Franco-Austrian Alliance

The Franco-Austrian Alliance was a diplomatic and military alliance between France and Austria that was first established in 1756 following the First Treaty of Versailles which lasted for much of the remainder of the century until it was abandoned during the French Revolution.

The Alliance had its heyday during the Seven Years' War when France and Austria joined forces to fight the mutual enemy of Prussia. Following the allies' defeat in that war, the intimacy of the alliance weakened, and by the 1780s it had become something closer to a formality—when Austria briefly considered the idea of entering the American War of Independence on Britain's side against France. By the time of the French Revolution—when France first declared itself a constitutional monarchy, and then overthrew and executed its king—it had collapsed entirely and Austria actively tried to restore the French monarchy by going to war with the new French Republic.

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries France and Austria had been enemies, repeatedly fighting wars against each other. During the War of the Polish Succession France and its allies had managed to severely weaken Austrian power and forced them to give up small amounts of territory. In the following War of the Austrian Succession France allied with Prussia to attack Austria, which ended in Austria being forced to cede its richest and most prized province of Silesia to the Prussians.

The failure of Britain in both these wars to prevent Austria's losses led to a re-evaluation of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance which had existed since 1731, and Austria began to consider gaining new allies who would help them to recover Silesia, which was the top priority of Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria.

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