The foreign policy of France reflected the situation in Prussia and Austria. France did not want to witness a rising power to the east. Therefore, the dilemma was often to determine which nation, Austria or Pruss

Furthermore, a campaign into Germany would bring France against multiple coalitions and treaties. This would result in a confrontation between the coalition of the Austrians, the Dutch, the British and the Prussians. Even when France conceded and decided alliance was the best pursuit to the east, opposition from the other German nations and Great Britain was met. Regardless, the alliance between France and Prussia was formed. By this, France would support Prussia in their campaigns against Austria and also the plans against the German state of Hanover (which unfortunately was a British territory and led to British aid to Austria). Also, France hoped for an opportunity to expand to the east, mainly into the Austrian Netherlands.

Finally, Prussia's opposition, the Hapsburg Empire, focused their goals and policy on maintaining their inheritance of lands. Maria Theresa was constantly trying to keep the lands she controlled somewhat united and under her leadership. During the war she had to deal with the immense debt that her less efficient and decentralized country grew into. Therefore the main Hapsburg goals during the 1740's were to maintain their territories and manage debt.

Because of the turmoil in Hapsburg lands, the important goals of the Hapsburg territories were to repay its debt, and stabilize its boundaries so it could compete against nations such as Prussia. The debt it had consumed and the problems for the Hapsburgs of paying for war was immense. Accompanying the financial instability of the Empire was the instability of Hapsburg boundaries. "The awkwardly shaped conglomeration of territories they ruled and the position of other powers in relation to those lands required a nightmarish diplomatic and military juggling act merely to retain inheritance." (Kennedy 90) Also, because the Hapsburgs devoted most of their energy to enhancing their position in the Balkans, they did not pay enough attention to the opposing rulers. When Prussia seized Silesia, the Hapsburgs had to conduct its foreign and military policies with one eye on Prussian activity. One goal developed involving keeping Prussia in check. Austrian leaders did not want Prussia rising to a status of power. This in turn made Hapsburg diplomacy more complicated. To compete with the rising Prussia, Austria needed to call upon France and Russia for assistance. In order to compete and resist Prussian takeover, Austria needed to unite its territories and improve its economy.

The foreign policy and goals of these nations led to the rise of Prussia and the downfall of France and Austria. This was apparent because in the early 1760's it was evident that Prussia had become a powerful nation. Frederick had defeated a French and an Austrian army and maintained its goals of gaining Austrian territory and becoming a great-power nation. France witnessed a relative downfall from power. France had to deal with not only the threat of Prussia, but Britain as well. The French did not gain the Southern Netherlands because of a blockade that ensued on ports by the British when take over of that province was near. Further

Some common words found in the essay are:
Charles VI, Maria Theresa, Hapsburg German, Austrian Succession, Hapsburg Empire, Frederick William, France Prussia, France Austria, Hohenzollern Prussia, Prussia Frederick, foreign policy, war austrian succession, war austrian, france prussia, austrian succession, france austria, invasion silesia, hapsburg empire, hapsburg territories, france hoped, hapsburg lands, foreign policy goals, prussia hapsburg empire, gain territory eastern, becoming great-power nation,
Approximate Word count = 2106
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)