War of the Bavarian Succession A Saxon – Prussian alliance fought the War of the Bavarian Succession ( July 1778 – 21 May 1779 ) against the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy to prevent the Habsburgs from acquiring the Electorate of Bavaria . Although the war consisted of only a few minor skirmishes , thousands of soldiers died from disease and starvation , earning the conflict the name " Kartoffelkrieg " ( Potato War ) in Prussia and Saxony ; in Habsburg Austria , it was sometimes called the " Zwetschgenrummel " ( Plum Fuss ) . On 30 December 1777 , Maximilian Joseph , the last of the junior line of Wittelsbach , died of smallpox , leaving no children . Charles IV Theodore , a scion of a senior branch of the House of Wittelsbach , held the closest claim of kinship , but he also had no legitimate children to succeed him . His cousin , Charles II August , Duke of Zweibrücken , therefore had a legitimate legal claim as Charles Theodore ' s heir presumptive . Across Bavaria ' s southern border , Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II , coveted the Bavarian territory and had married Maximilian Joseph ' s sister Maria Josepha in 1765 to strengthen any claim he could extend . His agreement with the heir , Charles Theodore , to partition the territory neglected any claims of the heir presumptive , Charles August . Acquiring territory in the German - speaking states was an essential part of Joseph ' s policy to expand his family ' s influence in Central Europe . For Frederick II of Prussia , Joseph ' s claim threatened the Hohenzollern ascendancy in German politics , but he questioned whether he should preserve the " status quo " through war or through diplomacy . Empress Maria Theresa , who co - ruled with Joseph , considered any conflict over the Bavarian electorate not worth bloodshed , and neither Maria Theresa nor Frederick saw any point in pursuing hostilities . Joseph would not drop his claim despite his mother ' s contrary insistence . Frederick Augustus I of Saxony wanted to preserve the territorial integrity of the Duchy for his brother - in - law , Charles August , and had no interest in seeing the Habsburgs acquire additional territory on his southern and western borders . France became involved to maintain the balance of power . Finally , Catherine II of Russia ' s threat to intervene on the side of Prussia with 50 , 000 Russian troops forced Joseph to reconsider his position . With Catherine ' s assistance , he and Frederick negotiated a solution to the problem of the Bavarian succession with the Treaty of Teschen , signed on 13 May 1779 . For some historians , the War of the Bavarian Succession was the last of the old - style Cabinet Wars ( " Kabinettskriege " ) of the " Ancien Régime " in which troops maneuvered while diplomats traveled between capitals to resolve their monarchs ' complaints . The subsequent French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars differed in scope , strategy , organization and tactics . Historians of 19th - century and 20th - century Germany have also found the roots of German dualism in this brief war . Background . Imperial competition . In 1713 , Charles VI , Holy Roman Emperor , established a line of succession that gave precedence to his own daughters over the daughters of his brother . To protect the Habsburg inheritance , he coerced , cajoled , and persuaded the crowned heads of Europe to accept the Pragmatic Sanction . In this agreement , they acknowledged any of his legitimate daughters as the rightful Queen of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , and Archduchess of Austria – a break from the tradition of male succession . Holy Roman Emperors had been elected from the House of Habsburg for most of the previous three centuries . Charles VI arranged a marriage of his eldest daughter , Maria Theresa , to Francis of Lorraine . Francis relinquished the Duchy of Lorraine near France in exchange for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany near Austria to make himself a more appealing candidate for eventual election as Holy Roman Emperor . On paper , many heads of state and , most importantly , the rulers of the German states of the Holy Roman Empire , accepted the Pragmatic Sanction and the idea of Francis as the next Holy Roman Emperor . Two key exceptions , the Duchy of Bavaria and Saxony , held important electoral votes and could impede or even block Francis ' s election . When Charles died in 1740 , his daughter , Maria Theresa , had to fight for her family ' s entitlements in Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , and her husband faced competition in his election as the Holy Roman Emperor . Charles , Prince Elector and Duke of Bavaria , claimed the German territories of the Habsburg dynasty as a son - in - law of Joseph I , Holy Roman Emperor , and , furthermore , presented himself as Charles VI ' s legitimate Imperial successor . Charles of Bavaria ' s claim to the crown reflected the genealogical " raison d ' état " . If women were going to inherit , he claimed , then he should be