. She gave up parts of the Duchy of Milan and occupied Bavaria under British diplomatic pressure.
In the aftermath of the War of the Austrian Succession, Britain and Prussia, in the Westminster Convention of 16 January 1756, agreed that Britain would not aid Austria in a renewed conflict over Silesia if Prussia agreed to protect Hanover from France. The protection of Hanover was important to Britain because it was a possession of its king, George II, who had been born and raised there. Britain viewed Prussia's growing strength as a better guarantee of Hanover's defence than Austria's protection.
The realignment of alliances resulted in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), with Britain and Prussia leading one alliance and France and Austria leading the opposing alliance. The Anglo-Prussian alliance proved short-lived, as Britain withdrew its financial and military support for Prussia in 1762, leading Prussia to ally with Russia. Despite the reversal of alliances, the basic antagonisms remained, with Prussia versus Austria and Britain versus France.
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Frequently asked questions
Austria dropped Great Britain as an ally in 1756, during what is known as the "Diplomatic Revolution", a period of shifting alliances in Europe. Austria entered into an alliance with its traditional enemy, France, because it suspected Prussia was about to invade Bohemia and it feared Britain would not help due to its dispute with France over the Ohio Country.
The Anglo-Austrian Alliance was a historic military alliance between Great Britain and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy that existed between 1731 and 1756. It was formalised by the Treaty of Vienna in 1731.
The collapse of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance led to the Seven Years' War. Britain, left out, formed an alliance with Prussia, which then attacked Austria.
Austria and Great Britain were enemies during the First and Second World Wars.
