Austrian Succession, War of the

Most of western Europe was plunged into war through Frederick the Great's invasion of Austrian Silesia in December 1740, though Britain was already fighting the War of Jenkins's Ear with Spain. The eight years of continental and colonial warfare that followed killed half a million people. Spain and France were closely allied, with periodic links to Prussia. Britain, Piedmont-Sardinia, the United Provinces, and Austria were ranged against them. British, Austrian, and Dutch troops fought against the French in the Low Countries. George II himself fought at Dettingen (1743), but before the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the French army had thrust deep into Dutch territory. In central Europe, British money helped Maria Theresa in her fight against the onslaughts of France and Prussia. At sea Britain was triumphant, the French navy having been destroyed by late 1747, largely due to the skill of Anson and Hawke. In India the French had considerable success, but in America the British predominated, capturing Louisbourg in June 1745.

At home, the war helped to end the career of Walpole and assisted the rise of Carteret. Apart from the Jacobite rising of 1745-6, the conflict seemed remote to the British people and was not popular in the manner of the Seven Years War.