first in line : his wife , Maria Amalia , was the daughter of Joseph I . Both Charles VI and his predecessor Joseph I had died without sons . Charles of Bavaria suggested that the legitimate succession pass to Joseph ' s female children , rather than to the daughters of the younger brother , Charles VI . For different reasons , Prussia , France , Spain and the Polish - Saxon monarchy supported Charles of Bavaria ' s claim to the Habsburg territory and the Imperial title and reneged on the Pragmatic Sanction . Charles of Bavaria needed military assistance to take the Imperial title by force and he secured this with the treaty of Nymphenburg ( July 1741 ) . During the subsequent War of the Austrian Succession , he successfully captured Prague , where he was crowned King of Bohemia . He invaded Upper Austria , planning to capture Vienna , but diplomatic exigencies complicated his plans . His French allies redirected their troops into Bohemia , where Frederick II of Prussia , himself newly king , had taken advantage of the chaos in Austria and Bavaria to annex Silesia . Charles ' military options disappeared with the French . Adopting a new plan , he subverted the Imperial election . He sold the County of Glatz to Frederick of Prussia for a reduced price in exchange for Frederick ' s electoral vote . Charles ' brother , Klemens August of Bavaria , archbishop and prince - elector of the Electorate of Cologne , voted for him in the Imperial election and personally crowned him on 12 February 1742 in the traditional ceremony in Frankfurt am Main . The next day , Charles ' Bavarian capital city of Munich capitulated to the Austrians to avoid being plundered by Maria Theresa ' s troops . In the following weeks , her army overran most of Charles ' territories , occupied Bavaria , and barred him from his ancestral lands and from Bohemia . Charles VII spent most of his three - year reign as Emperor residing in Frankfurt while Maria Theresa battled Prussia for her patrimony in Bohemia and Hungary . Frederick could not secure Bohemia for Charles , but he did manage to push the Austrians out of Bavaria . For the last three months of his short reign , the Charles lived in Munich , where he died in January 1745 . His son , Maximilian III Joseph — known as Max Joseph — inherited his father ' s Electoral dignities , but not his father ' s Imperial ambition . With the Peace of Füssen ( 22 April 1745 ) , Max Joseph promised to vote for Francis of Lorraine , Maria Theresa ' s husband , in the pending Imperial election . He also acknowledged the Pragmatic Sanction . In return , he obtained the restitution of his family ' s Electoral position and territories . For his subjects , his negotiations ended five years of warfare and brought a generation of peace and relative prosperity that began with his father ' s death in 1745 and ended with his own in 1777 . Contenders . As the Duke of Bavaria , Max Joseph was the prince of one of the largest states in the German - speaking portion of the Holy Roman Empire . As a prince - elector , he stood in the highest rank of the Empire , with broad legal , economic , and judicial rights . As an elector , he was one of the men who selected the Holy Roman Emperor from a group of candidates . He was the son of one Holy Roman Emperor ( Charles VII ) , and the grandson of another ( Joseph I ) . Despite the Peace of Füssen , any of his children could lay a claim to the Imperial title . When he died of smallpox on 30 December 1777 , this genealogical claim became moot : he left no children to succeed him and several ambitious men prepared to carve his patrimony into pieces . Heir . The Sulzbach branch of the Wittelsbach family inherited the Duchy of Bavaria . In this line , the 55 - year - old Charles IV Theodore , the Duke of Berg - Jülich , held the first claim . Unfortunately for Charles Theodore , he was already the Elector Palatine . By the terms of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia , he had to cede the Palatine Electorate to his own heir before he could claim the Bavarian Electorate . He was not eager to do so , even though Bavaria was larger and more important . He preferred living in the Palatinate , with its salubrious climate and compatible social scene . He patronized the arts , and had developed in Mannheim , his capital city , an array of theaters and museums at tremendous cost to his subjects . He hosted Voltaire at one of his many palaces . During the visit , he had enticed Voltaire ' s secretary , the Florentine noble , Cosimo Alessandro Collini ( 1727 – 1806 ) , into his own employment , considered a coup in some of the Enlightenment circles . Thomas Carlyle referred to Charles Theodore as a " poor idle creature , of purely egoistical , ornamental , dilettante nature ; sunk in theatricals , [ and ] bastard children " . The French foreign minister , Charles Gravier , comte de Vergennes , who knew him , described Charles Theodore ' s foibles more forcefully : The Electress had provided him with a son , who had immediately died , but Charles Theodore ' s " particular penchant " for