Bavarian Succession: A Grandiloquent War Title Explained

The War of Bavarian Succession is a grandiloquent title for a conflict that was, in reality, a series of skirmishes and raids, with no major battles. The war was fought between Prussia and Austria, with both sides spending most of their time disrupting the other's supply lines. The conflict earned the nickname Potato War due to the focus on the consumption of local produce, and the fact that it took place during the potato harvest. The war lasted from July 1778 to May 1779, with thousands of soldiers dying from starvation and disease.

The death of Maximilian III Joseph

Maximilian III Joseph, "the much beloved", was the last of the Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He was born in Munich on 28 March 1727 and died there on 30 December 1777. He was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII and Maria Amalia of Austria, daughter of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Maximilian was a progressive and enlightened ruler. He encouraged agriculture, industry, and the exploitation of minerals. He abolished the Jesuit censorship of the press, founded Munich's first academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and regulated general school attendance. He was also responsible for the Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory and the Codex Maximilianeus Bavaricus Civilis.

In 1745, Maximilian inherited a country in the process of being invaded by Austrian armies. He wavered between the Peace-party, led by his mother, and the War-party, led by the Foreign Minister. After the decisive defeat in the Battle of Pfaffenhofen, Maximilian abandoned his father's imperial pretenses and made peace with Maria Theresa in the Treaty of Füssen. He agreed to support her husband, Grand Duke Francis II Stephen of Tuscany, in the upcoming imperial election.

Maximilian married his first cousin, Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, but the marriage remained childless. During the Seven Years' War, Bavarian forces fought on the Habsburg side. Maximilian's sister, Maria Josepha, was married to Maria Theresa's son, Archduke Joseph. However, Maximilian tried to keep Bavaria out of the wars, sending only a small force of 4,000 men to join the Austrian army. He withdrew Bavarian auxiliary troops from Austrian service in 1758/59.

In December 1777, Maximilian rode in his carriage through Munich. As he passed one of the tower clocks, the mechanism broke, and the clock struck 77 times. Commenting to the passengers, Maximilian decided this was an omen, and that his years had run out. Within days, he was stricken with a virulent strain of smallpox and died by the last day of the month. He was buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

Maximilian's death led to a succession dispute and the brief War of the Bavarian Succession. He was succeeded by his cousin, Charles Theodore, from the senior branch of the dynasty. Maximilian's widow, Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, and his sister, Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria, negotiated with Max's reluctant heir and intervened with Frederick II of Prussia and the new elector's presumptive successor, Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken, to secure Bavaria's independence from Austria.

The role of Empress Maria Theresa

Empress Maria Theresa was the ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780. She was the only woman to hold the position in her own right. Maria Theresa was a devout Catholic who believed that religious unity was necessary for a peaceful public life. She despised Jews and Protestants and tried to suppress them. She was arguably the most anti-Semitic monarch of her time.

Maria Theresa was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria, Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress.

Maria Theresa was an absolutist conservative, but this was tempered by pragmatism and she implemented a number of reforms to strengthen Austria's military, financial, and bureaucratic efficiency. She was aided by Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz, who modernised the empire by creating a standing army of 108,000 men. Maria Theresa doubled the state revenue from 20 to 40 million florins between 1754 and 1764. She also oversaw the unification of the Austrian and Bohemian chancellories in 1749.

Maria Theresa was a proponent of public health initiatives. She banned the creation of new burial grounds without prior government permission, countering wasteful and unhygienic burial customs. She also promoted inoculation, which she learned about from her daughter, Maria Antonia, Electress of Saxony. Maria Theresa herself was inoculated and promoted the procedure by hosting a dinner for the first 65 inoculated children in Schönbrunn Palace.

Maria Theresa was also responsible for educational reforms. She permitted non-Catholics to attend university and allowed the introduction of secular subjects such as law, which influenced the decline of theology as the main foundation of university education. She also introduced compulsory primary education, with all children of both genders required to attend school from the ages of six to twelve.

Maria Theresa played a key role in the War of the Bavarian Succession. She was very unwilling to consent to the occupation of Bavaria. She made peace proposals to Frederick II of Prussia against the wishes of her son, Joseph II. With France and Russia acting as intermediaries, the Treaty of Teschen was signed on 13 May 1779. Austria was to receive the Inn district, a fraction of the territory originally occupied.

The conflict's legacy

The War of Bavarian Succession was the last of the old-style Cabinet Wars of the Ancien Régime, in which troops manoeuvred while diplomats travelled between capitals to resolve monarchs' complaints. The conflict was also the last war for both Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa, whose reigns both began and ended with wars against one another.

The War of Bavarian Succession was a short-lived conflict, lasting from July 1778 to May 1779, but it had a significant impact on the future of Central Europe. The war cost Prussia 33 million florins and Austria 65 million florins, a substantial sum for both nations. The human cost was also high, with a combined 39,000 soldiers and 5,000 horses lost, despite there being no major battles. Most of the deaths were caused by starvation and disease.

The war also marked the end of an era of European conflict, as the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars that followed differed significantly in scope, strategy, organisation and tactics. The War of Bavarian Succession was characterised by large armies manoeuvring at a distance and living off the land, with limited engagements consisting of supply raids and skirmishes. This type of warfare was made possible by the emerging abilities of nations to conscript, train, equip and field larger armies. The conflict also reflected a new height in military spending, particularly by the Habsburgs, who significantly increased the size of their military in the years following the war.

