TO THE PEACE OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.—These events widened the dimensions of the contest. France declared war directly against England and Austria. Frederick II. of Prussia was now the ally of France, and began the second Silesian war. He took Prague, but, being deserted by the French, was driven back into Saxony. The son of Charles Albert of Bavaria, Maximilian Joseph, made peace with Austria,—the Peace of Füssen,—promising to give his vote to Francis, the husband of Maria Theresa, for the office of emperor. Francis (1745-1765) was crowned at Frankfort. Victories in Saxony on the side of Frederick led to the Treaty of Dresden, which left Silesia in his hands (1745). The most of the English army went back to England to fight the Pretender. The war went on in the Netherlands and in Italy, and between France and England; the English being victors on the sea under Anson (1747), while the French were generally successful on the land. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) provided for a reciprocal restoration of all conquests: Silesia was given to Prussia, and the Pragmatic Sanction was sustained in Austria.
ALLIANCE AGAINST FREDERICK.—Frederick the Great used the next eight years in doing what he could to encourage industry and to increase the prosperity and resources of Prussia, at the same time that he strengthened his military force. Prussia had evinced so much power in the late conflicts as to be an object of envy and apprehension. Maria Theresa was anxious to recover Silesia. Frederick had a foe in Elizabeth, empress of Russia, whose personal vices he made a subject of sarcastic remark, and who, besides, coveted Prussian provinces on the Baltic. An alliance was formed between Russia and Austria. This was joined by Saxony, and by France; since Louis XV. had become alarmed by the calculating selfishness of Frederick's policy, and was induced to depart from the French traditional policy, and to unite with Austria. The only ally of Frederick was _George II. _of England, which was then engaged in a contest with France respecting the American colonies (1756).
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.—Thus arose the Seven Years' War. Frederick, secretly informed of the plans of his enemies, anticipated their action by invading Saxony and capturing Dresden (1756). At Lobositz he defeated the Austrians: he soon took eighteen thousand Saxon troops. He had now to encounter the military strength of the various nations opposed to him. With the bulk of his forces he marched into Bohemia, and gained a great but costly victory at Prague (1757). For the next six months, successes and reverses alternated; but before the end of the year (1757) Frederick won two of his most famous triumphs,—one at Rossbach, over the French and the Imperialists; and the other over the Austrians, at Leuthen. Frederick was now admired as a hero in England, and was furnished by the elder William Pitt, who had succeeded Newcastle, with money and troops. In 1758 the Prussians vanquished the Russians at Zorndorf, but were, in turn, soon defeated by the Austrians at Hochkirch Of the numerous battles in this prolonged war, in which the military talents of Frederick were so strikingly shown, it is possible to refer only to a few of the most important. He was defeated by the united Austrians and Russians at Kunersdorf; and so completely that he was for the moment thrown into despair, and wrote to his minister Finkenstein, "All is lost." In 1760 Berlin was held for a few days by the Russians, but Frederick soon defeated the Austrians once more at Torgau. In 1761, however, his situation was in the highest degree perilous. His resources were apparently exhausted. Spain joined the ranks of his enemies. He faced them all with determined resolution, but he confessed in his private letters that his hopes were gone.
END OF THE WAR.—At this time there was a turn of events in his favor. In Russia, Peter III., who succeeded Elizabeth, was an admirer of Frederick,—so much so that he wore a Prussian uniform,—and hastened to conclude a peace and alliance with him (1762). Peter was soon dethroned and killed by Russian nobles; and his queen· and successor, Catherine II., recalled the troops sent to Frederick's aid. Nevertheless, they helped him to a victory over the Austrians, under the command of Daun, at Burkersdorf (1762). Austria, too, was exhausted and ready for peace. The negotiations between England and France, which ended in the Peace of Paris (1763), made it certain that the French armies would evacuate Germany. Prussia and Austria agreed to the Peace of Hubertsburg, by which Prussia retained Silesia, and promised her vote for the Archduke Joseph, son of Maria Theresa, as king of Rome and successor to the empire (1763).
POSITION OF PRUSSIA.—Joseph II. succeeded his father as emperor in 1765, and was associated by his mother, Maria Theresa, in the government of her hereditary dominions. From the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, Prussia took her place as one of the five great powers of Europe.
THE BRITISH INDIAN EMPIRE.—It was during this period that the empire of the British in India grew up out of the mercantile settlements of a trading corporation, the East India Company. The result was effected after a severe struggle with the French. After the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Mughal empire at Delhi declined. Insubordinate native princes admitted only a nominal control over them. The effect of successive Mahratta and Afghan invasions was such, that when England and France went to war in Europe, in 1745, India was broken up into different sovereignties, to say nothing of the great number of petty chieftains who were practically independent. Pondicherry was the chief French settlement. For a time it seemed that in the struggle for control France, under the masterly guidance of Dupleix, must triumph. In 1756 Calcutta was taken from the English by the Nabob of Bengal, and many Englishmen died in the close room of the military prison in which they were shut up,—"the Black Hole." In 1757 Clive defeated a great army of the natives, with whom were a few French, in the decisive battle of Plassey. He had previously shown his indomitable courage in the seizure of Arcot, and in its defense against a host of besiegers. The victory at Plassey secured the British supremacy, which gradually extended itself over the country. The various local sovereignties became like Roman provinces. On the death of Clive, Warren Hastings was made governor-general (1772). After his recall, he was impeached (1788), on charges of cruelty and oppression in India, and his trial by the House of Lords did not end until seven years after it began. He was then acquitted. Among the conductors of the impeachment on the part of the House of Commons, were the celebrated orators Edmund Burke and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In 1784 the power of the East-India Company had been restricted by the establishment of the Board of Control. Up to that time the Indian Empire, made up of dependent and subject states, had been governed by the sole authority of the company.
CATHERINE II. OF RUSSIA.—Catherine II. (1762-1796) in her private life was notoriously dissolute. If she did not connive at the assassination of her husband, Peter III., she heaped gifts upon his murderers. In her policy, she aimed to strengthen Russia, especially towards the sea. This occasioned successful conflicts with the Turks.
THE PARTITION OF POLAND.—At first inimical to Frederick the Great, Catherine afterwards made an alliance with him. She compelled the election of one of her lovers, Poniatowski, to the throne of Poland. Poland was mainly Catholic; and the Confederation of Bar (1768), made by the Poles to prevent the toleration of Greek Christians and Protestants, was defeated by a Russian army, and broken up. The Turks were worsted in the war which they made in defense of the confederacy. As one result, Russia gained a firm footing on the north coasts of the Black Sea (1774). The "free veto," oppression of the peasantry, their distress, and the general want of union and public spirit, had reduced Poland to a miserable condition. Catherine, however, favored no reforms there looking to an improvement in the constitution. She preferred to prolong the anarchy and confusion. She wished to make the death of Poland in part a suicide. At length she invited Prussia and Austria to take part with her in the first seizure and partition of Polish territory (1772). Each took certain provinces. In 1793 the second, and in 1795 the final partition of Poland, was made by its three neighbors. The capture of Warsaw, and the defeat of the national rising under Kosciusko, obliterated that ancient kingdom from the map of Europe. It should be said that a large part of the territory that Russia acquired had once been Russian, and was inhabited by Greek Christians. By the division of Poland, Russia was brought into close contact with the Western powers. The Crimea was incorporated with Russia in 1783. After a second war, provoked by her, with the Turks, who now had the Austrians to help them, the Russian boundaries through the Treaty of Jassy (1792) were carried to the Dniester.
CHAPTER V. CONTEST OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN AMERICA: WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
In this period the United States of America achieved their independence, and began their existence as a distinct nation.