secret liaisons , most of whom were French actresses that he had raised to the status of countess , had produced several natural children . By the time of Max Joseph ' s death , he had legitimated seven of the males of his various alliances , and was considering the legitimation of two more . With this host of male offspring , although Charles Theodore certainly wished to acquire more territory , he needed territory that he could bequeath through his testament , rather than territory encumbered by a legal entailment that could only pass to a legitimate child . Deal - maker . Joseph , Archduke of Austria , King of the Romans , and co - ruler with his mother , Empress Maria Theresa , coveted Bavaria . The lessons his mother had learned in the War of the Austrian Succession had not been lost on him . The House of Habsburg - Lorraine sought a wider sphere of influence in the German - speaking parts of the Holy Roman Empire . Without this , the family could not count on the election of their chosen male candidate as emperor , nor could the family count on an uncontested succession in the Habsburg territories of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia . For most of Joseph ' s adult life , he sought to strengthen his family ' s influence in German - speaking lands . For him , this meant the acquisition of German lands , not lands in the eastern region of the Habsburg empire , even such strategic territories as Bukovina . Joseph married Max Joseph ' s sister , Maria Josepha , in 1765 , hoping he could claim the Bavarian Electorate for his offspring . After two years of unhappy marriage , Maria Josepha died without issue . When Max Joseph died ten years later , Joseph could only present a weak legal claim to Lower Bavaria through a dubious and ancient grant made by the Emperor Sigismund to the House of Habsburg in 1425 . Knowing its poor legal grounds , Joseph negotiated a secret agreement with Charles Theodore shortly after Max Joseph ' s death . In this agreement ( 3 January 1778 ) , Charles Theodore ceded Lower Bavaria to Austria in exchange for uncontested succession to the remainder of the duchy . Charles Theodore also hoped to acquire from Joseph some unencumbered parts of the Austrian Netherlands and parts of Anterior Austria that he could bequeath to his bastards , but this was not written into the agreement and Joseph was not a particularly generous man . Furthermore , the agreement entirely ignored the interests of Charles Theodore ' s own heir presumptive , Charles II August , of the House of Palatinate - Zweibrücken - Birkenfeld . Charles August was the presumptive heir of Charles Theodore ' s domains and titles . He had a clear and direct interest in the disposition of the Bavarian duchy , especially in its territorial integrity . Heir presumptive . Unbeknownst to either Charles Theodore or Joseph , a widow — historians are uncertain " which " widow — opened secret negotiations with Prussia to secure the eventual succession of Charles August . Some historians maintain the active negotiator was Max Joseph ' s widow , Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony . Others assert it was not Max Joseph ' s widow but Max Joseph ' s sister , who was also Charles August ' s mother - in - law . This widow , Maria Antonia of Bavaria , was the mother of the reigning Elector of Saxony . Ernest Henderson even maintained she was the " only manly one among the many Wittelsbach parties " involved in the issue . Charles August was no great admirer of Joseph ' s . As a younger man , he had sought the hand of Joseph ' s sister , Archduchess Maria Amalia . She had been quite content to take him , but Joseph and their mother insisted she marry instead the better connected Duke of Parma . After this disappointment , Charles August married Maria Amalia of Saxony in 1774 ; she was the daughter of the Elector Christian ( d . 1765 ) and his wife Maria Antonia , Max Joseph ' s sister . In 1769 , the reigning elector , Frederick Augustus I of Saxony , had married Charles August ' s sister . Charles August , sometimes called " duc de Deux - Ponts " ( a French translation of Zweibrücken , or two bridges ) , was a French client and could theoretically draw on French support for his claim . However , he had especially good relations with the Saxon Electors : both his mother - and brother - in - law wanted to ensure that Maria Amalia ' s husband received his rightful inheritance . Diplomacy . Interested parties . Prussia also expressed interest in the disposition of the duchy . Count Karl - Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein , First Minister ( or prime minister ) for Frederick the Great , believed that any Austrian acquisition in Bavaria would shift the balance of power in the Holy Roman Empire , diminishing Prussia ' s influence . Prussia ' s recent gains had been hard - won . Thirty years earlier , Frederick had engaged in protracted wars in Silesia and Bohemia , resulting in Prussia ' s annexation of most of Silesia . In the Silesian wars and the Seven Years ' War , he had earned a new , if grudging , respect for his kingdom ' s military and diplomatic prowess from the European power - states of France , Russia , Britain and Austria . To protect Prussia ' s status and territory , Finck and Frederick constructed an alliance with the Electorate of Saxony , ostensibly to defend the rights of Charles II August , Duke of Zweibrücken , Charles Theodore ' s heir presumptive . Although equally interested in maintaining its influence among the German states , France had a double problem . As a supporter of the rebellious British colonies in North America , it was in France ' s interest to avoid a continental engagement . France could do more damage to the British in North America than in Europe . The diplomatic realignment in 1756 had overthrown 200 years of French foreign policy that united the French Crown and the French populace against the House of Habsburg , arguably bringing to France massive territorial gains in repeated wars with Habsburg Austria and Habsburg Spain . A reversal of this policy in 1756 tied French foreign policy in Europe to Vienna . Despite this restructuring , there existed in the French Court at Versailles , and in France generally , a strong anti - Austrian sentiment . The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 , sealed in 1770 with the personal union ( the diplomatic term for marriage ) of Louis , the " Dauphin of Viennois " , and the Austrian Archduchess Marie Antoinette , was considered both a political and matrimonial " mésalliance " in the eyes of many Frenchmen . It flew in the face of 200 years of French foreign policy , in which the central axiom " had been hostility to the House of Habsburg . " The French foreign minister , Charles Gravier , comte de Vergennes , maintained deep - seated hostility to the Austrians that pre - dated the alliance of 1756 . He had not approved of the shift of France ' s traditional bonds , and considered the Austrians untrustworthy . He managed to extricate France from immediate military obligations to Austria by 1778 . Tensions rise . In January 1778 , tensions began to rise . On 3 January , a few days after Max Joseph ' s death , the ducal Equerry proclaimed Charles Theodore as Duke . Dragoons rode through the streets of Munich , some banging drums and some blowing trumpets , and others shouting , " Long Live our Elector Charles Theodore . " According to the 3 January agreement between Joseph and Charles Theodore , 15 , 000 Austrian troops occupied Mindelheim , ultimately more territory than had been granted to Joseph . Charles Theodore , who had dreamed of rebuilding the Burgundian empire , realized that Joseph was not seriously planning to exchange a portion of Bavaria , or even all of it , for the entirety of the Austrian Netherlands . At best , he might acquire a few portions of it , perhaps Hainaut or Guelders , Luxembourg , Limburg , or various dispersed possessions in Anterior Austria , most of which lay in southwestern Germany . While Charles Theodore ' s dream of a Burgundian renaissance receded , Joseph continued on his course to annex part of Bavaria . The widow — Max Joseph ' s widow or the mother - in - law or both — petitioned Prussia on behalf of Charles II August . Frederick ' s envoys to the heir presumptive convinced the slighted prince to lodge protests with the Imperial Diet in Regensburg . Joseph ' s troops remained in portions of Bavaria , even establishing an Austrian administration at Straubing , precipitating a diplomatic crisis . Austrian occupation of Bavaria was unacceptable to Charles August ' s champion , Frederick . Prussian troops mobilized near Prussia ' s border with Bohemia , reminiscent of the invasion in 1740 , which was unacceptable to Joseph . Meanwhile , the French wriggled out of their diplomatic obligations to Austria , telling Joseph that there would be no military support from Paris for a war against Prussia . Britain , Prussia ' s strongest ally , was already mired in a war in North America . Prussia ' s other ally , Saxony , aligned by two marriages with Charles August , was strategically prepared for war against Austria and ready to contribute 20 , 000 troops . Watching from Moscow , Catherine II of Russia was willing to mop up the spoils of war for her own empire , but did not want to get involved in another costly European conflict . For four months , negotiators shuttled between Vienna and Berlin , Dresden and Regensburg , and Zweibrücken Munich and Mannheim . By early spring 1778 , Austria and Prussia faced each other with armies several times the size of their forces during the Seven Years ' War and their confrontation had the potential to explode into another European - wide war . Action . When it became clear that other monarchs of Europe were not going to acquiesce to a " de facto " partition of Bavaria , Joseph and his foreign minister , Anton , Count von Kaunitz , scoured the Habsburg realm for troops and concentrated 600 guns and an 180 , 000 – 190 , 000 - man Austrian army in Bohemia , Moravia , and Austrian Silesia . This army amounted to most of Austria ' s 200 , 000 effectives , leaving