Diplomatic Revolution

[3] The change was part of the stately quadrille, a constantly shifting pattern of alliances throughout the 18th century in efforts to preserve or upset the European balance of power.

The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, after the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, left Austria aware of the high price it paid in having Britain as an ally.

The British also forced her to cede the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza to Spain and, more importantly, to abandon the valuable province of Silesia to Prussian occupation.

That acquisition had further advanced Prussia as a great European power, which now posed an increasing threat to Austria's German lands and to Central Europe as a whole.

The results of the War of the Austrian Succession made it clear that Britain no longer viewed Austria as powerful enough to check France, but was content to build up smaller states like Prussia.

Maria Theresa sent her foreign policy minister, Count Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, to France to secure an alliance to enable Austria to reclaim Silesia.

Furthermore, Habsburg possessions no longer surrounded France; instead, Frederick II had managed to end the prospect of Habsburg-German dominion bordering French lands.

In response to the Westminster Convention, Louis XV's ministers and Kaunitz concluded the First Treaty of Versailles (1 May 1756) in which both sides agreed to remain neutral and to provide 24,000 troops if either got into conflict with a third party.

The Dutch Republic, which was no longer directly threatened by France because of the Franco-Austrian alliance, refused to fight for Britain's interests and stayed neutral.