In 1723, the king being arrived at the age fixed for his majority, the Duke of Orleans resigned the regency, and was appointed minister, but he did not long survive. lie was succeeded in the administration by the Duke of Bour bon, who was soon supplant0 by Cardinal Fleury, who had been preceptor to Louis XV. and was now 73 years old. The character of the Cardinal was very different from that of statesmen in general. He was of a mild disposition, and regarded the preservation of peace as the greatest blessing which a sovereign could bestow on his subjects. This blessing therefore he was extremely anxious, during his whole administration, to preserve ; and, as Sir Robert Walpole, the minister of Great Britain at this period, was equally pacific, the tranquillity of Europe was continued, with little interruption, for nearly 20 years. At length, the death of the King of Poland, in 1733, rekindled the flames of war, and France was induced to embark in it, in support of Stanislaus, the father-in-law of Louis, (for the Infanta of Spain had been sent back, before the marriage projected by the Duke of Orleans was completed.) France, on this occasion, united with Spain and Sardinia, and hostilities commenced on the side of Germany and Italy. The Duke of Berwick passed the Rhine, but was soon afterwards killed before Philipsburg. In Italy, the Imperialists were defeated by the French ; the Spaniards became masters of Naples and Sicily ; and the forces of France and Italy, under Villars, took Milan and some other places. Soon after this Villars died, and his successor, the Marshal de Coigny, defeated the Imperialists, under the walls of Parma.
The Emperor, discouraged by these losses, proposed peace ; and Cardinal Fleury, sincere and constant in his wish for it, acceded to the proposal. By the treaty, Stanis laus was to renounce his pretensions to Poland, in consi deration of the cession of Lorraine to him during his life; and Louis agreed to restore all his conquests in Germany, and to gaurantee the pragmatic sanction, or domestic law, by which the succession to the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria were secured to the heirs female of Charles VI. in case he should die without issue. Soon after this peace, Charles VI. died ; and the disputed suc cession to his hereditary dominions, notwithstanding the pragmatic sanction, kindled anew the flames of war in Eu rope. By virtue of this sanction, the succession to the whole Austrian dominions belonged to Maria Theresa, the late emperor's eldest daughter, who was married to Fran cis of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Almost all the European powers had gauranteed the pragmatic sanction; nevertheless, when the period came, in which it was neces sary to support it, many of them took up arms to set it aside. The claimants to the dominions of the house of Austria, were the Elector of Bavaria, the King of Poland, the King of Spain, and the King of France ; but the last did not appear as a competitor, being afraid of awakening the jealousy of all Europe. These claimants were, how ever, astonished, when the King of Prussia also appeared among them ; and while they were inactive, actually in vaded Silesia. Cardinal Fleury, notwithstanding this vio lent invasion of the pragmatic sanction, was still desirous of peace ; but he was as still unable to withstand the ardour for war in the French councils ; and this ardour was in creased by the idea, that the period was at length arrived, so long desired by France, for breaking the power of the house of Austria, and exalting that of Bourbon on its ruins.
A treaty with the Elector of Bavaria was accordingly con cluded, by which the King of France engaged to assist hin; with his whole force, on condition that, if he succeeded in his projects, he would renounce the barrier treaty, and not attempt to recover ally parts of the empire which France might have conquered ; a treaty was also concluded with the King of Prussia at the same time, the object of which was the total dismemberment of the possessions or the house of Austria. The Elector of Bavaria was appoint ed lieutenant general of the French armies, with the Marshals Belleisle and Braglio to act under him. Louis XV. at the same time, issued a hostile declaration against the King of Great Britain, in his character of Elector of Hanover.
The Elector of Bavaria was very rapid in his progress. Having entered Upper Austria, he took possession of Lintz, and sent his detachments to the neighbourhood of Vienna itself. In this extremity Maria Theresa roused the Hun garians in her behalf; their nobility were instantly in arms; and the Elector of Bavaria, threatened by the forces which Maria Theresa had collected, and finding the season of the year adverse to farther proceedings, gave up the plan of investing Vienna, and marched into Bohemia, where being joined by 20,000 Saxons, he laid siege to Prague. After the reduction of this place, he was, on the 4th January 1742, elected Emperor, under the name of Charles VII. Here, however, his good fortune terminated: the Prussians and Saxons having been unsuccessful, were obliged to retreat, and the Austrians seized this opportuni ty of attempting to unite their whole force against the French, under Marshals Belleisle and Broglio. The King of Prussia, fortunately for the French, prevented their junction ; but this monarch soon afterwards suspecting the sincerity of his ally, the King of France, concluded a se parate treaty at Breslaw. This unexpected and alarming intelligence was followed by disastrous consequences ; for Marshals Broglio and Belleisle, pressed by superior for ces, were reduced to the humiliating necessity of offering to evacuate all the places which they held in Bohemia, provided they were permitted to retire with their arms, ammunition, and baggage. This proposal was haughtily rejected by the Queen of Hungary; and Marshal Manic bois, who commanded the French forces on the Rhine, was ordered to march into Bohemia, at the head of 42,000 men. In Westphalia, he was joined by 30,000 French and Impe rialists. In the mean time, Marshal Belleisle, who had as sumed the command in Prague, was closely pressed by the Prince of Lorraine. The latter, on learning the approach of Marshal Maillebois, turned the siege into a blockade, and advanced with the main body of his army towards the frontiers of the kingdom, in order to oppose the French. He was soon afterwards joined by a large Austrian army, and in the mean time Marshals Belleisle and Broglio formed the design of uniting with Maillebois. Prince Charles, however, by taking possession of the passes in the mountains, utterly defeated this scheme ; and Maillc bois was obliged to return to the Palatinate, whither he was followed by the Prince of Lorraine ; while the Aus trian army, under Lobkowitz, obliged Belleisle and Broglio again to take refuge in Prague.