STRATEGIES FOR DYNASTIC ADVANCEMENT

As long as the Reich remained intact, few of the German princes had the power to secure their dynastic goals by force alone. Force achieved significant, permanent territorial adjustment on only two occasions after 1648. The first was in 1715–21 when both Prussia and Hanover profited from Sweden's collapse in the Great Northern War (1700–21) by seizing most of its territory in north Germany. The second was the Prussian annexation of Austrian Silesia in 1740. Both took place under exceptional circumstances and benefited major rather than minor German states. The first example involved the expulsion of a foreign power from Reich territory and occurred in north Germany, far from the centre of imperial influence and at a time when the emperor was in any case distracted in the Balkans and Italy. The second was achieved during the unique period of the imperial interregnum of 1740–2 and at a time of acute Austrian weakness. It also involved vast military and diplomatic effort and nearly led to Prussia's destruction during Austrian attempts to recover Silesia in the Seven Years War (1756–63). Both Bavaria and Saxony were ruined in similar attempts to use force at various times between 1700 and 1745. Smaller states stood no chance whatsoever.

The lack of success is striking testimony to the strength of the old Reich. It is also a legacy of the Thirty Years War which left a deep impression on the German consciousness.