much of the Habsburg border regions with the Ottoman Empire under - guarded . On 6 April 1778 , Frederick of Prussia established his army of 80 , 000 men on the Prussian border with Bohemia , near Neisse , Schweidnitz , and the County of Glatz , which Frederick had acquired from the Wittelsbach contender in 1741 , in exchange for his electoral support of Charles VII . At Glatz , Frederick completed his preparations for invasion : he gathered supplies , arranged a line of march , brought up his artillery and drilled his soldiers . His younger brother , Prince Henry , formed a second army of 75 , 000 – 100 , 000 men to the north and west , in Saxony . In April , Frederick and Joseph officially joined their armies in the field , and diplomatic negotiations ended . First skirmish . In early July 1778 , the Prussian General Johann Jakob von Wunsch ( 1717 – 1788 ) crossed into Bohemia near the fortified town of Náchod with several hundred men . The local garrison , commanded by Friedrich Joseph , Freiherr ( Baron ) von Nauendorf , then a mere " Rittmeister " ( Captain of Cavalry ) , included only 50 Hussar s . Despite the poor numerical odds , Nauendorf and his 50 Hussars sallied out to engage Wunsch ' s men . When his small force encountered Wunsch ' s , which was more than triple its size , Nauendorf greeted the Prussians as friends ; by the time the Prussians were close enough to realize the allegiance of the Hussars , Nauendorf and his small band had acquired the upper hand . Wunsch withdrew . The next day , Nauendorf was promoted to major . The news of Nauendorf ' s successful encounter with Wunsch pleased Joseph enormously . In a letter to her son , the Empress Maria Theresa wrote : " They say you were so pleased with Nauendorf , a rookie from Carlstadt or Hungary , who killed seven men , that you gave him 12 ducats . " Invasion . A few days after Wunsch ' s encounter with Nauendorf , Frederick and his 80 , 000 troops entered Bohemia . They occupied Náchod , but advanced no further . The Habsburg army with its 600 guns stood on the heights of the Elbe river . Joseph exercised nominal command , and Count Franz Moritz von Lacy held actual command . Lacy had served under Marshal Daun during the Seven Years ' War , and knew his military business . He established the Austrian army on the most defensible position available . Centered at Jaroměř , a triple line of redoubt s extended southwest along the river to Königgrätz . The Austrians also augmented this defensive line with their 600 artillery . While the main Habsburg army faced Frederick at the Elbe , a smaller army under the command of Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon guarded the passes from Saxony and Lusatia into Bohemia . Laudon was another battle - hardened and cagey commander with extensive field experience , but even he could not cover the long frontier completely . Shortly after Frederick crossed into Bohemia , Prince Henry , a brilliant strategist in his own right , maneuvered around Laudon ' s troops and entered Bohemia at Hainspach . To avoid being flanked , Laudon withdrew across the Iser River , but by mid - August , the main Austrian army was in danger of being outflanked by Henry on its left wing . At its center and right , it faced a well - disciplined army commanded by Frederick , arguably the best general of the age . While his main army was entrenched on the heights above the Elbe , Joseph encouraged raids against the Prussian troops . On 7 August 1778 , with two squadrons of his regiment , the intrepid " rookie " , now " Major " Nauendorf , led a raid against a Prussian convoy at Bieberdorf in the County of Glatz . The surprised convoy surrendered and Nauendorf captured its officers , 110 men , 476 horses , 240 wagons of flour , and 13 transport wagons . This kind of action characterized the entire war . There were no major battles . The war consisted of a series of raids and counter - raids during which the opposing sides lived off the country - side and tried to deny each other access to supplies and fodder . Soldiers later said they spent more time foraging for food than they did fighting . The armies remained in their encampments for the campaign season while men and horses ate all the provisions and forage within miles . Prince Henry wrote to his brother , suggesting they complete their operations by 22 August , at which time he estimated he would have exhausted local supplies of food for his men and fodder for his horses . Frederick agreed . He laid plans to cross the Elbe and approach the Austrian force from the rear , but the more he examined the conditions of Joseph ' s entrenchments , the more he realized the campaign was already lost . Even if he and Henry executed simultaneous attacks on the Königgrätz heights , such a plan exposed Henry to a flanking attack from Laudon . A coordinated frontal and rear assault was also unlikely to succeed . If it did succeed , the Prussian losses would be unacceptable and would demolish his army ' s capacity to resist other invaders . From Frederick ' s perspective , the Russians and the