18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 33

[cahn]

And, I mean, it doesn't have to be just 18th century characters, either!

(also, waiting for Yuletide!)

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1730 International Relations: Britain-Austria

[mildred_of_midgard]

Historically, they've liked allying against their mutual enemy France. Because the last 15 years have been weird, they've been switching back and forth between being on the same side and on opposite sides. They haven't gone to war with each other in this period, though there have been some recent war scares.

From 1725-1730, they were in opposing alliances (Britain-France against Austria-Spain). During this period, the British have been trying to limit Austrian power, but Austria isn't seen as an existential threat in Britain. The plan for many British ministers has been to get back into an alliance with Austria as soon as that can be done without disturbing the balance of power or dragging Britain into an unwanted war.

In 1730, there's a war scare going on between Britain and Austria, but simultaneously, Britain is approaching Austria for peace talks, and looking to swap the French alliance for an Austrian one. There's no strong pro-Austrian feeling in Britain, just a sense that most people would like to go back to the way things were before this weird and unnatural alliance with France came along.