Great Silesian War

Great Silesian War
Date 27 October 1750 – 15 March 1755 Location Central Europe and the Low Countries; North America and the Caribbean (Prince Maurice's War); southern Asia Result Treaty of Vienna; Anglo-Austrian victory Territorial changes Duchy of Prussia vassalized by Poland-Lithuania Brandenburg subdued by the Holy Roman Empire East Frisia ceded to the Netherlands Andorra annexed by Spain Lithuanian Courland and Semigallia ceded to Russia Independence of Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, Piedmont, and Savoy French Indian ports ceded to Spain Spanish Santo-Domingo absorbed by French Saint-Domingue French Mahé ceded to Genoa British rule restored in the Bahamas Dutch acquisition of Meerenland from New France France relinquishes claims on Rupert's Land and Tussenland Britain annexes French Guadeloupe Britain abandons claims to the Mosquito Coast
Belligerents
Prussia France Bavaria Saxony Sweden Andorra (until 1753) Portugal (1755)	Austria Britain Spain Netherlands Naples, Sicily, Sardinia & Piedmont (1754–55)

The Great Silesian War (1750–1755) was a global conflict fought across Europe, North America, and southern Asia. It was considered the largest international conflict until the outbreak of the Great War nearly two centuries later. The eponymous territory, the then-Austrian region of Silesia, was invaded by Prussian forces in the autumn of 1750, triggering the beginning of the war. The North American theater of the war, conducted between the French on one side and the British, Dutch, and Spanish empires on the other, is called Prince Maurice's War (Amerikaens: Prins Maurits III örlog).

Correspondence between the French and Prussian governments during the 1740s is identified as the seed of Prussia's motivations in initially invading Austrian Silesia. Philip VII of France and Frederick II of Prussia established a secret martial alliance in 1748, gradually obtaining the allegiance of the Swedish, Bavarian, and Saxon bureaucracies over the next two years.