Swedes were always ready to take advantage of any perceived Prussian weakness . The French also could not be trusted to keep their distance . For Frederick , it was a risk not worth taking . Despite this realization , the four armies — two Austrian , two Prussian — remained in place until September , eating as much of the country ' s resources as they could . The battle - less war was not without incident and these may have lost no luster in the telling . One story from the war captured the imagination of the historical painter Bernhard Rode . From their advantageous height by Königgrätz , the Austrians frequently bombarded the Prussian army encamped below them . On the same day that Frederick ' s doctors bled him , an Austrian cannonade grew so strong that Frederick rode out to observe the damage . During the ride , his vein opened . A company medic bound his wound ( see painting by Bernhard Rohde in the Infobox ) . In his less - than - complimentary history of Frederick the Great , the English historian Thomas Carlyle ( 1795 – 1881 ) relayed the story of Frederick and a Croatian marksman . As Frederick was reconnoitering , Carlyle maintained , the King encountered the Croat taking aim at him . Reportedly , he wagged his finger at the man , as if to say , " do not do that " . The Croat thought better of shooting the King , and disappeared into the woods . Some reports maintained the Croat actually knelt before the king and kissed his hand . Nauendorf continued his raids , the soldiers foraged for food and dug up the local potato crop , and Joseph and Frederick glared at one another by Königgrätz . Maria Theresa had sent Kaunitz on a secret mission to Berlin to offer a truce . In a second trip , she offered a settlement , and finally wrote to Catherine in Russia to ask for assistance . When Joseph discovered his mother ' s maneuvering behind his back , he furiously offered to resign . His mother enlisted the assistance she needed . Catherine offered to mediate the dispute ; if her assistance was unacceptable , she was willing to send 50 , 000 troops to augment the Prussian force . Frederick started to withdraw portions of his force in mid - September . In October , Joseph withdrew most of his army to the Bohemian border and Frederick withdrew his remaining troops into Prussia . Two small forces of hussars and dragoon s remained in Bohemia to provide a winter cordon ; these forces allowed Joseph and Frederick to keep an eye on each other while their diplomats negotiated at Teschen . Winter actions . Appointed to be commander of the Austrian winter cordon , Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser ordered a small assault column under the command of Colonel Wilhelm Klebeck to attack the village of Dittersbach . Klebeck led a column of Croats into the village . During the action , 400 Prussians were killed , another 400 made prisoner , and eight colors were captured . Following his successes against the Prussians in 1778 , Joseph awarded Wurmser the Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa on 21 October 1778 . In another raid , in January 1779 , Wurmser advanced into the County of Glatz in five columns , two of which , commanded by Major General Franz Joseph , Count Kinsky , surrounded Habelschwerdt on 17 – 18 January . While one column secured the approach , the other , under the leadership of Colonel Pallavicini , stormed the village and captured the Prince of Hessen - Philippsthal and 700 men , three cannon and seven colors . Wurmser himself led the third column in an assault on the so - called Swedish blockhouse at Oberschwedeldorf . It and the village of Habelschwerdt were set on fire by howitzer s . Major General Ludwig , Baron of Terzi ( 1730 – 1800 ) , who was covering with the remaining two columns , threw back the enemy support and took 300 Prussian prisoners . Meanwhile , Wurmser maintained his position at the nearby villages of Rückerts and Reinerz . His forward patrols reached the outskirts of Glatz , and patrolled much of the Silesian border with Prussia , near Schweidnitz . Halberschwerdt and Oberschedeldorf were both destroyed . On 3 March 1779 , Nauendorf raided Berbersdorf again with a large force of infantry and hussars and captured the entire Prussian garrison . Following this action , Joseph awarded him the Knight ' s Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa ( 19 May 1779 ) . Impact . In the Treaty of Teschen ( May 1779 ) , Maria Theresa returned Lower Bavaria to Charles Theodore , but kept the so - called Innviertel , a strip of land in the drainage basin of the Inn River . She and Joseph were surprised to find that the small territory had 120 , 000 inhabitants . Saxony received a financial reward of six million gulden from the principal combatants for its role in the intervention . The War of the Bavarian Succession was the last war for both Frederick and Maria Theresa , whose reigns began and ended with wars against one another . Although they deployed armies three to four times the size of the armies of the Seven Years ' War , neither monarch used the entirety