The War of Bavarian Succession also had important diplomatic consequences. It demonstrated the limits of Austrian power and the growing strength of Prussia, which was able to challenge Habsburg imperialism and protect its influence in German politics. The war also showed the fickleness of French foreign policy, as France extricated itself from its diplomatic obligations to Austria and refused to provide military support.

In the longer term, the War of Bavarian Succession contributed to the rise of German dualism and the eventual unification of Germany. It highlighted the problems facing the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire and the need to acquire additional German-speaking territories to strengthen the Austrian position within the Holy Roman Empire. It also reinforced the Austro-Prussian dualism that would dominate the unification movement in the following century.

The role of Frederick II of Prussia

The War of Bavarian Succession was a dispute between the Austrian Habsburg monarchy and an alliance of Saxony and Prussia over the succession to the Electorate of Bavaria. The Habsburgs sought to acquire Bavaria, but the alliance opposed them, favouring another branch of the Wittelsbachs.

King Frederick II of Prussia was instrumental in blocking an attempt by Joseph II of Austria to acquire Bavaria. Frederick's role in the conflict can be summarised as follows:

The Lead-up to War

In 1777, Maximilian III Joseph, the last of the junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach, died without leaving any children. This triggered a succession crisis, as several ambitious men prepared to divide his lands.

Charles Theodore, a senior member of the House of Wittelsbach, held the closest claim of kinship. However, he had no legitimate children to succeed him, and his cousin, Charles II August, held a legitimate claim as the heir presumptive. Across Bavaria's southern border, Emperor Joseph II coveted the Bavarian territory and had married Maximilian Joseph's sister, Maria Josepha, to strengthen his claim.

Joseph's agreement with Charles Theodore to partition the territory neglected any claims of the heir presumptive, Charles August. Joseph's claim threatened Prussian influence in German politics, and so King Frederick II questioned whether he should preserve the status quo through war, diplomacy, or trade.

Mobilisation and Skirmishes

Both sides mobilised large armies, but the only fighting in the war consisted of minor skirmishes. Thousands of soldiers died from disease and starvation, earning the conflict the name "Kartoffelkrieg" (Potato War) in Prussia and Saxony.

Stalemate and Resolution

In early July 1778, Frederick entered Bohemia with 80,000 troops. He was opposed by an imperial army led by Joseph II himself, which was entrenched on the heights of the Elbe River. There was little fighting, as each force was more concerned with cutting off the other's supplies.

Maria Theresa, who co-ruled with Joseph, considered any conflict over the Bavarian electorate not worth bloodshed. She made peace proposals to Frederick against Joseph's wishes, and France and Russia acted as intermediaries between Austria and Prussia. Representatives of the two powers met at Teschen, and on May 13, 1779, they reached an agreement.

Aftermath

The Treaty of Teschen restored Bavaria's previous territorial boundaries, with Austria keeping a small strip of land called the Innviertel. This was the last war for both Frederick and Maria Theresa, whose reigns began and ended with wars against one another.

For historians, the War of the Bavarian Succession was the last of the old-style cabinet wars of the Ancien Régime, in which troops manoeuvred while diplomats travelled between capitals to resolve disputes.

The role of Joseph II of Austria

Emperor Joseph II of Austria was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I. He was born in 1741 and died in 1790, and his reign as emperor lasted from 1765 until his death.

Joseph's role in the War of the Bavarian Succession was motivated by his desire to expand his family's influence in Central Europe, particularly in German-speaking states. He believed that acquiring territory in these regions was essential to counter Prussia's growing strength in Imperial affairs.

In 1777, the last of the junior branch of the House of Wittelsbach, Maximilian III Joseph, died without leaving any children. This created a dispute over the succession to the Electorate of Bavaria, with Joseph coveting the Bavarian territory. He had previously married Maximilian Joseph's sister, Maria Josepha, in 1765 to strengthen his claim. After Maximilian Joseph's death, Joseph negotiated a secret agreement with Charles Theodore, the heir with the closest claim of kinship, in which he ceded Lower Bavaria to Austria in exchange for an uncontested succession to the remainder of the electorate. However, this agreement neglected the claims of Charles Theodore's heir presumptive, Charles II August, who also had a legitimate claim to the Bavarian territory.

As a result, Prussia formed an alliance with Saxony to oppose the Austrian Habsburg monarchy's attempt to acquire Bavaria. King Frederick the Great of Prussia declared war in support of Charles II August's claims to Bavaria, and France became involved to maintain the balance of power. Empress Maria Theresa, who co-ruled with Joseph, was opposed to the conflict and sought to maintain peace. Eventually, Empress Catherine the Great of Russia's threat to intervene on Prussia's side forced Joseph to reconsider, and he negotiated a solution with Frederick, resulting in the Treaty of Teschen in 1779.

The War of the Bavarian Succession was notable as it was considered by some historians to be the last of the old-style cabinet wars of the Ancien Régime, characterised by troop manoeuvres and diplomatic negotiations.

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