Siege of Prague (1744)

First Silesian War, a subset of the War of the Austrian Succession, ended on 28 July 1742 when King Frederick II of Prussia and Queen Maria Theresa of the Habsburg monarchy signed the Treaty of Breslau. By this agreement, Austria formally recognized Prussia's capture of Lower and Upper Silesia and the County of Kladsko (Glatz). Frederick's abandonment of his allies stunned Europe's leaders because it left Austria free to deal with its remaining enemies. Frederick increased Prussia's population from 2.2 million to 3.2 million, but other nations could not trust its unprincipled king.^[2]

During the two years of peace, King Frederick II increased his army's strength to 94,500 infantry and 29,200 cavalry.^[3] In January 1744, Frederick covertly made preparations to re-enter the war against Austria by gaining the cooperation of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electoral Palatinate, and Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. He also reopened secret talks with France which resulted in the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on 5 June 1744. Frederick promised to invade Bohemia with 80,000 troops in August. France would mount an offensive against the Austrian Netherlands while stationing an army in Alsace. France pledged to pursue any Austrian forces moving to defend Bohemia. Frederick agreed to hand over much of conquered Bohemia to Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor while acquiring choice territories for Prussia.^[4]

In the winter of 1743, Maria Theresa determined to invade French possessions along the Rhine River. Though the province of Alsace was part of France, most Alsatians still spoke German, so seizing this area became her goal. Some of Maria Theresa's councilors advised her that invading Alsace was unwise while Frederick's intentions were unknown. The Austrian ruler was not listening. She wrote one of her generals, "Do not let yourself be troubled by the King of Prussia; do not think of him".^[5]

The French Army of Flanders invaded the Austrian Netherlands on 17 May 1744. The Barrier Treaty called for Dutch soldiers to garrison the fortresses in the Austrian Netherlands, despite the fact that France and the Dutch Republic were officially at peace. In June, the French army forced the Dutch garrisons to surrender at Menin, Ypres, and Fort Knokke.^[6] Veurne (Furnes) capitulated on 11 July.^[7] Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine outmaneuvered François-Henri de Franquetot de Coigny and put 60,000 Austrian soldiers across the Rhine on 2 July 1744.^[8] The two sides clashed in the Battle of Wissembourg on 5 July.^[9]

The French government responded to the threat by sending an army of 32,000 men under Marshal Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles marching toward Alsace. The campaign in Flanders was suspended and Maurice de Saxe was left with 55,000 men. On 12 July 1744, King Frederick II received news that Prince Charles was in Alsace.^[10] On 5 August, the Austrian government warned its Bohemian army commander Károly József Batthyány that Prussia was ready to attack. Three days later, Prince Charles received the same message plus instructions to start sending his army east to fight the Prussians. On 14 August, 80,000 Prussians began crossing the border into Bohemia.^[11]