of the military force each had at his or her disposal , making this war - without - battles remarkable . Despite the restraint of the monarchs , some early 19th - century casualty estimates suggest that tens of thousands died of starvation and hunger - related disease . Carlyle ' s more moderate estimate lies at about 10 , 000 Prussians and probably another 10 , 000 Austrian dead . Michael Hochedlinger assesses combined casualties at approximately 30 , 000 , Robert Kann gives no estimate of casualties , but suggests the primary causes of death were cholera and dysentery . Gaston Bodart , whose 1915 work is still considered the authority on Austrian military losses , is specific : five Austrian generals ( he does not name them ) , over 12 , 000 soldiers , and 74 officers died of disease . In minor actions and skirmishes , nine officers and 265 men were killed and four officers and 123 men were wounded , but not fatally . Sixty - two officers and 2 , 802 men were taken prisoner , and 137 men were missing . Over 3 , 000 Imperial soldiers deserted . Finally , 26 officers and 372 men were discharged with disabilities . Bodart also gives Prussian losses : one general killed ( he does not say which ) , 87 officers and 3 , 364 men killed , wounded or captured . Overall , he assumes losses of ten percent of the fighting force . Little has been discovered of civilian casualties , although certainly the civilians also suffered from starvation and diseases . There were other damages : for example , Habelschwerdt and one of its hamlets were destroyed by fire . Despite its short duration , the war itself cost Prussia 33 million florins . For the Austrians , the cost was higher : 65 million florins , for a state with an annual revenue of 50 million florins . Joseph himself described war as " a horrible thing . . . the ruin of many innocent people . " Change in warfare . This also was the last European war of the old style , in which armies maneuvered sedately at a distance while diplomats hustled between capitals to resolve their Majesties ' differences . Given the length of time — six months — the cost in life and treasure was high . In light of the scale of warfare experienced in Europe less than a generation later in the French Revolutionary Wars , and shortly after , in the Napoleonic Wars , though , this six - month engagement seems mild . Yet , while historians often dismissed it as the last of the archaic mode of " Ancien Régime " warfare , elements of the war foreshadowed conflicts to come : the sheer sizes of the armies deployed reflected emerging abilities and willingness to conscript , train , equip and field larger armies than had been done in previous generations . The war also reflected a new height in military spending , especially by the Habsburgs . After the Seven Years ' War , the size of the Habsburg military shrank , from 201 , 311 men in arms in 1761 to 163 , 613 in 1775 . In preparing for a second summer ' s campaign , Joseph ' s army grew from 195 , 108 effectives in the summer of 1778 to 308 , 555 men in arms in Spring 1779 . Habsburg military strength never dropped below 200 , 000 effectives between 1779 and 1792 , when Austria entered the War of the First Coalition . Several times it surged above 300 , 000 men in arms , responding to needs on the borders with the Ottoman Empire or the revolt in the Austrian Netherlands . The military also underwent a massive organizational overhaul . In the vernacular , the Austrians called the war " Zwetschgenrummel " ( Plum Fuss ) , and for the Prussians and Saxons , it was " Kartoffelkrieg " ( Potato War ) . In the historiography of European warfare , historians almost always described the War of the Bavarian Succession " in dismissive or derisive terms [ as ] the apotheosis ( or perhaps caricature ) of old regime warfare , " despite its grand name . Some historians have maintained that the focus on the consumption of the produce of the land gave the war its popular name : the Potato War . Others suggest that the two armies lobbed potatoes instead of cannonballs or mortars . A third theory maintains that the war acquired its popular name because it took place during the potato harvest . Resurgence of the problem . The underlying problem was not solved : Joseph ' s foreign policy dictated the expansion of Habsburg influence over German - speaking territories and only this , he believed , would counter Prussia ' s growing strength in Imperial affairs . In 1785 , Joseph again sought to make territorial deals , again with Charles Theodore , and again offering to trade portions of Bavarian territory for portions of the Austrian Netherlands , a deal similar to the one that had failed in 1778 . This time it would be a straight trade : territory for territory , not a partition . Although the Austrian Netherlands was a wealthy territory , it was a thorn in Joseph ' s side , opposing his administrative and bureaucratic reforms and devouring military and administrative resources he desperately needed elsewhere in his realm . Despite its problems , Joseph could not afford to give up