Editing Frederick the Great (section)

=== War of the Bavarian Succession ===
{{Main|War of the Bavarian Succession}}
[[File:Frederick II of Prussia Coloured drawing.png|thumb|alt=Portrait painting of Frederick as an old man in military uniform |upright=0.8 |Colorized engraving of Frederick in a [[Waffenrock]] (1873)]]
Late in his life Frederick involved Prussia in the low-scale [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] in 1778, in which he stifled Austrian attempts to exchange the [[Austrian Netherlands]] for [[Bavaria]].{{sfn|Stollberg-Rillinger|2018|p=[{{Google books|id=I3OYDwAAQBAJ|page=PA130|plainurl=yes}} 130]}} For their part, the Austrians tried to pressure the French to participate in the War of Bavarian Succession since there were guarantees under consideration related to the [[Peace of Westphalia]], clauses which linked the Bourbon dynasty of France and the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty of Austria. Unfortunately for the Austrian Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]], the French court was unwilling to support him because they were already [[Franco-American alliance|supporting]] the [[American Revolution|American revolutionaries]] in North America and the idea of an alliance with Austria had been unpopular in France since the end of the Seven Years' War.{{sfn|Haworth|1904|pp=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1833470 473–474]}} Frederick ended up as a beneficiary of the [[American Revolutionary War]], as Austria was left more or less isolated.{{sfn|Hassall|1896|pp=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924027888209/page/n357 342–343]}}

Saxony and Russia, both of which had been Austria's allies in the Seven Years' War, were now allied with Prussia.{{sfnm|MacDonogh|2000|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/373 373–374]|Ritter|1936|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_520010744/page/196 196–197]}} Although Frederick was weary of war in his old age, he was determined not to allow Austrian dominance in German affairs.{{sfnm|MacDonogh|2000|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/373 373–374]|Schieder|1983|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat0000schi/page/175 175–176]}} Frederick and Prince Henry marched the Prussian army into Bohemia to confront Joseph's army, but the two forces ultimately descended into a stalemate, largely living off the land and skirmishing.{{sfnm|Asprey|1986|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatma00aspr/page/n649 620–621]|MacDonogh|2000|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/373 373–374]|Ritter|1936|3pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_520010744/page/196 196–197]}} Frederick's longtime rival Maria Theresa, who was Joseph's mother and his co-ruler, did not want a new war with Prussia, and secretly sent messengers to Frederick to discuss peace negotiations.{{sfnm|Kugler|1840|1p=[https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistor00menzgoog/page/n574 556]|Ritter|1936|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_520010744/page/196 196–197]}} Finally, [[Catherine II of Russia]] threatened to enter the war on Frederick's side if peace was not negotiated, and Joseph reluctantly dropped his claim to Bavaria.{{sfn|Ritter|1936|pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_520010744/page/196 196–197]}} When Joseph tried the scheme again in 1784, Frederick created the {{lang|de|[[Fürstenbund]]}} (League of Princes), allowing himself to be seen as a defender of German liberties. To stop Joseph II's attempts to acquire Bavaria, Frederick enlisted the help of the Electors of Hanover and Saxony along with several other minor German princes. Perhaps even more significantly, Frederick benefited from the defection of the senior prelate of the German Church, the Archbishop of Mainz, who was also the arch-chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, which further strengthened Frederick and Prussia's standing amid the German states.{{sfn|Blanning|2016|p=[{{Google book|id=Hz_TCwAAQBAJ|page=339|plainurl=yes}} 339]}}