124 LA GUERRA DI SUCCESSIONE AUSTRIACA: BATTAGLIE E DIPLOMAZIE TRA DETTINGEN E WORMS (1743) - V.IV

After the Battle of Camposanto, the War of the Austrian Succession entered a decisive phase. 1743 was the year in which France simultaneously had to support the Bavarian emperor, the Main front, and the Italian issue, while Carteret's Britain transformed its support for Maria Theresa into direct military intervention. The lesson explores the relationship between politics and war: Walpole's fall in London, Fleury's death at Versailles, Louis XV's decisions, Broglie's letters, Seckendorff's plans, the Austrian offensive against Bavaria, the crisis of Emperor Charles VII, and the advance of the Pragmatic Army. The story centers on three key moments. In Bavaria, the Austrians occupied the territory supporting the imperial crown of the Wittelsbachs. On the Main, Noailles set a trap against George II's army, but at Dettingen the Pragmatic Army won, escaped, and reached Hanau. In Italy, the front remained decisive as Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy became the indispensable ally to defend Austrian Lombardy and block the path to the Bourbons. The Treaty of Worms of September 1743 concluded this phase, transforming the military campaigns into a new diplomatic balance. Great Britain financed Piedmont, Maria Theresa accepted territorial concessions, Turin remained in the coalition, and Frederick II began to view the Austro-British strengthening as a threat to Silesia. A lesson in the European war of 1743: Bavaria, Main, Dettingen, Italy, and Worms, as the War of the Austrian Succession increasingly became a war of coalitions, territories, finances, and political decisions.