the Netherlands entirely , so his efforts to negotiate a partial territorial exchange guaranteed him some of the financial benefits of both his Netherlands possessions and the Bavarian territories . Even if he had to give up the Austrian Netherlands , it meant " the barter of an indefensible strategic position and . . . an economic liability for a great territorial and political gain , adjacent to the monarchy . " Again , Charles II August , Duke of Zweibrücken , resented the possible loss of his Bavarian expectancy , and again , Frederick II offered aid . This time , no war developed , not even a " Potato War " . Instead , Frederick resorted to pressure politics . He founded the " Fürstenbund , " or the Union of Princes , comprising the influential princes of the northern German states , and these individuals jointly pressured Joseph to relinquish his ambitious plans . In 1799 , the duchy passed to Maximilian IV Joseph , brother of Charles August , whose only child had died in 1784 . Long - term effect : the rise of German dualism . Joseph understood the problems facing his multi - ethnic patrimony and the ambivalent position the Austrians held in the Holy Roman Empire . Although the Habsburgs and their successor house of Habsburg - Lorraine had , with two exceptions , held the position of Emperor since the early 15th century , the basis of 18th - century Habsburg power lay not in the Holy Roman Empire itself , but in Habsburg territories in Eastern Europe , where the family had vast domains , the Italian peninsula , and the Lowlands . For Joseph or his successors to wield influence in the German - speaking states , they needed to acquire additional German - speaking territories . Acquisition of Central European territories with German - speaking subjects would strengthen the Austrian position in the Holy Roman Empire . As far as Joseph was concerned , only this could shift the center of the Habsburg empire into German - speaking Central Europe . This agenda made dispensable both the Austrian Netherlands — Habsburg territories which lay furthest west — and Galicia — Habsburg territories which lay furthest east . It also made the reacquisition of German - speaking Silesia and acquisition of new territories in Bavaria essential . By the late 1770s , Joseph also faced important diplomatic obstacles in consolidating Habsburg influence in central Europe . When the British had been Austria ' s allies , Austria could count on British support in its wars , but Britain was now allied with Prussia . In the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 , the French replaced the British as Austria ' s ally , but they were fickle , as Joseph discovered when Charles Gravier extricated Versailles from its obligations . Russia , which also had been an important Austrian ally for most of the Seven Years ' War , sought opportunities for expansion at the expense of its weak neighbors . In 1778 , that meant Poland and the Ottoman Empire , but Joseph fully understood the danger of appearing weak in Russia ' s eyes : Habsburg lands could be carved off easily by the cagey Catherine ' s diplomatic knife . For Joseph , Frederick of Prussia was the enemy , as he had been throughout the reigns of Theresa and Franz before him , when the Prussian state ' s emergence as a player on the European stage had occurred at Habsburg expense , first with the loss of Silesia , and later in the 1750s and 1760s . Joseph sought to unify the different portions of his realm , not the German states as a whole , and to establish Habsburg hegemony in German - speaking central Europe beginning with the partition of Bavaria . The broad geographic outlines of European states changed rapidly in the last 50 years of the century , with partitions of Poland and territorial exchanges through conquest and diplomacy . Rulers sought to centralize their control over their domains and create well - defined borders within which their writ was law . For Joseph , the acquisition of Bavaria , or at least parts of it , would link Habsburg territories in Bohemia with those in the Tyrol , and partially compensate Austria for its loss of Silesia . The Bavarian succession crisis provided Joseph with a viable opportunity to consolidate his influence in the Central European states , to bolster his financially strapped government with much - needed revenue , and to strengthen his army with German - speaking conscripts . Supremacy in the German states was worth a war . For Frederick , the preservation of Charles August ' s inheritance was not worth a war . Frederick had had sufficient war in the first years of his reign , and in its last 20 years , he sought to preserve the " status quo " , not to enter into risky adventures that might upset it . If he had to withdraw from engagement with Joseph ' s army , such a sacrifice was a temporary measure . Warfare was only one means of diplomacy , and he could employ others in this contest with Austria . The Austro - Prussian dualism that dominated the next century ' s unification movement rumbled ominously in the War of the Bavarian Succession .