the Austria–Prussia rivalry that would come to dominate German politics over the next century. Saxony, envious of Prussia's ascendancy and threatened by Prussian Silesia's geostrategic position, also turned its foreign policy firmly against Prussia. Frederick's repeated unilateral withdrawal from his alliances in the War of the Austrian Succession deepened the French royal court's distrust of him, and his next perceived "betrayal" (a defensive alliance with Britain under the 1756 Convention of Westminster) accelerated France's eventual realignment toward Austria in the Diplomatic Revolution of the 1750s. Austria The Second Silesian War was a disappointment for Austria, whose armed forces proved surprisingly ineffective against smaller Prussian armies. The Treaty of Dresden formalised the loss of the Habsburg Monarchy's wealthiest province, and defeat by a lesser German prince significantly dented Habsburg prestige. The rest of the Habsburg patrimony in Central Europe was preserved intact, however, and Maria Theresa did win Prussia's retroactive support for her husband's election as Holy Roman Emperor. Despite its defeat, Austria was reluctant to recognise Prussia as a rival power and refused to accept the loss of Silesia. When the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle finally ended the wider War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, Maria Theresa's government refused to sign the peace agreement because it guaranteed Prussian sovereignty in the conquered province. Instead, she began a general reform of Austria's military and a review of its diplomatic policy, all aimed at one day recovering Silesia and relegating Prussia to the status of a lesser power. This policy eventually led to the formation of a broad anti-Prussian alliance between Austria, France and Russia, followed by the outbreak of the Third Silesian War and the wider Seven Years' War in 1756. The struggle with Prussia would become the driving factor behind wide-ranging efforts to modernise the Habsburg monarchy over the next half century. References Sources External links Silesian Wars Frederick the Great War of the Austrian Succession