Editing Charles Emmanuel III (section)

===War of the Austrian Succession===
[[File:La mort du chevalier de Belle-Isle.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The [[battle of Assietta]] during the War of the Austrian Succession 1747]]
Charles Emmanuel sided with [[Maria Theresa of Austria]] in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], receiving financial and naval support from Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. After noteworthy but inconclusive initial successes, he had to face the French-Spanish invasion of Savoy and, after a failed allied attempt to conquer the [[Kingdom of Naples]], the [[County of Nice]]. When the enemy army invaded Piedmont, in 1744 he defended [[Cuneo]] against the Spanish-French besiegers. The following year, with some 20,000 men, he was faced with an invasion of two armies with a total of some 60,000 troops. The important strongholds of [[Alessandria]], [[Asti]] and [[Casale Monferrato|Casale]] fell. In 1746, after receiving reinforcements from Austria, he was able to recapture Alessandria and Asti. In 1747, he obtained a crushing victory over the French at the [[Battle of Assietta]], and his territories were saved when the main battleground moved northwards to the Netherlands.

The outcome was the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], which revealed his qualities as a negotiator, in as much as he both regained the lost provinces of [[Nice]] and [[Savoy]], and obtained [[Vigevano]] as well as other lands in the [[Pianura Padana]]. Ties with [[Spain]] were re-established with the marriage of his son [[Victor Amadeus III|Prince Victor Amadeus]] to the Infanta [[Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain]] in 1750.

He declined to participate in the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–63), preferring to concentrate on administrative reforms, maintaining a well-disciplined army and strengthening his fortresses. In an attempt to improve the poor condition of the newly acquired [[Sardinia]], he also restored the Universities of [[Sassari]] and [[Cagliari]].

Charles Emmanuel died in [[Turin]] in 1773. He was buried in the [[Basilica of Superga]].<ref name="huberty1">{{cite book | title=''L'Allemagne Dynastique, [[Tome IV]] – Wittelsbach'' | publisher=Laballery |author1=Huberty, Michel |author2=Giraud, Alain |author3=Magdelaine, F. and B. | year=1985 | location=France | pages=82, 141, 166, 202, 273, 310–311| isbn=2-901138-04-7}}</ref>