Diplomatic Revolution
The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 overturned the alliance structures that had defined European politics for three centuries. Austria and France — traditional rivals since the Habsburg-Valois wars of the early 16th century — reversed positions and formed an alliance, while Britain abandoned Austria (its traditional partner in containing France) and aligned with Prussia. The mechanism was the convergence of two parallel diplomatic negotiations: France, alarmed by the Anglo-Prussian Convention of Westminster (January 1756), accepted Austria's offer of alliance at Versailles (May 1756); Russia then joined Austria and France in a treaty of May 1757, creating a coalition of three continental great powers against Prussia. The revolution had two structural causes. Austria's paramount goal was to recover Silesia, lost to Prussia in the War of Austrian Succession — which required French neutrality or support rather than opposition; the Austrian Chancellor Kaunitz had spent years in Paris preparing the alignment. Britain's interest was protecting Hanover (the king's electorate) without committing large land forces, which required a continental ally capable of deterring French attack on Hanoverian territory. The Convention of Westminster provided Kaunitz with the triggering incident that made France willing to accept. The result was that Frederick the Great of Prussia faced simultaneous attack from Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and the German imperial forces — surrounded on almost every frontier, with only British subsidies and his own military system to sustain him.
- Year: 1756 CE
- Category: Political
