War of the Bavarian Succession
|
|
The War of the Bavarian Succession was a war that occurred in 1778 and 1779. The fight is known as the Potato War (Kartoffelkrieg) because of the extended time the Prussian and Austrian troops spent in manoeuvres in Bohemia to obtain or deny food-supplies to the enemy.
When Elector Maximilian III Joseph of the house of Wittelsbach died in 1777, the Sulzbach line stood as heir to the duchy of Bavaria. The Elector Palatine Charles IV Theodore was the actual heir who inherited the throne and he proceeded to cede Lower Bavaria to Austria by secret treaty with Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, in exchange for which he was to receive the Austrian Netherlands. Prussia and Saxony declared war on Austria to defend the rights of Duke Charles of Zweibrucken, Charles Theodore's heir, and invaded Bohemia.
The affair was largely bloodless and ended in the Congress of Teschen in 1779, where Austria gave all but the Inn District back to Bavaria. Saxony received financial reward for their role in the intervention. It is notable largely as Frederick the Great's last war. de:Bayerischer Erbfolgekrieg eo:Bavara hered-vica milito Template:Hist-stub