August 14th 1728
Europe was once again at war. The tragic death of George Augustus, heir to
George I had set the wheels of bloodshed in motion years ago. With George
I’s passing in 1727, his daughter Sophia, the Queen in Prussia had inherited
the throne of Great Britain and Ireland while his brother Ernest Augustus
inherited the Electorate of Hannover.
Ernest Augustus was old however and without issue. Given Salic law, the
Electorate should have passed down to Augustus William of Brunswick-
Lüneburg. But he too was old, 66 and without issue. His younger brother
Louis Rudolph was 57 and similarly without an heir. One had to go to Louis
Rudolph’s first cousin and husband of his youngest daughter, Ferdinand
Albert to find an heir with any sons.
It was intolerable to Ernest Augustus that Hannover should pass so far
down the line of a branch family that had separated centuries ago. In
defiance of Salic law he willed that his sister’s son Frederick should inherit
the Electorate.
Augustus William protested and looked to the French for aid. Louis XV saw
this has his opportunity to cripple British and Austrian power in Western
Europe. Hannover would be detached from the British sphere and the pro
French Stanisław Leszczyński would be placed on the Polish throne.
Hopefully Leszczyński would manage to hold on to his throne, but as long
as he held out long enough for France to overrun the Austrian Netherlands
and Hannover, while the Spanish overran Austria's southern Italian holdings,
it would be enough for Louis.
Austria though it ordinarily would have combated any attempt to solidify
Prussian power in northern Germany, was forced by circumstance to
acquiesce given the far graver threat of Poland falling under a king beholden
to France.
In Britain, though Walpole deplored getting involved in such a continental
struggle, rising tensions with the Bourbon powers, particularly Spain, led to
the enthusiastic participation of Britain in the coming struggle.
With the death of Ernest Augustus, Fredrick inherited Hannover (though at
only 16 his father Fredrick William would rule as regent until his majority),
and Europe plunged into war. France and Brunswick declared war on Hanover
and in Poland Stanisław Leszczyński seized power in a coup supported by
the majority of the nobility.
The War of Hannoverian Succession
Britain, Prussia and Hannover vs. Brunswick, France and Spain
The War of Polish Succession
Saxony, Austria and Russia vs. France, Poland, Spain and Sardinia Piedmont
Who's at war with who. Hannover left out since in personal union with Prussia.
Europe at War
Europe 1728
Europe was once again at war. The tragic death of George Augustus, heir to
George I had set the wheels of bloodshed in motion years ago. With George
I’s passing in 1727, his daughter Sophia, the Queen in Prussia had inherited
the throne of Great Britain and Ireland while his brother Ernest Augustus
inherited the Electorate of Hannover.
Ernest Augustus was old however and without issue. Given Salic law, the
Electorate should have passed down to Augustus William of Brunswick-
Lüneburg. But he too was old, 66 and without issue. His younger brother
Louis Rudolph was 57 and similarly without an heir. One had to go to Louis
Rudolph’s first cousin and husband of his youngest daughter, Ferdinand
Albert to find an heir with any sons.
It was intolerable to Ernest Augustus that Hannover should pass so far
down the line of a branch family that had separated centuries ago. In
defiance of Salic law he willed that his sister’s son Frederick should inherit
the Electorate.
Augustus William protested and looked to the French for aid. Louis XV saw
this has his opportunity to cripple British and Austrian power in Western
Europe. Hannover would be detached from the British sphere and the pro
French Stanisław Leszczyński would be placed on the Polish throne.
Hopefully Leszczyński would manage to hold on to his throne, but as long
as he held out long enough for France to overrun the Austrian Netherlands
and Hannover, while the Spanish overran Austria's southern Italian holdings,
it would be enough for Louis.
Austria though it ordinarily would have combated any attempt to solidify
Prussian power in northern Germany, was forced by circumstance to
acquiesce given the far graver threat of Poland falling under a king beholden
to France.
In Britain, though Walpole deplored getting involved in such a continental
struggle, rising tensions with the Bourbon powers, particularly Spain, led to
the enthusiastic participation of Britain in the coming struggle.
With the death of Ernest Augustus, Fredrick inherited Hannover (though at
only 16 his father Fredrick William would rule as regent until his majority),
and Europe plunged into war. France and Brunswick declared war on Hanover
and in Poland Stanisław Leszczyński seized power in a coup supported by
the majority of the nobility.
The War of Hannoverian Succession
Britain, Prussia and Hannover vs. Brunswick, France and Spain
The War of Polish Succession
Saxony, Austria and Russia vs. France, Poland, Spain and Sardinia Piedmont
Who's at war with who. Hannover left out since in personal union with Prussia.
Europe at War
Europe 1728
